Yug Gill is the Associate Director of Campus Living and Community Development. He used to work in the international office here at DePauw and is pretty familiar with what the process looks like to be an international student here. I got to sit with him and ask him a little bit about it.
HerCampus: What does the process look like initially when a student is interested in going to school abroad?
Yug Gill: People go through study abroad coaching wherever they’re originally from that helps the student with prep work. Some popular places include India, China, and Brazil. The people in study abroad coaching will ask the students about the majors and types of colleges they are interested in and give them resources and information, or sometimes people are just interested in studying abroad and look at application programs.
HC: Once they pick a school, what does the application process look like?
YG: Similar to domestic students, they have to fill out the application where they ask you essay questions that have to be answered in English. Depending where the students come from, they have to show their proficiency in English, with tests like TOEFL and IELTS. Along with admissions materials and their application, they show their proficiency level in English and it tells the university their score. DePauw has a minimum requirement of the TOEFL in order to be considered for admittance. If they can’t prove they can cope with the English language, it becomes a little difficult to gain admission.
HC: What happens after they get accepted?
YG: After they get accepted, they have to show their finances and that they can meet the schools needs, and International Student Services works with them towards getting an I-20, and they would also receive a welcome package. I-20 is a document that helps students set an appointment for a student visa. They take it to their embassy and show them all their documents, admissions paperwork, finance statements, and their passport.
HC: What comes after they have been approved?
YG: Sometimes their embassy will deny them because students don’t have enough funding or their intent is to stay in the U.S. By this, I mean if the embassy has a feeling you want to stay longer than just completing your four years of schooling, you can get denied. If approved, you then get the student F-1 visa and the duration it allows students to stay abroad varies, so some students have to go home and renew it. You get approved on your passport by getting your ID number, 1-20 number, and visa number stamped on it. After everything is cleared, you can work on getting your flight scheduled and what you need to pack. Most people don’t get to think about that stuff until they get their visa approved. After they get their visa is when they can really start the planning process.
HC: What happens after they set everything up and arrive in Indiana?
YG: Afterwards, some people ship their stuff over or bring it with them on the plane. Then at the airport, for DePauw at least, we provide a shuttle to campus. Once they get here, they start one week of orientation before freshman orientation starts; international students technically have two orientations. Everything after that is pretty similar to the schedule and structure of domestic students. They have classes, mentors, and RAs, but they do require additional support from the International Student Services offices because they’re coming to a new culture and academic environment. They also have International Student Services for anything else they need.
HC: Thank you so much for talking with me and telling me what you know about this long process.
YG: Yeah, of course!