Rated I

--- for International students without a REAL full scholarsip only :P

Well... international or not, you do not want to read this. Just skip over to the last part :) !!

In the middle of June, I received a letter from Harvard telling me I had not returned a certain form yet, and that they needed it in order to issue an I-20 (the I-20 is the document that proves you have been accepted to a US private school and have proven your financial ability to cover the living and tuition expenses. All prospective international students need it, along with their passport, to get a student visa from the US Immigration office).

Ah well. I have two months to do it. It took a week to get my I-20 for undergrad.

The form had supposedly been sent through the mail (I should have gotten it in May!) but it never got here, so I had to ask for it again. It got here at the very end of June. I was filling it out when I realized that Alas! there is another problem. A year’s worth of living expenses has to be in my bank account ahead of time. Since I had a full scholarship for college, I didn’t even know it. Well, it turned out I have to prove I have 18 grand before they give me my I-20. Uh, I don’t have that. So I start calling banks, sending emails… blah blah blah… and finally find a few banks I like. I apply for a couple student loans. It´s taken me two weeks and suddenly it’s the middle of July.

That was my first mistake. I should have made my choice sooner. I shouldn’t have waited around to see if my church would continue to give me a scholarship… or if I could get a scholarship somewhere else…

But I did make my choice. I applied. A week or so later the banks tell me I need a co-signer. Another one. It has to be an American citizen. Oh gosh. I should have known that. Dad calls his Mom. Grandma gladly accepts to co-sign it. We were going to see her in San Antonio the week after, so instead of mailing the paperwork to her, I wait till I get there to have her sign. Second big mistake. I should have just faxed it to her. But we get to San Antonio she signs the stuff, and my cousin faxes the form to Harvard (now that I have SOME bank info) and the applications (the second set already!!) to the banks…. And he takes his time too… and he keeps a copy of my information… and of grandma´s. Not cool. Even if he’s my cousin. Aaaaaand it’s already the end of July.

The first week of August is gone… I haven’t heard anything from the banks. I call them. The first three or four calls are completely useless. No one knows anything yet, or my status is still pending… nothing. So I send emails. I send a letter on the mail! I call two or three times more. Finally someone tells me they are waiting for me to send my passport , my visa, and my I-20 so that they can continue with the process. WHAT??? You said I did not have to have a visa if I’m getting the loan so I can get the visa! Oh well. I fax a copy of my passport from Mexico. I get on a plane, and I get to see Quijote and complain to someone. Poor thing heard half of this already… I’m already thinking I might not get the loan.

Maybe I´ll just get a job and follow Quijote around. Or I’ll just run off to Madrid or something. Ah well. Didn’t want to go to Harvard anyways. Rather keep my butt warm.

So on my birthday I call the banks and one of them says they didn’t get the fax. We fax a second copy . By this time I have a conditional letter of approval from one of them. I had to call and have them email it to me. The website wouldn’t work. But Yay. Not doing so bad. They are giving me a horrible interest rate margin, but it’s still a loan. I call Harvard. They say a conditional letter of approval is not enough. Oh gosh. At the end of the week, though, I call the other bank again and they say I’ve been approved, and Harvard has my information. They cannot give me any info. Not even the rate. Grrreat….

I come back home the second week of August. I call Harvard. They don’t have my information. Strange. I call the bank. No info either. What the heck?? One of them tells my I don’t even have an application in there. SHOULD HAVE TWO!!!!! Finally the bank tells me I’m actually not approved. I am pre-approved. Conditionally approved. They too need my I-20.

So I need the loan to get the I-20, and I need my I-20 to get the loan. I call Harvard again (a few times, and I email them as well… I bug them for a week or so) and they tell me they can’t help. The person who is in charge will be out of the office until August 22. I have my Immigration interview on the 29^th.

I am in big, big trouble.

Maybe I shouldn’t have gone out for my birthday, or gone to San Antonio… or maybe I should have stolen back my papers from my cousin’s office, or should have found a co-signer that lived in El Paso… Maybe I should have called more, emailed more or something… maybe I should have not slept or eaten that whole month until I got things done. Ok. Maybe not that. But, uh… how many mistakes is that? …. I lost track already.

So the person at Harvard´s Registrar’s office gets there on the 22^nd, and reads the 30-something emails she got from me. Sends me an email saying I should send the Conditional Approval letter from the bank. I call the bank of my choice (the one that had said they had no info) and get them to send it to my uncle’s fax. Then she says I need a bank statement so she can count my savings. I go to El Paso, get the bank statement, and I send the fax.

She sends me an email saying she will talk to their liaison in the International office, and the next day she tells me they have accepted my papers. It’s a miracle. They will send my I-20 the next day. I have a few days left before my interview. There is hope!!

So on Thursday I get an email from the person in the International Office giving me a tracking number. He has FedEx-ed it and it should get there on Friday. It’s not there on Friday, so I try to track it… the number doesn’t work!! No reply to my emails. The Harvard man is out for the weekend.

My address in El Paso is not my address really. It’s the address of Mexam, a company that receives mail and then crosses it over to Juarez for us. It’s a great option for businessmen (and PASTORS) who have no time to cross the border every time they need to pick up a package. So, needless to say, I spent the entire weekend waiting for the office of Mexam to open so I could find out about my I-20.

This morning Dad and I went to El Paso, straight to the office of Mexam. But while we looked for it, Mom called Dad-- told him she was close to the Mexam offices in Juarez and asked if she should go in and ask about it. Dad immediately said yes.

The I-20 was there. Wooohoo!!

So Dad and I crossed the border and met up with Mom for breakfast. I am the happiest girl on earth.

I went back home afterwards, made the visa payment online; then I found my passport, went to Banamex, and made the payment in the bank. I am done.

I have my immigration interview tomorrow at 8am.

And then I will be done. It will be up to the US embassy after that. After tomorrow around 2 o’clock or so, I’ll just have some waiting to do. Takes them 3 or 4 days to decide.

But heck. I feel so much better now. I can get my airplane ticket now. And pay my long distance calls. LoL.