US Student Visa Questions: What should students prepare for?

For the most, if not all applicants for non-immigrant visas are generally viewed as intending immigrants, until they can really convince the immigration officer that they are not.

For the US Student Visa (F1 visa), no matter how careful students could be in knowing certain visa processing procedures, they should definitely prepare for some of the frequently asked questions.

With 15 years of research and experience, experts at Beyond Boundaries have prepared this list of questions for students who face visa process every year. It is believed that most students are definitely asked either or all of the following questions:

1. Why do you want to study in the US?
2. Why do you want to pursue an MS/MBA/PhD program?
3. Why have you chosen XYZ university?
4. What is your GRE and TOEFL score?
5. What is your academic background?
6. Who will sponsor your education?
7. What is your sponsor's occupation?
8. What financial arrangement has been made to pay for your education?
9. What are your plans after completing this degree?

The above 9 questions are almost sure shot, however, students can be asked about the climatic conditions, trivia about the university such as the university's famous sport, lucky mascot, etc to test their knowledge about the university that they intend to study at, among other questions.

Other miscellaneous questions students should be ready to face are:

1. How many universities did you apply to? How many admits and rejects?
2. How did you short-list the universities?
3. What research area are you interested in?
4. Do you know anyone in the USA?
5. Have you ever travelled abroad?
6. What is the cost of education per year?
7. Which companies can you work with after finishing your education?
8. Have you opted for any educational loan?

For students who graduated last year and have not worked:

• What were you doing after completing your education?

For students with work experience:

• What are you doing after completing your education?
• Where are you working?
• How did you get this job? What is your role?
• Does your organisation know you are going to study abroad?
• Why do you want to leave such a lucrative job and study?

For students who have changed their major/subject area:

• Why have you changed your subject area?
• How did you get interested in the new subject area?

This year the F1 student visas are relatively easy to obtain. However, it always helps to be well-prepared before attending the interview.

The author of this article, Binita Parekh, leads a team of dedicated and highly qualified counsellors and staff at Beyond Boundaries Education Consulting Services which offers advice and guidance to students for successful applications to prestigious academic institutions, enabling them to achieve and bring their dreams to fruition.

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