6 weeks has officially come to an end and along with that has Module C at Hult International Business School. As part of the Global Rotation program I decided to explore the city of San Francisco and the campus offering there and so far its been nothing short of nice. The campus is really big and perhaps due to being a new campus is absolutely beautiful. It must be said though, that the fact that the additional construction to accommodate the increasing demand did hamper the experience a little bit. In order to limit the inconvenience caused by the construction, management decided to host a few classes at the nearby Le Meridien hotel (which was not a bad idea I reckon). However, the biggest problem with the location was the lack of adequate internet infrastructure. When you have 70 odd students (signed up for a Digital Marketing course) trying to access the Internet you best better make sure the infrastructure in place is capable of handling it. If not, whats going to happen is a complete shut down of the Internet access. And this is quite detrimental if some of the things you are trying to do for the class depend completely on you having access to the internet. Now this wouldn’t be so much a detrimental factor if it was an isolated incident.

Besides this minor/major inconvenience, life at the campus is nothing short of brilliant. Currently two floors cater to the needs of students and staff. The first floor being the one with the classrooms and two areas where students can congregate and study. The other being the second floor with a ton of breakout rooms and offices for the staff. The biggest differences here in the San Francisco campus are the Student Services and Career Services. There is consistent and constant communication from both departments that give you a sense of community if you decided to tap into those communications.

All being said, I will post a detailed review of both the Dubai campus and San Francisco campus starting in the next couple of weeks. But as for now initial reactions to the San Francisco campus are positive. With Module C being so short there wasn’t enough time to get settled in (one might argue) but with Module D still left to go we’ll see if anything changes.

The first day of class is always painful – trying to get out of the ‘vacation mode’ and back to study mode (hey at least I’m trying!), trying to crack the screen where the snooze button appears, long lines at Starbucks waiting to get your caffeine fix before classes being and all of this while trying to be on time. Its even more crazier when you are taking classes within a few days of arriving at a new city, new surroundings and new people and more so if your time is being focused towards putting a roof over your head and not exactly relaxing.

Hult Mod C in San Francisco has now officially started. More about the Hult San Francisco campus is a separate post. The campus is now under the strongholds of construction and in the efforts to ease the pain for the students, management has decided to host a few classes in the meeting room of the nearby Le Meridien hotel. Its a huge room and tables and chairs are lined up. There are pens, pads and even mints set out for those in attendance – good so far.

Now I’m not a picky person in general but one thing that I refuse to accept in this day and age is a slow internet connection. The Le Meridien is a decent spot but then again there is no cell phone reception and the wifi is just ridiculously slow. I spent the whole of 2 hours trying to open up 5 websites repeatedly attacking the refresh and enter buttons and throwing obscenities at the screen. To me, personally, not addressing the consequence of about 70 people accessing the same internet connection is inexcusable – especially when you are out here to get a education and especially when the subject you are taking requires you be connected TO the internets. Granted its only the first day but if i have to sit through one more class without a decent internet connection i’m going to have to talk to a few people.

Well this only being the beginning there is plenty of good and bad in store I’m sure and its just a matter of time before they all present themselves. But in the end of the day 6 weeks is most likely to go by in the blink of an eye. Lets do this!

Getting the United States Student Visa, or any other visa for that matter, can be a nerve racking experience. What helps with the preparation though, is a good understanding of the process and learning about other’s experiences. These are my experiences in applying for the US Student Visa in March 2011 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (I am not a citizen of the country). The process for US Student Visa is fairly consistent across the globe so hopefully this post helps some of you.

I am breaking down the entire process into 3 sections and explain what I did in the process of getting the visa

