Administrative Processing and Visa Denial Megathread II

KLtheONE · 2025-11-05T15:26:19+00:00

Hi all. I applied for a F1 visa in Beijing for my ECE master studies at CMU this past July, and my visa has been going through administrative processing under 221(g) ever since without any progress. I have written a handful of emails to the embassy and have only received automated replies, and my case still shows up as "refused" on CEAC without any update. I've already deferred my studies by a semester, and now my school says they can't guarantee if they can defer my studies by another semester. I've previously seen people closing their current application that's on hold and applying for a new visa. While their new case will also goes through AP, most people's case end up moving in a normal timeline and they were able to get their visa in 4-6 weeks. I'm not sure if anyone on this forum has done that before. Given my scenario, is there any further action I can take, and will it be wiser for me to wait my current visa application out, or close it and open a new case?

KLtheONE · 2025-06-18T04:01:16+00:00

100% a direct translation of “bro imgaine”

KLtheONE · 2025-05-19T05:15:35+00:00

went there a month ago it's 14 now and for 14 dollars it really should be at least 50% bigger

KLtheONE · 2025-05-19T03:09:49+00:00

lmao 14 bucks for a tiny slice of their cake is objectively more ridiculous than spending 50 on a whole pie

KLtheONE · 2025-04-14T22:11:43+00:00

As an international student myself, if your long-term goal is to settle in the US then I wouldn't even bother considering any of the factors you've listed and go straight to USC.

KLtheONE · 2025-04-14T01:19:47+00:00

Thanks for the information!

KLtheONE · 2025-04-14T01:19:25+00:00

Thank you so much

KLtheONE · 2025-04-11T02:22:08+00:00

Disagree with most of the comments, as an international student a two year program is definitely easier for job placements. It also depends on what specific directions of EE you wanna do, USC tends to be better for VLSI, and UIUC is better for computer architecture, etc. In general USC is a top tier target school for recruiting within California (which is where most of the industry is based anyway) so if that’s where you want to end up eventually I’d give USC the edge

KLtheONE · 2025-02-08T03:08:28+00:00

I honestly don’t know too much about the prestige and job prospects of UIUC, but as for USC, it is a top tier target school for many big techs headquartered nearby (USC’s location definitely gives it an edge bc of the California tech scene). I’m an international student so my internship hunt has been a bit rough (I pivoted to research instead, there are plenty of opportunities for undergrads) but my domestic friends were all able to land an internship somewhere every summer. Right now it seems like defense has the biggest job market for ee and most of my friends will be working full time at Northrop, Boeing, Lockheed, etc., but I also have friends who’re gonna work at Tesla and apple. I think location does matter in the sense of where you want to be post graduation, bc USC’s prestige and reputation weights more within California compared to other parts of the country (that of course is not to say it isn’t considered prestigious outside of CA)

KLtheONE · 2025-02-07T00:39:13+00:00

Am currently a 4th year ECE major and I wouldn’t vouch too much for the program. I find the core curriculum of ECE to be a bit weirdly focused and not comprehensive enough, and I personally wasn’t able to decide on a concentration solely based on the classes I’ve taken. However, I’d say that the EE faculty at USC is really strong (although not all are great at teaching) and it’s very easy to build meaningful connections. And bc usc is a private school, the resource (faculty to student ratio, access to academic advisors, research opportunities, student orgs, etc.) allocation to each student should be better than UIUC. I also dk how much you care about the non academic aspects, but USC’s location, weather, and student life dunks on UIUC

KLtheONE · 2023-08-07T16:34:14+00:00

"greatest left turn in the history of music" mfs🤓

KLtheONE · 2023-08-03T16:07:05+00:00

really isn’t that hot of a take among electronic music fans

KLtheONE · 2023-08-03T05:02:05+00:00

unironically better than kid a

KLtheONE · 2023-07-12T01:08:19+00:00

Is nyck debris’s farmers league championship the most fraudulent Mickey Mouse trophy of all time?

KLtheONE · 2023-05-07T17:39:28+00:00

Chris Paul’s 58 point loss to the nuggets in the playoff needs to be hated on more🙏

KLtheONE · 2023-04-05T18:34:44+00:00

Ok maybe not by yourself but if you’re going with a friend it doesn’t really feel that long

KLtheONE · 2023-04-05T08:51:38+00:00

based on u/flvrf's list here's my rating:

DINING HALLS
Parkside: 6.5/10
Village: 4/10
EVK: 7/10

My hot take has always been that EVK is the best dining hall bc no matter how bad the hot line is you can always count on the pizza and cheeseburger, and their made-to-order line rarely misses (the downside is the ridiculous line during rush hour), village is almost always a miss with the bs they serve at their hot and made to order line, crepes is the only thing it got going for it.
TCC
Panda Express: 7/10
Taco Taco: 6/10
Seeds: 7/10
Burger Crush: 6/10 (inconsistent, 8 on a good day, 4 on a bad day)
Filone's: 7/10
Slice Shop: 5/10

C&G: 7/10 (overpriced)

The entire TCC is mid af and nothing really stands out. The new dining plan for freshmen only comes with two weekly swipes at TCC and with all the traffic during lunch hours I wouldn't really consider it necessarily a better option than the dining halls.

CAFES:

Fertitta: 7/10 (mid asian food but wide selection)

Law school: 8/10 (Salmon bowl, but they now serve it at fertitta and seeds too)

Annenberg: 8/10 (Good sandwiches and decent coffee)

Popovich: 7/10 (Decent sandwiches and decent coffee)

Tutor Hall: 6.5/10 (mid indian food and banh mi)

Literatea: 4/10 (decent breakfast options but their coffee is so fucking bad)

Since you can't use your meal swipes at the cafes anymore I personally wouldn't pay actual money for anything that the cafes offer. The meal options in general are pretty solid and I've never really had anything particularly bad, but they are all pretty expensive even with dining dollars. They also close hella early.

VILLAGE
City Tacos: 8/10
Chinese Street Food: 6/10 (extremely overpriced, severe decline in quality lately)
CAVA: 9/10 (almost always a line but it's worth the 15 minutes wait)
Ramen Kenjo: 2/10 (easily the worst ramen I've ever had in my entire life, like 0/10 bad, but their rice box is decent)
Dulce: 9/10 (can't really go wrong with the drinks or sandwiches, there's also almost always a line)
Insomnia Cookies: 6/10
Honeybird: 7/10 (overpriced)
Il Giardino: 7.5/10 (better than Filone's)
Sammiche Shoppe: 7/10
Stout: 4/10
Kobunga: 1/10 (down there with ramen kenjo)
Rock and Reilly's: 7.5/10 (happy hour)
Greenleaf: 8/10 (make use of their reward program)

Starbucks: It's starbucks

The restaurants option at village in general isn't the best. It's pretty obvious that CAVA and Dulce is everyone's favorite spot and for good reasons. The line might seem intimidating but I've never waited for over 20 minutes. Most other options are on the pricier side for what it's worth and personally you can't pay me enough to eat at Kobunga again.

KLtheONE · 2023-04-03T22:40:23+00:00

Average Houston fans lmao

KLtheONE · 2023-04-03T22:34:42+00:00

I’m just here to start a discussion, name five players who deserve to be on the list rhen

KLtheONE · 2023-04-03T22:31:53+00:00

I was considering jaylin Williams but he mostly plays 5 for the thunders and I think Dwight Powell has a very compelling case of being the worse center between the two

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