Can your online activity hamper your US varsity plans?
No political memes, no partying photos and no obscenity. With the US state department combing through visa applicants’ social media accounts, students applying to the country are being told to cut down on online shenanigans
Rishabh.Deb@timesgroup.com and Anup.Satphale@timesgroup.com
23.06.2019
Danish Khan, a BBA student, completed his GMAT examination in Mumbai in January this year. The 24-year-old aspires to get an admission in an Ivy League university such as Harvard Business School or Yale, and prepping for the various exams and applications has been a huge ordeal — one that isn’t over yet. There’s another hurdle waiting for him, which has nothing to do with his GMAT score or any other educational qualifications.
It’s the US State Department policy that went into effect recently, which seeks links of all social media accounts of visa applicants. The authorities will be looking into accounts and posts from the past five years of people seeking entry into the United States — including students.
Danish, who will be appearing for his visa interview in Mumbai next month, says, “I don’t know how big a deciding factor my social media accounts will be. Should I be deleting any memes or posts from my pages?”
He isn’t the only one panicking. Several students are terrified that the Trump meme they posted one time for laughs, or their meticulous cataloguing of their party-loving lifestyles on social media will come back to haunt them now.
Education consultant Rohit Agrawal says, “We have received 45 queries since Friday from students seeking advice. They now fear that their future will be determined by their online behaviour.”
We spoke to education consultants across the country about what the new policy means for students seeking admissions in the US, and here’s what they had to say:
How to be the person US immigration likes on social media
‘BEING POLITICALLY NEUTRAL IS KEY’
Sushma Vyas, a consultant from New Delhi, has taken to advising students to not be impulsive on social media. She says, “Youngsters, in particular, are drawn towards memes on political figures. At a mock interview session last week, we advised our students to steer clear of these posts on their social media, as the posts and retweets might be seen as suspicious by the reviewer.”
Kolkata-based foreign studies expert Kakoli Dasgupta adds, “Being neutral is key for students in this scenario. Four days ago, we hired a social media expert at our consultancy to keep a checklist handy for the students to curate their online posts carefully. This includes staying away from posting anything anti-US and US policies.”
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DELETE YOUR POSTS
Pune-based social media expert Sagar Nangre says, “Most social media company servers are based in the US. Hence, they have all the available data.” Other than that, it’s also important that all your accounts not be set to private. “It might look like you have something to hide. The immigration authorities will want to welcome honest and hardworking people,” says Kedar Kulkarni, a social media expert.
ANGRY, OBSCENE AND VIOLENT CONTENT IS A NO-NO
A Chennai-based consultant, who recently roped in a social media expert at his firm, tells us, “The US is hyper-sensitive when it comes to terrorism or gun violence. If they see anything that indicates you might have an agenda against the West or that you discriminate against any group of individuals, you significantly damage your chances of getting a visa.”
“Think about the kind of person the US immigration authorities are going to want to let in. Be that person on social media. Make sure you only post things that paint you in the best light,” says Dr V Sagarkar, a Mumbai-based consultant.
‘DON’T IMPLY YOU WANT TO SETTLE DOWN IN US’
“The US authorities don’t want people to settle down in their country after completing their education, and students must not give an impression otherwise,” says Sushma. “Posts about ‘favourite American cities’ with pictures of homes, anything related to the American dream, or any posts dismissing one’s native country can get one into trouble. While deleting them will look suspicious, we have suggested to people to refrain from posting any such things in the future,” she adds.
DO I DELETE TRUMP MEMES/ APPLY TO CANADA INSTEAD?
... These are just some of the questions students are asking themselves since the policy went into effect
All of us, at some point, have liked some tweet, or shared memes and posts that can be deemed controversial by the visa approver. To judge whether we deserve a visa based on this is not okay. I am no longer considering studying in the US as my only option.
— Ansh Garg, 22, Mumbai Five years ago, when I was in school, I used to share a lot of video game-related posts, featuring guns and violence. If that comes under the scanner today, it would be unfair. I was practically a kid!
— Arjun Chopra, 21, Gurugram
Do I need to unfriend friends and family staying in the US? I am also not sure what kind of social media-related questions will be asked in the visa interview.
