US Experience

                       Finally i have arrived in the United States of America after a long long Flight. There was a huge Queue at the immigration as 70 percent of the Immigration counters were not working at 4 in the afternoon. It took me 2 hours to complete the immigration and customs procedures. My flight to buffalo was at 9:40pm and hence i had to spend 3 hours at the O’Hare International airport and then board a flight to Buffalo,NY.  After 3 hours i boarded the flight to Buffalo, which was a small chartered flight with a capacity of around 30 people. I reached Buffalo around midnight and boarded a taxi to my seniors home.

                       I woke up pretty late the next day at around 9:00 as i was just recovering from the Jet Lag. My senior took me to the college to get my ID card and have a first look of the campus where i will be spending my next 2 years. The campus is a huge one and i have to take a campus shuttle bus which will take around 15 min to cover 10Kms. The campus has 6 full fledged food courts, lots of open landscapes, greenery and its own lake.It seems like half of Buffalo is UB’s. I dont think the Americans know how to build small things. Right from coffee to buildings everything in this country is enormous. The Roads inside the college are like the highways in India unlike NIT Trichy where the roads are full of potholes. My department is situated in a 11 storey building and it is shared by Chemical and Mechanical Engineering departments. The public in general are very helpful and kind. The professors here dont like to be addressed as Sir/Madam and instead want them to be addressed by their names( Very Strange for a student from India, where a hue and cry will be raised when a student addresses the professor by his name). I got a mobile phone connection in ten minutes and opened a bank account in 10 Minutes(Which is very fast).

                       Three days after landing in buffalo, me and my friends moved into a rented apartment(rent 250$ per head). Its a 4 Bedroom apartment, with a big Living rooms, fully furnished with Washing Machines, Dryers, Microwave Owens, Heaters, Couch etc. We went to Buffalo city to get the gas and electricity connections. That was the first time i got a feel of USA. We took a Metro rail from the university to the City centre where the gas office is situated. The metro in buffalo is an Old one with the underground sections serving high speed connectivity and then converting into a tram inside the City. Public transport is costly here  as the minimum ticket costs you around Rs.175. Our next priority was to get a Internet connection. The internet speed offered here is something that is out of the world for a person like me as i get only 1Mbps at home and here i am being offered a net connection with a speed of 15Mbps and that too for 5$. I think the internet connection is the only thing in the US that is Cheaper than India. When i asked the officer whether the internet usage is Unlimited, the officer gave me a strange look. Everything is in place in the house after a week of hard work and now we can relax a bit until the college starts.

Pre-Departure Orientation

 

                                      It is conducted by United States – India Educational Foundation for students going from INDIA to the United States. This session which i am going to write about was held on 30th July 2010 from 9 am in the morning to 2pm in the afternoon at Deccan Plaza Royapettah, Chennai. Personally i found this session to be very useful and i would recommend students going to USA to attend these sessions before going to USA.

How to apply?

                                     You can register to these sessions by visiting any of the USIEF centers in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. You can get the address by visiting USIEF-Website. You have to take your passport, Visa and your i20 to the center and register by paying Rs.250. You will be given a Pre-Departure guide which is very informative and i would highly recommend that you read through the book once during your leisure time.

Session :

                                      I reached the venue by 8:45 am and i was asked to sit on the table which contains my state name in which my university is situated, I found this seating arrangement to be a very nice one. I think that it is better for students to interact and getting to know about students in the same region rather than say a New York student interacting with a Californian bound student though It is a problem if you are coming along with your college friends:P. The welcome address was given by the consular general of American consulate, Chennai, and he started by giving a few YOGA exercises, and he gave a brief introduction about the purpose of this gathering. After this there was a presentation given by Mr.Prateek who did had studied in the US and a MIT Alumni about the Academics in the US. They explained how the education in US is different from that provide in India and the Dos and Donts while doing assignments, attending class, research etc. The point which they stressed is that “If you are attentive in class then its like half the job done”, and specifically mentioned that the Assignments must be done Independently. Then they talked about the importance of internships, how to choose your internship such that you can show it as a course during summer so as to make sure that the internship comes under CBT and you dont end up consuming your OPT(optional Practical Training). Then they explained about the VISA Extension wherein you can extend your visa by 6 months for OPT(Optional Practical Training). If you are going to work on campus then make sure that you work “Less than 20 hours per week” and you will be monitored about how much time you work by using the SSN number. They emphasized the point of exploring and interacting with the people so as to gain experience which is very much part of your studies in the United states. Travel as much as possible as this will be the best time of your life.  

                                       The next session was about the Cultural aspects of living in the US. Here the panelists explained about the culture of the USA, How its different from the one back home, the need to know and get accustomed to their traditions like Halloween, Thanksgiving day etc. The main thing is that one should not be shy and try to mingle with the natives. One should not only be part of the Indian Association but also try to be a member of other associations as you will never be exposed such a diverse environment in the future. One of the major aspects of education in the US is the Experience you gain from interaction between people from different parts of the world. Its better to wear dresses that is common in US and to wear the traditional dresses only during functions. People in the US are crazy about Baseball and NFL like we are about cricket back home. You can easily start a conversation about Baseball and NFL and make a lot of friends. An important aspect in the US is Donot touch a Friend and speak or put your shoulders around your friend as you will be misunderstood as a Gay and they will rudely tell you to take your hands off.

