Thank you! It’s great hearing that GaTech offers this wonderful pre-law course!
Yes there are summer internship programs, basically GTech kids have their choice of (paid) internships, especially in CS, and these lead to OPT positions after their BS.
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I’d go to Oxford any day of the week.
There are only two schools that I’d turn down Oxford for (Stanford if I was into CS and Harvard because Harvard is Harvard).
I work at a financial firm and we disproportionately hire from Oxford.
I wonder what are the chances of getting a formal job offer with these internship opportunities
I do know that Oxford has a huge rep for financial firms, but the problem is that I’m probably going to the tech industry instead of finance. I believe in the tech industry GT and Ox have about the same reputation. Please do correct me if im wrong and thank you again for your advice!!
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In the US, OPT is certain, but H1B is almost impossible.
A GTech student with an internship will get OPT offers, especially in CS, period.
BTW, you would get a F-1 visa, ie., a visa to be a college student. You should NOT wonder out aloud about what happens beyond that. If it seems like you’re thinking of immigrating and not just studying, then you won’t get the visa. (At the visa intw, you may be asked how you’ll be using your degree in your home country, for instance.)
In the UK, a graduate visa is guaranteed, covers you for 2 years; there’s also a new scheme that’s better than the skilled workers visa but I dont know enough about it. But as a CS graduate from Oxford you’d be highly employable and would definitely have a right to stay&work in the UK.
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This is a parlor game until the 30th. Really, truly no point until you know what your actual choices are.
It’s quite possible. Also possible: Multiple acceptances
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Folks here are trying to be encouraging about the immigration issues but OP- I would urge you NOT to take legal advice from strangers on the internet. The United States government does NOT issue a blanket “the current immigration laws are going to exist 5 years from now” statement. Recall the chaos that erupted when Trump abruptly revoked student visas and students were stranded overseas, unable to get back to the US. Look up the years post- recession when the government radically reduced the number of visas in certain occupational fields because there were so many unemployed US workers (a huge glut of talent in aerospace engineering in the early 90’s for example).
I would not describe a single category- including OPT as “certain”. As the system stands today, it is highly likely that a student’s LPT would be converted to an OPT. But that’s today, and you won’t be graduating from college in 2023.
DO NOT plan on studying in the US for a BA if your ultimate goal is to live and work in the US. That is a risky strategy. Getting a BA overseas and then a Master’s in the US is a much better plan with fewer risks. The possibility of not being able to stay in the US with just a BA is a very real one.
If you do not want to settle in the US then I think your answer is clear- Oxford, which has a much higher profile overseas than Georgia Tech.
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You are right. The two industries are not similar. I work in technology for a large financial firm and I know many, many leaders in the tech industry so I can speak for both.
Finance is prestige conscious and many firms tend to hire almost exclusively from the same small pool of elite schools.
For tech firms technical knowledge, experience, soft skills, etc. matter more than the school name. When they target specific schools, they go to the ones known for having a strong CS program - of which, GT is one.
Now, regarding your specific situation: as many of us have said here, you should not rely on getting long term employment in the US past the 2-3 years you can work on an OPT permit. If that’s acceptable to you and you want to gain work experience in the US with the understanding that you might have to go back home, then GT would be the better choice.
OTOH, you will find it easier to get permanent employment in the UK or Europe - it that’s more important to you then go to Oxford.
You haven’t mentioned finances - what is the cost differential for you between GT and Oxford?
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Oxford is also an 8 week term, so very short with a lot crammed into that time. Plus small (2-3 student) supervisions where you go over problem sets and get feedback, and lots and lots of independent learning. In the holidays, you’ll be studying, preparing for the next lot of exams - which are all do-or-die. No continuous assessment. The chances of having the time to take in other lectures in other subjects is minimal if you want to do well, join clubs, sleep and have some fun.
It is a very different educational culture and experience to the US. It should be really clear to you which you will thrive and do better in.
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And preparing for one supervision may require you to work for 10 or 12+ hours. So it’s one hour on your schedule but in reality it’s like 12 or 15 hours of work.
(You’d typically have 8-9 hours of “contact hours”).
