I am enrolling this fall to study Computer Science. My options are Yale-NUS (which after aid and tuition grant costs me 15,00,000 INR) and Berkeley (which costs me 1,80,00,000 INR). My main priority is employment, job security and stay back.
Considering the strength of its CS program and Bay Area placements, Berkeley is a stronger choice. However, considering the political situation in US, I feel that stay back in Singapore is better. Further, if I do Bsc from Yale-NUS and MBA from US, then I’ll have both countries open to me anyway. In that case, if I have to leave US some time after MBA, I can always use my Yale-NUS degree to find employment in Singapore.
I also need to consider my Master’s prospects from both colleges, but I don’t know much about that and hope you could advise me more on that too.
Also, CS placements in Silicon Valley are obviously phenomenal. So, I was thinking maybe an MBA won’t be necessary at all if I go to Berkeley.
Does your family have enough money to pay for that Berkeley degree? You will not get your student visa if the US visa officer doesn’t think that you have enough money.
Right now the Yale-NUS option looks like the best choice. Finish that degree. Work a while. Then think about whether or not you need an MBA.
Yale proper is not known for its CS, plus there have been rumblings about whether the NUS relationship to Yale is really that tight. Berkeley is obviously one of the CS powers and has a stellar reputation in the CS world. However in your case there is a big price difference and if can’t afford it, maybe NUS itself is better instead of NUS-Yale in terms of CS? Not sure how that works.
@happymomof1 Hey. Yeah, my parents do have enough money to spend for my education at Berkeley (purely on their savings, without having to cut down on any of their costs). I just don’t wanna spend that much money unless I’m sure it’s worth is and Berkeley + Silicon Valley is that much better than Yale-NUS and Singapore.
@ProfessorPlum168
I can afford the cost. I just need to know if it’s worth it.
If you have the legal right to work in Singapore, and there are promising job opportunities there, then study there. After several years of increasingly responsible professional experience, if you also have a good undergrad GPA and GMAT scores, you will be a viable candidate for a good MBA program. At that point you will be able to decide where you want to pursue an MBA if you still want one. Of course, you might prefer an MS or PhD program instead depending on your personal and career goals.
Choose Berkeley if you prefer the academic program. Read the course catalogues and degree requirements for the two programs, and think carefully about what each offers academically. Do not study at Berkeley with the expectation that you will get a Silicon Valley job after graduation. There is no guarantee whatsoever that that will happen. Right now, international students who complete their bachelor’s degrees have the right to one year of OPT. Also right now, those who graduate in a technical field and do find a job for their OPT can apply for an extension of their OPT and work for up to two years. For details read here: https://www.uscis.gov/opt Every year there are students who are eligible for OPT who fail to find employers who will hire them for the OPT. If you do decide to study at Berkeley, be sure to stay in touch with potential employers in Singapore so that you have options if you can’t find an employer for your OPT, or the OPT rules change before you finish your studies.