[Mr_Assmaster]

Greetings my fine gentlemen,

What's your opinion on W&T program in USA? For those of you who don't know, it's a program of cultural exchange that allows you to get a J-1 visa and work some dead-end minimum wage jobs in America for 4 months during summer, after which you can use your hard earned money to travel around for a few weeks or simply return home with the money. And since it's only for regular students and I'm on my last year, I don't want to miss my last chance so I'm planning to enroll.

Has anyone here ever done it and do you think it's worth it? What are your experiences? Obviously, I'm not in it for the money, but I can't think of a better way to spend 4 months in USA, see everything that I wanted to see and get acquainted with the culture (or lack thereof)

Also, any tips about specific locations from Murricans would be highly appreciated, I'm thinking about applying for a job in Park City Utah, but would it be better if I took a traditional route and went somwhere on the east coast where the accomodation costs are a bit higher, but there's more people?

[getdownonit]

I've met plenty of cute girls who do this and travel a bunch at the end of their trip, it seems like a great deal. The jobs probably aren't particularly well paid but sound fun since you'll be around other young people from around the world the whole time. Seems to be mostly seasonal jobs like ski resorts or water parks.

[Mr_Assmaster]

(12-15-2018 12:15 PM)getdownonit Wrote:  

I've met plenty of cute girls who do this and travel a bunch at the end of their trip, it seems like a great deal. The jobs probably aren't particularly well paid but sound fun since you'll be around other young people from around the world the whole time. Seems to be mostly seasonal jobs like ski resorts or water parks.

Indeed, it seems fun but it depends on the job and location. It's probably not that great for someone who works 12 hours a day as a dishwasher in a lakeside resort in the middle of nowhere. Obviously, it's better if you're somewhere close to a bigger city and you can actually see something during those 3 months that you spend working.

However, there are many nuances that only Americans or people who have already been on work & travel understand. For an example, most of the jobs are located on the east coast (Massaschusets, Maine, Upstate New York, Delaware, South Carolina) but I've been told that taxes there are significantly higher than in flyover states so it's not really worth it so much from financial perspective. What I would personally want to know is if Colorado Springs or Park City Utah would be better locations (as in, lower taxes, more things to see) than somewhere in Maine

[Uprising]

I've heard of other people doing this. There's one thing to take into consideration though when you do something like this in the US - You need a car to get around in 95% of places around here. Without a car, your SOL as most of our cities were built for cars.

I guess it depends what you're looking for, but if you stick to the big handful of cities that you can get around in solely on public transportation, that might be best. Or you could do some type of work exchange where the family you were staying with could drive you around to see places.

Good luck OP, I think you'll enjoy your time no matter what you choose.