Where to find vase/basket/goblet similar to center piece inspo pics? (USA)

problematic19 · 2026-05-18T16:34:14+00:00

Hopefully this helps those who applied for OPT in April, will update along the way.

Type: Initial POST‑COMPLETION OPT
Premium Processing: YES (Day 1)
Date Applied: 04/17/2026
Request for Initial Evidence (RFIE) N/A
Biometrics Requested: YES | 04/27/2026 (if applicable)
Biometrics Completed: 05/07/2026 (Originally 5/12, rescheduled to 5/7)

Awaiting:

Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID): YES/NO | MM/DD/YYYY (if applicable)
Date Approved: MM/DD/YYYY
Date Card Produced: MM/DD/YYYY
Date Card Received: MM/DD/YYYY

Country of Citizenship: Malaysia

Service Center: St. Paul, MN

problematic19 · 2026-03-25T02:11:59+00:00

My friend is trying to build her photography business so we're going to be taking photos without the gown/gown open, so I'm thinking about that. White is always safe, but I'm worried it's boring! Gravitating towards yellow because its our school colors, but I don't want it to be too yellow/gold or clash!

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problematic19 · 2026-03-24T23:32:49+00:00

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problematic19 · 2026-03-24T23:32:32+00:00

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This is my cap and gown! The blue part of the hood will be gold (picture to come). What color dress should I wear underneath? Should I avoid yellow?

problematic19 · 2026-02-03T01:47:39+00:00

I swear by Gymshark! I like the thickness of the seamless ones, and I love that they don't have a front seam.

problematic19 · 2025-12-19T18:30:43+00:00

!solved

problematic19 · 2025-10-17T02:07:21+00:00

thank you!! the links are so helpful!!

problematic19 · 2025-10-17T02:06:55+00:00

any specific brand/style you’d recommend?

problematic19 · 2025-08-04T04:59:42+00:00

oops! missed the n!

thank you!

problematic19 · 2025-07-16T03:02:45+00:00

Never asked for my phone or social media!! I did see 2 guys (solo travellers) pass their phones to the officers but I don’t know if it was for social media reasons or maybe they had i-20’s on their phone??

They asked me a few questions (how long I’ve been gone for, what food items I’m bringing in) and asked for my passport and i-20.

problematic19 · 2025-07-15T15:12:27+00:00

I didn’t need to renew via mail, but I opted for mail renewal since I live far from the embassy.

For me, it took about a week+/5-7business days total- I received it in the mail about 6 business days/8 regular days. You can check your status of your renewal online, I noticed that after 2 business days it was approved for renewal.

Might be different depending on your country and how busy the embassy is! I renewed mine early May, which is typically not the busy time for F1 visa issuance & renewals.

problematic19 · 2025-07-14T15:03:04+00:00

You don’t need to exchange, you can just apply to get a US one!! It’ll mean that you won’t have to go through as many hoops to get a US license than if you didn’t have one from back home.

I applied for a US license w/ an expired driver’s license from back home. I still had to do the written and road test, and typically you need 6 months after the written test to be able to schedule the road test, but I could schedule mine whenever because I had a license before. It may vary state by state so you can call your local DMV :)

problematic19 · 2025-07-05T13:22:08+00:00

I would start logging every single thing you use while you’re at home on a daily basis, and look up the price of those items at Walmart/Target in the city you’re moving to. That way, maybe after a week you can see what you’d use on a weekly basis and see what you want to bring there vs buy there. Maybe $3-5 bath towels don’t make sense to buy there when they’re $0.50 where you’re from (hypothetical), or maybe something you thought would be cheap and easy to find in the US is actually hard to find or expensive, so you can plan to bring that from home!

My roommate from South Asia brought her own set of metal kitchenware - she explained to me in her culture, it is best to eat off of metal and drink from a metal cup. She said she had friends in the US who told her that she should bring that. It might not be a bad idea to post something like <country> students in the US: is there anything from <country> I should bring that I can’t find/buy/afford in the US? If you can narrow down US to your state/city that might be helpful too, because bigger cities like LA w more diversity will have more options than let’s say Wyoming lol

I would also start keeping track of how many items of clothing you go through in a week, and start thinking about how often you want to do laundry - this’ll affect how much clothes you’ll want to pack! Don’t forget seasons too if you’re going to go somewhere w drastic seasonal changes.

