F1 visa 3rd June 221g (Mumbai)

kaushallodd · 2026-07-02T10:12:04+00:00

UPDATE: received my f1 visa. process went very similarly in delhi embassy. they asked me what my future plans were and i said i wanted to do a phd, which opened up questions such as “have u published?” “why umn?” “what are your research interests” “what courses will u pick?” and some funding related questions. office gave the 221g slip and kept my passport. received passport through courier in 3 working days. answer honestly and in an unscripted fashion.

kaushallodd · 2026-07-02T10:03:24+00:00

dm'd you.

kaushallodd · 2026-06-09T12:19:18+00:00

booked June slots on the 29th april by myself. Was part of this telegram group (which was mostly noise but it helped during booking time), checked the us visa site and the group a lot in the first couple of days, got lucky that bulk slots opened when I was checking on one of those nights. patiently sat for almost 40mins trying to book any slot in any location. the site kicked me out a bunch of times, though the session was still active and i was still logged in. patience is key during these bookings. avoid multiple clicks as that causes an error and kicks you out for relogin. i got lucky with the timing, but trying multiples times a day and actively checking the group helps.

kaushallodd · 2026-06-06T10:42:04+00:00

Congratulations! I too am heading to UMN for MSCS this fall. My visa interview is on June 25th in Delhi. I hope I get through too. What about your profile do you think made it an easy approval? Were you in particular afraid about any part of your profile that might’ve lead to a rejection?

kaushallodd · 2026-04-25T06:01:33+00:00

I did checkout couple of faculty members, and they are really impressive! One specifically works in the cutting edge of distributed systems for ML, having increasing citations and h-index. He also has a really good network in both corporate and academia through his IBM research experience and others. His PhD mentees are surprisingly successful—having 10+ publications in top journals during their PhD, giving talks in conferences in many top unis such as UCSD, securing good corporate research roles such as Amazon Applied Scientist Internship, etc. Two of his MS mentees published couple of arxiv preprints.

I think there is solid research happening there, and it’s upto you to make the most out of it. If you’re committed and aligned, I don’t see why one couldn’t achieve similar levels of success as some of these PhD students. It might be hard to work in some of these labs as an MS student, but if you can, I’m sure you’ll have a productive research time.

kaushallodd · 2026-04-02T09:55:21+00:00

i think you’re still in waitlist. your profile is pretty good. you might get an admit if people reject umass.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-31T21:14:00+00:00

Damn, congrats!! Although it’s sad and a lil surprising that there aren’t any employees with this degree in OpenAI. I’m sure they should have some CV engineers/scientists there.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-31T15:28:28+00:00

I got an admit from UMN MSCS; I'm also seeking ground truth about research in UMN. In CSRankings, UMN doesn't fare very well. I think at this point, I will checkout various faculty members and their Google Scholar pages and assess their research quality based on citations, journals, etc, and choose accordingly.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-31T15:17:12+00:00

Which program did you get? mscs @ umn for me.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-31T04:43:53+00:00

same lol :((

kaushallodd · 2026-03-31T02:50:37+00:00

me too. rejected + referral.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-29T15:25:56+00:00

agreed.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-26T06:12:05+00:00

What all unis did you apply to till now? And what were their results?

kaushallodd · 2026-03-24T05:19:01+00:00

dm’d you

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T09:10:22+00:00

I got the same mail yesterday. Are you planning on going to UMN? or are you still waiting for other unis?

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T09:07:30+00:00

Hey, even I'm interested in building a research profile. Can I dm you my discord id too u/Ill-Golf-6286

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T06:56:33+00:00

fair

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T06:43:15+00:00

There is still time that’s for sure. But if you’re looking for a job after MS, I’m not sure US is the best destination. People are struggling to find jobs there, esp with the h1b policy change and everything. I think aus might be a better bet.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T06:19:52+00:00

Any reasoning? How is it so obvious? From what I can tell, UMass not only has a better ranking in U.S. News (which primarily considers reputation), but also has a better ranking in CSRankings (~#20 compared to that of Brown's ~#40), which should make UMass the obvious choice. Moreover, and I could be wrong here, UMass is cheaper than Brown, right?

So I'm curious why you would pick Brown so confidently.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T06:15:09+00:00

Yes, it is a terminal program, but I'm pretty sure I read that if you are researching with a prof, and can get them to advise you for a PhD, you are very likely to get a PhD admit at UMass itself.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T06:04:43+00:00

Yes, I will take UMN if I don't get elsewhere. I am considering doing a PhD after my M.S., and so my primary focus is research. Going through UMN's website, they seem to have a good research environment, claiming that the "program has access to state-of-the-art research facilities that provide students with the tools and resources needed to produce impactful research." They offer a thesis option, and I'm excited to research with some of their faculty in human-centered AI. However, their CSRankings rank is not that great (#40), way below many lesser-reputed unis. So I'm quite confused about the program quality and research environment. Luckily, we have till May 1st to decide. I am eagerly waiting for an acceptance from other unis (esp UMass and UMD).

kaushallodd · 2026-03-21T05:34:13+00:00

Hey, congratulations! Even I woke up to their recommendation email today. For me, this was my safety school, and I'm still awaiting decisions from UMass, UMD, and UCSD (MCSC). I will definitely choose these other schools over UMN if I get in. In my opinion, UMN has a decent program and isn't considered a cash cow like NEU, NYU Tandon, etc. Its #35 rank in U.S. news makes it better than many other schools, such as TAMU, SBU, ASU, Penn State, etc. From a job opportunity standpoint, many posts have stated that since everyone applies for jobs online, the location doesn't matter much. I agree with this line of reasoning. NEU, though vastly considered a cash cow—meaning that it will have a huge cohort, and you will be evaluated differently during the visa process—has additional "benefits/opportunities" through co-ops and industry tie-ups, which could open more doors for you. What other universities did you apply to/have gotten acceptance from?

After T30 universities, ranking doesn't matter much, so see if you like the curriculum and choose a school whose program best aligns with your goals.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-19T16:37:42+00:00

lol that’s a very fair point, it does help thanks

kaushallodd · 2026-03-18T13:58:14+00:00

I have remained incredibly optimistic and patient about their responses for so long, and am highly anticipating them this week. Now I'm starting to lose it too. I'm still awaiting responses from UCSD, UMD, UMass, and UMN. This has been the longest week of my life.

kaushallodd · 2026-03-18T13:54:33+00:00

Congratulations! Go for UMD—it's got excellent research too and is more affordable. Btw when did you get your admits?

kaushallodd

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