MS in Canada compared to MS in USA

MS in Canada is becoming an increasingly lucrative to international students looking to study abroad. Let’s see its pros and cons over MS in USA.

Why apply to MS in Canada?

1. H1B and green card uncertainty in USA due to Trump policies

Trump has hinted that he does not like immigrants (which is the intention of 90%+ internationals who go for MS in USA), H1B caps and OPT rules are constantly under scrutiny and green card processing takes forever.

In comparison, you easily get work permit upon graduation in Canada for 2-4 years in any field to work anywhere you want. The study permit itself allows for taking jobs off campus right from the beginning. Within this time frame, you can easily get your permanent residency. Therefore, studying from Canada means not only getting higher education but a hassle-free option of settling in Canada.

2. The high quality of living and curriculum

Canada’s political stability, tolerant government, super healthcare, natural beauty lends itself to the wonderful quality of living in a peaceful environment. Yes, winters might be an issue for some people.
I saw the ultimate reward of being in Canada in our alumnus’ Rafi’s response –

“I used to weigh 120+ kg in India and had multiple health issues. After coming to Canada and seeing the fitness of people around me, it made me work hard to become healthy myself. Today I weigh 70 kg and have learned swimming and skiing. I love it here.”

While Canada may have a fewer number of schools than the USA, most of them are comparable in quality of coursework and research to the top tier schools of USA.

3. Not so bad job opportunities

Plus, for all the health and wellness benefits it offers, the job scenario is also not bad (we are talking about engineering fields for this post). There are increasing opportunities in growing fields such as Data Science. Plus, most of the bigger tech companies are opening offices in Canada if not already.

In terms of the cost of attendance and living, it may be akin to the USA in total. However, financial aid opportunities seem to be abundant in good Canadian universities.

Also read: Courses with high ROI in Canada

So, where is the catch?

As is the case we discussed in MS in Germany blog post, downsides of studying in Canada are:

1. Lower job packages

While it is not unheard of to get $100K USD+ packages in the USA in software and technology along with handsome relocation bonuses, Canadian offers are lower with little bonuses.

2. Lower possibilities of working in the USA

It is hard to get placement in US offices from Canada. So, if you graduate from Canada, you are best positioned to work in Canada only. I still believe that the USA offers the best job market and growth opportunities in most of the engineering fields.

To summarize, those looking for long-term settlement, relocation to a foreign country and peaceful living, Canada offers you a wonderful opportunity. But if you are studying abroad to earn as much as possible and might want to come back to India, USA is still a better bet.

The comparison is more clear from this interview with Rafi Alam. He shares insights about studying and working in Canada.

Also read: MBA in Canada for Indian applicants

Hear it from someone who pursued CS from Waterloo

Hear it from Rafi Alam

Here is someone who studied at University of Toronto

Read Shreya Rajput’s account of studying in Canada – how do the work visa and PR work?

That’s it, hope it helps you make a more informed choice for your study abroad plans!

We have now covered MS in Germany, MS in Canada and MS in USA. Which other country are you considering and would like to know more about?

Interview – Should you consider doing an MS in Germany?

MS in Germany can be lucrative

Did you know that Hyperloop competition by Elon Musk was won by TU Munich students for a second time! That is not all, pursuing MS in Germany can nearly be free in technical streams. German schools further help all students in getting co-ops kind of internships for practical training. However, there is still a catch when you compare it to USA. Read on to find out…

In an interview with Sangram Gupta, we chat about his experience of pursuing an MS in CS from TU Munich, Germany. He is also interning with a Business Intelligence startup called Incuda.gmbh where he is earning 15 euros per hour. Best thing – he did not spend a single penny in his MS.

Interview covers

  • How helpful is the curriculum like?
  • How long does it take to do an MS?
  • How much does one spend on graduate school in Germany? (Its almost free!)
  • Who should apply to German schools (which kind of programs are best)?
  • What is the process to apply to programs in Germany?
  • What is the internship process and ease of doing internships in Germany?
  • What is the employment scenario in Europe?
  • Why you should or should not consider MS in Germany? (Conclusive comparison with USA)

Video

Let us find out more directly from him in this video-

Resources

Here is the list of top German schools that Sangram considered while applying.

We have now covered MS in Germany and MS in Canada. Which other country are you considering and would like to know more about?

