Popular U.S. Study Abroad Destinations 

The United States is a vast nation rich with diverse cities, regions, and landscapes. As an international student, it can be difficult to choose a place that will be a perfect fit. This article will help you make a selection by delving in to popular study abroad destinations in the United States including New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. These cities are well-known for offering phenomenal education, amazing sites, and a great place for international students to visit.

New York

New York is the fourth largest state in the U.S. in terms of population and the home of the country’s most iconic metropolis, New York City.  NYC, also known as “The Big Apple”, has numerous world-class universities such as the prestigious Columbia University and New York University. In addition to offering phenomenal education opportunities, New York City also boasts a diverse and worldly population. The city proper consists of large districts such as Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island and is filled with landmarks such as the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Time Square, and Wall Street. With all this culture, history, and education, New York City is a rightfully popular study abroad destination.

Boston

Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and the 24th largest city in the country. With its numerous colleges and universities, Boston is a world class center of education and healthcare. Boston’s most famous educational institutions include Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Boston University, and Boston College. Boston is also city full of history as it was the starting point of the American Revolution, and many important figures in the founding of the U.S. such as John Adams, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin were from the Boston area. Fast forwarding to modern times, today’s Boston is a center for healthcare technology firms with numerous companies setting up corporate offices in the area. These companies look to recruit the top students from Boston’s world-class universities. Boston is another excellent location choice for studying abroad and offers many educational and career opportunities. 

Chicago

Chicago is the third largest city in the United States and has many reputable universities such as the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Loyola University. Chicago has an extremely robust economy, and its major industries include financial services, engineering, publishing, and food processing. Chicago’s city proper is very well organized making it easy to navigate and also houses numerous iconic skyscrapers such as the Sears Tower. Chicago’s lower cost of living, high wages, and low rates of unemployment making living especially affordable for study abroad students and jobs . That combined with low unemployment and high wages makes Chicago one of the country’s most livable cities. With its world class education, scenic views, great infrastructure, and relatively low cost of living, Chicago is a great choice destination for international students.

San Francisco

San Francisco is the fourth largest city in California and is known by many nicknames such as Paris of the West and Baghdad by the Bay. San Francisco is a beautiful city that is home to the corporate headquarters of numerous technology companies such as Airbnb, Uber, Dropbox, Yelp, and Twitter. This city also has a rich and unique history as it was originally founded by Spain and was subsequently a part of Mexico for many years. Under the United States administration, the city saw rapid growth and an influx of immigration during the Gold Rush of 1849 which has lead to the city’s modern large and diverse population. In fact, during the Gold Rush, many immigrants from China came to California, and today San Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the largest  world-famous enclaves of Chinese outside of China. 

With prestigious universities such as Stanford and U.C. Berkeley nearby, San Francisco is another great choice for studying abroad in the United States. Another selling point for San Francisco is the weather which is mild and pleasant all year round. 

Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the largest city in California and the second largest metropolis in the country after New York. It is perhaps best known for Hollywood, the global center for film and entertainment. It’s economy goes beyond the entertainment industry and includes the media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine, and research industries all playing significant roles. Los Angeles has a very diverse population with peoples from different cultural backgrounds. With its proximity to Mexico, there are many speakers of Spanish and is a distinct presence of Mexican culture. In addition, approximately 11 percent of the population is Asian, and the city has numerous ethnic neighborhoods such as Filipinotown, Korea Town, and Little Tokyo. With all this diversity also comes a great number of renowned restaurants and esteemed cultural centers. If you study abroad in L.A., you will surely learn much about not only American culture but also about peoples from all across the world.