For Indian students, dreams of America are suddenly in doubt

In India, the country that sends more students to the United States than any other, young people who had hoped to pursue higher education in America this fall described feeling in a state of limbo after the Trump administration's decision to pause interviews with foreign nationals applying for student visas.

Some are scrubbing their feeds, deleting comments and unfollowing accounts after the State Department said that it would screen social media use. Others are exchanging news and information in newly formed encrypted group chats. And some have sought divine aid in "visa temples" -- so called because Hindu devotees say prayers there provide a greater chance of getting a tourist, study or work visa.

Career counselors have become therapists, and the extended family networks that many Indians have in America -- uncles and aunts who will often help finance the education of a niece or nephew -- have set up war rooms online. Other students are revisiting their backup plans or rethinking their academic paths.

"I have carefully built my profile to be able to get into the top policy programs in the U.S.," said Kaushik Sharma, 28. He called it his "dream" to study in America but added that the current environment was making him nervous about applying. "I don't want to go there and be in a constant state of fear," he said. He is now considering similar public policy programs at universities in Britain and Singapore, he added.

Karan Gupta, a career counselor who coaches around 150 students a year and works with around six per day, said he had been inundated by calls in the past few days.

"There are students with admission letters who don't know if they will get visa appointments, and those in the U.S. worried about their visa status," Gupta said. Then, he added, there are those planning to apply to U.S. universities next year calling to ask if "it's a safe and stable choice."

Gupta said he tried to reassure clients that, statistically, it was unlikely that most students' plans would be upended.

A third of the foreign students in U.S. schools, or around 330,000, are from India. The number has grown, surpassing China in the 2023-24 school year.

The trouble began May 22, when the Trump administration said it would ban Harvard University from enrolling international students. Five days later, the State Department said it would pause interviews with foreign nationals applying for student visas as it expands scrutiny of their social media posts.

Although a judge has blocked the administration's step against Harvard, and the State Department has said that student interviews scheduled before its order would proceed, the recent events have left students, their parents and their career counselors confused and worried.

To many, the Harvard ban on foreign students showed that the Trump administration could bring even one of America's most prestigious universities to its knees.

That was the view of one student who had won admission to an Ivy League law school -- if Harvard could be attacked this way, no institution was safe. The student, who did not want to be named for fear of being singled out by U.S. officials, said he had been making small changes to his social media accounts, adding that it was not a fight he wanted, or thought he could win.

Shashank Shukla, co-founder of IVYDreams, an admissions consulting service, said he expected the dust to settle soon, but he noted that the tenor of questions asked by visa officers at the American Embassy in New Delhi had changed.

Earlier, questions were typically about why a student wanted to attend a U.S. school. But some clients recently told him that they were asked questions that could appear political, such as, "Are you aware of what's happening in the U.S.?"

Those interviews can be nerve-wracking at the best of times. In India, some temples have gained a reputation for providing spiritual succor particularly for those going through the process.

At one such "visa temple" in Delhi, a devotee left a note in February expressing gratitude that his prayers had led to a student visa, which had eventually led to a permanent work visa in Britain.

"People who are not getting visas come here," said Narayan Mishra, the temple priest. "They are fed up and frustrated." Students stop by to offer their prayers regularly, Mishra added.

The United States is a magnet for international students because of the high quality of education, innovation and opportunities, but Indians are especially drawn there, career counselors said.

American universities have produced leaders including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, both of whom grew up in India and attended U.S. graduate programs. Gita Gopinath, the second in command at the International Monetary Fund; and Abhijit Banerjee, a Nobel-winning economist and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were also initially educated in India.

The swelling number of Indian students going to the United States also has to do with growing wealth in India and the desire for a degree from a "brand name" school, Gupta said. No other country offers as many options as the United States, so many students and their parents consider it worth spending about $40,000 to $100,000 a year on tuition.

Shramanth R., 32, said he wanted to pursue a graduate program at a top U.S. school, justifying the steep cost with the "returns their brand value might bring in later," including networks and job opportunities. But, he said, the clampdowns on free speech and the unpredictability have given him pause.

For others, such as Sameeksha Desikan, who secured her visa to start law school at New York University this fall, things seem to be working out. Still, Desikan, 25, has a backup plan.

She has not turned down a similar law school offer from a top-tier British university: "I have kept it on standby, just in case things get crazier."