You’re right. It is impossible to put US in a box and say this is how it is. It is the land of the extremes. I tried to portray a picture from my personal experience (and hoped that it would extrapolate to the average experience of a student). NYC and Boston (both places I love are more exceptions than the norm. American society for the large part is oriented towards car ownership. Sure, one can bubble themselves the confines of downtown Boston or Manhattan area, but, if you want the “true experience” of American life, with some trips to the beautiful nature the country has to offer, bbq parties at a colleague’s place in the suburbs etc - you’re going to need a car.

Yes, I will NOT generalize to say all Americans are obese. I merely went by the stats that says more and more are.

I’ve had the American college town experience (college town South Carolina) and I cherish those times. I rode through a scholarship and had a worry free time to actually learn, and have fun while at it. But, I know many of my peers who had to pay USD tuition from their home country cash, and it was incredibly hard for them. Again, it depends…