rachococo

Hi I am English and moving to USA on Sunday on a CR1. The pressure is on and I have a few concerns..any help much appreciated.

1) We will be staying with my inlaws in CT to begin but want to get our own place in New haven/Hartford area asap. We are worried about starting my 5 year old daughter in Kindergarten only to change her again, but don't want to hold her back until september...
2) School says they need Varicella and Hep B and a full Physical before she can start, none of which I can get done in the UK (have asked GP and private hospital), how much is this likely to cost//
3)... does anyone know of pay per month medical insurance while we do our job search?
4) I have a MSc and BSc (hons) Psychology and a PGCE Early Years. I have experience of lecturing and teaching on Psychology undergrad programs and for NHS Assistant Speech and Language Terapist and Surestart as a Family Worker amongst other jobs. I have applied online for a lot of jobs and not heard anything back. Any one have experience of the job hunt in this filed...what sort of jobs to aim for etc. i will consider any type of work to get started.
5) I need a phone with Skype and internet access and a good signal in CT and NYC thats cheapish...any ideas??
6) I am need a dongle for wifi for my laptop...preferable PAYG...any ideas??
7) I am wondering which bank account I should open with the least charges for withdrawals and transactions in USA

Thanks so much I hope the arrival at the airport is smooth sailing and I can get set up soon! Thanks for all your help on this forum...it makes everything seem so much more feasable!!
X

Duncan Roberts

If you are willing to consider any job, start with retail and food service. You should be able to get a job within a day or two and you may even get health benefits from it. You can then look at getting a job you want. Some retail jobs can give you good networking opportunities if you play them right. In department stores places like make up counters, shoe departments (woman's especially) and suits give you one on one time with a lot of people and if you ask the right question you will talk to people who can help you get interviews.

WARPed

For pay monthly health insurance I am with these guys until I manage to get a job:

http://www.sevencorners.com/insuranc...igrantmedical/

You actually have to renew for 3 month periods to be eligible to extend coverage at the end of that period. It is basic emergency insurance that would do you no good if you got a major illness, but it should cover broken bones minor emergencies etc. I got the $100,000 coverage and $75 deductible per injury and it is about $90 per month.

USAA is a very good bank that reimburses you for $15 per month of ATM fees. They are entirely online and seem very fair. It was originally for military families only but I think they have opened up their basic banking services to everyone. Check them out and see.

Can't help with the phone although you will probably have to go PAYG as you won't have any credit rating for getting a contract. I'm not sure you can get PAYG Internet Dongles. There was a thread on here recently about it which you might pick up with a search. Probably in the last month.

Nutmegger

This site might help you to compare what is available in Hartford with regard to phone and internet.

http://www.connectutilities.com/wf/howitworks.html

naomi

Is your daughter 5 almost 6, or just turned 5? At the Kindergarten level, many kids enter nearer to their 6th birthday, so I probably wouldn't worry too much if she is a younger 5.
Naomi.

rachococo

She will be 6 in April (11th) so I guess she would have missed nearly a year already... thanks for all your advice, very very useful ..I'm making notes, keep it coming!!
ps. Anyone know what Varicella actually is??!

Sally Redux

Chicken pox.

Englishmum

Chickenpox!

AFAIK this vaccination isn't even given in the UK? Of course if your daughter has already had chickenpox she won't need a vaccination.

rachococo

She had chickenpox when she was two and I am getting her medical records copied tomorrow so hopefully it is documented in there and she won't have to have it...she does have one or two scars from it too! So just Hep B and the Physical exam I guess!

Englishtart

At that age, hasn't she already done at least a year of school in the UK?

kins

My children's UK medical notes didn't mention chickenpox, but I told their paediatrician that they'd all had it and she wrote a letter to the school telling them so.

We're with Bangor Savings, no charges, all ATM withdrawals refunded. It's a Maine bank so maybe not much use to you?

I used medibroker.co.uk for insurance years ago, no idea if they still offer it. It was quite expensive but it was up to 1m pounds in coverage I think.

For a wifi dongle you could look at Verizon or Sprint.

Best of luck with the move!

rachococo

Yes, she is in year 1 so already done Reception (from Jan, they have a Jan intake at her school) and september til now for Year 1.
Going to check out all the recommendations..thanks again!

tonrob

Where are you wanting to move? You also posted today that you really wanted to move to the Brooklyn/Williamsburg area a.s.a.p. I was about to say that I live not that far from Hartford so if you wanted any help or advice then PM me. But on reflection if you post in a less than honest way on these forums where people take time out of their lives to help people like you and you can't even be straight with them then I'm more inclined to tell you to get stuffed.

The Horticulturalist

1) We will be staying with my inlaws in CT to begin but want to get our own place in New haven/Hartford area asap. We are worried about starting my 5 year old daughter in Kindergarten only to change her again, but don't want to hold her back until september...
I'd just go with your instinct, she's only little and I'm sure she'll adapt very quickly when school starts in August.

2) School says they need Varicella and Hep B and a full Physical before she can start, none of which I can get done in the UK (have asked GP and private hospital), how much is this likely to cost//

Now maybe someone else can chime in here, but I've never heard of a physical being required for school entry. Usually you need to go to the local health dept in the area where you'll be living with any existing vaccine records (make sure they have the dates the vaccines were given) and they will put all that info on a form for school admissions and give you any vaccines she hasn't had such as the Heb B. The chicken pox vaccine won't be necessary if she's had it, they'll just take your word for it usually and write it on the form.
I just had the last Heb B injection for my 5yr old yesterday, it cost $10 at the health dept.

3)... does anyone know of pay per month medical insurance while we do our job search?

I'd concur with Warped and look at seven corners, we used them when we first got here.

Kaffy Mintcake

I can't recommend USAA highly enough. We're members through the military but I use them for car insurance, mortgage, credit cards, etc. I've had a claim due to a tornado and they were more than fair. You're correct that they have opened financial products (including banking) up to those outside the military.