job opportunities after ms

‘MS in US’: Eligibility, Costs, Job Prospects

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M.S. in U.S.

When you are thinking of getting a Master’s or doctoral degree in America, some of the top questions on your mind would be:

• What are the academic requirements in order to be able to apply?

• What are the costs of getting a degree in the US?

• What are the job prospects?

Here’s a quick look at the answers to those questions.

 

What is the eligibility for applying for a Master’s course in America?

The basic eligibility requirement is 16 years of formal education (12 + 4), the last 4 from an accredited university. So, students who have bachelor’s degrees in engineering (whether they joined engineering courses directly after the 12th Std. or after a diploma course) can directly apply for American Master’s courses. However, students who have completed a three-year degree (e.g. B.Sc.) should ideally complete their Master’s degrees (e.g. M.Sc.) in India and then apply.

Note: External degrees and degrees from open universities that are not accredited may not accepted by American universities.

 

What is the cost of education in America?

The cost of education in America varies from Rs. 12,00,000 to Rs. 30,00,000 depending on:

• the type of university (private or government-aided)

• its rank

• its geographical location

Apart from tuition fees you also have to bear the costs of:

• insurance

• living (food + housing)

• transportation.

There are many ways to reduce these financial burdens however. Many students manage to get some kind of financial assistance in the form of:

• research and teaching assistantships

• tuition waivers

• on-campus jobs etc.

Such kinds of financial assistance take care of a large part of the expenses incurred when studying in America.

 

What are the job prospects after completing a Master’s degree course in America?

• After completing your course you are allowed to undertake Optional Practical Training (OPT) for 12 months. OPT may be extended for another 17 months if you fall under the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) category

• Ample job opportunities exist in the fields of engineering and computer science (much tech talent in America is Indian and many Indians hold top positions the field – as is evident from the case of Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft).

Note:

• Professors’ recommendations carry a lot of weight. To get a job you must get excellent references from professors who taught you during your master’s course.

• When you are working in America, your company may apply for H1-B visa (work permit) on your behalf. After this you can apply for a green card.

So, get ready to get your MS in US!

 

Why the White House Wants You to Stay in America After Your ‘MS in US’

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As this video from the White House explains, it all boils down to one thing – if, you have done your ‘MS in US’ and want to stay on in America afterwards, then the President is pretty convinced that you are good for the American economy. Foreign students in the fields of science, technology, engineering or maths, a large number of them Indians, form a highly skilled pool of talent that has the potential to bring multiple benefits to the American economy – provided they are allowed to live and work there. At the moment,however, according to President Obama the US economy is being robbed of those benefits by what he calls America’s “broken immigration system”. Here’s why Obama wants it fixed (to see the full coverage of President Obama’s speech announcing immigration reforms, see our previous blog ‘Obama Announces Executive Action on Immigrant Reform: Good News for Your ‘MS in US’ Plans’).

Fixing the broken immigration system will:

  • make it easy for entrepreneurs to start new businesses, creating new jobs for American workers
  • grow the economy and create jobs and cut the deficit
  • boost GDP by 5% or 1.4 trillion dollars by 2033

The explanation of how that will happen goes like this:

  1. In 2010 70% of the foreign graduate (bachelor’s) students in American colleges and universities were studying science, technology, engineering or maths. The idea is that if they can stay and work in America where they were educated, they will contribute to developing the innovative technologies and processes that make the US economy more competitive and productive. This will also make it easier for entrepreneurs to set up businesses in the States.
  2. Having a highly skilled workforce and a consequently more productive economy will increase the rate of return for companies and businesses who invest in the United States and that will lead to more investment in the future.
  3. Ultimately, more entrepreneurs and highly skilled workers, higher economic productivity, plus increased investments in US would increase America’s real GDP by 1.4 trillion dollars by 2033

But there are other great benefits for Americans in fixing the broken immigration system:

  1. immigration reform will boost demand for goods and services, create more demand for labor and thus more jobs for American workers
  2. employers currently paying their employees under the table will have to pay the same taxes as everyone else – the increased inflow in taxes will reduce the US deficit by 850 billion dollars.

So, if you intend to do your ‘MS in US’ and plan to stay on in the States afterwards, it looks like the American President and the White House are all set to give you a warm welcome. Make the most of it!

 

Masters in Management Information Systems

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The Master of Science in Management Information Systems (M.S./M.I.S.) is a comparatively new and an interdisciplinary degree focused on uniting business and technology. The coursework requires students to combine business, strategy, and technical skills that can be directly applied in complex business situations.

MIS offers a valuable experience to students from a variety of undergraduate backgrounds (Bachelors in engineering, science, maths, business or any other analytically oriented degree), to enhance their understanding of technology’s role in business while positioning themselves to stand out in the job market.

The Course work (although varies as per individual university) broadly consists of the following areas.

  • Systems analysis and design
  • Databases, data mining, data modeling, data warehousing
  • Programming Languages, Web technologies, Information Security
  • Statistics, Business Mathematics
  • Finance, accounting, marketing, management
  • Project, Program management
  • Operations management, Supply Chain management

In addition to the above-mentioned areas, US universities also offer a wide range of additional elective subjects from which you can pick and choose the subject areas that interest you, thus making the coursework very flexible.

