Moving

I'm afraid I'm not going to be of any help because I've never moved cross country nor do I live in Austin but I just wanted to say how much I LOVE that city. When I graduate I hope to live there too.

I once moved from Indiana to San Francisco so, while I can't speak to your exact situation, I can say that, in my opinion, the sooner you can start looking for jobs the better. If you see one you think you might want, I'd say go ahead and apply. If they want to interview, by all means, take a day off class and do the interview. The whole job finding process can take a lot longer than people think, especially in the economy we're in now. You might also consider things like AmeriCorps, which allow you to interview now for a position starting in July/August (which is what I did).

As far as apartments go, I'd maybe see if there are college students looking to sublet while they head home for summer break. A sublet situation might buy you more time to look while there in order to find a place you'll like rather than being so rushed.

I wouldn't trade that "packing up and striking out on your own" feeling for anything in the world. I think you'll have a great time.

I'm Canadian, not American, but when I moved from BC to the Yukon with some friends, the one in charge of house hunting found the local newspaper's website and subscribed via email. It wasn't free, but it allowed her to search the local listings. Not everybody lists online. If we hadn't found anything, we were going to post an add in the classifieds of said local paper that we were looking.

As for savings... Research everything. How much stuff are you taking? Can you fit it in your car? Do you need to rent a moving truck? Does the truck company have a place in TX to drop off the vehicle or do you need somebody to drive it back? How much would THAT cost? Figure out how much the rent will be, and make sure you have a job lined up or can get one within a week or two of arriving, and even if you do try and have a couple month's living expenses (rent, utilities, food) saved up in case it takes a while. An even better idea, have enough saved up that if absolutely necessary, you can truck everything back again.

I saved somewhere over $2000 and most of that went to the damage deposit on the place we rented, my friends compensated by paying first month's rent, by the time we'd been here two weeks we were all employed and the rest of the money was spent frivolously :)

Moving is FUN, good luck!

Having just compleated the whole job search/ apt search myself I can say that your best bet is to try to apply to some jobs beforehand and get all your resume/ cover letter/ contacts in line so that when you move you can hit the ground running.

While its not impossible, it can be very hard to line up a job when you are in another city just because from an employers point of view its a lot more risky (the person can decide last minute they dont want to move etc).

As far as money- moving and unemployment gets expensive. Save up as much as possible and as soon as you get down ther eor even before try to find work that will allow a flexible schedule so you can go to interviews and not go broke in the mean time.

Good luck! Job hunting/ moving might be frusterating, but if you are willing to put in the work following your dreams is always worth it!