1. The Pre-Interview Phase:

• Filling up the Declaration of Finances form: My student visa procurement process began with me filling out a ‘Declaration of Finances’ form that was used by my graduate school, Hult International Business School, to apply for the I-20 on my behalf. I furnished details amounting to the fact that I had sufficient funds to cover my expenses during my duration in the United States. My school used the details from that form to apply for the I-20 and sent the form along with a SEVIS id number to me within a few weeks of initiating the process. This is a 9 digit number follow the letter ‘N’ on the top right corner of your I-20 form when you get it. (Sometimes you may be given the SEVIS id number before you get your form. This number will suffice for you to start with the remaining sections of the process). Once you get your I-20, make sure you take a good look at it to ensure all the information is accurate.
• Paying the SEVIS fees: Make sure you are connected to a printer before you start this process. You need to take a print out of the payment confirmation page to take with you to the consultate for your interview. DO NOT CLOSE the confirmation screen without taking this printout as there is no way for you to return to that screen EVER! This link (https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/students/formSelection.htm) at the Department of Homeland Security website helps you with the process of paying the SEVIS fees of $200. Keep your SEVIS id you received from your school handy in order to complete the process. Select the I-20 option and proceed by filling out the required details. You could pay using a credit card as this is the easiest option (However, if you are from certain countries you may not be allowed to do so. This is a precautionary measures applied by the Department of Homeland Security to help curtail fraudulent activities. If you are from one of these restricted countries there are alternate instructions provided on the website  for you).
• Take a digital photograph of yourself: You may choose to enlist the services of a professional photography studio for this or you may choose to do it yourself. Whatever be your method of choice, make sure they adhere to the required standards posted here on the United States government website. Make sure you have a digital copy of the taken photograph and you will need to upload this in order to complete the D-160 form
• Filling the DS-160 form:You can start filling your DS-160 form by clicking this link from the Consular Electronic Application Center (https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/). You will be required to enter a security question and an answer for your password. Make sure your retain this information along with the form application number (you will need this since it is inevitable that you will be logged out due to some sort of inactivity and these are key pieces of information that you will need to be able to log back and proceed from where you were logged out). Be prepared to spend some time filling this form up. It took my about and 1.5 hrs to 2hrs to fill this form out with its various sections and log outs and interruptions. Upload your photo and print out the confirmation page. You will need to take this to the interview
• Schedule a consular appointment: Check your nearest consulate website for their scheduling calendar and choose a date that works for you. You will need your application number (from your DS-160 form) in order to make an appointment. Print out the appointment page and take it with you to the consulate
• Pay the consular fees: There are specific instructions on how you may pay the consular fees. In my case it was to go to a specific bank (National Bank of Abu Dhabi and pay the required amount of $140 or in this case 540Dhs). This is a relatively pain free process – just go to the bank and pay the fees. Retain a pink and blue slip that you will be given as proof of payment. Take this with you to the consulate on the day of your interview.

2. The Interview Phase

On the day of your interview make sure you take all the necessary documents with you

1. Your Passport
2. The SEVIS payment confirmation page
3. The DS-160 Confirmation Page
4. The Interview Confirmation Page
5. The Consular Fee payment slips (pink pink and blue)
6. The I-20
7. Supporting documents to prove your financial capability and ties to your home country
8. Extra copies of passport style photograph that your took for the DS-160

This section will be specific to my experience here in Dubai.

Visa applicants were asked to assemble at the white cabin at one of the Dubai World Trade Center Building. Your interview papers will be verified by the security and you will have to walk through a metal detector and then wanded by another security. Then you will be asked to sit down and wait till your time slot arrives. Once there were about 20 people (I presume were all for our interview time slots) we were led into the World Trade Center building straight into an elevator and taken up to the 20th floor. We waited in a line and our papers were verified one at a time. I was asked to take a photocopy of my I-20 and was asked to go to the next room where they take care of administration services. Once all that was taken care of I was taken back to the old room, my papers re-verified and all my possessions x-rayed. There was a lady in front of me was asked to head to the restroom and wash her hands again as the machine was going bonkers during the scan.

Once all was done, we were asked to walk back the way we came to a security desk, where our contents (that were just x-rayed and everything) were re-examined and once again we were wanded down. Once this was done, we walked through a small corridor, up another elevator and were again X-rayed and wanded and our contents re-examined. And then we were allowed to go into the waiting room, which was just a huge room with consular booths against the wall. We were asked to show our confirmations papers, given a toke number and  10 printed (impressions of all your 10 fingers will be taken by pressing against a green lighted machine). And now you wait until your token number is called out and you approach the window with the visa officer on the other side to answer questions.

These were the questions I was asked:

1. Why are you going to the states?
2. Why do you need another degree?
3. Why did you chose Hult?
4. Who is paying for your trip and education?
5. What is your plan after graduation

That’s it and after a wait of slightly over 3 hours the entire interview was done in 3 minutes. They tell you if your visa is approved/rejected/pending further processing on the spot.

3. The Post Interview Phase:

This phase will defer with consulates as I observed. In previous attempts once the interview is over and if your visa is approved, they retain the visa and send you off. The passport with the visa stamped is then mailed/couriered to you. In Dubai, I was asked to take my visa down to the white cabin where it all started albeit in a different section. When I reached the white cabin, I was asked to fill my mailing details out on a sticker and paste in on the back of my passport. I get to keep a stub indicative of my giving them the passport. I was then asked to wait 3 business days and the passport would be delivered to me.

