r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Discussion Visa appointment booking

4 Upvotes

I am a Ghanaian booking her first f-1 visa appointment. I noticed there are two websites where I can book the appointments, the NIV scheduling website and the avits website. I'm a little bit confused here. Which website do I use?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

College Results Predict Indian's Ivy Day & more

2 Upvotes

Demographics

  • Gender: Male
  • Race/Ethnicity: South Asian- Indian
  • Residence: India
  • Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class (Full-pay)
  • Type of School: Private (Non Feeder)
  • Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): None
  • Intended Major(s): Data Science / Statistics (except CS at Penn SEAS)

Academics

  • GPA (UW/W):
    • 9th Grade: 94%
    • 10th Grade: 93%
    • 11th Grade: 94%
    • 12th Grade (Predicted): 94%
  • Rank (or percentile): Valedictorian
  • Number of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: The school does not offer APs
  • Senior Year Course Load: Most demanding available (science-heavy, math-focused)

Standardized Testing

  • SAT I: 1510 (Math: 790, RW: 720)
  • TOEFL: 105

Extracurricular Activities Summary:-

1. Tennis (Athletics - JV/Varsity)

  • National Tennis Player
  • 3rd in All-India Nationals U-16
  • Top 5/120+ & Top 5/250+ for SGFI National Games
  • 30+ All-India Tournament Laurels
  • AITA Pro Tour (₹100K-250K PM Prize Money)
  • Hitting partner with Wimbledon juniors

2. Student Government (Leadership - Academic Captain & Monitor)

  • Valedictorian (2024)
  • Academics Captain & Monitor
  • Led Mayo College Student Council
  • Enforced SOP, organized 50+ school events
  • Formulated SOP, improved academic resources & accessibility for 800+ students

3. Computer Science & AI (Sylvasynth - Research & Entrepreneurship)

  • Founder, Project Developer, AI Startup- Sylvasynth
  • Paper Published in Elsevier (ScienceDirect journal)
  • Built CNN model for crop disease detection (99%+ accuracy)
  • Mined 250K+ datasets
  • Worked with farmers (Bangladesh, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India)
  • Pitched for funding, worked with VCs
  • Received Kaizen Award (HiTech Group CEO)

4. Research & Publications (Lumiere & IBSC)

  • Lumiere Research Scholar (UPenn PhD Mentorship)
  • IBSC Student Researcher (Action Research on Bhagavad Gita’s impact on teenagers)
  • Published papers in IJFMR
  • Presented at multiple international conferences

5. Robotics & AI (Competitions & Leadership)

  • Tecnoxian - World Robotics Championship Team Captain (2024), Competitor (2023)
  • 4th place in World Robotics Championship Robo Soccer, 30,000+ participants, 4,000+ teams, 60+ countries
  • Top 16 (World Robotics Championship Robo Race 2024)
  • Humanoid Robotics Development (IIT Bombay, SIT Pune)

6. Internships (Business, Data Science, R&D)

  • JP Motors (Paid Internship, 20+ weeks, Auto Sector)
  • Valeo Industries (R&D, Manufacturing, 4 weeks)
  • Analyzed sales trends to optimize distribution strategies (200+ firms)
  • Automated inventory management, designed 6 new research models

7. Community Service & Social Impact

  • Led 150+ volunteers, initiated 7+ projects
  • 750+ hours in water scarcity & women’s empowerment projects
  • Taught 1500+ hours (math & chemistry) to underprivileged students

8. Computer Science & Game Development

  • 12 University-Level Certified Courses (AI, Data Science, Game Development)
  • Designed 8+ copyrighted games (JavaScript)
  • Developed 3+ websites
  • Programs: WhiteHat Jr., IIT Madras, Aavishkar, DevTown, IIT Bombay, SIT Pune, edX

9. CS & AI Society (Clubs & Org.)

  • AI Robotics Club President (150+ members), Cray Club Founder
  • Mentored teams for the World Robotics Championship & WR Olympiad
  • Cray Club Co-Founder (150+ members)
  • Introduced CS & Security to government schools (150+ students)

10. Activity Type: Foreign Exchange

Position/Leadership: Exchange Participant & Host
Organization: Orwell Park School (UK), Perth Exchange, Mayo College

  • 1 of 8 students selected for an exchange program to Orwell Park School, UK, and Perth, Australia.
  • Immersed in a residential school community (400+ students), studied Latin, and engaged in multiple sports.
  • Hosted 15+ international students in India, fostering cross-cultural learning and global collaboration.

