Jump to content

thegraydude

Members
  • Posts

    90
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Not Telling
  • Location
    India
  • Application Season
    2015 Fall
  • Program
    Computer Science, PhD

Recent Profile Visitors

2,443 profile views

thegraydude's Achievements

Espresso Shot

Espresso Shot (4/10)

15

Reputation

  1. For your reference: Wikileaks "FRAUD SUMMARY - LAGOS" document: https://cablegatesearch.wikileaks.org/cable.php?id=09LAGOS476 I do not mean to be disrespectful towards your country. I'm sorry you feel that way. But at the same time you must remember that I did not do it to incite or offend you. If the Visas are being denied on a large scale (per your statement), there has to be a logical reason for it. I do not agree with your statement that I was being racist. It's like me trying to explain '419 Nigerian email scams' in the class, and someone stands and says, 'you are being distasteful and racist'. As for needing "mind overhaul", I think you are the one who needs to tone down on your 'sensitivity' a little since any sane person would agree that I didn't write it for the purpose of demeaning your country. Good day to you sir. I hope you get your Visa.
  2. @bbdd2: While you wait for her reply, here's my two cents: Nigeria seems to have a low Visa issuance rate since there are problems of document fraud there. I have heard that it's easy to bribe local entities and get the required documents forged there. The Visa Officers have to reject such people. So, IMHO, if you're documents are in order, you do not need to be particularly nervous about your interview because of your country. Goodluck! On a separate note: Please refrain from thread hijacking.
  3. I graduated in June, 2014 and since then I did a little 'writing' online -- and was paid a few dollars per article. In some months, I didn't write at all, since I was busy with GRE, TOEFL prep etc. Right now, I write 1-2 articles a month online. I do not have a contract, and I publish when and if I want to with this mag. Do you think it is alright for me to put 'unemployed' in my status? In the text-box that says 'specify other', I wrote: 'After completing my graduation, I have mainly been busy with PhD prep. I wrote some papers and reviewed some books.' Any thoughts?
  4. Thanks jujubea. I never thought about it from an 'emergency' perspective. Well, in that case, my parents would support me (since I do not have sufficient funds personally). So according to that, I should put 'parents' there. However, this emergency scenario aside, the evidence in I-20 shows that my department is supporting me, so I was thinking I'll go with that. @jujubea: On a separate note, you answered one of my questions about TAL concerns (information security major). There, in one of your posts, you say 'check your PM', however I never received a PM from you. I was wondering if you could send that again. Also, since you have been a former VO, could I PM you a couple of questions I have regarding the 221-G? Please let me know.
  5. Yes, that's what I thought as well, my department is "paying for the trip" since they are financially supporting me during my stay. However, in that case, should I put 'self' because the department is going to 'pay me' for my TA work and this is the money that I'll use to support 'myself'. Or, should I just choose "company/organization" and put my school's name there? I'm hoping to hear from international PhD students like TakeruK who would hopefully remember what they put in their DS-160.
  6. DS-160 asks who is paying for your trip. I was thinking they mean 'who's going to cover flight charges' etc. so I thought I'd mention 'other person' and list the details of my parents. However, I saw a guidelines online that says, 'it should be the name of the person that has agreed to support you financially while you are in the US'. Well, in my case -- PhD student with a TA offer -- that would be my department. So now I'm confused whether I should enter 'company/organization' and then list my school's department details, or I should list 'other person' and enter my parents details. Please let me know what would be appropriate considering that I'm fully-funded by my department with a TA offer (so I guess they are the ones who has agreed to support me financially?)
  7. I think it's not just about "capable of possessing nuclear tech". For example, in one case, a student from India was asked what she's going to study at the US, and she said 'Bio-technology'. Two random questions later, she found out she was placed on 'administrative processing' and had to go through TAL. She was requested a lot of information via email and it took months to process her Visa. I'm not sure if she got it in time for her semester. She said later it seemed that the VO was looking for the 'TAL keywords' and as soon as she said 'Bio-tech', her fate was sealed. I do agree with you that it seems they are interested in what you're going to study in the USA, not what you have done in the past. Good-luck for your F1! Hope you get it!