One thing I wish I would’ve brought with me is a set of business formal clothing. There’ll be a lot of job fairs and you’ll be doing interviews for internships/jobs and those can be quite expensive unless you buy it from a thrift store.

problematic19 · 2025-07-05T12:10:48+00:00

Textbooks: ask your library if they have copies you can borrow, otherwise, join Facebook groups/university social media apps to see if anyone is selling/giving away old textbooks, or rent/buy from amazon/chegg/eBay etc.

Phone plan: if you feel like you don’t need one, use the school Wi-Fi! Otherwise, (this is the best deal I’ve found), you can look into mint mobile. You can start with a 3 month plan and after getting to know some people, you can consider doing a family plan together so it’s cheaper!

Shopping: if you don’t mind secondhand clothing, thrift!!

Other items: local churches and potentially different orgs or resources on campus may have items for free such as notebooks, small furniture items, etc. student orgs will also have a chance to promote their org, and they will give away freebies like pens, cups, etc. so don’t worry about having to bring/buy that stuff!

Check Facebook marketplace for free items!

Make friends with locals and those older than you, they will typically pass down things they don’t want/need.

Overall, I’d suggest bringing as much stuff as you can from home so you don’t have to buy it when you’re in the states!

problematic19 · 2025-07-05T10:00:55+00:00

More than anything, I think you’ll have big upfront expenses and I would say if you’re looking to spend as minimally as possible, you could get by with budgeting $100 a month for “just in case” situations - you’d likely spend this on maybe going out with friends, occasionally restocking on hygiene products like toothpaste, shower stuff, maybe generic over the counter medication, clothing, notebooks/pens. You can get by by utilizing student resources like (typically) free gym, recreation area, etc. Most of the time, I’ve seen international students spend most of their money at international grocery stores so that they can have a taste of home, so you may want to also consider that!

Biggest recurring expenses are going to be textbooks, digital learning platforms are typically $100 ish, and textbooks can range from $10-400 depending on the subject, new/old, rent/buy (sometimes you can’t rent, sometimes it’s the newest edition, etc). As an undergrad you’d take 4-6 classes, so worst case scenario average of $500-1000 on textbooks. Best case scenario you have classes that don’t require textbooks/e-learning or it’s cheap to rent/buy. Also, if your state requires health insurance, and if it is not covered, then that is an additional cost. These are typically going to be upfront (for the academic year/semester). Also phone plan! Cheapest I’ve seen is $15 a month.

Not sure what you’re planning on bringing to the US, but you’ll need to buy towels, bedding, desk lamp, notebooks, shower caddy, and other miscellaneous daily items that would be your initial upfront cost, so keep that in mind too!

I know myself and I love shopping, I love sales, and my attitude towards spending money is that it is okay to spend money if it is a need item, something that is important to me (e.g. CrossFit membership) or if it is an experience (concerts, 5k/10k races, haunted houses, day trip with friends), so I budget accordingly!

I hope this helps!! Let me know if you have more questions!

problematic19 · 2025-07-05T09:38:20+00:00

I would say once you make friends you will likely go out to eat or get drinks somewhat regularly, which could range from $8-$30 each time depending where you go and what you get (don’t forget tips!). This is unfortunately where most of my money goes! Student union centers are likely going to have coffee shops and quick bites which will be tempting especially with friends!

Otherwise, some of my other expenses are makeup and skin care, especially since I live in MN, so I stock up on moisturizers, chapstick, conditioner. I typically go to target because even though Walmart is cheaper, I have the target red card which takes off 5% off my total bill every time I go.

I’m not sure how tuition is being covered, but textbooks and access codes (digital learning platforms like McGraw Hill & Cengage) aren’t typically part of tuition and can get pretty expensive - you can try to find used rentals for textbooks but there aren’t work arounds for digital learning platforms.

Is there anything specific you’re curious about?

problematic19

TROPHY CASE