US Advises students to seek accurate information from embassies before joining universities

The USA has advised the students who apply for study visas to the U.S. to get accurate and reliable information on such applications. Students should make it a point to see that the information are gathered from proper and valid sources and they should not zero in on the procedures explained by every other agent. Mr. Bill Strassberger, Cultural Affairs Officer of U.S. Embassy in Abuja, advised the students on the same at the weekly students’ visa orientation program held. He cautioned the students to be careful of various “touts” who can misguide the students with wrong information and collect cash from them for the services they provide.

“There are people who are trying to take advantage of those who do not know”, said Strassberger. “They might listen to touts on the street; they might listen to a so-called adviser who does not really know much of what they are talking about, they get bad information.”

Mr. Jerrod Hansen, Vice Consul of the embassy, said that the students should get directly involved in the processes of visa acquisition, rather than bestowing the responsibility upon some intermediary. This would not only make them understand the goings on of the process, but it would also help them gain the confidence that is required during the visa interviews. They should not pay anyone for the answers they should give at the interviews.

The cultural affairs office of the U.S. Embassy has the EducationUSA Advising Centers, which counsel the students both from within the country and foreign students as well on the full range of educational opportunities that are available in the United States. EducationUSA advising centers are available in 170 countries across the world.

Some of the important facts that applicants need to remember is that in order to study in the United States, they need take standardized tests such as the TOEFL, SAT I, SAT II Subject Tests, ACT, GRE, GMAT, and others. Besides, the requirements for taking tests for short-term studies vary between different programs, so students need to contact only the specific programs that they are interested to enroll in.

The two important decisions that would influence where students would want to study are the subjects that they would want to take up and secondly the source of funding that is available at hand for their education program there. There are no upper bounds to the number of colleges or universities where the students should apply. But, students should only apply after assessing their own interests, skills and what they expect out of their higher education. This would help them to narrow down their choices. The embassy would help the students evaluate the curriculum, courses, resources, etc that suits them best.