<aside> ✨ If you’d like to connect with Dishani, you can find her on Iscicle @ dishanisen1765.

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Dishani is an incoming masters student at NYU. She comes from an incredible background, having studied her bachelors in India, and then receiving her first masters degree in Belgium. We had the chance to chat with Dishani about her journey as a 2x international student, and to learn about how resilience and determination play such a big role in her life.

1.⁠ ⁠Can you share about your decision to study in the U.S.? Why did you decide to get another degree, and why NYU?

I don’t come from a wealthy background, but I do have amazing parents who always gave me the freedom to choose what I wanted to do - which isn’t necessarily the norm there. When it came to college, my parents allowed me to decide what I wanted to pursue, so I took a three-year bachelors of science course.

While I was doing my bachelor’s course, I realized I wanted to do my post-grad studies abroad. While my family supported my decision, I didn’t have the financial freedom to go just anywhere - in other words, I could go, but I was on a tight budget.

I decided I’d go for a masters in Statistics and Data Science from a Global Top 40 university in Belgium. The university was incredibly innovative, the faculty were great, the course lined up with the goals I had at the time, and I was able to afford it!

I really enjoyed my time there, especially being able to travel around Europe for work and research. One example is my time in Prague, where I got to be in an esteemed panel with members from the European Commission. Yet, as much as I enjoyed these experiences and cherished them, I knew I wanted to do more. I had the desire to be more entrepreneurial - to be at the forefront of where real change happens.

Around the same time, I also had the chance to visit the U.S. and I really fell in love. I knew I wanted to be in New York (the saying that everything is possible in NYC, and in America, really resonated with me). I wasn’t just attracted to the city itself, but also to the hustle and the passion of the people living there, who are each chasing their own goals.

Combining my desire to do more in my career, and my newfound love for New York City, I began looking into universities and programs. I came across the Management of Technology course at NYU and felt it aligned exactly with my goals. I wanted to apply to NYU, to live in New York, and to go after the dreams that I’d had, but at the same time, I had certain budget constraints. I realized that I was at the point where I’d worked and had savings, and would be able to find a way to fund my education where I’d be solely responsible for it. While it was a risk in some ways, I knew I didn’t want to reflect in 20 years wishing I had taken that leap of faith, so I chose to trust in my ability. I feel that this confidence came from the time I’d already spent as an international student in Europe - while the challenges were tough, I had been able to succeed. It gave me the confidence that I can do it, once again, because I wanted to be there so badly, and to make it there!

⁠⁠What was the process like to apply? Any tips for others who want to apply to study in the U.S.?

The process to apply to NYU focused on writing application essays, getting letters of recommendation, and updating my resume. NYU didn’t have a GRE requirement, but I did have to fulfill the English language requirement.

My advice for others who want to study abroad, especially as someone who has done this once already, is that you will need to learn the ins and outs of the process, and this does not happen in a short time. This doesn’t mean that you need to start writing essays a year in advance, rather it can mean figuring out where you want to study, what it is you’d like to study, and starting to build your network as a prospective student. A huge part of the research is connecting with those who have studied in the universities and programs you’re interested in, and learning about what they’re doing now.

I feel that having clarity on what you want to do can be helpful, but if you don’t know, that’s also okay! It doesn’t make you a weaker candidate if you’re looking to explore, however in these cases, your network is even more important!

Lastly, I’d advise you to think about the process internally. Deciding to be an international student is a choice that you’re making. I think if the choice is an informed one, where you understand that there will be challenges, and you then make the decision, then that’s that. In sum, take your time, start early, network well, and make an informed choice. Once you have made your choice, stick with it and have confidence in yourself.

You have a theme of not giving up in your application process - is there anything on that topic you’d like to share?

I only applied to NYU. When I speak about choices above, my choice involved me being at NYU, taking a specific course, and being in New York. It was the only place I wanted to be, but I know that’s kind of unconventional (it was my informed choice to pick to apply to one school, for someone else this informed choice could be applying to five, and so on).

When I applied to NYU, I was auto-rejected two weeks later. One of their criteria was that I needed to have four years of previous education, which they presented as a four-year bachelor's degree. I kind of expected this, because when I was applying for my first masters, I’d seen this eligibility criteria for schools in the U.S., however, at this point of time, I had applied thinking they would consider the two years I spent getting my masters as (3 undergrad + 2 masters = 5 total) fulfilling their required minimum of four years of education.

At that point, I was so sad - it felt like such a huge blow to me. I also felt that I’d worked hard and long enough to be able to get this chance, but I was still met with a crushing no. The pain of the rejection and disappointment was so high, but I pulled myself out of it and talked myself into understanding the situation. This rejection was because of the unconventional background I had. The rejection was not something personal to me and my profile, it was simply due to the eligibility criteria they had. When I realized that, I saw two routes: I could either pursue something different, or I could choose not to give up, and try to get a second review.

I picked the latter. Though I didn’t know anyone in admissions at NYU, I found contacts online and wrote emails explaining my educational background and showing that I had five years of education. Over the next week, I got emails back telling me that there was nothing that could be done, because that was simply the criteria. During that week, I nearly lost hope. But for some reason, I felt that it just had to work out. And it DID. Three weeks later, the director of enrollment reached out to me and let me know that they had taken a closer look at my application and decided that I did meet the eligibility criteria. They were going to re-review my application.