Getting an apartment

For the SUSI 2010, the program organizers arranged accommodation for all the participants. But for the Fulbright Research Scholar Program, the researcher is supposed to get an apartment on his own. The process of getting an apartment in the U.S. is different from the way it is done in my country.

You need to sign a lease before having access to the apartment. For that, the apartment managers require your presence before anything. If you are not there, it is impossible to have a lease signed for you. In my case, I was fortunate to have a friend in Georgia who used his SSN to arrange the lease for me. He sent the parts that I needed to sign and after signing, I scanned and sent them to the U.S. I joined my apartment the day I arrived in the U.S. which is not the case for many people who come to the U.S. They have to spend some time with friends, share apartment with other people or sleep in a hotel before getting arrangements for the apartment.

The payment of the rent is done differently here from the way it is done in my country. The management of my apartment will not take cash for rent. It is either direct transfer to the account of the apartment or a check. Besides, here, you pay your rent at the beginning of the month and not at the end of the month as it is done in my country.