You may think “well, I work fast” (what took you 4 hours at A levels often took 12 for classmates…)… except that everyone at Oxford works fast, so your efficiency is just the baseline, so those would be 10-12 hours for students who are exceptionally bright and efficient. And when there’s you, one or two others, and a professor going over everything - no class in which to hide - you simply can’t “wing it”.
Some students thrive and love it - being selected for Oxford means they think you’re one of them.
What other colleges are you waiting for - did you shotgun the Ivy League?
(BTW, yes you may well get 7 rejections, do not hold on to your counselor’s assurance this couldn’t possibly happen - every year, it does, to stellar applicants. If you can imagine other students with a profile like yours in your world’s region, all equally impressive, then you know it CAN happen. Make plans in case it happens - ways to distract yourself, to mourn, whatever.
You’re lucky: Oxford or Georgia Tech is as good a choice as Ivies.)
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My son is an American and read Maths & CS at Oxford. A lot of US Hedge Funds/Prop trading firms recruit Maths & CS students at Oxford. All the household names - Jane Street, SIG, Citadel, DRW, Two Sigma, etc. Take a look at some of the career fair booklets to get a sense of the job opportunities.
My son did the reverse - he wanted to stay in the UK to work. He’s in the London office of NYC based firm. His firm sponsored him for a UK skilled worker visa. If you are landing a position like this out of Oxford in the US, my guess is that the US firm would handle the visa sponsorship for you without much difficulty.
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I’m amused by the multiple messages here about how well regarded Oxford is amongst hedge funds, prop trading shops, financial firms, etc. - despite the OP having clarified he wants to work in tech, not finance 
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But you would either be on an H-1B (which is a lottery) or plausibly an L-1B (if you work for the firm in the UK for a year first). H-1B is transferable but the route to residency is challenging while an L-1B is not transferable to another employer and is therefore potentially even more difficult as a route to residency. The only guaranteed route to US residency via employment is an O-1 exceptional individual (perhaps feasible with an Oxford PhD and multiple publications) or an L-1A (international executive) which requires a fairly lengthy career history (5+ years). Or you find a US citizen to marry.
I’d be more worried about OP’s plan to work in tech. Many of these firms are going to have a difficult time with layoffs in the next few years after a boom which was even longer lasting than the 1990s. I think Oxford will give you more options and that may be important even in 2026-27.
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No, it’s not difficult. It’s just that the US firm doesn’t dictate US immigration policy.
My company has had employees living and working overseas-- basically in limbo, dialing in to meetings at 3 am local time- because their visas were backed up. (Remember the government shut down early in Trump’s presidency? Passports, visas, all consular activities-- stopped dead in their tracks).
I love the sunny predictions that five years from now there will be no issue with a non-US national gaining the right to work legally in the US. None of us know.
Yes, firms will be happy to sponsor him. It may be a simple set of forms and some waiting time. Or it could take forever, with no timeline issued by DHS.
You don’t know. None of us know.
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this. Plus the H1B lottery system.
I deal with this on a regular basis for many of my employees. It’s an unpredictable and frustrating process.
There may be a willing sponsor for OP but that doesn’t mean he’ll be able to get an H1B visa.
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OP may want to do to work in tech as of now …
things change …
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I did get 7 rejections so yeah I was pretty unlucky in that manner. I’m genuinely sorry for not being able to check this thread as I am going over this choice with my parents. I have also asked for advice from current CS students at Oxford and they were pretty divided on the choice as well. It seems that Oxford Top Students gain loads of resources, especially in the financial sector but if you werent the top 5-10% in your major, you wont be able to get good PhD offers. I’ve also studied the visa policies and decided that reading a PhD would be a viable way to stay in the US (with an O-1 visa) and Oxford’s PhD applications are extremely disadvantaged compared to GT. (Oxford’s PhD is self-funded and I won’t be able to support myself). I dont want to lose the PhD route by going to GT, and I’m determined to work in tech as well given that I’ve been doing tech related experiences for a while and i love it. Guess that GT remains a plausible choice for me despite the H1B policies.
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dont want to lost the phd route by going to Oxford*