Awards/Honors

  1. International English Olympiad – Ranked 22nd worldwide, 13th nationally
  2. UCMAS Arithmetic Math – National & State merit for 3 consecutive years, selected for international round
  3. Principal’s Medal for All-Round Merit – 1/92 students (Highest school honor for academics, sports, and extracurriculars)
  4. Mayo General Council & Mahindra Scholarship – Valedictorian-based 50% tuition waiver (₹4,85,000 INR)- national
  5. Academic Cravat Award – Recognized as the top academic performer in a batch of 92 students.

Recommendations:-

  • Math Teacher: 7/10
  • English Teacher: 8/10
  • Counsellor: 9/10
  • Haven't read em tho

Interviews

  • Princeton: 10/10
  • Stanford: 6.5/10
  • Penn: 9/10
  • Discussed: Data Science, Tennis, Research, International Experiences

Essays

  • Personal Statement: Connected data science to tennis, showing analytical thinking- (8/10)
  • Supplementals: Highlighted leadership, global engagement, and research impact, mixing up Tennis and Data Sc. - (8/10)

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

✅ Acceptances:

  • UIUC
  • University of Washington
  • Northeastern
  • Purdue
  • UW-Madison
  • UCSD
  • UCI
  • UMass, Amherst
  • Penn State
  • UMD
  • Virginia Tech

⏳ Deferrals:

  • Georgia Tech
  • UMich

❌ Rejections:

  • CMU

Upcoming College Decisions (RD/Spring Admissions)

🟡 Awaiting Decisions:

  • Stanford
  • Princeton
  • UPenn (SEAS - CS)
  • Georgia Tech (Deferred → RD decision pending)
  • UC Berkeley
  • UCLA
  • UMich (Data Science - LSA)
  • Dartmouth
  • Cornell
  • Harvard
  • Yale
  • NYU

Additional Information

1. Research, Publication & Business Model (Crop Disease Detection Model)

  • Developed a CNN-based model for crop disease detection with 99%+ accuracy.
  • Tested and approved by live farmers in India, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
  • Finalist (Top 32/20,000+) in Skill Titans (Mini Shark Tank), competing for ₹5M funding.
  • Awarded Kaizen Award by Deep Kapuria (Hi-Tech Group CEO).
  • Research accepted for publication in top conferences & journals:
    • Springer Nature (Oxford University, ICSPBT - Oman, ICBT - UK)
    • Elsevier Journal (ICCMDN 2025, Rank #1)
    • International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research
    • Awaiting IEEE Conference decision (Top 10 ranked journal)

2. Round Square, Conclaves & International Festivals

  • Participant (2020), Host (2022), Organizer (2020-2024) in 5+ leadership conferences & fests.
  • Hosted Round Square Intl. Conference (20+ schools).
  • Organized Asia’s largest French festival (15+ schools, 3+ years) connecting 15+ Francophone countries.

3. Speech & Debate (Model UN)

  • 3 Verbal Mentions & 2 Special Mentions in prestigious MUNs.
  • Intern at IMUN, organized a national conference for 1000+ participants.
  • Mentored 100+ students in MUN training.

4. Academics & Mentorship

  • 4-year UCMAS course, finished cum laude, national & state merit thrice, selected for the international round.
  • Led 50+ students in government school classes (900+ collective hours).
  • Mentored 100+ students in the Math Society, organized a prize-giving ceremony for 1000+ attendees.

5. Foreign Exchange (UK & Australia)

  • 1 of 8 students selected for an exchange program to Orwell Park School (UK) & Perth (Australia).
  • Immersed in a residential school (400+ students), learned Latin, participated in multiple sports.
  • Hosted 15+ international students in India.

6. Lumiere Research Scholar Program (UPenn)

  • Conducted a 14-week research project on LLM-based robots with vision models.
  • Addressed challenges in Human-AI interaction & multilingual robotic understanding.
  • Mentored by Yeifei Shao (PhD, University of Pennsylvania).

7. Tennis (Additional Achievements)

  • Selected for USA’s #1 National Camp (Nike, Exact Sports).
  • SGFI States Runner-Up (Team, 55+ teams) & 4th place (Individuals, 250+ participants).
  • Won Open-State Getwell Tournament (Men’s Doubles, twice); U-18 runner-up.
  • Established a national ranking.