Rejected by your dream school? This is what you can do

how to handle rejections

Getting rejected hurts. After all that hard work, when you get that ‘we are sorry’ email from your dream school, it is not easy. So, what can you do now? The good news is – there is always a silver lining.

I know the feeling because I have been there. I got 9 rejection letters out of 10 when I applied for MS the first time. And 10th admit was from a university ranked lower than 80 and I don’t even know why I had applied there. So, of course, I decided not to go there and stayed back to work for a year. Next year, I was heading to UIUC for a MS in CS that admitted only 18 students. If I had gotten into a 20-30 ranked school the first year itself, I might have gone and probably missed the chance to be at UIUC. That is how I choose to look at my results.

And that wasn’t the only unfavorable result I had seen, when I applied to MBA programs the first year, I was rejected by them all! Couple of interviews but no final admit – it was heartbreaking and tough. I persisted, applied the second time around and got into NYU Stern! Frankly, I did a lot of introspection the second time around and had a much clearer vision for what I was looking for. And I can tell this with conviction, if I had received an admit in my first attempt, I would NOT have made the most of my MBA because I might have followed the herd, gotten into a stream that I am not that passionate about. When I joined NYU finally, I knew I wanted to work with startups only and had a plan of action. It helped me get a job offer after my first summer itself and I dropped out of the program saving one year of opportunity cost and MBA fee!

So, while our results page is full of glorious admits (which have even caught me by surprise), not every result is a positive one. I have a student who has great potential and he has not received admits at par with his capability. It happens sometimes even though you try your best to improve your success probability. In this post, I am going to talk about rejects and how to deal with them.

I shared my story above to just convey that rejects are not necessarily bad if you do not give up and if you learn from your past experiences. Most of the successful people I know have not been simply lucky, they are just better at dealing with negative results. Did you notice that I haven’t used the word ‘failure’ at all here? It is because these negative results are not a failure by any means. They are only telling you that you should try things differently and get better results. They are telling you to take a breather and punch back harder.

Frankly, I am the kind of person who punches back stronger when I am down. I know you are too. So, cast aside your doubts, ego-bruises and take some time off to relax. And, then get back to work – whatever it is that you need to do to leave these rejects behind.

What to do when you get rejected in your application?

First, let yourself feel disappointed and mourn a little. It’s okay – we need to let our emotions come out. Once you are feeling more composed, it is time to sit down and think of next steps. This is how I would go about it-

1. Re-evaluate your school list

If it is an early reject and you still have time to apply to more schools (assuming there are ones that you are motivated to go to), go for it.

2. Ask for feedback

Do not forget to email the school after you are officially rejected. It never hurts to express that you are disappointed – tell them how much you wanted to attend it. Ask them if they can pass any feedback and what else you can do to improve your candidacy in future. Remember to be polite and nice. It is not a good feeling to receive a reject but it doesn’t justify being nasty on your email. The whole point is to let them think about you in a positive light.

There have been times when the school tells that they could not admit a candidate simply because they did not have funds. That is good to know!

3. Figure your Plan B

We ask our clients to do this at the beginning itself because it forces you to think of alternatives. If the whole season is done and if you haven’t received an admit of your choice, you will have to decide whether and when to re-apply.

  1. If you have an admit that you are not too keen on (ideally, you should not have applied to such a school in the first place), you should request them to DEFER your admission. Not all schools will allow it but give it a try. It will give you a backup next time you apply.
  2. Should you re-apply? That is up to you. If you don’t have very long work-experience, it is always worth to re-apply at least once since you have done most of the work anyway. If you decide to re-apply, the most imp question is applying for Spring or waiting till next Fall. We covered pros and cons of Spring applications in another post.

4. Reflect why you got rejected

Now that your results are out and if you got rejected by seemingly safer schools, you must reflect on your applications and try to figure out what went wrong. Is it wrong selection of schools, weak LORs, rushed SOP that you were not feeling good about or what?

5. Consider working with a consultant if you reapply

We have worked with few people who were simply not good at writing SOPs or telling their stories. With our guidance, they were able to crack their desired schools in their next attempt. A good admissions consultant can easily help you there. It is worth paying an expert than spending another year and more money in your reapplications.

Our counseling is open for next season. Check out our counseling packages here.

Interview – How Vipul got a Qualcomm Internship despite being a fresher

Vipul achieved a great feat by scoring Qualcomm internship despite being a fresher. This is a case study on how he did it.

