About StudyUS Toolkit
StudyUS Toolkit (huliox.com) is a small set of free tools that turn "work it out by hand again, then go looking it up again" into "fill in a few boxes, press one button". The site currently holds 35 tools. The site is about: The boring-but-important calculators every F-1 student wishes they had in July. Everything runs in your browser: no sign-up, no login, nothing you type is uploaded.
Who it is for
Three groups, mostly. First, people who already have the numbers and simply do not want to re-key them into a calculator every time - someone drafting a budget, or an operator who needs a rough figure to align with a colleague in the next ten minutes. Second, people preparing for an exam, an interview, an application, or a document they have to submit, who want a way to test "what if I change this number". Third, teachers, coaches, and leads who need to explain a rule of thumb rather than hand over an answer.
Whatever group you are in, the position of this site is the same: it puts the reasoning in front of you instead of making the decision for you.What a tool returns is a reference value computed from the inputs you supplied. Before you act on it, you still check it against the source material, the situation on the ground, or the official guidance.
How the tools are built
Every tool has an explicit, reproducible method: what goes in, what formula is applied, what comes out. The logic is not hidden - the full calculation is visible in the page source. That buys two things. The result can be checked by somebody else, and if you think a number is wrong you can follow the formula to the step whose assumption does not hold, instead of choosing between trusting it and not trusting it.
Because all of it runs locally, the amounts, durations and ratios you type never leave the device. That matters most for the inputs that describe your own situation.
How the content is held to a standard
Every page has a floor it has to clear: enough body copy that it is not just a form with a button; at least four questions answered, with the three things that actually decide whether a tool is used well written down - how to use it, where people go wrong, and when it does not apply. Where a page states a specific number, a price, a fee or a rule, it says "check the official source" and gives you a route to check it yourself, rather than inventing a number that looks plausible.
Instructions, the verdict labels and the computed result are kept separate. Instructions tell you how to use the tool, the labels qualify what the number means, and the result is the number. Mixing those three is how a conclusion drawn under one set of conditions quietly turns into a general rule, and it is a mistake we keep going back and fixing.
What this site does not do
It does not give medical diagnoses, medication doses, legal opinions or investment advice. The tools help you frame a question better or get the arithmetic right; the conclusion still comes from a qualified professional or from the official source. For outdoor, diving, wildlife, protected-area and border situations, the site provides safety checklists and official contacts only - it does not provide decompression tables, does not certify any depth or weather as safe, and does not explain how to work around regulations.
What changes over time
Tool pages get reviewed: does the logic still hold, is the reference data still current, are the stated limits still true. When the premises of a tool change, the wording on the page changes too, rather than leaving a stale conclusion in place. If a page does not match what you are seeing in practice, the contact details in the footer are the way to tell us.
What is on the site
- Bank Account Comparison (no-SSN friendly) - Compare US checking accounts accessible to international students without an SSN — Chase, Bank of America, Wel
- Cold Email Subject + Body Tester - Score your cold email subject line and body for length, personalization, spam-flagging keywords, and call-to-a
- Course Workload Estimator - Estimate weekly hours per course based on credit hours × course type multipliers (STEM lab heavy, writing-heav
- Credit Load + On-Campus Work Hours Planner - Find your optimal credit load + on-campus work hours within F-1 rules. Models full-time minimums, in-session 2
- Assignment Deadline Ladder (US Academic Calendar) - Generate a deadline ladder for US academic calendars — accounts for fall break, Thanksgiving, spring break, fi
- DHS Address Reporting Reminder - When must you update your address on SEVIS, and what's the deadline for transfers / program changes / employme
- Emergency Fund Builder (for students) - Calculate the right emergency fund size for a student — typically 1-3 months of expenses — and produce a savin
- F-1 Visa Total Cost Planner - Plan the full first-year F-1 cost including SEVIS I-901 fee, visa application, I-20 processing, tuition deposi
- Flight Cost Optimizer (booking window analysis) - Find the optimal booking window for round-trip flights between your home country and your US city. Calculates
- Starter Furniture Cost Estimator - Cost out a starter kit for a dorm or off-campus apartment. Mix and match IKEA, used (Facebook Marketplace, thr
- GPA Converter (US 4.0 with weighted + international) - Convert GPA between US 4.0, US 5.0 weighted, percentage (India/CBSE/ICSE), 10-point scale, and 4.3 scale. Comp
