Student Visa (F-1 or J-1) is required for citizens of other countries to pursue a degree program at a US University. A personal interview is required for the student visa and an appointment is needed.

Like other US visa requirements, applicants for student visa need to complete DS Forms, Affix photographs as per specifications, and carry their passport and required fee. In addition, following are the documents one must carry for a student visa interview.

I-20: This is the single most important document and an absolute must to get a student visa. If you have multiple I-20s carry the one for your final University. If the I-20 has any errors get it sorted out with the University before you go for the visa.
Degrees: Carry all your degrees in original. The qualifying degree for your US admission is most relevant. If you have recently completed your study carry provisional degree or marksheet stating a degree has not yet been awarded.
Mark sheets: Carry all your marksheets / transcripts in original
Standardized Test score reports: Your GRE / SAT / GMAT / TOEFL score report whatever was required to obtain admission to the US University.
Financial Documents: Original passbooks and bank statements of self and sponsors
Income Tax Returns: Tax returns of the most recent two years of self and sponsors, as applicable.


One must carry all academic and financial documents possible in original. However in most cases the interviewer asks for one or two documents, from the above mentioned list. Good Luck with your visa interview.

The US Healthcare is one of the best in the world IF you can afford it. The doctors are very qualified, hospitals and equipments are truly world-class but the same can not be said of the insurance and payment systems. The way healthcare works in USA is that the cost of healthcare is very high and a vast majority of Americans cannot pay for their healthcare out of the pocket, if they do not have enough insurance coverage. So having a health insurance is really critical to one’s survival.

The concept of health insurance in USA is more complicated than GRE or GMAT and takes a lot of time energy and disappointment before you really understand how things work. In most countries of the developed, developing and third world, people are used to the idea of free healthcare and free medicine for routine healthcare needs. It is nothing less than a cultural shock to realize that the treatment cost for any accident or significant even minor health issue can run into thousands of dollars in USA.

It cannot be stressed enough that as students you should be covered for the entire duration of your stay with health insurance that confirms to your University guidelines. Contact the University health center or international students’ program office to find out what is the recommended coverage. In most cases a teaching or research assistantship comes with added benefits which may include health insurance coverage. If you lose your assistantship, you lose the coverage too. So It is your own responsibility to buy health insurance which takes care of your needs in the event of loss of coverage.

Some links related to student health insurance:
www.insurancepandit.com/
www.healthinsurancefinders.com/

If you have high mathematical aptitude, an undergraduate degree in Mathematics or Engineering, and interest in Finance, it is an option worth exploring. Both GRE and GMAT are accepted, check with individual programs. TOEFL is required for international applicants.

Some of the top programs in Financial Engineering include:

• UC Berkeley Haas
• Columbia
• UCLA Anderson
• Cornell
• Polytechnic University
• Temple University

You can Chat Online with officials of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business for a Q & A about MFE Program, on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 from 10:30AM-12:00PM PT .

Many International applicants to US Universities do not get a chance to know the people of USA till they actually arrive in the country. The perception about the American people is often based on movies, novels, news coverage or just word of mouth. The media coverage depends on which part of the world you live in.

No matter what you know or have heard about the American people, you are likely to be pleasantly surprised by the fact that people are very nice, polite and helpful, even towards strangers. The first thing you will notice here is that people smile a lot. They even say Hello, Good Morning, How are you doing today, to anybody whom they come across. You will be further surprised to find that people will open and hold doors for you to get in. If you are lost on campus and ask for help someone will not only explain you the directions but may even walk with you to show where you need to go.

It is advisable to learn the optimism, cheerfulness and manners so that you come across as a likable and well-mannered person when you interact with people of various nationalities at a US University or outside the campus. It is important to greet people with a smile or Hello when they greet you. In USA eye contact is very important, so look in the eyes while talking to someone. If they offer a hand, shake their hand firmly and with enthusiasm. Open and hold doors for others while entering a building if someone is right behind you. Allow people to come out of an elevator before you try to get in.

The key is to be very proud of your own culture and at the same time learn the local culture so that you have a great experience in USA… and remember to smile!

Many US Universities like MIT have 2 long semesters, Fall and Spring and one shorter semester in Summer. In these Universities most courses are offered in the two long semesters. Students typically do research or take paid internship on a full-time basis during the Summer semester. Legally international students have to take a minimum of 3 courses per long semester so that the US Govt. is assured that you are really spending your time in full time studies.

Many other Universities, specially in California have 4 semesters of 3 months each, known as quarters. One of the 4 quarters is summer, the other three semesters are known as Fall, Winter, and Spring. Even in the quarter system, enrolment rules are relaxed for international students and very few courses are offered in Summer.

The Summer semester in either system is comparable. But the key difference is that in Semester system you have 2 long semester spanning four and a half months. In the quarter system you have three main semesters (excluding summer) of two and a half months, discounting 15 days for exams, break, etc. As a student, it impacts your schedule and the pressure under which you operate. Even a 4.5 month semester is very fast paced, but in a quarter system the semester is over as soon as it starts! Professors teach at a fast pace and deadlines for assignments are closer. As a student you have no room to relax, waste time or miss any class or assignment.

You should apply to those US Universities which you otherwise would irrespective of the semester or quarter system. After you get many admission offers, and two of your offers are very close, you can use this information as a tie breaker.

Example Calendars for either system:
Fall, Spring and Summer schedule at MIT (2007-08)
Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer at UCLA (2007-08)

In the mid nineteenth century there was a lot of gold to be found in California. You are little late for that. But still there are many reasons to apply to Universities in California!

