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Thande

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Thande last won the day on February 6 2006

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  1. Congratulations for you and your family. I had my fingers crossed for you all the time!
  2. Simba and Tino, I appreciate the advice you have given. I shall forward it to them. Thanks!
  3. This question is on behalf of my friend who is completely distraught at having been denied a visa yesterday: Her husband has been admitted to a Seminary in the US. The I20s they received were detailed as follows: Tuition: 7800 USD Living expenses student: 4000 USD Expenses dependants (2): 2500 USD Amount to be raised by the student: 0 USD The college is giving full sponsorship to the whole family. The visa officer told them that USD 6,500 is unrealistic for a family in the US. I agree with the VO and explained this to my friend. I urged them to reapply. My questions: 1.Should the school give a revised I 20 with more "realistic figures" and probably indicate that the student should raise an additional xx USD? 2. Should they just use the same I20 and take bank statements showing that they have a lot of money on their accounts? 3. How soon should they go back for an interview? They were rejected yesterday. They actually have fnds of their own but did not think it would be necessary to show this since the school indicated that they did not need to show funds of their own. I'd really be grateful for your advice :)
  4. I'm going with my husband and daughter. The course is for 5 years. My husband will start studies in 2007 so he's coming on F2 to start with. I have full funding (50,000 usd for tuition and stipend) and had to show an additional 5500 USD for my husband and 4000 for the child so a total of 9,500 in addition. I sent statements to my uni showing slightly more than this amount and they put this on the I20. I also carried similar statements with me to the embassy. At the embassy I was interviewed alone - standard questions: 1. Where/what are you going to study? 2. Why the US? 3. What are your plans when you finish? Have you ever been to the US? 4. The I20 shows that additional funding comes from xxx company. What company is this (family owned business gave additional statements and confirmation of funding) The I20 also shows that your husband will provide additional funding. What business is he in? (I had put one of his bank statements explained that it is rent from a residential house and offered to show him the bank statments. He took them, reviewed and returned them to me. He the asked me to call my family in. He asked my hubby if he likes baseball, if we are nervous about travelling. I then knew that all was ok. One thing I noticed is how he watched my face closely when asking me questions as if looking for any hesitation. Your answers have to be flowing and not nervous. I'm happy to answer any other questions.
  5. Well my mom did her undergrad degree (B.ed) at a UK University at the age of 45! When I told her I felt old going for my PhD she said "Can you imagine how it felt for me starting out with 18, 19 year olds!" I think age does not really matter, just your will to do your best.:)
  6. All the best aesthetic..! I hope you all get your visas. I was worried since I was applying together with my family but the interview went really well. I'm sure it will be the same for you if you are confident and have all your documents well organised. Good luck!
  7. I can only tell you of my experience. I went to the Embassy, presented my I20 form with the money at the cashier and he said: Hey you have not signed you I20! I apologized for overlooking it and promptly signed it. I guess that means you should sign it in advance before presenting it
  8. Ah, thanks that helps a lot :)
  9. Does anyone know whether dependants of F1 visa holders (F2) are allowed to do volunteer work i.e. take up assignments that do not give any remuneration? Do the rules state that you cannot work at all or you cannot work for a salary? Thanks!
  10. Hey Charanya, Congratulations! I think I remember advising you to wait to apply for next year since you seemed to be a bit late for 2006 but congratulations, I am very happy to learn that you actually managed to beat the deadlines.:)This definately deserves a banana dance: [banana][banana][banana][banana] I do not know much about your field but I so I can't give you much advice on that. My only motto is to get into as little debt as possible while going for your graduate studies. Cheers!
  11. As limitlesssky mentioned http://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/ is a very helpful link. When applying to one of the colleges, Duke I think, they asked for my GPA and directed me to that site to convert my grades. They however did not require an independent evaluation. When you apply, use those guidelines to get your equivalent GPA. Check again to make sure that you directed your enquiry to the right person nad make sure that they understood your question right. Sometimes as internationals our English fails us in this regard. :) What are you planning to study and where?
  12. Thande

    US visa queries...

    Hi, I also received multiple I-20s. It just happens that some schools admit you and immediately send you I-20s even before you accept their offer. This happened to me because they were all offering full funding. What I did was to first decline the offers by email and then return the I-20s with a formal rejection of the offers by post. Why don't you just send back the I-20s you don't require to the schools? As soon as they receive them, they will then cancel them.
  13. I don't think age really matters. It is only important that you effectively convey your motivation for study, committment to research and academic excellence. I am 33 and have been out of school for 5 years! That did not stop me from geting 3 very good admits. Sometimes you can actually use age to your advantage :) I got married when I was pursuing my masters degree and that was really difficult - concentration levels were at my lowest. It is really difficult to be a grad student when you are at the age where you feel you should be finding a life partner etc. :) By the time I was through with my MA I thought I would never look at another book again. Now that I am settled and have been married, worked and saved for quite a while, I feel very settled and eager for academics - I even feel a lot wiser...I found a grey strand of hair on my head the other day:D
  14. Applied 5 Rejects-2 Admits - 3 Pending- none Glad it's all over :)
  15. While they cannot take action against you for not sending it over, it is a good practise and minimal effort to send it back by regular mail. Do send it back. It is not compulsory but just common courtesy:)
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