My son is at a pivotal point in his life, and we would like to see some advice from the blind community. Currently, he is doing a bachelor in economics in the Netherlands. This is probably the best economics university in the Netherlands and he is approximately in the top 5-10% of the class. He is non-EU, male, and has a slim to non-chance to integrate into the Dutch society. Our family have limited funds, and after I retire there will be nobody who will be to financial support, the family. Furthermore, it seems that my daughter isn’t as bright and doesn’t have grit as my son, so all the funds likely will go towards his education. According to his words is: "to have as much freedom and money as he can." He is not tied to a particular field of study.It seems so far that the best option for him and our family is to try to get a job after university in the USA. Netherlands vs the USA? The Netherlands is a great country, it is much closer to my home country (and family) than the USA. People here have a good life, it is probably one of the wealthiest countries in the EU. There are a lot of options to travel. Also, the country is known for good WLB. The problem with the Netherlands is that there is no point to settle here. It is a Bernie Sanders country here, it is challenging to get affluent here, 50% marginal tax rate on income higher than 68k€. We were shocked at how low salaries there were even without adjustment to taxes (compare to the US). After masters in the finance sector the salary is 40k€ (probably SWE are higher, but I don’t have reliable numbers and finance is still one of the most lucrative degrees here), the best option is MBB and the offer around 60-70k€ but the chance to get there are low. Whenever he asks locals whom they are considering rich in the Netherlands they usually say pilots or managers, and they make a max of 300-200k€ and don’t forget about the taxes. Obviously, he is not a fan of providing tax revenue to the Netherlands. Additionally, he can’t stress how much he doesn’t what to study Dutch. Everyone knows English, there is little to no incentive to study Dutch. Even if you know the language you won’t be able to integrate into society. The only solid reason to study Dutch is to get an easy passport, but he isn't eager about this. Masters: Finance vs Data Science vs Economics with minor in data science In his current university, he can get all of the three masters listed above, the total cost will be around 25k€. The job prospects after finance are good after economics seems to be solid, and he doesn't know what happens to graduate after a data science degree. Staying in his current university is a safe option. Another option is the University of Amsterdam. There he has a reasonable chance to get a scholarship for masters in finance which will make the total costs of masters for me around 10k€. The University of Amsterdam is good, it is more recognisable among for vast majority of people. Going to Amsterdam is a plausible option. The last option is trying to get in the USA. There are a lot of masters courses for the subjects that I've listed above. The key problem with the USA is the cost of education. In the USA masters are 2 years instead of 1 year in Europe, and the tuition fees are huge. The only option is a generous scholarship, our family doesn't have 100k$, and I doubt that the US provides student loans for foreigners. Also, it will be definitely very difficult to get into a top tier university in the USA. He will need to spend a couple of months during the summer to study for GRE/ GMAT to approach a competitive score. Lastly, he claims that he is definitely not the brightest but he can and will work hard. He is fortunate to have options/opportunities in life lacking but we are lacking people who can guide him in this matter which marks the trajectory of his life for the next decades. Some of the recommendations he has heard are to get an education in the Netherlands and then transfer within a corporation to the USA. However, we are not sure what is a chance of that. #finance #visa #education #tech #datascience #netherlands
Like the first comment said, poll will be heavily biased to DS bc of the amount of tech people in here. Personally I'd try to work in investment banking if I was him, but what do I know? I'm not in finance
Power of econ is gonna be unknown to tech folks. Coming with physics, I'll pick econ over the other two any day
Statistics 101: Selection bias in your poll! The blind sample is not a right representation of educated and informed members of society. So your poll assessment will give you biased/ misleading results.
Seems like a masters in America is out of the question if you can't pay for it and he cannot get a scholarship. His best bet is a masters in DS in the Netherlands and then try to score a job in the UK or USA. I think it will be easier to get a job abroad with a DS degree than Economics/Finance. If he can get an internship abroad while doing the masters, that could translate into job opportunities in the future. He should do the 1 year masters in the Netherlands and start applying to the internship programs of all the big companies right away, so that he can line up his internship while he still has a student status. Good luck!
“ He is non-EU, male, and has a slim to non-chance to integrate into the Dutch society. ” I have multiple Indian friends in Netherlands. The degree to which they are integrated is fully dependent on the degree to which they’re invested in Dutch society. The most integrated (who says, “I feel Dutch - I can’t think of living anywhere else”) socializes with the locals almost exclusively, and cares deeply about Dutch society. Maybe some of the problem is is the attitude espoused here: “Obviously, he is not a fan of providing tax revenue to the Netherlands.” “Additionally, he can’t stress how much he doesn’t what to study Dutch.” “The only solid reason to study Dutch is to get an easy passport, but he isn't eager about this.” You get back what you put in in life.
This.
I'd go for Data Science, Universiteit van Amsterdam, next to Rotterdam, is also a very good university. Interesting perspective to see someone from the US talking about Dutch unis though
So you want the “low taxes / high wages” of America but the low cost of uni in EU?
Just two tips. If he plans staying in NL after graduation, good to check conditions for qualifying for 30% ruling. Maybe he needs to leave the country for some period in order to qualify, but that would be a huge boost to his wage. Salaries indeed are lower than in the U.S. but I have a strong impression that WLB is much better. Normal working hours, strong worker rights, social safety net. Otherwise, check Switzerland, he should be able to make a lot of cash there. Economics is good, but he should try to pick up basic programming and statistics skills. And if he can combine these with business intuition and polished communication, he will definitely land a well paying job.
This post might be genuine but it just comes off as pretentious! You want to live in amazing society with security of great infrastructure that built some of those unis your son is enrolled in. But he “is not fan of paying taxes” smh
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You immediately went wrong when you decided to consult blind and put the decision about your son’s future on us degenerates 😂 That being said, the votes will heavily favor data science, so this poll is inadequate.