Profile

Undergrad: EE at ISM Dhanbad
GRE: 313
GPA: 81%
Work Experience: None but relevant internships!

Full Interview

Vipul had his share of ups and downs as he tried to get a summer internship at CU Boulder. He was once rejected by Qualcomm before getting a second chance!

After getting rejected from Qualcomm first time and Micron for intern position, I got an offer from Seagate (Longmont office) for Platform Software Team. Qualcomm final offer came in the end.

P.S. Embedded Systems courses at CU Boulder are seriously great and are designed especially taking industrial views and skills required. Also, this area (Boulder and surrounding area) has lots of companies working on firmware/Embedded Software/storage solutions/Communications

Find out what helped Vipul crack internship at Qualcomm, how did he decide which courses to take, what was the interview process like, how did the overall jobhunt process work out etc etc.

Work With Us

If you are committed to get into a TOP school, we will do our best to help you. Plus, our Mastermind package is designed to prepare you for internship and job hunt much in advance. Join our counseling and let us build happy careers together.

How you can get into Research after MS and contact Professors for PhD?

Summary

Asha Shibu (LinkedIn profile) pursued MS Energy at TAMU but managed to head to Oak Ridge National Lab as a research intern/engineer. Now, she is applying for PhD with promising responses from Professors. Her review of MS Energy program is available on https://scholarstrategy.github.io/ssreview

She tells her story of getting into a research lab directly after MS. In this interview with her, we cover:

  1. How to explore research options from MS?
  2. Do you have to decide about PhD right away?
  3. What matters when choosing a PhD program to apply to?
  4. Commentary on job prospects in Power and Energy field in USA

How to contact Professors if you are applying for a PhD position?

As a bonus, Asha talks about how she has successfully been contacting targeted Professors in her area. She gracefully shares the email that she used herself to get responses.

Subject: Research on Building Energy Efficiency – Prospective Student

Dear Dr. ____,

My name is Asha Shibu and I’m an Energy graduate from Texas A&M University, currently working as Research Assistant at Oak Ridge National Lab. I’m writing to express my interest in your research on Energy efficient buildings at University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

My master’s coursework provided me with an interdisciplinary understanding of multiple aspects of the field, ranging from an overview of energy technologies; to multi-scale energy systems engineering methods; to energy economics, law, security, policy, and societal impact. During my coursework, I also worked at the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at Texas A&M University, a Department of Energy (DOE) funded program. In this position, I was trained to assess manufacturing plants and to identify measures that would save energy, reduce waste, enhance productivity, and reduce operating costs. As an Energy Engineer at IAC, I conducted ASHRAE Level I-II energy audits that resulted in $730,000 in recommended savings to date, and I developed practical skills in thermal systems, electrical power systems, building envelopes, HVAC, combustion systems, and lighting. The training I received at the IAC, along with courses such as “Energy Efficiency in Buildings,” sparked my interest in energy efficiency and sustainable energy resources utilized in commercial and residential buildings, and my desire to be involved in the field’s ongoing research led me to work for the Oak Ridge National Lab after graduation. As a researcher, I realize the importance of collaborating with others in the field, and at the same time, of an ability to work independently. Currently, I’m working on two DOE projects, and my interaction with the Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis Group at ORNL has sharpened my appetite for further knowledge in Building Technologies field and this is one area I could see myself exploring further in research as a graduate student.

I will be applying to Ph.D. program in Building Systems offered by University of Massachusetts-Amherst and would very much like the opportunity to join your group. Will you be accepting applications for new graduate students for entry in Fall 2018?

Thank you very much for your time. I hope we have the chance to speak about research in the near future.

Sincerely,
Asha Shibu
ASTRO Student
Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis Group (EERA)

For more info on how to contact Professors, please check out MS Book.

So, without further ado, here is the interview with Asha Shibu.

We are now open for Spring/Fall 2019 admission cycle. Check out our counseling packages to see how we can help you.

What is happening with H1B – should I apply for MS?

Ever since Trump was elected, there have been articles that blamed his policies on H1B for Indians being forced to exit US. Let us focus on facts and discuss how it impacts your MS plans.

