It depends where in Italy and where in America you are comparing. If you are comparing San Francisco or New York to Milan then the cost won't make much of a difference but if your comparing Texas or Colorado to Italy then Italy is expensive. In general, yes Italy is more expensive than the USA.

For general questions about immigration, you can check the Department of State website. There is specific information about these issues on the US consular site for London. Generally it's easy to visit with a tourist visa (nothing but a UK passport is required for entry) but long term is a different story. The website I mentioned specifically says that the US doesn't have any sort of "retire in the US" sort of immigration policy in place, and it's generally a matter of securing work of some sort. Merely saying you have several million pounds that you wish to spend or invest doesn't seem to be enough. As for housing, it depends where. In Silicon Valley, a modest house that's not in one of the more affluent areas would cost at least $2000/month. Going into an area such as San Francisco could run far more. It's best to check a real estate website that offers flat rentals and see what you can find. You can pick a town and look it up on Craig's list.

You'd have trouble just outright renting a place for the period, especially at only $1,000/month. The rental market is competitive - many people spend that long just looking for a place, and available apartments are pretty much always taken the first day they're shown. So this leaves you with sublets and residential hotels. You can sublet a room (doubtful your own apartment) for that much quite easily, but the scheduling would also be at the whims of the person subletting it (ie: might not necessarily align with your timeframe). Best option would be residential hotels in the Tenderloin. If you do a Yelp search, you can find some cheap ones... about $800/month. Most in that price range are quite small and have a shared bathroom, so make sure you're being honest about that not expecting anything special part. Also bear in mind that they have limits on how long you can stay (about a month), so you'll have to shuffle around a few times. And book now. Effectively, it's cheap housing (albeit temporary) in the city, and books up fast. You could also do the shuffle with sublets (and may be able to find one for the entire period), but you'll have less control over the timeframe for that, and may have to figure it out on the fly (without anywhere to go if you don't get something in time). Search for one for the entire time... if not, residential hotels would give you more certainty that you have a place to stay.

There are no lofts near SFSU. It is all residential mostly homes. A 1-bdrm condo near the college would cost about $2000 a month. You can try some areas for apartments including West Portal, Westlake, Daly City, Ingleside, Park Merced, Outer Sunset. You should rent a room for a while and look around the neighborhoods. SFSU is a long way from any cheaper neighborhoods.

Search around for Middle Eastern Markets that may or may not carry it here in the USA.

$1065 is a pretty good price these days, and Singapore Airlines is one of the very best airlines in the business. Their in-flight entertainment, food and service is award winning. Although you MIGHT get a better price by waiting, it won't be by much, especially on an airline as good as Singapore Airlines. Prices are always higher in the summer months, I would buy the ticket now for that price.

Ebay

NJ is """""BOOMING!!!!!"""" (O_O) with BIG - NIGHT FUN and it's near NYC I won't ever compete with the string of people being shown in California.

Funny, I just met an international student from Perth. I would suggest moving to San Francisco AFTER you've finished medical school. The San Francisco Bay Area has some very prestigious hospitals to complete residencies at with UCSF and Stanford for starters. However, these two medical schools are also insanely difficult to gain admission into even for native Californians, let alone an international student. There is also only 1 medical school in the city of San Francisco - University of California, San Francisco. Even Stanford is about an hour's drive from the city. Cost of living is relatively high, although less so than the nice parts of LA or Manhattan. Not knowing anyone is probably not a problem, there is a VERY diverse population in San Francisco. Honestly, I'm a San Francisco native and I also want to go to medical school (currently a college senior). I love the city and the region but unfortunately I don't really see myself able to return permanently until I'm already done with school and in my residency. Good luck with your endeavors!

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