  8. Thank you Fuzzy and TakeruK. I did read that I would be required to show ability to pay for 1st year of school -- and the TA position covers that. However, I was confused because the TA position itself is contingent upon: 1. My continued progress towards the PhD 2. GPA of 3.5 or above 3. Satisfactory performance of TA duties (By the way, do other TA positions have the same conditions or is it just mine?) So, I thought the VO might ask what if the TA funding is taken away if I fail to satisfy these conditions (in the worst case). Sorry, I know I'm possibly over-thinking things but I just do not want to "f*** things up on the last yard" (as one of my friends from Canada put it).
  9. My department provided the Affidavit of Support to the 'Admissions Office'. So, the I-20 issued to me clearly show my cost (Tuition + Living + Health Insurance) to be around US $30,000, and it states my personal funds to be: '0.00' and 'funds from this school' to be around US $34,000. So, cost = 30,000 and funds from school = 34,000 as part of my TA position. Is there a possibility of VO asking to show additional funds in cases of emergency? Should I be getting an Affidavit of Support from my parents as well (like Masters' students do)? Also, should I be requesting my department to give me a copy of this affidavit of support to show the VO? (I searched a lot on Google, but all the F1 VISA information on the Internet seems to be focused on Masters' students, and no one talks about PhD students.)
  10. Wow, so do they really Google you while asking you questions during that 1-5 minutes of interview? Does that happen a lot? Alright. I guess it's best if I just reveal everything as it is and hope for the best.
  11. Background: I do security research and have worked (and written articles in magazines) on several 'ethical hacking' topics. For the record, I am NOT a gray hat hacker and I strive to enhance security technology rather than take advantage of holes. One of my seniors warned me not to mention anything about 'security research' during my Visa interview -- not even mention it on the resume. He did not tell me the reason. Problem: Now, I read about TAL on one of GradCafe's topics: "For some fields of study the wait is longer because of a process called TAL (Technology Alert List). If your research is in a field the Americans worry might be used to create war-related technologies (this is a vague description, read more online) they will want more information and will perform a security check before they approve you. In that case, the wait might be several weeks long." This worries me since it is easy to mistake us, security researchers, as 'threats' or hackers. So, I want to remove the 'security stuff' from my resume during the Visa interview. However, the problem is that if they Google me or ask me for a list of publications, it would clearly demonstrate that I'm a security researcher and some of my paper are titled 'Defeating ____ security' etc. Questions: How worried should I be about being placed on TAL? Would you suggest I refrain from mentioning my security research as far as possible (I could talk about generic stuff like machine learning or something instead)? I am worried that the VO might put me under TAL since it might be difficult for him/her to understand that I'm strictly a security researcher.
  12. Final Update: I received the I-20 by FedEx 2 days after it was dispatched; still have not received the unregistered I-20 initially sent to me -- most probably lost. Oh well....onward to the next battle: F1 Visa. End Remarks: Students from India (and other 'developing' countries far from the USA) are advised to pay $55 for eShipGlobal (Fedex, USPS, or DHL) lest your I-20 be lost and you wind up waiting, looking towards your door with hopeful eyes of a distressed Bollywood actress waiting for her lover's return. Remember, the person responsible for I-20 at my university told me that I'm not the first one, several students from India are complaining about the same issue.
  13. Yes, this university is one of the biggest universities in the US with around 50,000 students. What I learned is that when you're dealing with a university of that size, it is crucial to know exactly whom to talk to about your concern. I cannot overstate the importance of this. The graduate secretary of my department was of zero help in the matter, the guy at Admissions Office actually made the situation worse, and no other office could help in the matter either--except for the right office, that is, office of international students. Ultimately, my issue was resolved when I talked to the person who was responsible for handling I-20s specifically.
  14. UPDATE: I spent 1 hour over the phone, and 10 calls later, I'm told by the Office of International Students that it is in fact possible to generate a new I-20 and since many students from India are complaining about the same issue, they will dispatch mine right away if I make the payment at eShipGlobal. THANK. YOU. Finally, I made the payment ($55--FedEx) and eShipGlobal will pick up my new I-20 from the university tomorrow, and mostly importantly, I will be able to track it online. On a separate note, to the heartless a******** who didn't think before saying that the university cannot generate a new I-20 and almost gave me a heart-attack: @$@#%@#%!#@!@#!@ *)*%^$@@ (can't use profane language at GradCafe). Stay tuned folks... for more updates on the drama that is my I-20.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use