- Grocery Budget for International Students - Estimate a realistic monthly grocery budget considering your cooking style, dietary preferences, and the heavy
- H-1B Lottery Probability Calculator - Calculate realistic H-1B lottery win probability across multiple years. Models single vs multiple registration
- Health Insurance Comparison (school plan vs external) - Compare university-sponsored student health plans against external alternatives (ISO, PSI, WorldTrips) with re
- On-Campus vs Off-Campus Housing Cost - Compare on-campus dorm against typical off-campus rent by city tier. Includes utility setup fees, furniture co
- LinkedIn Headline + About Tester - Score your LinkedIn headline and About section for length, keyword density, role clarity, and contact info. Su
- Moving Cost Estimator (out-of-state or international) - Estimate the cost of moving into or out of a US rental or university. Covers local vs long-distance vs interna
- OPT Earning Forecaster (with 90-day unemployment cap) - Forecast OPT earnings while tracking the 90-day unemployment cap. Calculates post-tax monthly take-home, day-b
- International Student Packing List Generator - Generate a tailored packing list — climate-aware, electronics-aware, and prescription-aware. Outputs a checkli
- Cell Phone Plan Picker for International Students - Compare realistic cell plan options for international students without US credit history — Mint Mobile, Visibl
- Prescription Cost Estimator (with GoodRx + generic) - Estimate annual cost for a regular prescription. Compares insurance copay, GoodRx discount, manufacturer assis
- Resume Bullet Quantifier (action + number scorer) - Score resume bullet points on quantification (numbers, %) and action-verb strength. Outputs a per-bullet score
- Roommate Budget Splitter - Split rent and bills three ways: equal split, income-weighted split, room-size-weighted split. Includes utilit
- Salary vs Student Debt Payoff Years - Project years to pay off US education debt given your starting salary. Models standard vs aggressive repayment
- Scholarship ROI Analyzer - Compare scholarship offers against expected post-grad salary, factoring acceptance probability, renewal requir
- SEVIS 30-Day Entry Window Tracker - Identify your actual entry window from your I-20 program start date. Flags common mistakes (entering too early
- Sick Day & Uninsured Care Cost Estimator - Estimate the cost of common student health events without insurance: urgent care visit, ER visit, strep test,
- STEM OPT 24-Month Extension Value Analyzer - Quantify the value of the 24-month STEM OPT extension. Compares earnings over 12-month vs 36-month OPT, factor
- Study Hours Planner (deadline backward scheduler) - Enter all assignments with due dates and percentage weight, get a backward-planned schedule that spreads the w
- Sublease Break-Even Calculator - Calculate break-even rent for a sublease while you're away — factors in your fixed lease obligation, expected
- Tax Refund Estimator for F-1 Students - Estimate your federal tax refund or balance due as an F-1 student. Identifies FICA exemption eligibility, stat
- Textbook Cost Finder (cheapest route by source) - For each textbook, pick a source and see the cheapest realistic route. Compares new, used, rental, library res
- Total Real-Cost of Studying in the US - Calculate the full first-year cost including the soft costs most calculators skip: cell phone, social outings,
- International Wire Transfer Fee Comparator - Compare total cost of sending $X from US to home country across Wise (TransferWise), Remitly, Payoneer, Wester
- Rent Estimator by US Metro Tier - Quick rent estimate by metro tier (top-25 city, mid-tier, small metro, college town) and bedroom count. Includ
Questions
Do the tools need an account or a payment?
No. Every tool on StudyUS Toolkit is free, needs no account, and works before you type anything personal. The numbers you enter are used by the calculation on the current page and are gone when you reload.
Can I treat the output as a final answer?
Not on its own. A tool returns a magnitude under the conditions you typed in. It does not include what it costs to act, what might change while you act, or how the other side behaves. Before spending money, signing, or promising something to a third party, check the result against the source material and the official position.
What is the most reliable way to use these tools?
Follow the order given in the usage section: get your figures onto the same basis first, fill in one field at a time, then calculate. Checking that every unit matches the thing you are actually measuring catches more wrong answers than any other habit, and it takes about ten seconds.
My number does not match what I expected. What should I check?
Three things: that the units agree, that you have not left an optional field blank and accepted its default, and that you recalculated after editing an input. If all three are fine, the likely explanation is that your basis differs from the one the tool assumes - the limitations section on each tool page says what it covers.
Will the pages stay available?
We try to keep them, but the premises of a tool, the reference data and the outside world all move. Pages get reviewed and corrected as that happens. If you need to keep a result long term, take a screenshot and record the inputs you used.