STF wrote:
People, I was lucky to get an invite the other day. However, I am also from Eastern Europe and my passport requires a visa, basically, for any country, but Ukraine. I have called the interview hotline and was told phone interviews are rarely granted/only in extreme cases (whatever that means). Please advise. NYU is my top choice and lifelong dream - I would hate to miss this chance. Anyone here facing/faced similar obstacles this season? Any ideas on better ways to handle this without alienating the AdCom?
I honestly think your situation counts as an extreme case. The visa thing is out of your control = extreme case, and they want you since they sent you an interview invite.
Besides that though, I'd definitely try to expedite that visa. An in-person interview would be so much better.