Hey! I’m a student form Europe that just started my search for a college in USA with the intention to study a master’s degree program in computer science. I’m a second year CS bachelor’s degree student right now and I calculated my first year GPA to be 3.8, I’m aiming to keep it in that region. I haven’t taken the GRE yet but I’m about to and I think i could score fairly high. 3 good rec letters shouldn’t be a problem. I would like to keep my education as cheap as possible, i could afford up to $88k for 2 years but the cheaper the better.
So I have looked around a little and I found some alternatives to start with:
TAMU would cost around $33k a year
SDSU would cost around $30k a year
SJSU wold cost around $30k a year
Something I have noticed is that at some schools Graduate education is much cheaper than Undergraduate education. I was surprised when i saw that TAMU only cost $33k a year for grad students when it costs $48k a year for undergrad students. Why is that?
The school doesn’t need to be internationally recognized as my goal is to stay in the US after graduation. But that is another discussion.
What I want from grad school is a good program at a good school which would grant me good job prospects in the US.
“The school doesn’t need to be internationally recognized as my goal is to stay in the US after graduation.”
Be careful about who you say this to. If the visa officer who interviews you when you apply for your student visa gets any indication that you intend to stay in the US, you will not receive that visa. Your expressed goal must always be that you want to come to the US because of the superior educational opportunities, and that you intend to return to your home country after completing your studies and the temporary work experiences that you are permitted with your student visa (approximately 2 years of work experience for a science/technical degree).
That said, since you do want long-term career contacts, in addition to looking at the cost of attendance, contact the career centers at each institution and ask them where international graduates find jobs for their OPT visa extensions, and ask about any feedback they have received from those international graduates about rates of finding longer-term employment with companies that were able to arrange for H1B (work) visas. In your situation, that kind of track record may well be worth paying a little bit more for.
TAMU is a public university, make certain that you are looking at the cost of attendance for international graduate students. You might not be seeing the figures for students like yourself.
@happymomof1 Oh, I had no idea about that! Thank you for warning me. That second advice is really smart, i’ll start contacting the career centers right away.
For TAMU I checked the coa for internationals at the following page http://financialaid.tamu.edu/Graduate/Cost-of-Attendance#0-CollegeStationGraduateStudents. I looked at the OOS cost which should be the same as for internationals.
Georgia Tech OMSCS is an on-line program from a top 10 CS university for about USD 9K total. You can stay at home and take it part time. You don’t need a GRE either. This is by far your best low cost option and is internationally recognized. You get the same MSCS degree as if you attended in person, but the options are more limited. You work in teams on many projects, I had a fellow student from Cyprus in one of my classes and it worked out OK even with the time difference.
Unlike most of the programs, this is designed for someone who is working. You typically take 2 classes per semester. Be aware that you will have zero free time, it is very challenging.
@TooOld4School The GT OMSCS program sounds really awesome but it has some disadvantages if the goal is to to get a job in the US right after graduation. The biggest issues are that it wouldn’t grant me a chance to do OPT and probably wouldn’t allow me to do an internship in usa as you don’t get an F1 visa for attending an online program. If it didn’t have those issues then it would be my top choice for sure! I think the OPT is such an important opportunity. But i’ll still consider it, thank you.
Maybe Cal Poly SLO would be a good place to apply to too? I have heard very good things about the bachelor’s program in CS but I haven’t really heard anything about their MS program in CS. It’s supposed to be a very recognized school in California at least. It would cost me around $32k a year. It’s very hard to find information about their MS program in CS but i know the BS program is reputable.
Be aware that you will be required to have US health insurance coverage at most universities. Have you considered going into a doctoral program instead? Most positions are funded - meaning that in exchange for working as a teaching assistant, you would get enough money for tuition, room, board, and health insurance and a bit of living expenses. There is such a shortage of CS professors that you would have your pick of jobs in academia after you graduate, and no issues with green card sponsorship.