The MIS degree sometimes falls under the business school and sometimes under a technology department like computer science depending on the university. Hence its always better to research well in advance the schools and programs that interest you and the test scores that they accept as that would help in deciding if you need to take the GRE or the GMAT. However the good news is that most US university programs accept both GRE and GMAT.

Careers in the field of management information systems can lead you to a variety of roles in the industry like:

  • Business Analyst
  • Systems analyst
  • Data analyst
  • IT Analyst
  • Functional Analyst
  • Operations Analyst
  • Database manager
  • Information Security Specialist
  • Program Manager
  • Software developer
  • Project lead
  • Applications developer
  • Information technology consultant
  • Web developer
  • Management Consulting

As the world of information technology grows bigger by the day, organizations have a growing need for professionals who understand both business and technology thus resulting in a growing the demand for candidates majoring in this degree.

Success Stories of Indians Who Made It Big in America – Ajay Bhatt Inventor of the USB and Other Achievers

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If you use a desktop, laptop, mobile phone, tablet or external hard disk drive, it’s impossible not to know about the USB (universal serial bus) port. The news is that this port, used to transfer both information and power between devices, is now about to become more versatile – there are plans to make it flippable and also able to deliver the power required by larger networks. But did you know that the inventor of the USB port is an Indian? Well, it’s true and his name is Ajay Bhatt.

After graduating from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Bhatt went on to The City University of New York, where he received his master’s degree. In 1990, Bhatt joined Intel Corporation as a senior staff architect on the chipset architecture team. Currently, he holds thirty-one U.S. patents, and several others are in various stages of filing. Some time ago IEEE Spectrum did an interesting interview with him about how Intel made the USB truly universal and other things like an ‘all-day’ computer project he is working on (read: a computer that you can use all day on a single charge) and some of his past achievements (click here to see “Ajay Bhatt: Intel’s Rock-Star Inventor”).

However, despite his ‘rock star’ inventor status Bhatt is only one of a highly talented group of Indian movers and shakers in the field of technology in the US. Here are few of the many other outstanding achievers in the list:

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5 Reasons Why Students Going to America Should Join LinkedIn

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LinkedInIf you are reading this blog the chances are that you are a net savvy user, you have accounts on Facebook and Twitter and you are a student going to America for higher education. But have you ever thought of signing up for a LinkedIn account? Probably not: LinkedIn is supposed to be meant for professionals, and none or few of your friends are on it, so what good would it do a student to have a LinkedIn account?

When you don’t know many people on LinkedIn, it is easy to think that it doesn’t matter. Actually however, there are 5 reasons why having a LinkedIn account is very useful if you are heading for higher education in the States.

 

  • LinkedIn offers several tools to help get information and ideas from experts in your field viz.:
  1. LinkedIn Groups
  2. LinkedIn Answers
  3. LinkedIn Today

For college students these tools offer a great way of learning the professional language of your field, keeping up with the latest trends and topics in the field and becoming a well-informed ‘insider’. With more than 120 million users worldwide, LinkedIn offers a lot of potential avenues for learning.

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MS in US Career Opportunities For Computer Science / ECE Students

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This post is written by our guest author: Ameya Kanitkar

Ameya holds master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. Currently he works as a Software Engineer at a startup in Silicon Valley, California.

Computer Science Jobs: Google, Facebook, Apple, MicrosoftIf there is one industry which is booming in US, it’s the technology industry. If you hold an engineering degree in Computer Science/ Computer Engineering/ Information Systems/ ECE, you should strongly consider pursuing your postgraduate degree in the US. Here in the valley, companies are fighting for top tech talent – and the scenario is going crazy: entry-level software engineer salaries have already crossed $100,000/year mark. But when we say Computer Science there is more to it. This post is attempt to dive into various branches and see how various opportunities are stacking up in the US in general.

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Top Paying Engineering Jobs

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A crucial question for engineers who are applying to an American university is: “What should I major in?” “Which stream is better, Computer Science, or Electrical?” This seemingly basic and straightforward question however, has no straightforward answer: there are a number of factors that you have to consider when choosing a major.

How to choose your Major?

  1. Identify your CORE strength – it should be something that you have both an aptitude and a passion for.
  2. Some careers have a higher entry-level qualification, such as a PhD, which is at least a four-year program. Find out if you want to study that long. If not consider what your other options are if you just have a Master’s degree.
  3. Where do you see yourself in five years, in ten, in fifteen? Do you have a long-term vision and do you feel that your current decisions will lead you to it.
  4. What are your fall-back options with this major? For example, a Computer Science major can usually switch from a role in System Development to Testing.
  5. Finally, what kind of life do you want for yourself? Is a high paying job the only thing you are interested in, or are there other things in life that you are interested in as well?

H1-B Cap Full—What This Means in Terms of Job Opportunities after MS in the US

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News: USCIS announced that the H-1B cap for this year is full. What does this mean for you regarding job opportunities after MS in the US? The economy is showing signs of healthy job growth for non-US citizens in the US! Its getting better.

On the first business day in April, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services opens the rounds of petitioning for coveted H1-B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. The agency awards the 85,000 visas on a first-come, first-served basis and companies scramble to get in their applications for foreign hires as quickly as they can. The cap has been the same since 2004, with 65,000 slots for foreign hires and 20,000 spaces reserved for graduates of U.S. universities. This year human resources managers, knowing the cap was close to being filled, worked through the weekend, racing to file.

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