My mistakes on the road to MBS

Hi
"It is a fool who learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from others' mistakes". I read this quote years ago and it has stuck with me. Primarily because, time and again I have been foolish. When I got the admit into MBS, I thought that my job was done. Everything else was a formality. But what followed was what Shakespeare described as a 'Comedy of Errors'. I have kept this comedy of errors a closely guarded secret. I reveal it now in the hope that those reading this post will learn from my mistakes on the road to MBS.

After confirming my exchange university, I was asked to immediately start my visa process. I ignored that valuable piece of advice. I was extermely busy with other things during that time. And I thought that I knew better. How difficult can it be to get an Australian visa!

In the middle of October, I realised that I had still not started my Visa process. Others, specially those applying into the US, were already processing their application. That freaked me out. I acted fast. I called the Australian embassy and asked them what documents they require. I arranged for those documents within that week. And next Monday, I was all set to submit my application for an Australian Student Visa.

The Australian Embassy was located on Napier Road. It was heavily guarded and no electronic components were allowed inside. Upon getting through security, I awaited my turn to be interviewed. My turn came and I submitted my documents.

"Sir, where is your IELTS score?" the interviewer asked me. I explained to him that I had written the TOEFL which was the equivalent of IELTS. He wouldn't listen. He insisted on an IELTS score.

I had known that IELTS was required for an Australian university. But I had assumed that it was not needed for exchange into an Australian University. Neither NUS nor MBS had informed me about IELTS. So, I thought that my assumption was right. I never called the Australian embassy to confirm whether IELTS was required. That was a huge blunder.

The British Council stood next to the Australian Embassy. I went to ask them the next available date for IELTS. That was when the gravity of the situation hit me. No dates available till January. The Student Visa took 30-45 days to process. I would miss the Feb 4th deadlines for joining MBS. I was shocked.

I went to the NUS MBA office office for help. Zahira, was our exchange co-ordinator. Her support and encouragement during these tough times was amazing. She got in touch with MBS to see whether anything could be done through them. She got in touch with the Australian embassy to persuade them to accept my TOEFL/GMAT score.

The Australian embassy took time to reply. Once again I went to the Australian embassy to put my case across. This time I was mentally prepared with my answers. The interviewer was a lady this time. She seemed new to the job. She immediately took my documents and asked me to pay the fee. I was delighted. I didn't expect things to be so easy. But she came back in a couple of minutes with another officer. He said that the IELTS was required for processing my Student Visa. No amount of reasoning from Zahira or NUS could convince the Australian Embassy. I was back to square one.

Amongst this chaos, I got my lucky break. The Australian Tourist visa has a provision that we can Study in Australia for 3 months. My exchange program ended exactly in 3 months. I thought that I could enter on a tourist visa and then extend it during my stay there. Zahira was once again helpful in making the required docs.

I got third time lucky. On my third visit to the Australian Embassy, I got my visa. But it came with a catch. I had to sign a clause that I would not extend my visa during my stay in Australia. My visit was curtailed to a maximum of 3 months. Me getting the visa was only half the story.

I was not completely confident that I would get the Tourist Visa. So, I had made a plan B. Since all IELTS dates were booked in Singapore during December, I searched for places in Malaysia where dates were available. I came across a place called Kuching. I had never heard of this place before. I remember trying to verify on the net whether such a place really existed. I searched for Kuching on google maps. It was in the island of Sarawak in East Malaysia. Without any other option, I booked for the IELTS exam in Kuching. This was the start of my troubles.

I scoured for flights from Singapore to Kuching. Unforunately, I couldn't find any within my price range. I had to book an Air Asia flight from Johor Bahru (a Malaysian city adjoining Singapore) to Kuching. My next problem was finding an hotel to stay in. All hotels were booked for that weekend. I made a flurry of calls before I found a hotel called Singasanna Lodge to stay in. It sounded like a shady place but I didn't have an option.

I was scheduled to travel the day after my Tourist visa interview. Once I got the visa this exam became redundant. But I had made all the arrangements and none of the money was refundable. So, I decided to go. It was an hour's travel from Singapore to Johor Bahru. Johor Bahru could not be a greater contrast to Singapore. Struggling with poverty and under-development it was a shadow of Singapore. Kuching turned out to be a much more developed and vibrant place than I had expected. Singassana Lodge was a quality budget hotel. And the IELTS exam went smoothly. The hard part was getting to the exam; the exam was easy enough. The results arrived a month later. I had more than exceeded the qualification criteria. But it was all pointless. Talk about rubbing salt into your wounds!

Cheers,
Suraj