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Moving to DC — Howard Students

Banking:

The closest bank is Bank of America, there’s an ATM on campus in the A-Building and several close by. There’s also a Wells Fargo a 10-15 minute walk away from the dorms on Georgia Ave/7th St. Chase and Citi are also close by.
Bison Bucks vs Dining Dollars 
Bison Bucks are currency that can be spent anywhere on Howard’s campus and a few places near Howard (Subway, Potbelly’s, even some vending machines)
Dining Dollars are exclusively for the CStore, Jazzman’s, Simply-to-go and the cafes

If you’re somebody that always loses cards like me, add the Smarttrip digital metro card to your Wallet instead of getting the physical one for $2. You can add money at metro stations just like the physical one. 
This way you ALWAYS know your card balance and how much you need.
Closest Airport to Howard is DCA but a lot of Howard students have said they like flying into/out of BWI because it’s cheaper. Either way, there’s a metro stop that goes to DCA and a MARC train to take you to BWI. 
Amtrak/MARC train station closest to us is Union Station.
If you’re going to be relying on public transportation you need to have the Google maps app because it’s the most accurate one telling you what times the metro is coming and it tracks any delays. 
They also have a feature that lets you know what time you need to leave.
If you have a car and are willing to drive 25 minutes, Summit has 2 bedrooms that start at like $2200 so it’ll only be around $1100/month in rent. 
There’s a bus from a metro stop that stops directly in front of the building. I toured and can DM the vid
https://www.thesummitalexandria.com/floorplans/cambridge
This is the app Howard uses to help students track the shuttle stops and times.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rls-shuttle/id1046769848
Meal Plans vary based on dorm, classification and how much you think you’ll eat — living in Towers is the most flexible meal plan option because you can do all Dining Dollars 
Freshmen have to have a more expensive meal plan like the Traditional & Block Plans with mostly swipes

sc: https://twitter.com/CynNotABaddie/status/1417275251256344577?t=Io70sOFjzg3Yxy7nLpXKEg&s=19