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How to Get a Student Visa

How to Get a Student Visa

If you want to be study in the United States, you will be required to have one of three primary student visas’: F-1 Student Visa, J-1 Exchange Visa or M-1 Student Visa. How do you know which visa you should be applying for to study in the U.S.? Below, we have laid out the three visas’, breaking down how they work and giving you an idea of how to get a student visa.

International Student Visas

F-1 Visa – The F-1 is a visa you will need to obtain to be able to study in the U.S. Out of the three different types of visa, the F-1 is the most common for an international student in the U.S. This will be issued if you are taking part in an academic program at an accredited U.S. college or university or English at an English language institute. You will need to be studying the minimum course load for a full-time student to maintain the F-1 visa. The visa also allows for employment, whether that be on-campus or part-time, but only for a maximum of 20 hours per week. In addition, the visa also allows students to work off=campus on optional practical training (OPT) both during and after the completion of the degree. You can apply for OPT up to 9 months after being enrolled.

J-1 Visa – The J-1 visa is given to those who are required to receive practical training that is not available to get in their country of origin, in order to accomplish their academic program. Similar to the F-1 visa, the J-1 also allows for employment, with similar boundaries, granted that they have been granted permission by the Department of Homeland Security SEVP (Student Exchange Visitor Program).

M-1 Visa – The M-1 visa is given to those planning for non-academic or vocational study or training in the U.S. Unlike the F-1 and the J-1 visas, those with a M-1 are not permitted to work during their studies. Applicants for the visa are obliged to provide evidence that they have adequate funds to pay for their tuition and living costs throughout their time in the U.S.

How to Apply for your Visa

There are various steps you will need to follow when applying for a student visa, however these steps can vary by U.S. embassy or consulate. These can be found on the U.S. embassy or consulate website. Firstly, make sure you do your research to find out your university’s admission policy as each school will have different academic eligibility criteria.

Online Visa Application

You can apply for a visa by completing the Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form (DS-160). When you have completed the form, make sure to print out a copy for the next stage of the application process.

Interview

Interviews are usually required for student visa applicants. You will need to schedule an appointment at the U.S. embassy or consulate at the nation where you live. Waiting times for appointments can vary therefore it is always useful to apply for a visa as early as possible to get a lower appointment wait time.

When the time for the interview comes around, you may need to pay the non-refundable visa application fee. If your visa is approved, you might also need to pay a visa issuance fee, if appropriate for your nationality.

Make sure you bring the correct documents along with you to your interview. The documents needed:

  • Passport
  • Nonimmigrant Visa Application Form (DS-160)
  • Application fee payment receipt
  • Photo
  • Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status-For Academic and Language Students, Form I-20 or Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (M-1) Student Status for Vocational Students, Form I-20

Additional Documentation that may be required include:

  • Transcripts, degrees or certificates from previous schools attended
  • Your intent to depart the United States upon completion of course
  • Evidence of how you will be able to fund your tuition and living costs

A consular officer will conduct the interview and determine with you are qualified to receive a student visa. The officer will let you know if further administrative processing may be required in your application.

Entering the United States

It is worth keeping in mind that obtaining a valid student visa does not guarantee your entry into the U.S. It will be U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials that will have the authority to permit or deny your entry into the country. A CBP official will provide you with a Form I-20 at the point of entry, where they will make the decision. Once the decision has been made to permit your entry, you will then be provided with a Form I-94, Arrival-Departure. This is a small white card given to you that shows the length of stay you have been permitted.

Can I Stay After Graduating?

Those with an F-1 visa are permitted to depart from the United States within 60 days after their academic program has ended. Those with a J-1 or M-1 visa are permitted to leave within 30 days after their program has ended.

Students who wish to extend their stay may request an extension through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website.

Students who fail to depart from the country on time will be out of status. Therefore, under U.S. law, your visa will be automatically voided. In addition, it will also make you ineligible for visas in the future.

Can I Change My Student Visa Status While in the United States?

If you wish to change your visa status while you are in the United States, you will need to le the USCSI know.