Once all these phases are over, wait for your passport to arrive, make arrangements and off you fly. Good luck with your visa and have a great time, studying in the United States.

Disclaimer: The depiction above is what I personally did when I tried to get my United States Student Visa from Dubai, UAE during March 2011. Visa rules and procedures change often so make sure you check with your school and the local consulate to make sure you are doing everything accurately.

2 months ago I uprooted myself and flew half way around the world to Dubai to get an MBA degree. So I got trashed around a little by Statistics and Accounting but besides that, the subjects have been kind enough. The weather in Dubai has cooled down to un-hellish levels, the people are much more cheerful, more parties keep springing up (most of which I haven’t gone to), and besides a few hiccups the Dubai Metro keeps running and continues to be the godsend that people like me need. Also in the 2 months I met people from all over the world, made a few good friends, realized that not earning was harder than I anticipated, figured out things about myself that I never knew including the fact that a music-less life is depressing as hell, ogled at the gazillion Bentleys that keep materializing where ever I go and got my first DJ lessons!

Now back to school! The faculty so far has been mixed – a few good but mostly meh (Its only been 4 subjects so there’s not a whole lot to go on just yet and apparently the best ones are yet to come). The only major downside to the studies is the 80-20 rule  which means only 20% of the class gets an A in any given subject (sucks to be the rest of the 80%). Besides this minor inconvenience, the assignments and submissions seem to be flowing at pretty regular intervals. The group projects are the craziest not for the team work itself but the ending ceremony of grading your peers.

Just when you thought life couldn’t get any worse they throw you a curve ball. The way most people/team do peer evaluation is by asking you to secretly grade your peers in accordance with the work that they did. But some wise guy figured out how to complicate things even further by asking the team members to arrive at a consensus on each others contribution and then submit this as the peer review. Now I don’t know about you but it sucks to have to grade someone below average in the first place and then now I’m suppose to sit in a room and listen to some self righteous dude ramble on about how his brain farts are worth more than the hours of effort someone else had to put to ensure the team even GOT a grade. To the genius who came up with this sweet way to complicate peer reviews, I salute you!

On to the Career Services in Hult Dubai. Let’s just say the jury is still out on that one. Student Services found our foosball and now the activity around the table is incredible. They constantly do an event and/or activity for the students which is a welcomed break from the daily work load.

So on the whole the past 2 months have been eventful to say the least (a few events will get their own posts on this blog in the days to come) but as to whether this is a fundamentally life changing decision…I hope to know by year’s end.

Hult International Business School is an institution with an striking pedigree. In 2009, The Economist in its yearly MBA rankings, listed Hult as #44 in the world and #23 in the United States. Along with 2009′s Financial Times rankings, this clearly placed Hult in the top 1% of institutions in the world.

Ref: Hult Rankings (seen on Hult website as on September 20, 2010)

Just when you thought that in itself was cause for celebration out comes the 2010 rankings by The Economist.

World Wide = #27

USA = #17

Ref: The Economist 2010 MBA Ranking

Here’s is an interesting stat

Diversity of recruiters – #5

While there are a few other very encouraging stats I find this one to be particularly encouraging.

Here’s wishing Hult continues to climb up the ladder and reach the spot it clearly deserves. Go HULT!

Hult routinely brings in external speakers to augment the MBA experience and one of the speakers we had last week was Reg Athwal who speaks on ‘Unleashing Your DNA’. The whole concept is about finding what kind of personality type you are and subsequently surrounding yourself with others who fit other aspects where you might not be strong at to create a sort of ‘Dream Team’ if you will. The whole concept while cliched seemed to have a positive effect on the student body which is probably a very good thing.

Check out Rawltd.com for further information on the speaker, who knows maybe this is what you are looking for. If it looks a little ‘markety’ thats probably cause he does his job really well.

Getting back to school after working for a while is a very interesting and exciting experience. The first time you walk through the doors  and you see a whole bunch of new students there is the flood of memories (both good and bad), reminiscing moments from the previous attempt at academic education – the friendships, the relationships, the times of old.

Hmm I wonder if I can find a tee shirt with this inscription to sport to college.

“The only thing interfering with my learning, is education – Albert Einstein”