Disclaimer: Because people in this part of the world generally go apeshit when an opinion is antithetical in essence to the overwhelming majority of opinions, I would like to say that I am not against higher education abroad per se . My views and writings are an effort to acquaint people with reality of things and set right the balance which has been unfairly tilted towards the richness and bounty associated with foreign education. Also, I need a muse when I'm bored so deal with it!
Well, its my first post. I couldnt help but write about the one thing that has occupied my mind since the months Ive graduated from college. Yes, higher education, outside of India. What Im going to write here will mainly be pertaining to the US and thats just because of my personal experience and the experiences of people close to me who are currently pursuing their masters in the US.
So lets get started. Whats this whole deal about a masters(or any other degree really) in the US? Is it worth it or not? Well, I feel the answer is depends. Depends on what you want in your life, in your career, your financial background growing up and also not in the least, your attachment to your loved ones. Lets make sense of this from each perspective.
First the career aspect. Before you people out there start running to educational 'consultants'(yeah right) and making your list of safe, moderate and dream universities and feel all nice and dandy about your choices, stop and think whether you really need a master's degree in your line of work. It might be hard to believe but sometimes you just dont need one! Most people whom I have come across applying to universities spend more time frolicking about how much fun they re going to have doing stuff in the US (they kinda forget that you need money for that!) than evaluating objectively and logically what this degree will do to their career. I get it. We re from India and your first trip abroad that too to a first world country might make you feel all excited but it ends there. Once you land there and reality hits you, the excitement evaporates pretty instantaneously. Now let me make my point . Lets take for example what has recently been a pretty popular domain for people with an electronics/electrical engineering major to do their masters in-A masters in the VLSI/semiconductors domain. Now if you want to get a masters and go on to do a Phd and have a career in academia, well, theres no other place like the US. But, if what you want is a career in the semiconductor industry, then a masters degree is not really the way to go. You see, your potential employer in the industry looks at what skills you bring with you to the company rather than what degrees you bring. More specifically , they look at what experience you have work with industry standard VLSI tools, which you can get right here in India at a fraction of the price you pay for a masters. Seriously, many people who go for a masters in VLSI have no inkling whether their university provides them access to such tools or how many of the credits they complete towards getting their degree will be composed of VLSI courses. I know people who went to the US to get a masters in VLSI and now theyre getting a masters which specializes in well, nothing because their university just doesnt have enough courses in VLSI to get a degree! So before going abroad you need to decide whether you have a better shot at having a career abroad rather than going just for the sake of it.
More to come in the next post.
Well, its my first post. I couldnt help but write about the one thing that has occupied my mind since the months Ive graduated from college. Yes, higher education, outside of India. What Im going to write here will mainly be pertaining to the US and thats just because of my personal experience and the experiences of people close to me who are currently pursuing their masters in the US.
So lets get started. Whats this whole deal about a masters(or any other degree really) in the US? Is it worth it or not? Well, I feel the answer is depends. Depends on what you want in your life, in your career, your financial background growing up and also not in the least, your attachment to your loved ones. Lets make sense of this from each perspective.
First the career aspect. Before you people out there start running to educational 'consultants'(yeah right) and making your list of safe, moderate and dream universities and feel all nice and dandy about your choices, stop and think whether you really need a master's degree in your line of work. It might be hard to believe but sometimes you just dont need one! Most people whom I have come across applying to universities spend more time frolicking about how much fun they re going to have doing stuff in the US (they kinda forget that you need money for that!) than evaluating objectively and logically what this degree will do to their career. I get it. We re from India and your first trip abroad that too to a first world country might make you feel all excited but it ends there. Once you land there and reality hits you, the excitement evaporates pretty instantaneously. Now let me make my point . Lets take for example what has recently been a pretty popular domain for people with an electronics/electrical engineering major to do their masters in-A masters in the VLSI/semiconductors domain. Now if you want to get a masters and go on to do a Phd and have a career in academia, well, theres no other place like the US. But, if what you want is a career in the semiconductor industry, then a masters degree is not really the way to go. You see, your potential employer in the industry looks at what skills you bring with you to the company rather than what degrees you bring. More specifically , they look at what experience you have work with industry standard VLSI tools, which you can get right here in India at a fraction of the price you pay for a masters. Seriously, many people who go for a masters in VLSI have no inkling whether their university provides them access to such tools or how many of the credits they complete towards getting their degree will be composed of VLSI courses. I know people who went to the US to get a masters in VLSI and now theyre getting a masters which specializes in well, nothing because their university just doesnt have enough courses in VLSI to get a degree! So before going abroad you need to decide whether you have a better shot at having a career abroad rather than going just for the sake of it.
More to come in the next post.
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