We hear from many students who have faced unique challenges in studying in the U.S., but Sarah’s story is one we haven’t heard before.  She wrote to us to say that she was “over the moon” to receive her acceptance to Notre Dame University, but “the big question? How will we take the children calmly through a 17hour flight?”

With a husband and two small children hoping to accompany her to the U.S., Sarah had some extra stress during her journey to start school this fall.

“You are never too old to dream or pursue your passions; it’s never too late no matter what; hope should never die; one must never give up.”  Those were just some of the things I told myself when I was nursing my unfulfilled desire to pursue a masters in international human rights law.  I thought to myself, “I believe in a big God able to do impossible things, so eventually, no matter what, this Master’s will come my way.”

Lo and behold there it was in front of my eyes; an email from the University of Notre Dame accepting me into their international human rights law program for 2013. I was stunned. I was breathless. I read it over and over again savoring every word, especially “pleased to offer you.” I, a wife, mother of two energetic toddlers and public prosecutor, was about journey across the globe to fulfill a seven-year-old dream!

University of Notre Dame (Creative Commons by Gbozik)

But first I had to get there.

Step one was easy: accept the offer by email and relish in telling friends and family, especially my mom who was living vicariously through me, that finally it had happened and what a prestigious university  I had been accepted to.

Step two however, getting the visas, was something of a mission.  All the spook stories I heard of people being turned down for some unattainable unidentifiable reason loomed large as my family and I waited for our interviews to come. Would they allow us to go together, or would they decide that I didn’t need my family to be with me on this journey?
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I had the great pleasure today to join VOA Learning English for a live video chat about studying in the U.S. A lot of you submitted questions in advance on Facebook, and we took some Skype calls during the chat as well.

It was a great time and we covered a lot of topics, including what it costs, how to get scholarships, what you have to do to get a visa, whether international students are allowed to work, and how to improve your English.

Watch it again here:

UPDATE: The video’s now annotated to help you find the important parts and skip over the rest. Put your cursor over the thin blue lines to see what questions we discussed and navigate directly to what you want to hear.

I had a total “brain fart” (memory loss) on the question of what’s considered a good TOEFL score. We actually discussed that in the blog post “What are Typical Application Deadlines and TOEFL Requirements?,” so go there for the answer.

Did we answer your questions?  What other questions do you have about studying in the U.S.?

Want to hear from students who got through the visa interview and stamping process?  Nareg talked about his experience earlier this year.

We also recently stumbled across the Happy Schools Blog, which shares stories from students about their F-1 visa interviews. They have success stories and visa denial stories, which come largely from India, but include some other countries, like this one from Kenya.

RedBus2US also shares visa stories from India, and you can look on many international student forums for even more.

EducationUSA interviews international students about their experience going through the visa application process. All the students in this video had an easy time of it and have positive stories to tell (it’s worth remembering though that interviewing an international student means talking to a successful applicant – not everyone is successful).

[Read Nareg's post about getting through his visa interview]

Nemata Kabba from Sierra Leone gives this useful advice: “A lot of people use school as an excuse to come to the U.S. Don’t be one of those people.”

Marketing EducationUSA shares some good news announced by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs: worldwide last year, 82% of all student visa applicants were approved.  That should put some minds at ease.

An International Educator in Vietnam cautions, however, that it can be harder to get a student visa if you are attending a community college rather than a 4-year university.  He says that “it is especially important for CC [community college]-bound students to make the case that they are indeed “serious students” who have a well-defined plan and logical plan.”

At this time of year, universities are just getting back into session.  Freshmen and first years are arriving in new cities, and even new countries, for the first time and getting to know the place where they will spend the next few years of their lives.  Our bloggers remember what it was like to arrive in the U.S. for the first time, and give their number one piece of advice for traveling here.

In this part, our bloggers look at the practicalities of travel, including what you’ll need and what to pack.  Part 2 will look at how to get settled in and adjust to life in a new country.

Practicalities:

Nareg Seferian
Entering the US requires more paperwork than just your passport and visa. As a student, you need to have your I-20 ready, signed recently by the listed responsible official of your college. It doesn’t hurt to have your SEVIS receipt either, especially if it’s your first arrival.

On top of that, everyone entering America fills out a form or two, something called an I-94 and a customs declaration form. They are pretty self-explanatory, but you will require an address to fill in and perhaps a telephone number of where you will be in the country (your university’s address, if you’re living on-campus). The I-94 gets stapled into your passport. Needless to say, be very cautious and make sure you don’t lose it!

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My visa, issued by the embassy in Yerevan

The visa process was something of a harrowing experience when it came to getting to study in America. Okay, so maybe “harrowing” is too strong a word, but I was applying from Armenia, from where many have ended up in the States one way or another for a while now. The ”one way”-s can unfortunately be a problem. I was part of the “another” crowd, though – going through the proper channels - so, really, I did not have any issues.

It was just a little overwhelming getting all the paperwork done. For starters, the visa application was all online. I have trouble trusting such systems, and would much rather speak to a real-live person when it comes to dealing with official issues.

Anyway, to apply for a student visa, I needed an additional document called an “I-20″ from the college where I was going to study (which they had FedEx-ed over), and a print-out of a student payment fee called “SEVIS,” also done online.

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Jennifer from Study Life USA has put together a guide to studying in the US, focused on where to start when it comes to visas, English language assessments and financial aid.