Get as much information as you can about visa procedures. If you have access to an Internet connection, then you can go to www.usia.gov/posts/mumbai. This is the website maintained by the US Consulate in Mumbai and will give you useful information on visas, priority dates, application procedures and holidays. It is also hyperlinked to other sites which give more general information. Wells suggests that you can try calling the Consulate as well on 3633611. Our advice to you - speak or e-mail friends and relatives who have gone through the grind and get information. If you have people in Mumbai, then ask them to collect the information sheet that is handed out by the Consulate free of charge.

You may be able to get more information at the Foreign Commercial Service office opposite the Residency Club, here in Pune. This is primarily to facilitate Indo-American business ventures, but they might be able to help. You can get in touch with local director Veena Bhalerao.

Make sure you have a demand draft for $45 before you get on the train. This is the visa application fee. Carry all documents! It is a good idea to carry anything that can testify to your coming back to India after your course. So if you plan to join your family business or if your present employer wants you back, carry these documents. Certificates of ownership of property are also said to be a powerful documents. Consular officers will also want to look at your academic records just to see how you've done so far. So carry these too. Again, talk to `successful' candidates and try to use their formula. There are no magic recipes, but you can try!

If you have switched careers or fields of study, they're going to want to know why, so make sure your explanation makes sense.

Make sure that the visa application form is filled to the best of your ability. Carry a recent passport photograph.

Show us the money! Consular officers will want to have documented evidence that you have enough money to support yourself through your course of study. If you've been awarded financial aid by your University, then you're fortunate. Things still look okay if your parents will be supporting you financially - you will have to document cash-in-the-bank. However, Wells repeated this often enough - if your documents show support from a distant relative or friend, they will want to know the reason. ``The golden visa candidate is the one who has a valid I-20, has financial support and is in good academic standing,'' says Wells.

Last year 8,000 student visas were issued. ``A great majority of visas are issued. But the person who gets a visa is not going to tell the next 15 people in the line. It is the person who has been turned down who will tell everyone how difficult it is to get an American visa,'' says Wells on a lighter note. But the point is that if you do want a visa, make sure they don't have a reason to turn you down.