Relevant Anti H1B Bills proposed so far-

  1. Increase in minimum wage requirement to qualify for H1B
    1. A bill called Protect and Grow American Jobs Act was introduced to amend the original Act that created the H-1B program. It asks to raise the minimum salary requirement for H-1B workers to $100,000 a year, up from $60,000, and remove the Master’s degree exemption that allowed the replacing of American workers with foreign workers with master’s degrees. The House Judiciary Committee approved it in November 2017 but it is far from becoming a law at this point. Tech lobby is so strong, I’ll be surprised if this passes ever.
  2. Revoking work permits of H1B spouses
    1. A rule is proposed to revoke work permits of H1B spouses – popularly called H4 EAD. It is currently in “final clearance and review” process.

Bills approved and made into law so far-

None

Other impacts of Trump’s anti-immigration stance:

  1. Employers were wary of what rule might be proposed and hence, were more cautious in rolling out H1B applications for new employees. I have heard Amex managers etc thinking twice before hiring internationals.
  2. In October 2017, the USCIS made it so that H1B extension applications are subjected to the same level of scrutiny as on fresh visa applications. Earlier, if anyone made a mistake in the application, they could get an RFE (request for evidence). However, now USCIS can outright right reject with no obligation to send RFE.
    The ground reality is that some people are seeing a tougher time getting their H1B renewed especially if their real day to day work doesn’t justify the reasons for which the H1B was filed in the first place. If they are doing routine mundane tasks and not requiring higher skills, they are likely to be questioned and may even see revoking of H1Bs.

Who will Trump’s bias really impact? – outsourcing firms who are sending people on client side for no real reason. This was also reflected in the fact that the number of approved H1B petitions filed by Indian IT firms (Cognizant, Infosys) declined in 2017 whereas those by leading tech companies such as Apple, Amazon increased (as reported by NFAP).

Outsourcing IT firms have realized that they cannot bulk file for H1Bs now and there will be tighter scrutiny on applications. As a result, they are also more cautious and not filing too many H1B petitions now.

Quoting verbatim from the above NFAP report-

Emerging technologies, such as driverless vehicles, may also be increasing the demand for people with high levels of technical skill, including foreign-born researchers. Tesla (207 approved new H-1B petitions in FY 2017), Uber (158) and General Motors (179) all employ individuals in H-1B status.

It indicates a shift in preferring to grant H1Bs to direct employers rather requiring more sophisticated knowledge of technology than outsourcing IT firms.

Frankly, these are the only real things happening. I have seen articles claiming that people are leaving USA because of Trump’s policies and they are cherry picking evidence. The height of irresponsible journalism is when they cite reasons such as – H1B is too restrictive, you cannot work for anyone else, I did not get H1B 2 years after graduation. I wrote a big counter article on that which went viral and you must read it.

Let’s be objective. All this was happening before Trump as well. H1B was always restrictive (you could not start your own company on H1B), it was always harder for people graduating with questionable degrees from questionable schools, who did not learn any real skills.

At Scholar Strategy, I have heard from our students who got internships and fulltime employment at Tesla, Facebook, Amazon, Intel, Qualcomm, Google, Microsoft, Apple etc this very year. So, if you want to extrapolate Trump’s frenzy to a doomsday scenario for people who know their shit, all I have for you is ‘I don’t buy that.’

You may say many deserving people on H1B from outsourcing firms are now at risk. I say – yes, they are. But believe me, if you have good skills and are a good developer, Project Manager, Product Manager, software architect – you will never have dearth of opportunities – yes, you may have to work for it.

I advised a 34 year old woman, who was fed up of the IT firms politics and stagnation in career in India, get into MIT SDM program and she interned at Salesforce as a product manager this year. If she can do it, so can you.

But if you are trying to defend skill-less people sitting as managers in middle management layer in so many IT companies – you cannot. They were and are always at risk of being shoved out (even in India) – its nothing to do with H1B. After all, H1B is not a charity, it is a work visa with a specific purpose for its country.

I am not defending Trump by any means, but I am saying that there frankly has not been a damage to prospects of working in USA for good people. In fact, I would argue that going forward, it bodes well for people with advanced degrees from good institutes because they are the ones that will possess the requisite skills.

Updated thoughts after H1B report came out in Feb 2019-

Interview – How Facebook Intern spent her first year in Grad School

Today we are profiling Shivani Singla who studies Computer Science at Stonybrook and joined as a Facebook Intern in Summer of 2018.

