FAQ Contd...

What are the living costs ( other than fees) associated with doing an MS?

The cost of living depends heavily on where your university is located within US. As expected, states such as California, Massachussets, New York have high living costs. House rent is the biggest expense for most students. In the above states, you will be lucky to find a single bedroom apartment for less than $1500 per month. 3 students generally live reasonably well in a single BR. Apart from the rent, the groceries, communications (cell phone, calling cards to India), utilities (electricity, gas in some places) will come up to $200 - $300. So, even in the most expensive cities, you might end up spending $1000 tops per month.

Texas, Arizona and other mid-west states are much cheaper. You could live almost luxuriously with about $400 - $600 per month. Minneapolis was one of the moderately expensive places. I lived quite close to the university, which is in turn close to the downtown. So, real-estate rates were higher. But we didn't spend more than $500 for basic necessities.

Note that there are some exceptions to the above general rule. E.g., SUNY Stony Brook is on Long Island, NY - the retreat haven for stinking rich, retired bankers. However, its on-site accomodation is extremely affordable and it also has one of the lowest fees per semester.

PS: For married people - I have not much of an idea on this. But I can say that if you are a student and you have a dependent with you who is not working, it sure does make things a lot harder on your wallet. Dependents of F1 students can't work. So, the best thing to do would be to get your partner also come in as a F1 student so that he/she can work too part-time. So, best time to do your MS is before you get married, so that you can afford to study on a loan, if needed. Think of supporting a family ( both when your family is in India / US) when you are finding it hard to meet your own ends. But if you do intend to do MS after you are married, make sure you have enough savings to run on for the next 2 years or so.

What are the income options while doing MS?

While you are a full-time student at the university, you will be on F1 visa. This restricts the number of hours you can work per week to 20 hours. So, be it Graduate Assistantship / part-time jobs, you can't work for more than 20 hours. ( Note - this 20 hours limit applies only when the university is on regular semesters (fall, spring). During summer semester you can work for 40 hours per week or probably even more).

Only some are lucky to get GAs. This takes care of their fees, either partly or completely. It also provides a handsome stipend every month, varying from $900 to $2000 per month. Universities in expensive locations generally pay more to normalize the cost of living.
But for the others, we have to find part-time jobs in the University. You need special permissions from the International Students' Society of your university to work outside the campus. This work is paid hourly - you will have to sign timesheets etc. This pays much lower than GA. They usually pay $8 - $16 per hour. ( Note, all of this is before tax. You will be subjected to approx 33% income tax). Jobs such as library assistant, Dining services worker, office assistant fall in this category. It is usually sufficient to manage your daily expenses, but for your fees.

Also, during summer semester, we generally go for internships. This pays quite a bit for approx 3 months.

How do Summer Internships work?

Summer Internships generally last from May-end to August-end. Most universities have a streamlined process for chanelling companies offering internships. They will start as early as October or November for the internships in next year's May. E.g., Microsoft starts its interview process in October/November and it goes on for about 1 or 2 months. So, these companies will ask for resumes, filter them and call you for screening interviews in the university itself. From there, it varies with each company.

Apart from these on-campus opportunities, you can apply off-campus, directly to companies. This is much harder to get through, since thousands like you will be applying for those openings and it needs quite a bit of luck / contacts to get your resume even reviewed by a human being ( yeah, some companies like Google have automated resume parsers that "evaluate" how good you are - God knows how they even do that fairly!)

They pay, as I said before, is quite handsome. It ranges anywhere from $22 - $45 per hour. Remember that you will be working for 40 hours - so, that gives a HUGE income for 3 months. Also, most companies look to hire their interns for full-time jobs after they finish their MS. So, if you do well in those 3 months, you can save yourself the pain of going through detailed interview process in some other company and get a short-cut to a full-time job.

You have to get approval from your university for working in Summer full-time (40 hours/week). They give you a new I-20 with approval etc. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU RETAIN ALL YOUR I-20s, OLD/NEW. NEVER DISCARD THEM.


Is prior Job Experience advantageous for doing MS?

YES! Two years or more experience in related fields can do magic for you. If your work is in exactly the same domain as your MS (e.g., you have worked in Cisco for 3 years and you are applying for a MS in network management etc), then it even makes your chances of admission better. Professors can immediately see that you have done some useful work in the industry and this will hence give you an edge over another applicant who has no industry experience. This is very helpful when you are searching for RA either in your department or in outside departments.

Also, when you are searching for internships in summer, you can aim higher. Since you have a proven track-record in the industry, what you say in your resume has better credibility. It gives you better internships and better pay.

Finally, when you finish your MS and are hunting for jobs, it makes it all the more easier. Many companies have attractive positions open, which require at least a couple of years experience. They don't even consider fresh graduates in many cases. Say, you worked for Oracle for 3 years and you apply to Microsoft for their SQL Server team or to SAP, they will be glad to see your relevant experience in their competitor's firm. It also gives you an opportunity to haggle for better benefits (pay package) when you take up an offer. If you don't have experience, it gives you little options to ask for better pay.

I didn't know about all of this. In India, there is no dearth of job opportunities now. So, if someone you know is planning to do an MS immediately after their Bachelors, inform them about this and ask them to think it over once.