US visa process is quite different to other countries (after 9/11). In any other country, a visa means you can enter that country once you board a plane. For US, the visa is just a document that gets you to any US airport. Its the officer at the airport that determines whether you can enter or not and for how long.
If its your first time, you'll be asked to go to a separate area where you'll be interviewed. The officer will ask you some questions to verify your detail you have given earlier. One of the questions will be your purpose of visit. So it all depends on whether or not you can satisfy that officer or not.
If you do go, keep two things in mind.
- First, avoid New York as your first point of entry. Its quite busy and the officers are rather rude.
- Second, if you are making a connecting flight, keep in mind that your interview could take some time depending on the type of flight and number of people waiting to be interviewed. Better keep a gap between your flights to allow for some delay (roughly 3-4 hrs min to be on safe side, though usually it is quicker than that.)
Usually, if you have a legitimate excuse like some hotel booking, tour booking, relatives, etc., and your name doesn't sound similar to someone on their list, they won't stop you. But that is no guarantee. As an alternative suggestion, having a valid US visa can help in getting visa for other countries. You may opt to get visa for some other country and visit that. It would cost cheaper and you'll be tension free.
Happy holidays.