 Hey guys so a lot of you have been asking for F1 visa preparation tips and interview experiences specifically for bachelor's program in the US and I have been wanting to do a video like this for really long so here it is finally. So today's video I'm going to be talking about how you can prepare for your F1 visa interview if you're going for a bachelor's program and I also have a student with me sharing his experience so keep on watching. Hey guys I'm Shachi and I'm a travel and visa coach on this channel you'll find lots of useful videos on the US visa process. I have separate playlists for F1 visa and also a separate playlist for spring 22 intake so make sure that you check out all of these videos. So in today's program I'm going to be focusing specifically on bachelor's program in the US. Now when it comes to the bachelor's program the most important point which you need to be prepared for is explaining why do you want to pursue this bachelor's program in the US instead of India especially when it comes to engineering courses which are offered plenty in India or it might be offered plenty in your home country as well. Second when it comes to a bachelor's program it might not always be possible to have a focus area or a specialization but if you can do that and bring in some amount of focus or some amount of domain specialization in your bachelor's program it's going to help you immensely in the visa interview and when we talked to Akash who is with me in this video today you will see that he had a focus area in his bachelor program he was going for an engineering program but he wanted specifically to focus on mechatronics and that did really help him in his interview experience. And the third thing that you really need to focus on when it comes to bachelor's program is the funding. Since the duration of the program is more the funding requirement is also going to be more in the bachelor's program so properly planning your funding and showing how you're going to fund the entire duration of the course is going to be really important. One thing that you can keep in mind here is that funding need not come only from parents, immediate family members, immediate relatives can also be a part of your funding program and this is something that you will see in the interview experience that I'm going to dive into. So in this video I have with me Akash. Akash recently got his visa approved and today he is here to share his entire preparation plan as well as his visa experience. Before we start let's take a quick look at his profile. Education. So Akash has done diploma in mechanical he completed it recently in 2021 and post that he had an admit from Wichita State University so he started his fall semester online. So essentially that means that when he went for the interview he was already into the program he was already into the first semester. So the admit is from Wichita State University the program that he's going for is a bachelor in engineering technology and like I mentioned earlier he did have a focus in this program that he wanted to focus on mechatronics and funding. Akash's funding is not from his parents it is fully funded by his immediate family members. So let's listen to his experience. Hello. Hello. Hi Akash how are you? I'm great how are you? So first of all thanks a lot for digging out the time. Yeah sure. So hello everyone my name is Akash Dhanipar. I've completed my diploma in mechanical engineering from Sree Bhagavan of Kiblaal Political College which is in Bombay and I'm planning to go to Wichita State University to complete my bachelor's of science in engineering technology with a specialization in mechatronics and I also have started my fall semester online. All right great. So what is the reason you've started the fall semester online or rather was it like a planned thing or something which you know? No basically my diploma's exam got delayed because of the COVID situation in India so I couldn't make it to the fall campus on time and I didn't want to waste the six months between the I actually basically didn't want to defer to the spring semester. So I decided to take the fall semester to continue with my education. Just to prevent any gaps. Yeah exactly. So what was your preparation process like for the visa interview right like when did you start? So it's a quite fun story because I was actually preparing for the August end date so the visa preparation started basically in the month of June itself. I also had a date for August but it was in Chennai but the nine years consulate is Bombay so but things didn't work out like the exams didn't happen on time so I decided to take the fall semester online and for that I actually decided to take the interview a bit later so that I'll get more time to prepare and all so I cancelled my visa date which was in August and as soon as I cancelled I actually got a visa interview date quite easily in the month of October. I know it's quite difficult to get a visa interview right but I was lucky enough to get it in the month of October and the process is same like every other student not that different as compared to a master's unit yeah and that's you gave an interview in Mumbai, is it? Yeah Mumbai. So how was the interview experience? What did they ask you and? The interview experience for me it was quite simple I thought it was simple as you know you may help me prepare the answers and all so the answers were on point so I was very confident with my answers so I also hold a B2 visa I actually didn't know what questions should I expect from that so I approached you and you helped me with that as well so I was quite confident but as soon as I entered the Mumbai consulate there was a big queue actually there