Originally Posted by RichardKenner

Maybe yes, maybe no. Look at it from their perspective. You're young, you're in love, and you're going to spend three months with the person you love. Maybe when that time is up, the two of you decide you can't bear being apart, so you decide not to leave.

That's the scenario they're concerned about and their job is to prevent it from happening. Your job is to convince them that it won't. And, legally, the burden of proof is on you to show that. That can be hard. Saying you're going back to go to school will certainly help, but plenty of people who plan to do that decide not to due to a boyfriend or girlfriend that they want to spend time with.

If you lead with "I'm going to spend three months with my boyfriend", you're opening yourself up to all sorts of questions to try to establish that you'll leave. For example, when you'll next see him and perhaps all sorts of personal questions. You may or may not be able to meet your burden of proof.

On the other hand, if you lead with what you're doing (traveling around the US with friends), you're in a much better position even if it comes out that you're dating one of them. It'll be easier for you to meet your burden of proof. Fundamentally, as the Canadian officer who posted says, you are low risk given the entirety of the situation. But I think it's important to get things on the right footing from the start rather than immediately getting into a situation where you're being defensive.