F1 Visa Interview Experiences

Fall 2013. MS in EE – GMU. Hyderabad Consulate

> Following F1 Visa interview experience at U.S. Comsulayte in Hyderabad is shared by Dheeraj Reddy

I had attended the F1 visa interview on may 13 2013 at 8 am at the Hyderabad consulate.

Profile:

  • B.E %: 65
  • GRE: 300 (149+151)
  • TOEFL: 100

I was lucky enough to get a VO who a very friendly and patient enough to listen to my long answers.

VO: Hi, How are you?

ME: Hello mam, I am fine. How are you?

VO: Good. So Masters in EE at George Mason Univ huh? What do you want to specialize in?

ME: I want to specialize in control and robotics.

VO: Ok, So why US? {She meant why USA and why not Europe or India}

ME: To pursue a Masters in elec engineering.

VO: /* Chuckles */ I think I got that. Why only US?

ME: The academic world in US is more diverse in terms of people, resources, programs and ideas when compared to India.
Also the intl exposure would provide me an opportunity to develop as an individual.

VO: Name all the univs you applied to.

ME: California state univ northridge, Southern Illinois Univ carbondale, George Mason univ, Stevens Inst of Tech, Oakland Univ

VO: How many admits?

ME: Admitted into Cal state N, SIUC, GMU. Awaiting decision from Oakland univ.

VO: Why did you choose GMU?

ME: GMU offers a specialization in both control and robotics which offers a diverse range of courses to choose from. The univ has many research groups working on swarm robotics and automation which are in my field of study. GMU has some of the finest faculty and receives external funding from major agencies such as the Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation.

VO: What else can you tell me about your Univ?

ME: GMU ranks no 1 in the list “Up and coming univs” by us news.com. In a survey of 357 univs GMU ranks no 1 for diversity.

VO: What is ur B.Tech %?

ME: I scored 65% with a first class degree.

VO: And how many backlogs did you have?

ME: 25 mam.

VO: TWENTY FIVE? Why so many?

ME: At this age, I was stop being told what to do and was forced to make myself take action. I lacked discipline and my grades suffered. The line between making goals and working towards them was hard to cross. But I made amends and started working hard. I did not have backlogs from 5 th sem onwards and scored 72% in final sem.

VO: When did you pass out?

ME: August 2013 mam.

VO: What were you doing since then?

ME: I have completed a 5 month course related to the specialization I chose for Masters. I have been working as a lecturer in an engineering college.

VO: How are you planning to fund your studies?

ME: My parents will be sponsoring mu education. We have a savings of * lacs and a bank loan of * lacs.

VO starts typing for nearly three mins. The VO was cheerful and all smiles since the beginning of the interview and I had no idea if my application was being approved or rejected.

ME: Mam, Can I say something?

VO: Go on.

ME: Even though I had 25 backlogs, I still managed to get a first class degree and scored 72% in my final sem. I have been admitted in to some of the best univs in my field of specialization. I am a genuine student. I dedicated the past 8 months to prepare myself for grad school.

VO: Yeah I can see that. I am approving your visa. Study hard and enjoy your stay in US.

ME: /* It took 5 seconds to sink in*/ Thank you mam, have a good day.

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8 Comments

  1. Its a very encouraging and much inspiring post from a person like Dheeraj who cracked the interview with history of 25 backlogs..This proves that genuinity and confidence play ball at interview…I enjoyed reading the post

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