were quite a few people waiting for the interviews and I saw quite a few rejections as well but I was feeling quite confident because I was very prepared with my answers as soon as I had my interview the officer greeted me with a good morning as well greeted him with a good morning in a very confident manner and the first question he asked me was regarding my program itself why this program and I didn't have any questions asked on me specifically on my university and also as soon as he finished with the program part he asked me about my previous visit to the United States I've been to the United States in the month in the year 2015 he asked me about that and he was trying to confuse me basically told me that have you been to the United States twice right so he was basically trying to confuse me and wanted to wanted me to tell a lie okay so I just told him that yeah I've just been there once that's all and he again asked me after three psychological thing that they do yeah you do say yes yes yes yes exactly you pose a question which should not be actually you told me about this I was prepared with that yeah he asked me about that he also asked me how many what was the duration of his day back then I answered him that and later he asked me about my finances who is sponsoring your education but I was quite surprised he didn't ask me about what is the source of funds or anything related like proof of funds or anything related to that specific question. So that's all. And then we told that those golden words like the visa is approved. I would just tell you to just be confident. That's the only key I think. And just maintain an eye to eye contact. So things which I want to probe a little deeper. One is when you asked about the course, right? So normally what happens in bachelor's people don't choose a focus area because they think it's bachelor's. I don't need a specialization but that's not how we prepare, right? Like you have a specific field in mind and also you are prepared as to why that field, right? Would you recommend doing that? Because many times I see that for bachelor's people still stick to a very baseline kind of general course structure. I've actually seen few students with an undecided major as well. So I believe that's not a problem but I would recommend you to have a major because that would give the officer a satisfaction that you are going for a specific course and you are just intent to study about that. So I believe having a major is a good thing. And the second thing is about funding. So see in bachelor's program the funding requirement is mode, right? Because they're very important. So one that and second like in your case the funding was not apparent, right? So this is something. Yeah, it was a family sponsored. There's a lot of people. You like in your experience or that though it was not apparent there was still. Yeah, I actually had my family as a sponsor. So I also saw few visa interviews in front of myself who had family as a sponsor. So I believe there is no issue with that. You just have to be confident and you have to show a strong relationship with them. That's all. Did they ask three documents financial documents? Not at all. But I saw an interview that a lady was asking a lot of documents from people, a proof of confidence. But you should be prepared with your documents. What else? Any other tips, advice for people who are yet to give the interviews now in the next one, one and a half month? I believe that confidence is the only thing. As soon as I entered the counselor, I don't know why but my confidence there was on a different level. I believe because of the practice we've done, more interviews we've had. So my confidence wasn't a different level. I don't know why but the battery area helped me. And please try to use hand gestures and eye to eye contact. This will develop a relationship with the officer and it will help you basically. So I believe confidence is the key. Okay, great. Overall, even if it's a bachelor program, it's still the same focus points. Exactly. Yeah, course, university, funding, getting all that info, right? Yeah, okay. I would recommend if you're going for a spring intake, try to book your tickets as soon as possible. The tickets are quite expensive. Correct, yes. January 1st week tickets are quite expensive. That's a good tip actually. Thanks for sharing that. Thank you so much. All the best. Thank you so much. Thank you for doing this. All right, so just like Akash, if you want my help in preparing for your visa interview, please feel free to get in touch with me. We can do a one-to-one session to really deep dive into your profile, structure your answers and help you get ready for whatever might be asked in the interview. You can also book a mock session with me. This is going to give you all the practice, the confidence building and the fluency that you need on the day of the interview. We do multiple rounds of mock. The entire recording for both the sessions is going to be shared with you so you can always go back and prefer it. In addition to that, you can also be a part of my next F1 Prep workshop. These are workshops which help you to just get started on the process and it's literally a crash course to get your visa ready. All the details for all of these things is mentioned in the description box below. I also have a ton of free downloads, so make sure that you check out all of it. And before I end, just want to tell you there are a lot more useful videos coming up. So if you are all set to give your interview in the next two months for the spring intake, then make sure that you subscribe, stay tuned and don't miss out on any of the videos. Signing off for now. I'll see you in the next one. Bye.