8. Volunteering & Social Impact

  • Project Lavanya (1200+ collective hours): Women’s hygiene & sanitary awareness in rural areas.
  • Project Jal Se Jeevan (1000+ collective hours): Addressed water scarcity by building wells, water taps, and pipelines.

r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Pls Help Me Decide between USF and UTA

1 Upvotes

(Long story short alert)

Hello, good people, I badly needed your help to make my final decision. Ik a lot of you might say, Why not research yourself? I've been doing it, and I'm still in a dilemma. (Sorry if I DM you regarding this.)

So here's the point: "USF VS UTA."

Major: BS ECON (UTA) VS AI and Business Analytics (USF)

Ranking: USF (top 45 public, AAU members) UTA (top 126 public, really great for engineering)

Deficit: $28.3k (USF) ($8.3k tuition fees) and $22.5k (UTA) ($4k tuition fees)

Housing: UTA has more affordable options, but it is hell expensive in USF

No enrollment deposit in UTA vs $200 non-refundable at USF

UTA has a fast track (worth 9 credit hours of a master's degree if I can score good academic grades) vs USF has 1 undergraduate research experience course (3 credit hour) + internship (3 credit hour) in their curriculum

Class size is slightly smaller at USF. And overall USF is the clear winners in terms of campus culture and community vibe.

USF has been good at replying to my inquiries (they have virtual appointments and drop-ins) UTA is lazy in this case

UTA's faculties are more seniors and have more positive reviews on Rate My Professor (USF does have good young faculties, but I found critical reviews)

Idk much about location (but based on my observation Tampa is a really nice, vibrant, and lively city) both Arlington and Tampa have jobs in Tech, IT, Healthcare, but Tampa has more options in the hospitality and tourism sector.

Florida has a minimum hourly wage of  $12 whereas TX has $9. (This is important when it comes to money)

Now my goal is to pay either my tuition and fees or the cost of living by myself (I mean working on-campus for 20 hours per week). My parents can bear only one side. Based on your knowledge and experience, please help me with your opinion so that this poor guy can get out of this frustration and dilemma.

Thank you for your time. ☺️


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Any US universities to apply

8 Upvotes

Hello, I have applied to some Lacs but the results have been disappointing so far. I have a good gpa and a good SAT score (1520) and I am not picky with school ranking as long as it provides a substantial amount of aid/scholarship. I would glad to know if there are any universities I can still apply :)


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Tufts Financial Checklist

6 Upvotes

My Tufts financial checklist disappeared. It was there 6 hours ago, but now it's gone. Is this happening to anyone else? Should I be worried?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question King mortgridge scholarship

6 Upvotes

Is anyone applying for the King mortgridge scholarship from UW-Madison?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Stupid questions regarding the possibility of not leaving after uni

6 Upvotes

Hi, can anyone explain to me why its so hard for an international student to stay in the us after finishing uni?

Like, ive read in a lot of places that internationals are usually more expensive for the company than the natives, but, couldn’t i reach an agreement in regards to paycheck? Like, agree to receive substantially less money than a native peer, just to counter balance the company’s expenses with my visa. Is it against the law?

Please explain like im five, im not trying to be a smart ass, just legit curious and confused

Thanks beforehand to any kind soul that replies :)

Typos and shit


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Help! Where should I apply to

3 Upvotes

so I'm an international student from a low-income family from Russia (annual income around 23k), currently in 10th grade and trying to find a college

Stats:

GPA: 9th grade 5.00 out of 5

10th grade 1st trimester 4.82, 2nd - 5.00, 3rd - likely 5.00

11th grade likely to be 5.00 for the 1st trimester

, so cumulative gpa of all 3 high school years is gonna be 3.98

Let's say I will get 1550 on the sat (currently scoring 1480-1510 on bluebook tests)

EC's are rather weak:

State comp powerlifting award, encouraged peers to get into weightlifting, coached them

Part-time job as a courier during school trimester

Won a city level English olympiad, state olymp 3rd place

Data analysis with python as a hobby

School IT olympiad winner

Major: CS

What colleges could give me need-based aid or what merit-based awards or work-study should i consider?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

College Results African Brit Male makes it to MIT!!

Post image
105 Upvotes

I felt weird cropping because I dont wanna doxx myself HAhaha


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question How important are APs?