For more instructions on how to apply for a visa, visit the U.S. embassy or consulate site.

After you understand the process on how to get a student visa make sure you go through each step meticulously. Applying and receiving a visa may sound like a long process however it will be needed if you decide to commence your studies in the United States. After you complete the student visa requirements, you can concentrate more on your studies in the land of the free.

SEE ALSO: How to Apply to College

 

 

 

How to Apply to College

How to Apply to College

It is important for international students not to underestimate the application process for college. It requires a lot of time and effort, making sure that you have completed the process with no mistakes. The best way to get through the application process is to set yourself a schedule, which begins ahead of the time you start thinking about planning for your studies. This article goes through the important steps on how to apply to college.

The earlier you begin planning for your application process, the more time you will have. It is crucial that you provide yourself with enough time to meticulously research the college and/or course that you feel will best suit you and your future desires. There will be college sites and other academic platforms that will provide you with a quick application form to fill in, but prior to filling in the application it is important to do your research on possible destinations, contact teachers for possible recommendations that they could be able to provide you with to expand your options and sign up to entrance exams that you may be obliged to take to fulfill your application.

Timeline

  • 18 Months Before Studying:
  • Do large amounts of research on the different college degree programs and pick out the ones that you find interesting
  • Do some preparation for possible entrance exams
  • Get some useful advice on admissions from an educational consulting company
  • 12-14 Months Before Studying:
  • Decide which colleges you want to apply to
  • Gather all the necessary information you need from previous schools you have attended
  • 10-12 Month Before Studying:
  • Pick out references and provide them with the necessary reference forms
  • Draft up an application
  • 9 Months Before Studying:
  • If required, re-take entrance exams
  • Organize financing
  • Write up and submit your finished applications
  • 3 Months Before Studying:
  • Apply for a student visa
  • Plan your travel arrangements for when you enter the United States
  • 1 Months Before Studying:
  • Purchase any useful tools you will need for studying and living

If you follow this timeline of steps, you will have a smooth and stress-free application process.

Standardized Tests

The majority of colleges within the U.S. require you to complete standardized admissions tests prior to entering their institutions as a student. These tests include: SAT, MCAT, GRE, TOEFL and IELTS. For more information regarding these tests visit the Shorelight guide on international standardized tests.

Credential Evaluators

Across the U.S. every college has a different curriculum. When accepting international student into their institutions, many colleges require you to provide them with documents about your previous school’s status to be able to verify your application. This is the stage where credential evaluators fall into. You may be required to submit transcripts to a credential evaluator who will look over the documents as well as translate them if needed so that they can be given to the host nations curriculum to be reviewed.

The application process for college is a process which needs significant planning and a lot of time taken into it. The more time used to focus on your application process will equal a much smoother process. If you do not plan well enough for your application, then you will not have enough time for some of the requirements and therefore you will be stressed out even before you begin your studies. Therefore, it is important you make sure you set yourself a schedule for your application process that begins well in advance. If you follow these key steps then you will have a better understanding on how to apply to college.

SEE ALSO: How to Get a Student Visa

Squid Game Takes Top Spot As Netflix’s Biggest Debut Show

Squid Game Takes Top Spot As Netflix’s Biggest Debut Show

Popular South Korean drama, Squid Game, has taken the title off Bridgerton to become Netflix’s biggest ever series launch, racking up an astonishing 111 million fans during its first 28 days of release, the streaming service confirmed on Tuesday.

This nine-part dystopian series, which was released in September, focuses on a group on people within South Korea who are in serious amounts of debt and have an extremely poor day-today life. These people are then tricked into playing a game where they are pitted against one another, playing 6 different childhood games, where the winner receives a very handsome sum of money of 45.6bn Korean won ($38.2m). The catch? The losing players are killed.

The show has been circulating all over social media since its release and with this had topped Netflix charts in more than 80 countries worldwide.

“Squid Game has officially reached 111 million fans – making it our biggest series launch ever!” tweeted Netflix.

