Like my father, his friends also immigrated here so I trust their opinions. However, their point of view may be too limited for me.
What do they suggest you major in if they don’t like ME?
AI/Machine Learning
The job market where you’ll be looking may have too many ME’s. We don’t know. You may have to adjust where you want to live. You already know you can’t work for many of the major US companies, but that won’t change if you major in AI/machine learning or education or history - non-citizens can’t work on government contract projects.
If you have to live in Canada, so be it. If you have to return to your home country, what major is best for that? If you think you’ll be better off in AI, change your major (although I bet and ME can work in AI too).
Choose robotics then. It has both elements.
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I can qualify for H1b Visa, as long I have my bachelor’s degree and an employer that will sponsor me (which is the tricky part).
Yep, the tricky part is the employer sponsor. So many companies got burned in the last administrations immigration policies that they are unwilling to make the commitment. My H’s company had invested a ton of time and training in internships and leadership development programs for some international hires only to have the final visa denied.
IMO, that is going to be the biggest hurdle unless policy changes are made.
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Yes, as I mentioned the sponsorship can be extremely difficult to get. What skills as a new grad do you bring to the table to make you the person that they want to hire? In most cases there will be many US citizen grads with equivalent skills that don’t have the extra cost and obligations that a H1 visa has.
Even before the recent policy changes my company (and you would recognize the name if I told you) would never sponsor anyone.
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Yeah, when I’m in college I’ll try to get internships or major related experience during the summer to look better to employers. Is there anything else I could do?
Consider schools with strong co-op programs. If you can land a 3 or 5 term co-op, you have a better chance of having that company want to sponsor you since they’ve already made the investment in time/training.
I would just be sure you have a talk with the co-op offices to get the stats on placement success.
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Would a co-op extend the time required to get a degree because it could take up an academic semester?
My son did that. He and another student designed a neural network to control torque vectoring in an automobile model for a graduate class project. It was incorporated into the other student’s MS thesis.
It does require an advanced degree.
There’s essentially two angles (probably more), all in AI/ML via the CS/math/data analytics route, or learn it and use it as an adjunct in ME or EE. For the former you’d have to enjoy sitting in front of a screen all day. The latter is a good addition to mechatronics and doesn’t have to be as specific as robotics, although it could be.
Same number of semesters to graduate (so same costs), but a longer time frame.
For example, my D is a co-op students. She’ll be away from campus for two semesters plus a summer. She will graduate in 8 semesters (the norm) but over the course of 5 years.
It’s a seamless process to come and go at schools with well established co-op programs.
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Yes, it will, but with a big trade off…more experience (paid) than most students walk out with and a tight tie to a company if you stay with just one. Note, you can coop anywhere, but it is far easier at schools like Purdue, Northeastern, and Cincinnati where a lot or even all students do it.
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One thing to remember is Engineers are employed in all types of fields across every industry. Lots of Fortune 50 CEOs hold an undergraduate Engineering degree. Engineers go on to Law School, Business School, Medical School, etc. As mentioned earlier, if there is a specialized type of engineering or industry that interests you, look for schools that have either a co-op program or have a large percentage of students in internships.
The timing of Co-ops is really school dependent, good luck!
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That is really reassuring, I thought I would have to pay an extra year of tuition. Thank you!
Purdue charges a $400 coop fee for the semesters you are off campus but many companies will cover the fee.
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Georgia Tech has a big CoOp program too.
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If they needed work visas to start working in the US, it is no surprise that they found finding a job more difficult, regardless of college major.
The difficulty you would face finding a job after graduation would be mostly based on needing a work visa.
You may want to look up the work visa requirements and criteria in the US, Canada, and other places to see what choices in education can improve your chances of getting one.
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And pay you a wage!
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