Profile Details:

University: Georgia State University (GSU)
Course: MS in Analytics

First Attempt
Chennai Consulate
Status: Reject

Visa Interview Experiences:

Me: Good Morning, Ma'am
VO: Hi
Me: Passed my passport

VO: You have your I-20?
Me: Yes, Ma'am

VO: When did you graduate?
Me: 2015

VO: What were you doing since then?
Me: Worked in Infosys for 16 months, quit there and joined a start-up.

VO: Why now?
Me: I've been taking the foundational courses for this since college also I've worked on this (analytics) in Infosys and I'm working on it even now, so it's like a natural choice for me.

VO: How are you going to fund for the trip?
Me: I've got a loan approved for $53,000 and I've some savings of around $12,000. (Started to take out the loan letter she told she doesn’t require the document and asked me if it's approved or still in processing, I told it's approved)

VO: What's your GPA?
Me: 7.82 out of 10

VO: What's your GRE?
Me: 309

VO: Your reason for rejection is there on this form. (She gave all my documents back)
Me: Thank you, Ma'am.

Second Attempt

Chennai Consulate
Status: Reject

Me: Good Morning, Sir. How are you?
VO: Hey, Good Morning. I’m good. How are you?
Me: I’m good, Thanks.

VO: So, Why GSU?
Me: I choose GSU because it has a very good industry based curriculum and the professors in the university are highly friendly with lot of research works in progress.

VO: Which universities did you apply to?
Me: Georgia State University, Louisiana State University, University of Texas at Dallas, State University of New York at Binghamton & University of Oklahoma at Norman.

VO: To how many of these did you get into?
Me: I got into all of these.

VO: What are your plans after MS?
Me: I would return back to India and work here

VO: How to plan to fund your education?
Me: I have an education loan and my father is sponsoring me

VO: What does your Dad do?
Me: He’s into two-wheeler business. He owns a two-wheeler workshop.

VO: I won’t be able to approve your visa under section 214(b).

I was dejected for all my efforts until now would just matter none. All the knowledge that I wanted to gain with this MS and how it would matter later in my career were questioned. That’s when I put in all the effort and went through all the posts regarding 214(b) rejects in fb groups.I also took professional help in which they analysed every detail about my profile and taught me on how to confidently speak and on how to articulate my responses well.

Third Attempt

Chennai Consulate
Status: Approved

Me: Good Morning Sir!
VO: Good Morning! Your I-20 and your passport please?
Me: Here it is, Sir.

VO: Which other universities did you apply to?
Me: University of Texas at Dallas, Louisiana State University, State University of New York at Binghamton, University of Oklahoma at Norman.

VO: What other universities did you get into?
Me: I got into all of them, Sir.

VO: So, why this university?
Me: I chose GSU because I got very good recommendations from senior and it is one of the top universities for Analytics. Also, they have ‘Institute for Insights’ wherein the technology companies located in Atlanta will be providing datasets to the students to work on and come up with useful insights; this will help me to get a practical exposure in a real-time scenario.

VO: Have you decided on the accommodation?
Me: I have been exploring my options. I haven’t decided yet.

VO: What have you explored?
Me: I have been considering on-campus housing as well as off-campus housing. I’m waiting for my visa to pay the deposit.

VO: How are you going to finance your education?
Me: I have an education loan from Credila for 35 Lakhs and my parents have saved around 8 lakhs in form of savings and fixed deposit. We have properties worth over 1 Crore. Our family income is 8.36 lakhs.

VO: What does your father do?
Me: He owns a two-wheeler workshop. He does sales and service.

VO: How much does he earn?
Me: He makes 5 lakhs per annum and we get additional rental income from our properties.

VO: What kind of properties?
Me: Two of our properties are our ancestor’s and we acquired a property 10 years ago. All the three properties are housing type.

VO: What properties have you used for your loan?
Me: We have used two of our properties as collateral for our loan.

VO: What is the rate of interest?
Me: 11.95%

VO: Why have you decided to do your studies now?
Me: Analytics is a field which requires tremendous expertise. Sometimes in my job, I’m in a situation wherein I know what must be done but I don’t know exactly I have to implement it. To gain that expertise, I need to study in GSU and I can use that to get to a better position.

VO: What is your GPA?
Me: 7.82 out of 10.

VO: Did you have any backlogs?
Me: None, Sir.

VO: Congrats, your visa has been approved.
Me: Thank you, Sir. Have a nice day!

Finally, the guy with tattoo inks my visa!

Note: Content in this article is taken from a public forum moderated by Yocket. Personal details which may reveal the identity have been removed in order to maintain annonimity.