Is GRE worth it in 2023?
Hi, I am just curious to understand if Gre for masters in computer science is worth for Indians? I am currently based in Bangalore. I always had this dream of doing masters since childhood. Even some of my distant cousins are settled in Bellevue and San Francisco. Few things that holding me from preparing for exam is 1. Current Recession, how bad it is right now for APAC people? 2. I love my country and parents and people around here. However I had my struggles with current infrastructure, taxation and landlords of Bangalore. Is this same for US as well? 3. I am not sure if I would be able to mix up or socialize with Americans or NRI, since I am non smoking and non drinking and vegetarian kind of person. 4. I am not sure of the returns I can expect, I worked hard to save my money since 3 years of tenure. 5. I work as sde2 right now, so with masters I might not get sde2/L4 or sde3/L5 opportunities . So I will be stepping back in my career. Why I want to pursue? 1. Obviously travel around the world and get global exposure. Please suggest if there are such options in India as well? 2. It was my dream. 3. Learn about different culture and languages. I have good foundation on data structures and algorithms but little rusty these days. Thanks to my competition during college I just keep thinking what next as career option? I am a bachelor though, no plans of getting married next 3-4 years Please help me understand if gre is worth it as a career option? Or should I try for overseas opportunity or crack google, uber, msft L4/L5. Thanks. Tc: 34lpa Yoe: 3+
Not worth spending time and money on MS to come to US, especially if you are born in India. - There's only 25% chances of getting H1B visa (work visa) after you find a company willing to sponsor you. - For those born in India, even if you find a company to sponsor your GC(Permanent residency), the wait time for someone starting process today would be 100+ years. This applies to those born in India and China only as US has per country (by birth) limits on GCs. If you want to go abroad, find some other country. Coming to US is fine only if you can come here directly for job (on employer expenses).
Good point. Thanks for sharing your perspective.
Depends on your goals! Not advisable to come to the US to settle down. You’re earning great in India for your experience. It will go only higher from here. Better for you to come through work and the salary will be the same as when you come out of masters .
In the same boat. 2 Yoe, Even with an average 30 L TC, life is pretty relaxed in Bangalore. I can travel as much as I want to home. I am / was ready to lose all this and go for MS for the American dream. That's not gonna happen because Indians just flooded the GC queue. It's like everyone around you has applied for a GC and waiting while you're still figuring things out. Alright, I thought, let's just go there for a few years and come back. I want to take care of my parents too. If I can't bring them there with me, might as well come back when they need me. Then a few close friends went for their MS. They were in WITCH. They told me they were applying for jobs in subway. Freakin subway..!! What kind of a fool am I to leave my current life just to live a few stressful years in USA?! I will take the GRE and see what schools I can get into and if it's financially feasible or not. But I am more and more inclined towards the L1 route. Agreed you will not make money at par with your peers but I think the difference is worth the shitty broke student life and the stress. You can DM me if you want.
30L in 2 yoe is average? Should I kill myself 😮💨
Not flexing- in a city like Bangalore it is average. It feels a lot more since I don't have a conplete family to support. To put things into perspective, my friends who earn around 18-24L around my tier 2 hometown city live a more lavish lifestyle than me.
Just find a job abroad. I understand it's difficult with current market scenario, but it's doable, especially in Europe.
Yes I did interviews with Agoda and Booking. Agoda did not released offer and Booking profile got filled up.
You say you want to travel around the world and get global exposure. But you are a vegetarian. You might have to first think if traveling is possible.
Agreed, I think I am better off here. But yeah need to check what world has to offer!
You get great vegan(not just vegetarian) everywhere these days
Now is a great time to join tech in india honestly. Thinking of moving back
Yeah tech is awesome anytime, but pay is less and cost cutting is more. The leadership in tech needs to grow up for tech innovation in India for long term vision of tech in India and its growth. Just infrastructure needs a boost, and in no time we will see in-house tech.
The work and wlb that u might have in India is shit, at least that's the case in GS.
Go brother! Just give me your job at Flipkart to me
Haha I can't give any job, you will have to earn it.
Realistically speaking, your odds of staying in the US after your OPT ends are slim to none. There were 758,994 eligible registrations, and 188,400 selections for 2024. Do the math, you have 24.8% of staying with H1-B. However, it'll probably be even worse, because the trend is for the odds to continue dropping. In 2023 your odds were 26%, in 2022 43%, and 2021 46%. That is, even if you manage to crack the interviews and get that job at a top company, they may not be able to get you to stay working for them. Besides that low chance of H-1B. Getting a green card through an employment sponsor is nearly impossible with a 100+ year backlog. Your only realistic ways to get a residence here would be to marry a citizen/resident. Or to have children here and them sponsoring you after becoming adult. Properly weight in your risks, literally roughly 3/4ths of the Indians end up having to return. What would you do if that ends up being you? Would the masters still benefit you if you end up returning to India? The ROI if you stay in the US is clearly high. But it is probably low if you end up having to return. Do your own expected value calculations: Value of Masters = 1/4 * ROI of staying in the US + 3/4 * ROI of returning. Then compare that to the value of having 2 extra years of experience, likely L+1.
Bhai, amazing pov 🤯
@Apple Honestly I don't care much about money. I want to see myself grow and excel, but yes I understand the gravity of challenges you posted. Thanks for sharing insights.
Not worth it Fullstop.
Why what's the rationale behind this?
Because many colleges have waived off GRE. Except some such as GaTech.