Netflix’s vice-president for content in South East Asia, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, Minyoung Kim stated that the success the show has seen is “beyond our wildest dreams”.

She told CNN: “When we first started investing in Korean series and films in 2015, we knew we wanted to make world-class stories for the core K-content fans across Asia and the world.

“Today, Squid Game has broken through beyond our wildest dreams.”

The show overtakes UK drama Bridgerton which was streamed by 82 million people in its first 28 days of release. The metric used by Netflix is counting a view as anyone who has witnessed at least 2 minutes of an episode.

The large amount of success that Squid Game has received can be explained by the high rise of South Korean pop culture in recent years with the like of bands such as BTS and movies including Parasite, which secured an Oscar, making waves in the entertainment industry.

Dr Hye-Kyung Lee, from King College London, has been researching the rise of Korean culture and states: “These dramas or films are entertaining, and they have something unique which can strike a chord with people around the world.

“They present a critique of society and social economic conditions, which people can relate to through the characters.”

SEE ALSO: 5 Ways to Examine Your Spotify Listening Habits

 

 

Social Media Sites Return Following Outage

Social Media Sites Return Following Outage

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are running again after an outage that barred people from all across the world from accessing its services which lasted for nearly six hours.

All three platforms crashed on Monday afternoon at around 12:00 AST and services remained down until 18:00 AST, as users failed to receive and send messages or refresh their feeds.

Facebook named the cause of the outage due to a “faulty configuration change” which not only affected their services but also their employees passes and emails.

CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, apologised for the outage after the three sites had been restored, saying in a Facebook post: “”Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger are coming back online now.

“Sorry for the disruption today – I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about.”

It is reported that the outage affected Zuckerberg himself as according to Fortune, a business website, the founder of Facebook had lost an estimated $6bn in shares during one point of the outage.

Downdetector, a platform that tracks outages from various sites, stated that around 10.6 million issues were reported from across the world. Reports came from areas including North and South America, Russia, New Zealand, Europe and Australia. Despite this, with more than 3.5 billion users from all sites, the real number of people affected would have been significantly more.

Security experts have predicted other possible cause for the outage with suggestions including a sabotage from an insider or an unintentional mistake.

Facebook released a statement, which said: “”To all the people and businesses around the world who depend on us, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused by today’s outage across our platforms.

“We’ve been working as hard as we can to restore access, and our systems are now back up and running.

“The underlying cause of this outage also impacted many of the internal tools and systems we use in our day-to-day operations, complicating our attempts to quickly diagnose and resolve the problem.

“Our engineering teams have learned that configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centres caused issues that interrupted this communication.

“This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on the way our data centres communicate, bringing our services to a halt.

“Our services are now back online and we’re actively working to fully return them to regular operations.

“We want to make clear at this time we believe the root cause of this outage was a faulty configuration change.

“We also have no evidence that user data was compromised as a result of this downtime.”

Due to the outage of these sites, other social media giants such as Twitter and TikTok benefitted, as they reported higher-than-normal usage, with Twitter recording its highest number of people on its platform at one time.

SEE ALSO: The 8 Coolest Tech Gadgets in 2021

U.S. Colleges Go Vegan - Here’s How You Can Too

U.S. Colleges Go Vegan – Here’s How You Can Too

It’s estimated that 14% of students in the U.S. identify as vegan or vegetarian. With an increasing number of young adults going cruelty-free, vegan burger-serving robots are set to be introduced in U.S. colleges next year. But as a college student there’s a lot more you can do than just eating foods free from animal by-products, including opting for vegan clothes, homeware, and college books and supplies.

Vegan-friendly clothing

College students typically spend a combined total of $9.5 billion on clothing and accessories every year. This figure is increasing annually due to young adults seeking out more eco-friendly products. This is backed by the nation’s green colleges, including Colorado State University which has a platinum reward for sustainability to its name. There’s a whole list of materials that aren’t vegan friendly, including leather, suede, silk, and wool, so be sure to steer clear of clothing made from these. Instead, look out for cotton, polyester, linen, viscose, and faux fur. Always check the label of any clothing or accessory you wish to buy as sometimes an unexpected animal product may have been used to produce it, such as a fur pom pom or leather zipper pull.