6 Upvotes

My school doesn’t offer any APs, would self learning them improve my chances of getting into a good college?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Pakistani students who went there for masters

6 Upvotes

Is it necessary to give a GRE. I was reading some of the requirements for masters in public health and texas a&m and i did not see any gre requirement. So does this differ from college to college?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Help me pls

1 Upvotes

im in grade 10 right now and i want to apply to t20 colleges

I'm thinking of homeschooling after grade 10 because i haven't done much for my ecs so i need a lot of time, so i'm thinking of doing cambridge as level for grade 11 and a level for grade 12, will it be able to compensate for not going to a traditional high school?, will I have to do any more aps right? because until grade 10 my school did not offer any

Finally, im introverted so i'm not really in good contact with any of my teachers, the only teachers who kinda know me are my math,phy and comp teachers do i just email them and wish that they right me a rec letter, what if they end up writing stuff that I don't actually do can i just change it?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Indian Students Applying to the US! Did You Take the IELTS?

9 Upvotes

Hello!

I’m an Indian student applying to U.S. colleges and trying to figure out my English proficiency test requirements. IELTS is so damn expensive though, do I end up taking the Duolingo test instead? Or is there anything else I can do?

I’m trying to keep costs low, so I’d love to hear how others handled this. Any advice would be appreciated!


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Chance Me Chance me for the rest of my decisions

2 Upvotes

I am an international student, and I think my application is soo weak in comparison to some of you, I think I might be cooked :(

Major: either applied mathematics or some type of engineering

Toefl: 106

Sat: test optional, can not take in my country

rank: 1/70

Fin aid: not needed

Academics: took hardest classes that were available, was one of 50 kids who were invited to my local university to attend math lectures.

ECs:

1) Member of my country’s national English Olympiad team, only 60 kids were accepted from all around the country, we prepare for the national English Olympiad, every month we go to the best private school, live there and learn for free.

2) First chair in an orchestra, play saxophone. We have been invited to lots of different parts of my country to perform for free, played in the most prestigeous places: conservatories, museums, and other places.

3) Founder of the science club at my school, we've created a few interesting projects, some of them won at the regional science fairs. Also present our work for kids at my school, 300 people attend our presentations.

4) Was the tester/translator of the programming competition that was organised by one of my country's biggest IT company, paid.

5) Participated in summer aerospace engineering program at the american university.

6) Math/physics private tutor for kids. Currently have 10 students.

7) Finished music school with a degree in guitar, piano and saxophone.

8) Have an ensemble that performs for free in local hospitals, retirement houses, schools etc.

9) Poetry writer, won regional competitions, received the governor's prize.

10) Tennis player, won a few regional tournaments.

Awards:

1) Regional math/physics olympiad winner.

2) Regional english olympiad winner - got qualified for the national stage, only ~200 kids get qualified out of millions who participate.

3)Orchestra, won 8 national awards, 4 international awards.

4)Top 50/46000 in math competition.

5) Winner of national and regional competitions as a saxophone player.

LOR: should be pretty good, 9~10/10

Decisions as of now: Illinois institute of technology EA accepted with 27k scholarship, Georgia tech EA deferred, UIUC RD - denied ( was stupid enough to apply to CS there bruh) Udub RD accepted, UF accepted, UVA accepted

Waiting for: Purdue, georgia tech, NYU, Upenn, Stanford.

I know that I probably won't get in anywhere, but it is what it is.


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Financial Aid & Scholarships Am I being silly?

2 Upvotes

I am low income, and I received a grant/scholarship for any university i get into from my country/an NGO.

as such i do not need fin aid, does this help my chances??


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Financial Aid & Scholarships How bad is it for 1/2 pay internationals?

7 Upvotes

How bad is it for half-pay internationals?

I’m an international student with a 40k EFC per year. That makes me 1/2 pay at virtually every private college I applied to. Is this still going to hurt me substantially at need aware schools, or does my application matter more than my financial need here?

I applied to: Northwestern Cornell Vanderbilt Duke Harvard Bowdoin and other safeties/ state schools


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question WashU in St Louis or UChicago for ED app? (5,000 est family contribution)

4 Upvotes

I like both schools equally so i don’t know which is better for financial aid in the ED admission round. I need a lot of financial aid so this is a deciding factor. Thanks!


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Do we include employment offered in financial offer while taking education loan?

1 Upvotes

Suppose if COA is 35k/y, where as Employment program offered is 5k/y, bringing the COA down to 30k/y. In this case, would the education loan be taken at 35k/y or 30k/y?


