<p>Hey, I was wondering about that matter today and it’s great to find a topic already open about it. Does any of you know if there’s a certain difficulty to go from an undergrad cursus to a grad school (as an intl., with all the visa stuffs etc.) ? And if there aren’t, wouldn’t it boost our chances (to find a job -> be naturalized) if we were to graduate from a famous grad school ?</p>
<p>There are no problems visa-vise to go from undergraduate to graduate school. A graduate degree would make you eligible for a wider range of jobs and make it easier to get a work visa (there are additional H-1Bs for visa applicants with a graduate degree from a US college, and no cap on the # of H-1Bs for jobs in academia). On the other hand, it is not quite so easy to go from a temporary work visa to a permanent resident visa (which you need before you may apply for naturalization), and not everyone is motivated or talented enough to earn a graduate degree from a “famous graduate school.”</p>
<p>So I assume a post-doc > a career in academia should be relatively easy to achieve in the states?</p>
<p>Well academia proper in terms of tenured researching is hard, as there is fierce competition for the postdocs + tenure-track positions (not to mention the fight to get tenure afterwards). It is also crap pay (comparatively - if you consider the lost time in PhDland, and if a scientist in the more financially lucrative options like industry) and long hours. It is easier on the visa front…But actually getting the jobs are challenging. I’m not sure what ‘relatively’ is though, but just know it’s not something you just sign up for, either.</p>
<p>Exactly, winning the H1B lottery is easier than getting such a job except in some sciences.</p>
<p>well not rily. You dont even need to work in acaddemia—if you work in the administrative offices of a university, there is no cap on your H1-B as long as you are working in a university even though it is nonacademic. Hence if you have a business degree and you work in the business office of any university, you are free from the H1-B cap. So i was told by immigration lawyers. However, if that’s what you plan to do for most part of your life…</p>
<p>Hey to my main concern @ barium
seems you are very knowledgeable about visas, so would you say changing from undergrad to grad school would be relatively easy. I go to school in the US now, and would be applying for grad school, but I am rily worried about the visa stuff…I am not one of those people trying to stay and it is unlikely i would stay in the future, from what i have seen during my stay in the US. ove to t</p>
<p>Who wants to spend all that money to get a US education to take a low paying admin job at a college?</p>
<p>sefago, I have never heard of students having trouble renewing their student visas when they transition from undergraduate to graduate school. Even better, if you go straight to graduate school without taking time off and without leaving the country, you don’t even need to apply for another visa. You are in legal F-1 status as long as you maintain your student status, regardless at which level or educational institution. (There is still some paperwork involved: your SEVIS record has to be transferred to the new institution and you need a new a new I-20, but no visa interview or anything of that sort.) You only need to apply for a new visa once you leave the country because you may not enter the country after the expiration date of your initial visa. </p>
<p>I hope that wasn’t too confusing. In a nutshell, the permission to enter the country is separate from the permission to stay in the country. Your entry permission expires with the expiration date of your visa, but you may stay as long as you are a full-time student. (Check your visa documents. They should have D/S scribbled somewhere. That stands for “duration of status” and means that you can stay in the country as long as you maintain your student status.)</p>
<p>yeah i understand what you mean. I already knew that b4, i just wanted to know if people have had problems especially those from developing countries.</p>
<p>@hmom5: Yeah the low admin jobs may sound horrible but its isn’t that bad if some of the students are on full fin aid. 2) they could later apply to grad school - some schools offer grad school tuition benefits for those who work in their offices.</p>
<p>I was just suggesting an alternative, and guess what? You get summers off :)</p>
<p>
Not at my college or any other college I have visited in the summer. Besides, who would want to go without pay for several months a year?!?</p>