Feasibility to do M.S. in Fall 2015 and deciding the Majors

Hi,

Firstly, this forum has been a great resource of information, so thank you for the good work.

Now with my queries, it is a bit long post, so please bear with me.

I am in US on H4 Visa since Jan 2013. By background I have B.Tech (ECE) and MBA (HR, Marketing & Strategy) from a reputed B-School in India. I also have 4.5 years of work-ex (IT + Organization Development) all in India.

Initially I did not want to pursue any further education but after trying lot of things for 2 years and now with my H1 denied, I have a few options left, so I am planning to do my M.S. here.

I have a few questions, and will be grateful for any guidance. Pardon me if a few of the questions are repetitive:

  1. Is it too late to aim for Fall 2015 for 1-year M.S. courses? How do I shortlist universities? I have to start from scratch with the process, right from writing GRE, TOEFL.

  2. I am still trying to zero on my majors. My choices in the order of preference are:

  • M.S. in Organization Development

  • M.S. in Marketing (Research & Consumer Behavior)
    Question regarding these two - Is there a possibility to land a good job and H1 visa after these majors? I have been told such majors aren’t beneficial for Indian Students and I should stick to CS, IT related subjects.

  • For the roles of Business Analyst in Health Care or Retail Sector
    Question for this is - Which majors to do for such future roles in job? Or will MBA be a better option?

  1. Will 1-year M.S. be sufficient for better career opportunities, I really don’t want to study for 2 years?

  2. I have some semi-entrepreneurial but no solid corporate experience in last 2 years. Will that pose a problem?

I still have more questions and I am going through many posts, but answers to these will give me a jump start. Thanks in advance.

Regards

NVS

NVS,

Here are my thoughts.

  1. Is it too late to aim for Fall 2015 for 1-year M.S. courses? How do I shortlist universities? I have to start from scratch with the process, right from writing GRE, TOEFL.

It depends on the schools you are applying to. The advantage you have got over others is that you are in US and you can go and speak to the admissions counselors and get exceptions, if they allow. Some schools have late deadlines, you should be covered in such schools. Yes, most of the good schools require GRE and TOEFL. The process is pretty standard and you would have to do all the steps. One thing, you may get away with TOEFL, if you can convince the admissions counselors, again you have to negotiate telling you were in US and pretty fluent, etc. Shortlisting universities is a big topic on its own, you need to first identify what you want to do and create a small matrix and identify schools that are good in that area, you can use rankings, research publications, etc. It can be a big process, but you should be able to find enough info on the internet. You also need to look a things like career services and what companies typically have relationships with the schools so that you can get an internship, etc. 2. I am still trying to zero on my majors. My choices in the order of preference are:- M.S. in Organization Development- M.S. in Marketing (Research & Consumer Behavior)Question regarding these two - Is there a possibility to land a good job and H1 visa after these majors? I have been told such majors aren’t beneficial for Indian Students and I should stick to CS, IT related subjects.

Well, my perspective towards higher education is that, it should add value to you career and fulfil your dreams. You should NOT be studying something just to get a job, at least when you are pursuing Masters level. The opportunities may be less compared with others, but again, it is a different story, you need to put in your best to get up. You may use our free CPT and OPT to work in US, if you convert your visa to F1 visa and study full time. 4. I have some semi-entrepreneurial but no solid corporate experience in last 2 years. Will that pose a problem?

It is all about how your present yourself in the interviews, as long you have not violated any immigration laws doing those.

We have quite a few articles on the blog on studying in USA, I suggest you read the blog under study in USA section, it would help you clarify most of the questions.