Things to Know!

-Tram: In Grenoble it is very common to use the tram so it is good to buy a monthly pass that costs 25 euros per month and you can access any tram or bus at any time without having to pay each time you are going to use it. One way usually costs 1,50 Euros, so it is worth it to buy the monthly pass. If you don't have the monthly card or the ticket of the day you can get charged a 50-60 euros fee for not having it.
-Cell Phone Plans: There are four main cell phone stores: Orange, Virgin, Bouygues and SFR. Most of these companies have similar plans and their plans are very different from the states, especially when we are use to have unlimited text, phone calls and internet access on our phones. In France, most of the plans are usually 2 hours of talking, unlimited text, and 500 mega bits for internet use per month and you pay around 30 Euros. If you have your own phone you can get a plan without a contract, but personally, I brought my Iphone and it didn't worked even having it unlocked so I had to buy a phone here and they are usually 1 euro to 10 euro but with a contract of 12 months or 24 months, which you can terminate if you have a letter from back home saying that you have to go back to your country to study or work.
-CAF: The CAF is a French help from the government for students. There is a whole process behind the CAF and you have to provide some documentation but it is worth it to do it because they reimburse you money that you have paid in your residence and after that you will continue to pay less, which is very helpful. 
-OFII: For the OFII, if you are staying more that 3 months in the country you have to complete your visa status as soon as you arrive to France. First, you have to send a letter that is given to you in the French consulate in the United States. After that you will receive a letter saying that the papers were received and that you need to send an email for two medical appointments. One appointment is for a pulmonary, respiratory test that takes about 5 minutes to do and the other one is for a general check where they will give you the results of your pulmonary scan. Finally, with all the papers you receive in your last medical visit you have to buy a stamp that costs you 50 euro and with all those papers in the OFII office they will complete your visa status. 
-Meals: If you buy a card from your school that costs 15 euro you can recharge the card each time and all meals at school will cost 3 euro, which is very convenient because you get a full meal with a salad or fruit, bread, a drink and a dessert. 
-12-25 Card: If you are planning to travel it is recommended to buy the 12-25 card. This card is for students that are under 25 years old and costs 50 Euros, but after that you get 50% off every train ticket you buy inside France.