lj2

Perfect! Good advice about community college above and, guess what, my girlfriend goes to Anoka Ramsey Community College! So, if you want to know first hand what the school is like then let me know and I am sure she would be happy to chat to you or your child.

She goes there because it is cheap essentially, but from what I have seen it seems to be a very decent school. I have not heard of any of the problems you would associate with bad American schools and I know a number of the "kids" from there who are all thoroughly upstanding citizens!

A stint at AR CC would get your son into Uni relatively cost effectively. Remember though that if you end up having to pay out of state education fees it can be very expensive (as I found when enquiring about my MBA at Chicago Graduate School of Business....).

Like I said, let me know if you need any more info. I have spent a lot of time in that park of MN - specifically Blaine (a very nice if unexciting place), Fridley (a little lower cost but fine - Blue collar. Bit of gang, bit of crime, but I feel safe enough wandering about there), Coon Rapids (again, perfectly nice with a lovely park) and Brooklyn Park (a little more "ghetto" but again, perfectly safe for me to wander about). That is just my experience of course.

lj2

Oh, and as for the cold - imagine you just washed your hair and between the door and your car, the hair is completely frozen solid....

ARNIKEFI

Thanks for the help!
My son is an extremely good sportsman, so some of our original thoughts had been that he could try and excel in those areas with a view to some form of scholarship - this was about three years ago now as it's taken that long to get to this stage in the H1B process!
Do they do sports in Community College?

Bob

sports scholarships, along with most scholarships are really hard to get, and usually, but not always researved for USC's and LPR's...annd the sport, well depends on the sport and what the state is really into but if it isn't american football, basketball, hockey and baseball in some parts, the help won't be nearly as good, though athletics wouldn't be to far behind I'd imagine.

ARNIKEFI

What is it likely to cost me to rent a 3 bed apartment in a nice safe area as I have younger children and a wife that are likely to visit. Needs to be within a commutable distance from Ramsey.
I know that the answer to this could be how long is a piece of string as there are so many variables - I am just looking for some idea.

g1ant

and don't put your tongue on any lamposts.

lj2

It absolutely could vary depending on what you are after. I chose Blaine as a great place for you to live (near Anoka and I like it, you may prefer other places nearby and there are many!).

This site has 3 bedrooms at $995 - $1099 pcm: http://www.everyaptmapped.com/apartm...,,/rent-1.html

And this site has similar prices for nice places and pictures:

http://www.move.com/apartments_minnesota/blaine.aspx

A bit of googling should help you more - When I moved to chicago (where rents are a lot higher by the way! ), I contacted a local realtor who, without cost to me, spent a full day showing me example properties a few months before I moved here so that I could choose an area to move to, and then spent a full day showing me actual available properties when I moved here. Maybe you should do the same in MN?

These guys seem to serve the area, again I only did a very brief google search:

http://www.johnsonteamrealestate.com...FR29IgodumPUAw

freezerman

Hello again, when I moved here from Massachusetts, I used this site.
http://www.apartments.com/
I found a really nice apartment and as I recall if you sign a 12 month lease, they give you a $100 gift card which paid for a TV & DVD player when I moved in.
FM

lj2

Hi

I have had my girlfirend pick up some leaflets from Anonka Ramsey about the sports there etc. They don't do sports scholarships but if you PM me your address I would be happy to send them to you.