Profile

Undergrad: CS at Thapar University
GRE: 317
GPA: 8.65
Work Experience: 2 years at Sandisk before joining MS

I took Asynchronous Systems, Artifical Intelligence, Network Security and Algorithms in first semester. I really enjoyed Asynchronous Systems. It was really amazing. I developed Byzantine China Replication Protocol research paper written by research Professor from Cornell University.

Full Interview

We discuss the courses she took and activities she participated in first year at SBU, how much does the GPA matter, what was the Facebook internship hunt timeline and process.

Takeaways

Shivani again shows that it is possible to crack dream companies like Facebook and Google even if you hail from non-IIT schools in India. Even though Shivani started preparing late, she quickly realized what she needs to do in Grad School. Of course, you can learn from her hindsight and be more prepared for internship even before heading for MS!

Work With Us

If you are committed to get into a TOP school, we will do our best to help you. Plus, our Mastermind package is designed to prepare you for internship and job hunt much in advance. Join our counseling and let us build happy careers together.

Starting salaries for engineers in USA

study abroad salary and expense

The most lucrative thing about studying in USA is the high salaries that engineers can get when they start working in USA. If you study from a Top 50 school, you have a pretty good chance of landing a job. But many aspirants wonder how much would they earn? And if it justifies the higher cost of study.

So, lets look at this data this data on average starting salaries for engineers in USA taken from Michigan Tech College of Engineering –

IndustryBLS StatsMean Entry-Level Salary1Mean Annual Salary2Top 10 Percent3
Biomedical EngineeringNational Labor Stats$60,958$95,090$144,350
Chemical EngineeringNational Labor Stats$65,618$114,470$169,770
Civil EngineeringNational Labor Stats$56,152$93,720$142,560
Computer EngineeringComputer Hardware Engineers

Software Developers, Systems Software		$71,007


$68,436		$117,840


$114,000		$172,630


$166,960
Construction ManagementNational Labor Stats$55,795$103,110$161,510
Electrical EngineeringNational Labor Stats$64,936$101,600$153,240
Environmental EngineeringNational Labor Stats$55,884$92,640$137,090
Electrical Engineering Technology / MechatronicsRecruiter $86,6904$133,2804
Geological and Mining Engineering and SciencesNational Labor Stats$61,977$98,420$151,030
Geospatial Science and TechnologyNational Labor Stats$49,571$68,340$101,400
Materials Science and EngineeringNational Labor Stats$65,806$96,930$148,110
Mechanical EngineeringNational Labor Stats$61,538$92,800$136,550
Mechanical Engineering TechnologyNational Labor Stats $99,310$154,720
Surveying EngineeringNational Labor Stats$48,360$66,440$102,220

As per this: “Year after year, engineering tops the list of majors with the highest average starting salary. The bottom line:  It is well worth the time and effort it takes to become an engineer.“

What’s more? I talked to some professionals who recruit engineers for their companies and when I asked hows the recruitment scenario, I got a unanimous reply – a resounding ‘it is a good time for engineers as lot of career opportunities are floating around and we have more positions than qualified candidates’.

So, if you are on fence about whether to join a graduate school in US or not, this is your answer. Look at how much it costs to do an MS in USA, possibilities of finding funding, take into consideration these salaries and calculate your ROI. The market is back in shape (at least for engineers) and it was never more lucrative to earn in dollars.

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How Swati got into Harvard Data Science program?

Case Study time it is. Today, we are profiling Swati Sharma from Thapar University. She received an admit into Harvard Data Science program for Fall 2018.

Profile

GRE: 332
GPA: 9.88
Work Experience: Amadeus full stack developer since 2016

Timeline

Swati joined the counseling (Mastermind package) in October and spent 2-2.5 months refining her application with us. She applied to Harvard Data Science and CS program at other schools in Dec-Jan and received her first admit from Harvard in February. She also has an admit from Columbia and UCSD for CS!

We interviewed her to get a detail of how she had built her profile and managed to crack Harvard. Here you go.

Full Interview

Takeaways

Biggest takeaway for me is that any elite school is not out of reach for non-IIT or non-Google students. If you work hard in your undergrad, do interesting projects, score well in GRE, YOU CAN GET INTO TOP SCHOOLS. It is not dependent on big brands on your resume.

Internet has given us tremendous resource access. By taking worldclass MOOCs and applying that knowledge, you can prove your merit.

So, go for it. Dream big.

Work with us

If you are committed to get into a TOP school, we will do our best to help you. Join our counseling and let us build happy careers together.