Animal-free homeware

55% of students live in rental housing, according to National Real Estate Investor. This type of housing is ideal for vegan living as you often have a bit more leeway with what you can have in your home. But regardless of your housing situation, you want to eliminate all animal products from your accommodation. When buying items such as a sofa, consider leather alternatives like Pinatex which derives from pineapples. If you want to decorate your college room, avoid paints and varnishes that use casein as this is a milk protein. Instead, go for casein-free paints or keep the shade already on the walls and enhance it with artwork and photos from home.

Cruelty-free college supplies 

On average, college students spend more than $1240 on books and college supplies every year, states US News. However, not all the items you require for college are vegan, such as laptops, notebooks, and pens. The problem with laptops is that LCD screens and batteries contain animal by-products, such as cholesterol. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to buy a laptop that’s vegan-free, but you can limit the impact on animals by using a second-hand one and buying a non-leather laptop bag to carry it around it. Biodegradable pens are plastic free and don’t harm the planet. These may be made of bamboo, corn, or soy. One problem with the books you’ll require throughout your college life is that they’re bound together with glue which contains isinglass, a product that comes from fish and farm animals. Where possible, download and use e-textbooks instead or, if you need a physical copy, a used copy is best for the planet.

U.S. colleges are encouraging students to try vegan options wherever possible. While it’s easy to eat vegan meals during your time at college, it can take a little more work and effort to turn everything in your life vegan.

SEE ALSO: The 8 Coolest Tech Gadgets in 2021

The 8 Coolest Tech Gadgets In 2021

The 8 Coolest Tech Gadgets in 2021

When it concerns technology devices, the coolest ones will certainly always halt you in your tracks.

You find by hand inadequate them even if you suspect you don’t unquestionably necessitate them.

Yet even if you do not require them, it’s nice to treat them on your own now and then, and also the most effective devices will still be beneficial and also make your life much easier.

As well as with our list of the calmest tech gizmos, we sought to trace tools that fit this expenditure.

Maybe they’re not as significant to your everyday life as a mobile phone or a laptop, yet they’re the items you wish; they’re the ones you wind up blowing your tax obligation repayment on.

Whether that’s a new pc betting cabinet like the Nintendo Shift, a Simulated Practicality headset like the Oculus Quest 2 or a robovac like the iRobot Roomba, this stuff is the avowal items that you’ll appraise your helpers concerning the succeeding time you talk to them, or show off when you have entities sighted.

So, if you’re seeking suggestions on awesome technology gizmos to spend lavishly on, keep scrolling to see our choices.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G

Samsung’s most current foldable phone unquestionably covers the list of coolest technology gizmos of 2021, while it just exists for pre-order right nowadays.

It’s an ordinary smartphone touch awning that folds up into a 4.2 ″ small enterprise for agility and luxury.

The tower is made of strong aluminum that braces the dual, and the front and back cover are thru from the hardest glass Galaxy Z has seen so far.

It’s got a 1.9 ″ shelter screen that exhibitions are pushing notices, and also, it’s got Flex Scenery for hands-free selfies.

Apple Watch Series 6

With each passing year, given its 2014 launch, the Apple Watch has continued to become a growing number of helpful in the lives of the average discrete.

Whether it’s easily offering phone notifications, tracking exercises, checking important signs, or making telephone calls without having a phone close by in all, there is a lot that this little wearable can do. In simple it is one the best in the list of watches for businessmen and regular watch lovers.

The up-to-date iteration, the Apple Watch Collection 6, even features an enormously timely feature that will certainly allow you to monitor your blood oxygen stages.

If you’re dealing with Covid-19, monitoring SpO2 can be a key in establishing when you need to see a physician or health center to be dealt with.

And if the last seven years have essentially been any kind of sign, the Apple Watch will just cultivate to be better in the forthcoming

Oculus Quest 2

Virtual reality could be captivating its period to have its ‘iPhone moment,’ yet it is still quite the next big point when it anxieties the coolest tech gadgets.

