University Owned Housing
Most colleges and universities provide (usually for a fee) single or multiple occupancy rooms for their students. These buildings consist of many such rooms, like an apartment building, and the number of rooms varies quite widely from just a few to hundreds.
College and university residential rooms vary in size, shape, facilities and number of occupants. Typically, a United States residence hall room holds two students with no toilet. This is usually referred to as a "double". Often, residence halls have communal bathroom facilities. In the United States, residence halls are sometimes segregated by sex, with men living in one group of rooms, and women in another. Some dormitory complexes are single-sex with varying limits on visits by persons of each sex. Features of life such as cafeterias, academic centers, active and passive programming, resident assistants and hall coordinators have given a new experience to living on campus. Most residence halls are much closer to campus than comparable private housing such as apartment buildings. This convenience is a major factor in the choice of where to live since living physically closer to classrooms is often preferred, particularly for first-year students who may not be permitted to park vehicles

Shared Housing

Generally shared housing means splitting the rent and utilities, sharing chores, responsibilities, time, ideas, and experiences. Several types of shared housing situations are available.
Rooming Houses are where you rent a room (from the landlord directly), probably share a bath, and may have kitchen privileges. There are usually no restraints on house/yard upkeep or food/cooking/eating. Often they are furnished. The problem lies in the fact that you are living out of one room, which some people find suffocating.
An Apartment or a shared flat is where other tenants, rather than the landlord, choose who is going to live in the place, so your roommates may be more compatible than in a rooming house. You pay rent on your room, but the kitchen and living areas are yours too. Food may or may not be shared. You could have one roommate or eight. A Co-op Collective is the same as a shared house or apartment except food and values are generally shared among household members.

Non-Shared Housing

Houses are buildings that contain only one living unit. They usually consist of a kitchen, living room, bathroom(s) and bedroom(s). Utilities are usually not included, and yard work is generally required. They tend to be more expensive than
Studios are small apartments that consist of a living room/bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Some of the utilities may be paid by the landlord. While it is small, there is no yard work, and they are the cheapest option for independent living.
Apartments are more expensive than shared living, but generally cheaper than renting a house. They are multi-unit buildings, generally consisting of a kitchen, living room, bathroom(s), and bedroom(s). Utilities (except electricity) are usually paid by the landlord, there is no yard work, and some are furnished.

The United States has a broad range of climates, mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains varying from the tropical rain-forest of Hawaii and the tropical savanna of S Florida to the subarctic and tundra climates of Alaska. East of the 100th meridian (the general dividing line between the dry and humid climates) are the humid subtropical climate of SE United States and the humid continental climate of NE United States. Extensive forests are found in both these regions. West of the 100th meridian are the steppe climate and the grasslands of the Great Plains; trees are found along the water courses.
In the SW United States are the deserts of the basin and range province, with the hottest and driest spots in the United States. Along the Pacific coast are the Mediterranean-type climate of S California and, extending north into SE Alaska, the marine West Coast climate. The Pacific Northwest is one of the wettest parts of the United States and is densely forested. The Rocky Mts., Cascades, and Sierra Nevada have typical highland climates and are also heavily forested. In addition to the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Great Salt Lake in Utah, widely publicized geographic marvels of the United States include Niagara Falls, on the New York–Canada border.

Most non-U.S. citizens who wish to study in the United States will seek an F-1 (non-immigrant) student visa, but there are other visa types that are sometimes authorized for those who study in the U.S The F-1, or Student Visa is the most common for those who wish to engage in academic studies in the United States. It is for people who want to study at an accredited U.S. college or university or to study English at a university or intensive English language institute.
In order to apply for a visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate, you must first have a SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System)-generated document (either an I-20 or DS-2019) issued by a U.S. college or university or Department of State-designated sponsor organization. You will be required to submit this form when you apply for a visa. The U.S. academic institution or program sponsor will provide you with the appropriate SEVIS-generated form only when you have been academically admitted to the institution or accepted as a participant in an exchange program. The institution or program sponsor will also send you additional information about applying for the appropriate visa, as well as other guidance about beginning your academic program in the United States.

Once you have all the required documentation, you may apply for the visa, even if you do not intend to begin your program of study for several months. It is best to apply early for the visa to make sure that there is sufficient time for visa processing.

U.S. immigration law governs the entry of all visitors to the United States, including students and exchange visitors. It details what they are authorized to do during their stay in the country. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the agency responsible for ensuring that these visitors comply with U.S. law and regulations. When you arrive in the United States, you, too, will come under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security, and one of the three units within DHS responsible for non-U.S. citizens: the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection; the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau