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ACADEMIC QUESTIONS:

1. How many universities did you apply to? This is a very basic question, but linked to this is the second question that is shot at you. 2. How many admits or rejections you have received? As explained in the above question, both of these are interlinked. Now if you applied to 4 were accepted in 1 and got 3 rejects. You don’t have to be Mr. TRUTH. So put it as applied to 4, got 1, awaiting 2, 1 reject or applied to 4, got 1, awaiting 3. (They will have the record of your admits and not of your rejections). But then state as this was supposed to be your first choice anyhow, so even if you would have had the admit letters from any of the other 3, you would certainly have gone for this one. 3. What is the purpose of your trip? The purpose of my trip is to do my MS in ___________ (E.g.: CS/Telecommunications/EE…whatever or PhD in _____) 4. What is your GRE/TOEFL score? Always try to speak out the better score first. Like if you have a good TOEFL score, say your TOEFL first and then GRE. Usually people think, they can go and lead them by answering long and sweet, like if asked for scores, the long answer might be : “Sir, I took my Computer based TOEFL and scored 270 at it, while I took the GRE and scored 800 in Quantitative, 710 in Analytical and 430 in Verbal”. Well this can heat up the officer. So keep it short. Try always to answer in short and to the point. 5. WHAT TO SAY FOR THE LOW GRE AND TOEFL? Variety of things makes up the final decision. Always accept your mistakes and explain what exactly went wrong in the examination.

6. Which was your undergraduate college? My undergraduate college was _____________ 7. What was your bachelor’s degree in? My Bachelors degree is in ________________ 8. What are your grades like? Spell it out as it has been at your university. Say “Sir, We have a percentage system, and i scored xx% overall” IF your final year marks excel the other semester marks, spell that one out, coz usually in some universities, they look at the final year marks to grade the student in the Certificate. 9. Which university are you planning to go to? Name the university you want the visa for. (The University of your Choice)

FINANCIAL QUESTIONS:

10. Who is planning to sponsor you? As mentioned in your I-20. If you have a scholarship, say that. Else in case the I-20 says “Family funds” say that, and you may add that sir, my father and my mother are supporting me for my higher education. If your relatives are also sponsoring you then do mention about them as well. 11. Your passbooks show that a large amount of money has recently been deposited. How would you explain that? If you have borrowed the money here is what you could do Its quite likely that in the past you may have received huge sums of money like selling of some property, retirement of parents etc so u could say something like) In year X we had received   Rs. XXX and instead of depositing the amount in a bank at a low interest rate, we invested it in other sources which gave us high interest rates or we gave it to our needy friends. Now we have taken this money back to finance my education. (Of course it’s really dicey to answer this question, but if you are confident you shouldn’t have a problem. If you have some proof of receiving a huge sum of money some years back, make sure you carry it) You can also say that you had private Fixed deposits i.e you invested in private firms coz they provide higher interest rates (say out figures like 16% per annum as compared to the mere 9% of banks. You can show this receipt and say that now you en-cashed that amount, coz you needed it for your educational purposes. 12. What is your father’s annual income? This question often decides your ability to pay for your expenses. They think that money can be put into banks, but annual income is a proof which they heavily rely upon to decide the student’s parent’s capability to spend for his educational expenses. a) What is your father’s annual income? Explain as per the CA report and the IT returns. b) What is your family’s annual income? The moment the words ‘Annual Income” creeps in, state your complete family annual income, i.e. if your mother is also an earning member, if you have agricultural income, if you have rental income plus the interests and dividends…State all of them together. Dont commit the blunder of stating just your father’s income. Many a times it hampers your chances. If it seems low to them. Obviously a sum of mother’s income, your father’s income, agricultural (if u have), rental will be more than a single one. And if they ask for the IT returns, hand over both of your parent’s return statements, plus the agricultural papers plus the rental receipt (duplicate) at a time. And if he/she just argues (usually they don’t) that you were asked about your father’s income. Then say” Sir, MY family is sponsoring me. Along with my father my mother is also an earning member and an income tax payee. Family funds is what the I-20 states, and so my family including my father and mother (opt brother, if u have one earning) are sponsoring me and here are their statements and proofs of other modes of income. 13. I have been offered a partial scholarship. What financial documents should I show? Amount mentioned in the I-20 form for 1 year MINUS the scholarship amount should be shown in the form of financial documents. You can show funding for the subsequent year in the form of property or liquid assets. You can also show in written form if the university has intention to give aid for the next year also. 14. Can I show an educational loan as my source of funding? Yes. You can do so. But if doesn’t cover the entire 1 year amount mentioned in the I-20 form then you have to show proof of funding for the remaining amount.

GENERAL QUESTIONS:15. Why do you plan to do MS? Say that you felt that higher qualifications give a better place, a better standard in today’s competitive world. You felt that you have a good know-how of your field, but a bit more technical knowledge in “the field you are going for MS in” will serve you greatly, when you come back here and join the industry of your choice. You will find more opportunities, higher pay and also the growth prospects are much higher compared to the fresh graduates. 16. Why do you wish to study in the US and not in India?

17. Why did u select this University? This question can be best answered when you do a bit of homework about you university. Browse the Webpage of the University, visit the pages of the professors, and go through their projects. Now remember some of the key words, like:

18. Does any of your relative stay in the US? The answers to this vary from person to person. The two basic replies being: Either “YES” or “NO”. But I believe that you be truthful at this instance. I have seen many people who have been true and were not affected by that. If your uncle or cousin or distant aunt stays there, you don’t have to say “YES” coz that doesn’t matter. All that matters is your immediate relatives. I.e. own brother, sister, father or mother. They evaluate you on the basis of your merits and not by what the person staying abroad is going to do for you. 19. What are you plans after Graduation? Be really well prepared for this question. This answer is not fool proof, but it’s you who can make it seem so. The basic things are:

20. Why are you changing your stream? This generally occurs coz people having done their BE in one stream would mostly opt for Computers. You can say either of the points:

21. You look like potential immigrants OR I don’t think you will come back to India? This is a real tricky question. Many get blue when they hear this and lose their senses as how to tackle this question. Stay calm and think what all you can say like: always answer in relation to your future plans and the opportunities that you will get after you return back to India.

22. On what basis is the visa given? The 3 main things that they look for now is:

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