Home / J-1 Experiences: West Coast

J-1 Experiences: West Coast

J-1 Experiences: San Diego, San Francisco & Los Angeles

Rian J-1 is excited to welcome you to San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. To help you get oriented, find guides to these cities and testimonials from other J-1 exchange visitors below!

Los Angeles, CA City GuideDownload
San Francisco, CA City GuideDownload
San Diego, CA City GuideDownload

J-1 Testimonials

Julia Kuechenmeister ’22-’23

Read about Julia’s time in Los Angeles here.

Did you know Rian J-1 has a Whatsapp Community for our J-1s to connect? This is the space dedicated to asking questions, finding roommates, and meeting new friends for your upcoming J-1 year! The community is divided up into several groups- each group for the major U.S. cities J-1s travel to. Want to join? Send us a DM! Happy Wednesday folks! Today we are sharing photos from Emma Collins. Emma is finishing up her J-1 IWT (grad) visa in NYC. Emma loves the unpredictability of everyday in New York- there's always something to do or try! Read more about Emma's time in NYC in this month's Boston Irish. Congratulations to the university students who celebrated their graduation over the last couple of weeks! Thinking about taking the next step and traveling to the U.S. post grad? The J-1 IWT (grad) visa allows you to live and work in the States for 12 months. Reach out to our team to start your application! Second annual J-1 Thanksgiving ✔️ Our team welcomed our Boston based J-1s to the center last week to celebrate Thanksgiving & had a great time! It was wonderful to join in community and share in cultural exchange. Each fall/winter our team acquires tickets for BU sports games to offer Rian J-1s in Boston the opportunity to experience American college sports. We have attended two games already and look forward to another in January. If you'd like to join, please reach out! 🏀🏒⚾️ Our team had a wonderful time at Rian's annual celebration Solas! We were so excited to be joined by 10 of Rian J-1's current exchange visitors spending their visa program in Boston. Congratulations to all of the honorees! 🌟👏 Congratulations to the university students who celebrated their graduation over the last couple of weeks! Thinking about taking the next step and traveling to the U.S. post grad? The J-1 IWT (grad) visa allows you to live and work in the States for 12 months. Reach out to our team to start your application! Congratulations to the university students who celebrated their graduation over the last couple of weeks! Thinking about taking the next step and traveling to the U.S. post grad? The J-1 IWT (grad) visa allows you to live and work in the States for 12 months. Reach out to our team to start your application! For Rachel Graham, living in Boston "felt like home!" Rachel is an Ulster University graduate who finished up her J-1 visa program last month. One of her favorite memories was being a member of the Boston 1 Dragon boat team and competing with them at the Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in June. Congrats to Rachel on such a successful year abroad!