I got admit from Stony Brook University and Courant institute, NYU for MS CS (Yann LeCun is professor there, in case you don't know, he is kinda father of Deep Learning but I haven't worked on any ML project and only have done a basic Deep Learning course so not sure how beneficial it would be for me). I have good offers from Amazon L5 and Microsoft L61 as well. Should I go for Master's or join any of these companies? My goal: I wanna move to US. And wanna try some research work at Google/Facebook, I don't have any experience in research so not sure if I would like it though. Master's overall cost including everything at Stony Brook University: around $50k, 1.5 years Master's overall cost including everything at Courant Institute, NYU: around $100k, 2 years Amazon offer: 30.5 base + (22+16 joining bonus) + $63k stocks vesting over 4 years in 5,15,40,40 ratio Microsoft offer: 26 base + $100k stocks over 4 years Yoe: 4.5 years TC: 28lpa (Indian salary) #FAIR #amazon #microsoft #courant #nyu #sbu #engineering EDIT: As a lot of people are voting for Master's in courant, could you please comment why? I think the opportunity cost would be around $100k (expenses) + $150k (2 years at amazon) = $250k and I think I would be considered as new grad after 2 years while working at amazon would get me 7yoe by then. I am confused so just want to know what are your thoughts. Please help
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Go to Microsoft and move from there to US. AFAIK, after L62 it's easy to move to US -MS guys can verify better. Opportunity cost to go to US is huge if you take MS route.
Thanks. But isn't it more easier to move to US from Amazon?
Don't risk going to MS. It's difficult moving to US even for L62. Lots of people are standing in line, and many managers aren't responsive. Talk to your friends in MS and they will confirm this.
In an MS program, just because a professor exists does not mean it’s any better. You’re not a PHD student. Anyways, I disagree with facebook, getting an internal transfer to the US as a SWE is really difficult (internal transfers get sub-SWE role offers). Get a masters, explore things, and then start your career here. You could push off school for one year and work at either to give you an even firm foundation.
I am already 4.5 years experienced. I thought its easier to get internal transfer from Amazon.
Yeah at microsoft you might get a sub-SWE role. Just an fyi. I always see people talking about how they’re offered customer instead of product engineering roles.
Fall/ spring? I am applying as well.. I wouldn't go to NYU, reasons being very high fees, yes it's NYU but Stony brook is very good for CS, and with visa uncertainty that will be a very big financial burden, Stony brook loan would be veryuch manageable If you can afford NYU, go for it, big brand, might help you later down in your career Udit for fall or spring, did you have a deferral for fall2020? You don't do ms because of a professor, you do phD because of a professor, ms is just to get work visa
Fall 21. yes I deferred from Fall 20. I would definitely have joined NYU in Fall 20 if Covid didn't happen. Now I would be 5 years experienced so thats why asking as opportunity cost would be much higher now.
Same here dude, 5 years in 21 , I didn't apply last year, and am fcked this year cause you guys deferred your admits to fall21 😜 Apply to Cornell m engg, itsa one year program
I really doubt Google or FB hire ms students for good research roles. Unless they have exceptional publications. They have plenty of PhD students to hire from.
So, would I just end up like my current role there unless I do PhD?
You will do the same work that you are doing at present in Adobe. An MS is not going to give you a research job, I think you have some incorrect assumptions about MS
I’m at MIcrosoft and am finishing a PhD. I assure you that a professor that accomplished gives no time to MS students. CS departments view MS students as cash cows, not as resources. Professors care about elite undergrads, because they want them to join their research team to further their research. They care about PhD students only if they’re on their research team, or may join. MS students are in and out in 2 years - they won’t spend any time with you. The best you might do is to take a class that they teach. Most people do a MS to get a job at MIcrosoft or Amazon. Personally, I’d take the MIcrosoft job and then use the $10K per year education benefit to do a MS while working.
Thanks for giving me insight. Is the online MS worth it?
It is not. At this point with the work ex you mentioned - MS is not worth it. Because you could be downlevelled to SWE1 after graduation at any company
Have you looked into FB/Google residency programs? One of my friends works at Google Brain and collaborates with some top ML professors from NYU and Columbia. There's also a chance to convert it into a full-time offer at the end of the program. But obviously, you need a solid research background, LORs or tier 1 undergrad college to get into it.
Was your friend from IIT?
Nope, tier 2 NIT (not Trichy, Warangal, Surathkal, Allahabad), low GPA. Worked as RA at IIT Bombay to build his research portfolio.
You won’t gain anything doing MS. To put into perspective- most MS students start as L4 in Amazon and L59-60 in Microsoft. Yes, that includes people have multiple years of experience in India. You might be wasting 2 years, money and still end up in a worse position. Focus on internal transfer to US.
This is absolutely not true. Most people with 2+ years experience start at a higher level with 250k+ TC among my friends
OP already has offers for L61 and L5. 2 years for MS, and still end up at the same position in the good case scenario. OP cannot end up as a L6 or L63+ after MS. It’s a total waste.
You can easily get a research scientist position from Facebook after MS if you put in the work. I have seen so many people on linkedin. Go for NYU!
This is very very rare!
Don't be mad at me, but tbh I am not really sure if I would like the research work. I just wanna experience it as I odn't have any research experience. Also, I am not sure how much research exposure could I get doing Masters. I am just too dumb, 5 years after graduation and I still don't know what I want to do. :(
Lol I took a chance on Stony and will be graduating this Dec debt free + 215k TC job @Seattle (in my area of interest). Never regretted choosing this uni over the expensive ones
+1 had I transferred internally at Amazon as an L5 my TC wouldn't be more than 180-190. Now I make 250+ and paid off my loan with internship stipend. If one isn't from a financially strong background, a decent low cost masters can change your life.
Which company/role if you don’t mind?
Moving to US is overrated now. I would say take offer from Amazon/MS and then do an internal transfer. BTW very few teams at G/FB do research. Most of the teams just keep the lights running.
I know FAIR (Facebook AI Research) is right behind Courant Institute and 2-3 professors there work for it. Yann LeCun is head of Facebook AI Research.
And yea, I kinda have this feeling that they would give research work to PhD guys instead. Even after MS, I would get L4/L5 job, right? which I can get from internal transfer as well