And also, there is not a solo VR maneuver that flashes that assurance more than the Oculus Mission 2.

Deprived of the obligation for the commanding computer or special gear, you can just band the Mission 2 to your head, get the supervisors and also move openly in the VR area thanks to its inside out invention, which makes use of electrical cameras outside of the headset to track your gesture in the space everywhere you.

2020 Apple M1 MacBook Air

Apple’s up-to-date version of the MacBook Air is the most actual laptop processor you can attain and transformed the entire commerce when it was unconfined vertebral in 2020.

Not solitary does it involve of sooner chips than 98% of mainframes now for auction; it’s gotten an 18-hour battery life that’ll last you all day.

It’s likewise been constructed without a noisy follower and nearly ever examined when it first came out promoted that it might deal with every task tossed at it without one.

It’s geared up with 8GB of quick memory, a sensational 13.3 ″ retina presentation screen as well as is like-minded with a lot of the prevailing claims you use to work- containing of Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, and Google Drive.

It’s similarly developed with the currently ill-famed Apple M1 mark with an 8-core CPU that works at speeds 3.5 x faster than previous models while utilizing less vigor.

Anker Nebula Solar Portable Projector

Typically, when you think of house theater projectors, you assume they call for an unduly included installment process and also a PhD-level data of gear to start all of it up.

Though, we are in a period where you can take out the Anker Galaxy Solar. Barely bigger than a book, you can aim it at a wall, as well as have it predicting a 120-inch, 1080p variation of your favored Netflix flick without needing to set up the picture setups or discover an electrical power outlet.

Will this change your elegant 65-inch 4K HDR TV? Never. But also, for those minutes when you’re really food craving that cinema experience in the house (and also truly, who hasn’t over the last year?), you’ll recognize why this made our checklist of cool tech gizmos.

Apple AirPods Max

Apple’s most current earphone drop featured a shocking price, but one that just Apple, with its quality of products, might carry out asking for.

These headphones are built with 3D border audio that settles based on your setting and heat setting, and also, they have really gotten Active Noise End that shuts out the rest of the world with the media of a switch.

The headphones themselves have a knit-mesh cover and recall foam earpads for a wonderful fit.

They’re furthermore built to faultlessly switch in between gadgets and have on-head finding, so your music will certainly stop if you require to eradicate them for a second. They come in five different sunglasses, with this efficient Space Gray.

Sony SRS-RA5000 360 Fact Sound Audio Speaker

With the capacity to make the audience seem like they are standing in the center of a show, Sony’s SRS-RA5000 360 Truth Sound Wi-Fi speaker could be advanced.

But this isn’t merely an elegant piece of equipment; 360 Fact Sound is an entire podium for music-focused 3D sound.

Similar to a movie-focused layout, such as Dolby Atmos, Sony is skilled in providing real-time material so that we can enjoy displays and shows in these plague times.

Fortified with seven separate chauffeurs, the SRS-RA5000 can spot the room it’s in and scatter the audio thru a room to create an immersive upshot.

However, while you’re not utilizing this speaker for real-time performances, you can likewise connect to your preferred music solution via Chromecast, Bluetooth, or Spotify Link.

As well as if you have a gathering of wise residence gadgets, you can use this audio orator as an Alexa or Google aide hub.

Sonos Wander Smart Speaker

Whereas the Bubble Comprehensive and Amazon Resonance all have their precious one worth as Wi-Fi smart speakers, and also the UE Wonderboom 2 is the unworldly superlative of the Bluetooth speaker, the Sonos Roam is a blend audio speaker that offers the utmost active of both orbs with negligible negotiation.

When connected to a Wi-Fi network, the Roam can make use of much better audio high quality and voice-controlled assimilation with Google Aide and Alexa.

When allied to your phone by Bluetooth, you can take the Roam everyplace you longing and have expediency to aural as long as your phone series isn’t dead.