— Arun Nevale
I am withdrawing my application. I had posted memes related to Trump and US politics. He said obnoxious things about women, Muslims and Mexicans. I don’t want any government to go through my social media accounts, period. — Suzanne Singh, 28, Hyderabad
No political memes, no partying photos and no obscenity. With the US state department combing through visa applicants’ social media accounts, students applying to the country are being told to cut down on online shenanigans
Rishabh.Deb@timesgroup.com and Anup.Satphale@timesgroup.com
23.06.2019
Danish Khan, a BBA student, completed his GMAT examination in Mumbai in January this year. The 24-year-old aspires to get an admission in an Ivy League university such as Harvard Business School or Yale, and prepping for the various exams and applications has been a huge ordeal — one that isn’t over yet. There’s another hurdle waiting for him, which has nothing to do with his GMAT score or any other educational qualifications.
It’s the US State Department policy that went into effect recently, which seeks links of all social media accounts of visa applicants. The authorities will be looking into accounts and posts from the past five years of people seeking entry into the United States — including students.
Danish, who will be appearing for his visa interview in Mumbai next month, says, “I don’t know how big a deciding factor my social media accounts will be. Should I be deleting any memes or posts from my pages?”
He isn’t the only one panicking. Several students are terrified that the Trump meme they posted one time for laughs, or their meticulous cataloguing of their party-loving lifestyles on social media will come back to haunt them now.
Education consultant Rohit Agrawal says, “We have received 45 queries since Friday from students seeking advice. They now fear that their future will be determined by their online behaviour.”
We spoke to education consultants across the country about what the new policy means for students seeking admissions in the US, and here’s what they had to say:
How to be the person US immigration likes on social media
‘BEING POLITICALLY NEUTRAL IS KEY’
Sushma Vyas, a consultant from New Delhi, has taken to advising students to not be impulsive on social media. She says, “Youngsters, in particular, are drawn towards memes on political figures. At a mock interview session last week, we advised our students to steer clear of these posts on their social media, as the posts and retweets might be seen as suspicious by the reviewer.”
Kolkata-based foreign studies expert Kakoli Dasgupta adds, “Being neutral is key for students in this scenario. Four days ago, we hired a social media expert at our consultancy to keep a checklist handy for the students to curate their online posts carefully. This includes staying away from posting anything anti-US and US policies.”
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T DELETE YOUR POSTS
Pune-based social media expert Sagar Nangre says, “Most social media company servers are based in the US. Hence, they have all the available data.” Other than that, it’s also important that all your accounts not be set to private. “It might look like you have something to hide. The immigration authorities will want to welcome honest and hardworking people,” says Kedar Kulkarni, a social media expert.
ANGRY, OBSCENE AND VIOLENT CONTENT IS A NO-NO
A Chennai-based consultant, who recently roped in a social media expert at his firm, tells us, “The US is hyper-sensitive when it comes to terrorism or gun violence. If they see anything that indicates you might have an agenda against the West or that you discriminate against any group of individuals, you significantly damage your chances of getting a visa.”
“Think about the kind of person the US immigration authorities are going to want to let in. Be that person on social media. Make sure you only post things that paint you in the best light,” says Dr V Sagarkar, a Mumbai-based consultant.
‘DON’T IMPLY YOU WANT TO SETTLE DOWN IN US’
“The US authorities don’t want people to settle down in their country after completing their education, and students must not give an impression otherwise,” says Sushma. “Posts about ‘favourite American cities’ with pictures of homes, anything related to the American dream, or any posts dismissing one’s native country can get one into trouble. While deleting them will look suspicious, we have suggested to people to refrain from posting any such things in the future,” she adds.
DO I DELETE TRUMP MEMES/ APPLY TO CANADA INSTEAD?
... These are just some of the questions students are asking themselves since the policy went into effect
All of us, at some point, have liked some tweet, or shared memes and posts that can be deemed controversial by the visa approver. To judge whether we deserve a visa based on this is not okay. I am no longer considering studying in the US as my only option.
— Ansh Garg, 22, Mumbai Five years ago, when I was in school, I used to share a lot of video game-related posts, featuring guns and violence. If that comes under the scanner today, it would be unfair. I was practically a kid!
— Arjun Chopra, 21, Gurugram
Do I need to unfriend friends and family staying in the US? I am also not sure what kind of social media-related questions will be asked in the visa interview.
— Arun Nevale
I am withdrawing my application. I had posted memes related to Trump and US politics. He said obnoxious things about women, Muslims and Mexicans. I don’t want any government to go through my social media accounts, period. — Suzanne Singh, 28, Hyderabad
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