"What will you do during your stay?" — how to answer

How the question is asked

The U.S. Department of State publishes no official interview script; officers question freely around what they need to establish. These are the most common phrasings of this probe, collected from public interview accounts:

• What will you do during your stay? / What's your plan there?
• Walk me through your itinerary. (the day-by-day check)
• What does a typical day look like? (the daily version)
• Chinese-language equivalent at China posts: 去了每天都干嘛?

What the officer is evaluating

The itinerary-detail question tests a plan's realism: real plans have a clear skeleton, moderate detail, and room for slack; memorized ones have calendar-level precision that collapses under the first follow-up. The officer does not want your hotel for each night — he wants the trip to exist in your head, with days and cities supporting each other.

It also pairs with "who organized the trip": a delegated traveler who cannot recite the skeleton opens a crack in the narrative; a fluent skeleton makes the days, lodging, and funding answers vouch for one another. The template: total days → city order and per-stop days → one signature activity per stop → one slack sentence ("we kept two days loose").

Answer framework

1. 1. Total, then split
   "Ten days: five in LA, three in Vegas, two in transit." Total first, then the split — the numbers must add up to the stay.
2. 2. One signature activity per stop
   "In LA, mainly Universal and a San Diego day." One activity carries the realism; ten attractions read like a brochure.
3. 3. The family-visit skeleton
   "Staying at my daughter's — we wander nearby on weekdays; weekends she takes us to the national park." A household rhythm is equally valid; do not fake a checklist tour.
4. 4. Slack, anchored to the form
   "We kept a couple of days loose." plus "specific dates as in my DS-160." Slack makes the plan real; the form anchors it.

Common mistakes

• Calendar recitation: Day 1 through Day 10 by rote — one hiccup collapses the line; the skeleton survives follow-ups.
• Attraction dumping: ten sights in one breath — a brochure, not a person; one or two signature stops suffice.
• Numbers that don't add: per-stop days summing past the stay — an arithmetic fault; do the mental sum before speaking.
• Rhythm-identity mismatch: retirees on daily treks, office workers touring on weekdays — a rhythm matching your identity carries the realism.
• Improvised details: inventing a Universal day under pressure — "somewhere mid-trip, not locked in" is complete without fabrication.

Sample answerFICTIONAL SAMPLE

Sample (fictional person, shown for structure — not a model answer): "Ten days total: five in Los Angeles — Universal one day, a San Diego day trip, the rest around the city; then three in Las Vegas; two in transit. We kept some slack in the middle; the specific dates are as filled in my DS-160."

Family-visit version (fictional): "Three weeks at my daughter's. Weekdays we walk around the neighborhood and shop; weekends she's off and takes us to Yellowstone for three days; the last week we wind down and pack." Both are skeleton plus signature activity plus slack, with zero memorized dates.

Consistency with your DS-160

The skeleton's cities and days cover the DS-160's "Locations You Will Visit" and stay length, in the same order.

Activities match the purpose (tourism sights, family rhythms, business meetings) and agree with the funding and lodging stories.

"Who organized" and "what you'll do" interlock: daughter-booked tickets plus your recitable skeleton equals one narrative.

Related DS-160 fields

Related questions

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How to practice this question

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