Finest of all, the Sonos Roam still links with your prevailing network of Sonos stuff, as long as you have one more audio speaker in your multi-room conformation.

SEE ALSO: Is Your State Splurge-y Or Stingy?

 

US Lifts Travel Ban For Vaccinated Travellers

US Lifts Travel Ban For Vaccinated Travellers

Travellers coming from the UK and EU, who have been fully vaccinated, will be able to enter the United States from November, culminating in the end of travel restrictions lasting for almost two years.

People who have had two jabs of a COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to fly into the US but will have to provide proof of vaccination as well as proof of a negative COID-19 test taken three days prior to the flight. They will also need to provide their contact information to airlines however they will not be required to quarantine.

The new rules are part of a change in policy regarding international travel which had previously been put in place by previous President Donald Trump since the early months of last year.

This means that friends and families that have been separated from each other due to the restrictions will be able to reunite with one another.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed his delight with the change saying: “it’s a fantastic boost for business and trade, and great that family and friends on both sides of the pond can be reunited once again.”

He also thanked President Biden for “reinstating transatlantic travel”.

Chairman and CEO of American Airlines, Doug Parker, said he agreed with the “science-based approach” to easing travel restrictions.

“With the shared goals of health and safety always at the forefront, we’re looking forward to welcoming more customers back to easy, seamless international trips for business, for leisure, and to reconnect with family and friends,” he said.

Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 co-ordinator declared the new rules on Monday stating: “This is based on individuals rather than a country-based approach, so it’s a stronger system.”

“Most importantly, foreign nationals flying to the US will be required to be fully vaccinated,” he continued.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will determine the vaccines that will be acceptable under the new regulations and if those unapproved by the US can still be used.

During the same week, Biden also announced the extension of restrictions through its land borders with Canada and Mexico that prevent non-essential travel. These restrictions will continue for another month in spite of Canada authorizing fully vaccinated travellers from the US to into the country since August.

SEE ALSO: UC Berkeley Tops Forbes’ 2021 US College Rankings

SpaceX launches Four Amateur Astronauts on Inspiration4 Mission

SpaceX Launch Amateur Astronauts on Inspiration4 Mission

Four astronauts have blasted off on a private flight from Florida to orbit the earth for three days in a historic mission as the world’s first crew of ‘amateur astronauts’.

The Dragon capsule contains the Inspiration4 crew containing one billionaire entrepreneur and three “ordinary citizens”, took off from the Kennedy Space Center at 1:02 am CEST in the Dragon capsule provided by the SpaceX rocket company. This is the first time a spacecraft will have no professional astronauts on board as Jared Issacman, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski prepare to spend their next three days circling the earth before returning back to earth this weekend.

The launch signals yet another step in the new era of commercial space travel and tourism coming after the launches of Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin. The Dragon is on a “free flight” that will reach a target altitude of 575km (360 miles), higher than the International Space Station and the Hubble Telescope with the capsule orbiting the earth once every 90 minutes at a speed in excess of 17,000mph.

The Inspiration4 venture was founded and established by one of the crew, Billionaire Jarden Issacman, to raise awareness and support for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He paid an undisclosed fee to SpaceX for the chance to fly with the three others who include 29-year-old Hayley Arceneaux, a health worker who overcame bone cancer as a child.

Despite the amateurs on board, the craft is being controlled remotely from the ground by a designated pilot. Another one of those on board, Sian Proctor, a former NASA astronaut and professor of geoscience, has expressed how proud she is being part of the historic mission.

“There have been three black female astronauts that have made it to space and knowing that I’m going to be the fourth means that I have this opportunity to not only accomplish my dream, but also inspire, and inspire the next generation of women and girls of colour,” she said.

The final crewmember is 42-year-old Chris Sembroski, a data engineer at Lockhead Martin, a US defence company.

Someone who isn’t onboard is SpaceX founder Elon Musk, but the mission is being witnessed as the next step towards fulfilling his ambition to reach new targets and areas within space.

“If we’re going to go to the moon again and we’re going to go to Mars and beyond we’ve got to get a little outside of our comfort zone and take that next step in that direction,” said Isaacman.

