All that matters is how well you answer. They have been rejecting quite a bit but don’t let that fear suck you in. What happens at the most? They will reject you. Anything else? Apply again. If it’s the second time already, still it’s okay.
There are plenty of opportunities in other countries and in Nepal. When the fear of reject doesn’t come into the picture, there is no place for anxiety and you’d be calm and confident. Luck is a factor but not the only factor. 99% of the factors are in our control and don’t mess it up there.
Keeping Calm
Have a cool mind. I have seen people shivering literally. How can one expect to answer properly in such a state of mind? Remove the fear of a rejected totally.
When the univ gives us admission, when we want to study, when we have funds ready, there is no reason why we’d be rejected unless we mess it up ourselves by fumbling too much.
Will You Come Back?
Will he believe me when I say I want to come back? The answer is no. He won’t, but sounds confident about your plans if asked. “There is absolutely nothing you can do to prove that you’d return”. If a country is against immigrants, it will not believe people on word on the basis of a 1-minute interview.
This is all a trap and a good reason for them to reject applicants. If they want, they can kick us out soon after our graduation ceremony. They wouldn’t offer us OPT’s of 12 months (extended to 24 now) and give us options.
Basically what I want to convey is U.S needs us more than we need U.S. Let us look at it from a different perspective now. After providing world class infrastructure for research, will they willingly allow us to go back, work in home countries and become a competition to them in turn?
No. Surely not. They are looking to filter and take the best brains from all the countries. This filtering is done from the visa stage as I see.
Who is a potential immigrant and who is not? How can it be decided in a few seconds? Don’t try too hard to convince him here. If he has decided to give you that potential immigrant slip, no amount of explanation would convince him.
U.S. VISA Rejection Reasons:
Now you may ask why and when he gives this slip. As per my understanding, he uses this tool to remove people who he thinks are false, people who lie, who can fabricate, who can cheat.
Many good applicants fumble, confuse, shiver which should be avoided at all costs! A little of that is expected and VOs understand it – they are humans too. But too much of it won’t help for sure. Too much worry will lead to nothing. Conclusion is – Avoiding 214b is almost entirely in our hands.
Not try to be brilliant in less time:
Don’t try to be brilliant in that 3 minutes. Can we change our SAT score? GPA? Univ? Nothing! Take a deep breath and Just be yourself.
Look into his eyes deeply and answer but don’t try to interpret his expressions. Don’t start thinking that he’d issue the visa or reject you. He should analyze you and not the other way round! Forget about the result and talk freely.
Be Crisp with the answers:
Be crisp with the answers. When he asks why this univ? don’t go on explaining with too many technical terms. He may be an arts grad or a psychology or a political science grad. Explain in words that he can understand!
Which University:
To those going to not so good univs; VOs don’t care where we are going. They are just there to make sure that we at least know why we chose that univ.
I have come across terms like ‘visa rating for so and so univ’. Trust me, there’s nothing like that! If it’s not a ranked univ, expect some grilling and prepare accordingly. Search for USPs of the univ or course there.
About Visa Interview Counter Numbers:
There is nothing to worry about specific counter no’s or specific VOs in any consulate. As soon as you walk to the counter, by looking at you, no one will decide whether or not to issue the visa.
They are not so unfair. The initial impression you make will be the most important. Face the interview confidently. The way you walk to the counter and greet him itself will speak volumes.
Black Listed Universities:
Consulate is not against Svu or npu or NEU or SJSU. Don’t let all these things take a toll on your performance! There are exceptions as always.
Few of them with perfect answers also get rejects. But such cases will be through in the second attempt without doubt. It’s for our own good that we forget such cases. Take as little pressure as possible. Don’t bother about luck, officer’s mood etc which are not in our control.
Sum Up :
Fact #1 :
You want to study, you got admission, you have funds. There is no reason to worry about anything.
Fact #2 :
U.S needs you more than you need U.S A. We have an upper hand! So don’t go with a fear whether he’d find you good enough or not. Don’t underestimate yourself. Go confidently. Go like a brave soldier not like a wounded one. We deserve visa.
The only reason we fumble and get tensed is because we feel something is lacking in us and try to convince him on that. Do not do that.
This is not a professional job interview where you’d be tested on the subject matter. These are questions even a 10th standard guy can answer casually. So don’t lose your sleep over it. Let us break this hype. When we do that, automatically the anxiety, tension, euphoria surrounding will vanish.