I’m a student from Europe studying computer science. Most European countries use the 3-2 system where the bachelor’s degree is done in 3 years and the master’s degree is done in 2 years after the bachelor’s. Many of the students in my country at least get a master’s degree as school is free anyways. It seems to be very different in the US where there’s not as many people who go for a master’s degree as in Europe, I’m guessing it is because school is pretty expensive?
I just don’t know if a good GPA and GRE is enough to get accepted to a master’s degree program in the US? I will probably have no research done as research is done during your master’s degree here. I will be able to finance school as long as it’s not a private university with a crazy price tag of $65k a year. I will have a Computer science and engineering bachelor’s degree and I want to get a master’s degree in computer science. I will probably not stand a chance at the ivies and Stanford etc as they favor students that have done research but maybe at Georgia tech, UW, NCSU etc? I calculated my GPA during my first year to be 3.8 and i’m aiming to keep it around that region for all my 3 years. I have not take the GRE yet.
The reason why I want to get a master’s degree in the US is because of the OPT and to get into the “special” H1-B group.
Schools have their requirements posted on their websites. Don’t worry too much about the research requirement; schools understand that not everyone has the opportunity to research/publish as an undergraduate. Your biggest problem will be affording an American master’s program. Many will cost you, when all is said and done (housing, travel, insurance) in the $50K/year range.
Your intention to try to become eventually employed in the US, is risky. Immigration rules and the lottery system are strict and limited. Many employers have funding by US government contracts. If you are not a US citizen, you won’t even be able to apply for many positions in major corporations who have US funding.
@katliamom I’m so glad to hear that! The cost is a bit of a problem yes. With a student loan i would be able to afford about maximum $49k a year. There are however many fellowships from my country that grant money to students who studies on a post undergrad level abroad. Of course i can’t count on getting such a grant but it’s always a possibility and that would make things easier financially by a lot.
@“aunt bea” Yeah, I guess you could call it risky. I know about the lottery but I think a master’s degree from USA would put me at a big advantage. That would put me in the more “exclusive” group where i only compete with other people that have at least a master’s degree from USA. I think that would boost my chances to win one.
I did not quite get the last part. From what i’ve heard major companies seems to be sponsoring quite a lot of people?
I don’t really know much about the presidential candidates other than the things i’ve heard on TV, Trump wanting to build the wall and deport all the illegal immigrants and that Hillary is crooked etc. But do you know more about their politics for legal immigrants? What’s their view on the H1-B visas? Do they want to change it or will it stay the same as it is now?
@Inteenaning Trump has talked about suspending the H1B visa program, while Clinton is in favor of keeping foreign tech grads here. What either of them would actually do is unknown. This article examines the issue in some detail, though it’s old–from July: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3096103/it-careers/the-h-1b-positions-of-clinton-and-trump.html
Not what we are seeing. Look at the websites for large corporations. You will note that there are statements on the web pages indicating: “we are not sponsoring non-citizen applicants”. If you are looking to immigrate, your chances are not good.
@“aunt bea” I have seen those “we are not sponsoring non-citizen applicants” statements on several smaller companies websites and the aerospace companies like Northrop Grumman and Boeing. But I haven’t seen it on the larger companies websites like Qualcomm, Intel, Google, Netflix, Apple, Nvidia etc. This report shows that they do in fact sponsor non citizens http://www.myvisajobs.com/Reports/2016-H1B-Visa-Sponsor.aspx. The problem seems to be the lottery as there are only a limited number of H1-B visas, but having a master’s degree from an American university would increase those chances. There’s always the possibility of finding the love of my life too which would make things easier.
I’m not saying you’re wrong because I know It’s hard and there’s probably a lot of people who fails but if I were to get an American master’s degree, that would probably boost my chances of immigrating if I find someone willing to sponsor me.
I have seen that the CSU:s in California offer a pretty cheap graduate education. If my intentions are to stay in the US and I don’t need the worldwide recognition of the university, are they enough? Most people probably go to them for undergraduate education but how are they for graduate education?
Difficulty of entrance really depends on the Masters program, and professional Masters programs don’t care about research.
GTech does have a really cheap online CS Masters. Not sure if they give you access to OPT.
@PurpleTitan Wow, that program looked really great! My university offers exchange master’s studies with the GT CS deparment where i can study at a master level on GT for 1 year (for free). Maybe I could do the exchange studies studying the on campus program for 1 year and then finishing it back home with the online courses? I don’t know if something like that would be possible.
I read that the online program won’t grant me OPT but I wonder if it would put me in the exclusice h1b group?