No U.S. state can match California in the quality and number of top Universities. Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Cal Tech, Hastings College of Law are one of the top Universities. The number of Nobel Laureates in these Universities exceeds those in many countries of the world.

California has a robust and diverse economy with lots of activities in the Computers, Biotech, Healthcare and Engineering. Even when US economy is not doing too good, the California economy is strong due to the innovations that are pioneered in California. Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Disneyland are in California. California is home to some of the world’s biggest computer and software companies.

California is culturally and racially the most diverse state in the U.S. and perhaps in the world. It is amazing to note that banks and government departments offer services in Spanish, Mandarin, Tagalog and Vietnamese and more. Telugu speakers can be found everywhere. Diversity is good for everyone more so for international students and new immigrants. More diversity leads to high acceptability of people from outside and better chances of getting jobs. It also means that you have a vibrant workplace where you have co workers from different cultures. For food connoisseurs, there are a variety of eating joints where you can get food from all parts of the world. California is by far the leading state in the number of international students studying in any state - 77,987 in 2006-07.

Even geographically it is an amazing place. Within 2 hours of the Silicon Valley, you can reach plains, Bays, Ocean, Deserts, Forests, Snow-clad mountains and large lakes. The weather in the most urban areas is pleasant throughout the year.

So what is the down side? The living cost is higher. But that is compensated by the numerous advantages. While Applying to US Universities be sure to include a few from California. When you have multiple admission offers, read this blog before you take a decision!

Top 5 institutions in California in the number of international student enrolment:

• University of Southern California
• University of California, Los Angeles
• Stanford University
• University of California, Berkeley
• Santa Monica College

Ref: Open Doors Report, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Most of the top business schools tend to conduct a phone interview for the short-listed candidates. The interview is not to test the applicant’s knowledge but a general discussion aimed to understand the candidate better and to determine if the applicant is really interested in that business school.

Some of the commonly asked questions in the interview:

Tell us something about yourself. Speak for about two minutes highlighting your key strengths. There is no need to tell your academics or GMAT score. They have it

What diversity do you bring to our program? If you are a Indian male techie, this is very crucial because they presume you do not bring any diversity to a applicant pool already filled with your type. Think about all your achievements and skills far from IT and Computers and make a strong case.

What are your long-term goals? Be yourself. Make sure you do not contradict your essays.

Why our program? Your answer should reflect that you have really read their webpage and understood the main strengths of that B-school. Also project as if this is your top choice and you are very excited about the possibility of studying there.

If you do not understand a question request the interviewer to repeat it. In the end thank the interviewer for her time. Now the most important piece of advice if you are an international applicant - most people have a tough time understanding the English accent of people from other countries specially on phone. So in a phone interview you need to speak clearly and very very slowly with lots of punctuations.

“I am very much interested in pursuing graduate studies at your university because your University has world class research facilities” sounds impressive? Not to the admission committee. This sentence can be written by any applicant for any University. Consider this, “My research interest is in the area of Computer Graphics. I want to pursue my MS in Computer Science at the University of North Carolina, Chappell Hill because of the pioneering research being done in the area of graphics.” If other qualifications are similar, the second applicant with a clear specific statement is more likely to be selected over the first one.

Although Statement of Purpose has a similar requirement at most MS and PhD programs, some do have specific expectations, questions or word limits. After you have written your statement of purpose, rewrite it for each target University. Be sure to write the name of your target University at least once in your statement like in the above example. Also check if your research interest is an area of focus for that particular department; else mention your other interests which match the work at that particular University.

Do not write names of Professors in your statement of purpose because you do not want to narrow your sources of funding. Be very careful against errors in copy pasting. Double check you are not praising the artificial intelligence research of University of Texas in your statement of purpose for UCLA.

Your statement of purpose is one of the most important aspects of your Application to US Universities. If you are diligent and follow the advice outlined in this post, you will significantly increase your chances of admission. Got a question? Ask the question on our forum at www.app2us.com - all guidance is free of cost.

Nevertheless, students who experience the different academic systems realize the benefits of each and become better students because of their exposure to both.

Students were asked to describe the differences between attending schools inside and outside of the US for a scholarship essay contest sponsored by University Language Services, a US-based company that translates academic transcripts, records and personal documents and provides assistance to students attending universities around the world.

The submissions came from students who have studied on six continents, in dozens of countries. The winner, SoRi Jang, is a high school senior from Centerville, Ohio, who attended schools in the US and Korea. She will enroll at the University of Chicago.

No matter their location, students often made similar remarks.

“The American school system was far easier than what I was used to. The class load was lighter, the expectations were lower, and teaching methods were very different,” wrote Seyram Adorka, a student at the University of Florida who moved to the US from Lesotho as a 13-year-old.

“The French educational system surprised me in the independence it asks of students, compared to the American system,” wrote Jacqueline Villadsen, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“My knowledge of European history has greatly expanded and I feel that the education I am receiving in Slovakia has allowed me to explore completely different realms of knowledge not offered by the American education system,” wrote Amanda Crawley, of Davis, Calif.

In addition, students wrote that schools in other countries differed in the emphasis they placed on individual achievement versus teamwork, said Jessica Hertz, chairwoman of the scholarship contest.

“A surprising number of essays noted that American students are taught to strive for individual success, but students elsewhere in the world are taught to cooperate and collaborate,” Hertz said.

Although many students described the dramatic differences they found regarding homework, their relationships with teachers and the material which they studied, few definitively stated that one style of education was better than the other. Rather, the differences they experienced abroad made them more motivated, prepared and independent students in the US.

The winning essays can be read in full at www.universitylanguage.com.
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