SEE ALSO: UC Berkeley Tops Forbes’ 2021 US College Rankings

The Weird and Wonderful from This Year’s Met Gala

The Weird and Wonderful From This Year’s Met Gala

One of the biggest and most iconic fashion shows, the Met Gala, returned on Monday night following a year’s absence, showcasing high-quality and flamboyant fashion on a night featuring a star-studded celebrity line-up.

This ball, which was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and delayed this year due to more concerns about the virus, was co-hosted by singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, tennis star Naomi Osaka, actor Timothée Chalamet and poet Amanda Gorman among a number of worldwide stars.

Those attending including a number of internet influencers, YouTubers and TikTok stars as well as singers, actors and sportspeople. Some of the biggest stars who attended included Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Frank Ocean, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, Serena Williams and Maisie Williams.

The Met Gala is held to promote and raise funds for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute based in New York City.

This year’s theme for the gala was “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” as we saw an array of outrageous and usual outfit designs on the red carpet.

When discussing the topic of American fashion, Andrew Bolton from the Costume Institute told Vogue that young American designers have focused on “diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability” as they have attempted to shape fashion more environmentally friendly in regard to the type of clothing they produce.

“The American fashion community has been supporting us for 75 years, really since the beginning of the Costume Institute, so I wanted to acknowledge its support, and also to celebrate and reflect upon American fashion,” Andrew Bolton said.

One of the most talked about costumes from the night unsurprisingly came from American personality, Kim Kardashian. She entered the ball in a look which could be seen from a horror movie. Dressed in all black, covered from head to toe. Her look was designed by the creative director of fashion house Balenciaga and was certainly one of the most bizarre costumes of the night which definitely had social media talking.

To view all of the costumes from each celebrity from the 2021 Met Gala, click here.

SEE ALSO: Back to School Fashion

UC Berkeley Tops Forbes’ 2021 US College Rankings

UC Berkeley Tops Forbes’ 2021 US College Rankings

For the first time ever on Forbes’ annual national ranking of America’s best colleges, a public school, the University of California at Berkeley has headed the list, trouncing some of the nation’s most coveted private universities such as Yale and Princeton.

UC Berkeley was recognized by Forbes for its excellence, affordability and “rich tradition of leading technological and social change.” In addition, they mentioned its “world-class academics, great sports and stunning Bay Area setting.”

Forbes usually calculated their grading by focusing on things like retention rate, graduation rate and average salary after graduation. However, this year Forbes adjusted their criteria. In 2020 the rankings were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and therefore the company instead focused on changing their methodology with this year’s ranking using “a methodology counting low-income student outcomes and adds a giant federal database to Forbes’ tally of graduate earnings,” the company affirmed in a statement.

This resulted in a very different list than ones from previous years, emphasized by Berkeley taking the top spot.

UC Berkeley released a statement of their own expressing their gratitude towards the result and revealing their aims to reach a broad-cross section of students: “In the last few years we have increased those efforts, and with incredible results,” the university said. “It is gratifying to see such important work recognized in the methodology used by Forbes and hopefully more institutions.”

Janet Gilmore, UC Berkeley’s senior director of strategic communications welcomed the result and highlighted the great work the university aims to achieve.

“A key part of our mission is providing a world-class education to a broad cross-section of exceptional students and transforming lives,” she said. “It is gratifying to see our important work recognized in the methodology used by Forbes and hopefully more institutions.”

In terms of other universities, Harvard, which has been known to top the rankings, most recently in 2019, fell to seventh. There were also three other California universities within the top 25 – Los Angeles (No.8), San Diego (No.15) and Davis (No.20).

Here are the top ten schools on Forbes’ college ranking list:

  1. University of California, Berkeley
  2. Yale University
  3. Princeton University
  4. Stanford University
  5. Columbia University
  6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  7. Harvard University
  8. University of California, Los Angeles
  9. University of Pennsylvania
  10. Northwestern University

To view the full list of rankings, click here.

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