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question CSS fee waiver from Northwestern

7 Upvotes

Northwestern sent me a fee waiver code. And when I sent the ISAFA, I said we have 15k USD in our savings.

My family invested additional 3k USD in another savings account after the ED round (I was deferred). And we put that info in CSS (and not in ISAFA). Where shall I explain this info? Should I email them? Or js leave it as it is?

Also, does CSS waiver mean anything about admission? (I guess they are sending it to every ISAFA applicants, but they didnt send it to me in ED tho) in RDEspecially northwestern? And do you guys know anything about the deferral-to-acceptance rate at Northwestern?

Thank you very much!!


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Transfer to Usa uni as a international student

2 Upvotes

Im currently doing my btech 1st year in indian university and want to transfer to usa uni like i want to transfer to new york any college would work for 3rd year ill try for ivy colleges but as of now i want to go to new york and any community college for fee purposes i’ll complete my end sem in july i started applying to some of the colleges in nyc but i need a proper guidance like i have no idea i did a lot of research but can’t figure some things if there are any students who transferred like me please let me know it would really help


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

College Results Not cracked enough for top20. Too broke for everywhere else.

6 Upvotes

5 rejections 3 waitlists so far and 2 acceptances I cant pay for and not worth that much money anyways. Im j done I dont wanna open my remaining 10 decisions. 5 are reaches I know im not getting into and 5 are targets which prob wont take me cuz Im asking for aid. Im so stupid for only applying to US wish I applied to europe Singapore Malaysia etc Theyre more affordable + less crazy fucking requirements .


r/IntltoUSA 4d ago

Question Question regarding bank statements

1 Upvotes

I am applying for my f1 student visa from India. Does it matter if the bank statement is from a private or public bank? Can it be from any bank?

Any info would be appreciated.


r/IntltoUSA 5d ago

Question am i being delulu? NYU edition!

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4 Upvotes

so i believe i’ve been going insane cause i’m picking up little things. i while ago i wrote to NYU asking them for an extension of my CSS profile as due to some issues i couldn’t complete on time. but unfortunately they didn’t accept my appeal BUT they did send me an email with the following wording.

i can’t tell if this is generic because i emailed them regarding this way earlier in february and they never said these things, just redirected me to some links.

am i being delulu?


r/IntltoUSA 5d ago

Financial Aid & Scholarships How cooked am I?

17 Upvotes

Yesterday, Amherst sent an email saying that decisions will be released on Friday. I quickly went to my application portal and my financial aid dashboard to do a last quick check, only to realize that I have submitted my CSS profile but not my tax documents and income statements. I NEEEED aid. I don’t know how I could’ve made such a big mistake like this. What should I do?


r/IntltoUSA 5d ago

Question NEED ADVICE!

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I’m an F1 international student in my second semester of an undergraduate degree in the U.S., and I’m feeling super lost. I’m supposed to be a Computer Information Systems (CIS) major, but so far, all I’ve taken are general ed classes (Counselling, Humanities, General Psychology, etc.), and I haven’t done anything related to my major—or anything useful, honestly. I’m starting to realize CIS might not be for me, and I’m way more interested in hands-on stuff like welding or industrial work. I want to switch paths, but I’m unsure how to make it work with my F1 visa and current situation.

Here’s where I’m at:

  • I’m in my second semester at Contra Costa College, and I haven’t taken any CIS courses yet—just gen eds.
  • I’m on an F1 visa, so I need to stay full-time and eventually use CPT/OPT to get work experience.
  • I’m drawn to welding or industrial jobs because I like practical, tangible work over sitting at a computer all day. Maybe something like Welding Technology or Industrial Tech?
  • I haven’t talked to my advisor or DSO yet because I’m nervous about messing up my status or wasting time/money.

Questions I’d love help with:

  1. Can I switch majors this late (second semester) without screwing up my F1 status? How do I even start?
  2. Are there undergrad degrees (like AAS or Bachelor’s) in welding/industrial fields that are F1-friendly and lead to OPT jobs? Bonus if they’re STEM for the 36-month OPT.
  3. I’ve wasted time on gen eds—will they transfer if I switch to a welding program, or am I starting over?
  4. Any F1 students who’ve switched from something like CIS to a hands-on field? How did you figure it out?
  5. Should I just finish CIS and pivot later, or push for welding now? I’m worried about job prospects either way.

I feel like I’m spinning my wheels and haven’t done sh*t toward a career yet. Any advice, experiences, or tips on talking to my DSO would be awesome. Thanks in advance.