 

                                       The next session was given by Mr.David from the consulate about the Donts in immigration and jobs. Its a crime if you work 20 hours or more per week in offcampus jobs with your F-1 Visa and the authorities can track about the number of hours you work by using the Social Security Number(SSN) and you will be Deported immediately.  The Documents you need to show in the Immigration counter are as follows, i20, form 94, Passport and Visa. You are advised to keep these documents ready and not to delay as the officer wont like it. It is advisable to carry a photocopy of your Passport and Visa wherever you go and keep the Original in a safe place as it is an extremely tough process to get your passport again and you will need to apply for your VISA again. Donot leave your laptops unattended as more often than not it will be stolen. Most universities will have Escorts for escorting students upto their off-campus home during night. Never go alone in isolated streets during night and it is highly advisable to go around as a group and check your city’s crime rates and crime localities.

 

                                      The Next session was about Foreign Exchange. The maximum cash you can carry is $3000 and totally $10000(Cash+TC+Card) and never keep these in your check in bags. Mini sessions were arranged by Matrix cellular, Tata calling cards and Tata Insurance. A nice Lunch was served to everyone who attended.

College ID Saves the Day and NIT Trichy testing my patience

 

                             National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli(NIT Trichy) is where i did my Bachelors degree(B.Tech) in Chemical Engineering. I completed my course on May 8,2010. In order to pursue my higher studies i was required to get some Transcripts(Consolidated Marksheet) of my Bachelors Degree in a sealed envelope signed by the dean academic. My house is in Chennai, which is around 340 KMs from Trichy. 

                             I started my journey to Trichy by Guruvayur Express which left Chennai Egmore station at 7:50 am in the morning. I had booked my ticket through Internet and printed my ticket. The Ticket is valid only if i prove my identity by either showing my original passport/Driving License/Ration Card/Pan Card/College ID card. I had a photocopy of my Driving License  and original College ID card. I usually to show my driving License photocopy, and the Ticket collector accepts it as a proof of my Identity, but it was not to be this time around. The TTR asked for my ticked and an ID proof and I showed my E-Ticket and my driving License photocopy. HE turned around and said that my ticket is INVALID. I got the shock of my life and he asked me to read the terms and conditions printed on the bottom of the ticket. To my relief i found the golden words “College ID card can be accepted as a proof of ones Identity” and showed my ID card to him and he accepted my ticket. But the guy sitting besides me was not so lucky wherein he just had a photocopy of his driving license and nothing else. The TTR cancelled his ticket and forced him to pay the fine of Rs.550 which he eventually had to shell out. I found out that my College ID, which i seldom used in College saved me from the blushes and Rs.500.

                          

                              I reached Trichy at 1:30 pm and i boarded a bus to the Central Bus Stand where i finished my lunch in a nearby restaurant. To be frank the food offered by restaurants in Trichy is very Tasty and on par with restaurants in Chennai. After this i took a bus to NIT and it took me approx. 35 minutes. After getting down from the bus i went straight to the Dean Academics office at around 4pm. To my surprise i didnt find anyone there and actually the office was locked as everyone had gone to attend the orientation programme for the first year students.  To my immense relief i saw noticed that the lady who is responsible for the issuing of Transcripts was sitting inside the office. I approached her and asked whether the transcripts ere ready and she said that she has printed the transcripts but it needs to be signed by the Dean who was still at the orientation programme. So, i waited and after about ten minutes he came and went inside his office.The Lady then went inside and placed the Transcripts form it to be signed by him. Numerous visitors poured in to meet him and he took around 1 hour for him to sign the transcripts and i was forced to wait for one hour to  get his sign which was really frustrating. I got the transcripts in as sealed envelope and started my journey towards Chennai.

US VISA Process

 

          The first thing to do after you get an admit in a US university is to apply for your F-1 Visa, Its a lengthy process and i would advice you to start your visa application process as soon as you receive your i20. You would be required to pay Rs.6700 odd in any HDFC branch in and around your place. Then you have to pay $200 as a SEVIS fee online, you can access the form using this link Sevis Fee.Please note that you should have a printer attached to your computer while paying the fees as you will not be able to access the form later. You can use this form as a proof for payment of the SEVIS fee.  You will receive a pay receipt from the sevis office that will be sent to your home., which you will receive in approximately 1 month.  Go to any Kodak showroom and get a US Visa specific passport size photo, make sure you get a soft copy of the photo in a CD as you will be required to upload it in the DS-160 form. .After this go to the US-Consulate website and fill the DS-160 form which is a pretty long one, fill this form honestly. Please note that this form will expire in twenty minutes and so save this form as you finish a part of it. After this fix an appoinment with the US Consulate. Only a few dates(5 to 6) will be available for the interview at a time and the dates will be released as they get filled up.

Preparation for the interview:

              Consolidated Financial document: One can get a consolidated financial document from a recognized Chartered Accountant and ask him to give a statement of your assets, parents income and Savings. Include as much as you can, ideally make sure that the amount quoted is more than the amount specified in your i20.

              Take Print Outs of your Resume and Curriculam Vittae. Incase you get a Pink Slip, you will be asked to submit a copy of both these documents.

              Loan Sanction Letter: If you are taking a loan from a bank, make sure you get a loan sanction letter from the branch manager.

Documents to be taken:

• i20             
• Consolidated Financial Docs
• Appointment Letter
• Passport
• Few Passport Size photos
• Sevis Fee Printed receipt
• 10th, 12th Marksheets
• GRE, Toefl marksheets
• HDFC Blue Receipt
• Assets Documents
• Loan Sanction Letter

                      I wish you all the best for your interview. Good Luck. Be calm, Confident, and be Honest everything will go smoothly. It will be a very short interview, hardly 2 Mins. Reach the consulate office half an hour before your appointment time.