Study in the USA
This post inspired me to write this post .
In my post, I want to tell a little about studying in the USA and in parallel show my point of view on how to do it better. All of the following applies more to computer science (Computer Science), although there are some general statements.
First of all - the prices. They are very different from university to university. Some may seem acceptable, someone unrealistically large. Educational institutions in America are divided into private and public. The latter, as the name implies, receive funding from public sources. For example, the state university is Berkeley. Harvard, MIT, Stanford as opposed to being private. Training in private is more expensive, often significantly. In the top private should focus on the price of 30-35 thousand per year, that is, this is the ceiling price, above which it is difficult to rise. Plus living expenses, books. As a rule, it is about 8 thousand per year and may differ from university to university. At state universities, for example, in Berkeley, which was mentioned above, education costs about 18 thousand per year, which is more acceptable, although for many it is probably expensive. But think that you will get a degree at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
')
Another feature - in some American universities (so far there are 6 unfortunately - Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale and two more colleges) there is a so-called need-blind admission system. This is when you are accepted to the university and you will pay as much as you can (naturally, this is confirmed by various references), in the ideal case, you will not pay anything and you will still be reimbursed for living expenses. Plus there are various scholarships. In general, the price can be mowed.
I will not chew the formalities of admission - they are almost everywhere standard and there are no slippery places in them.
Next, I want to focus my attention on the degree that can be obtained in America. There are two obvious choices - bachelor and master (master).
First, about the bachelor. According to my immodest observations, I can say with confidence that, on average, the level of American University (located in the region of thirty best or something like that), you will not get a very good bachelor's degree. And honestly, it will be just three, or even more millions to the wind. In good Russian universities you will be taught both better and cheaper (read - almost for free). What are the advantages of this - you better learn English, and immediately after the bachelor will be ready to work, getting good money.
But, being on training in Russia, no one bothers you to submit requests for summer practice in America, which will allow you every summer to plunge into the environment of the English language, to establish some useful connections, to gain experience and earn good money. I am very sorry that being in Russia I did not know about this opportunity.
But you can take a different approach — start the course with the second one and at the same time study English. In an American university, graduates cannot work normally, except in summer, or it is given to them very hard, - the load is too big.
Personally, I would not have spent money on a bachelor’s degree if I hadn’t enrolled in a very good university. Therefore, in my opinion, a more optimal strategy is to get a master. What a plus of it.
Firstly, undergraduate (this is a bachelor’s degree) and graduate education in the USA is two more differences. If undergrad is on average worse than Russian, then grad studies even in secondary schools will make you pretty sweat and learn a lot of new things that you have never been told about in Russia. I can describe my situation (my university is in the thirty). In the first semester, I took courses with quite familiar names - Algorithms, OS, Networks. My knowledge in each subject was limited to a couple of introductory lectures, then I just fell into the sediment - a completely new topic began for me. I note that my Russian university was in the top ten technicals.
The second plus is that most of you will be surrounded by smart people, from whom it is very cool to get knowledge and to do projects - they are like additions to lectures. This is a huge difference compared to bachelor. In my case, I am mostly surrounded by Hindus, each with several years of work behind them. The guys very quickly understand - so that I sometimes precipitate from their speed, and ask questions in lectures that give rise to interesting discussions. I am very grateful to some of them, for the experience gained from them. What is happening in the top universities, I even scary to imagine.
Another plus is that you need to study for just a year and a half, for which you will have to give about 45 thousand. This is quite a lifting price for programmers from Russia, if you save money from the very beginning of work, then you will need to work out another two years after the bachelor's degree. Over the summer in America, you can raise some money - go on an internship. Pay differently - but according to my observations, an average of fifteen thousand over the summer. In good companies (Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Mozilla) pay twenty and more. Also, you will have permission to work on campus - there is a chance that you will get to some professor and you will be paid for living expenses, or even slightly lower the cost of education. There are many other works on campus where you can earn money, which is enough for living. I did not pass the internship, as I have one difficult situation, not related to study and I will not mention about. I’ll add a little more to the topic, but nevertheless, about finance - in Russia there is an opportunity program - they pay you expenses on admission + air tickets to America (provided that you have been taken somewhere). By the way, sometimes masters can give for free, it is much easier than getting a free bachelor. There are both good universities (if my memory serves me, then, for example, Princeton and UIUC), as well as medium-sized ones, which are fully or partially sponsored by the masters.
Well, the most important plus in my opinion is that a degree from a US university opens up tremendous opportunities. Starting from the fact that your employer will look at it better than a Russian diploma. Finishing the fact that after graduation, you can work without a visa for up to two and a half years, that is, two cycles of obtaining H-1B (this is a working visa in the United States). And this means that you will have a competitive advantage over candidates from Russia and indeed other countries, since you can be picked up right away and not wait for October (this is the month from which you can start working on H-1B). Yes, some companies are waiting for their employees for six months or more, but this is for the most part an exception. Well, the interview you will be easier to pass, while here, at the same time your English will be tightened. More recruiters come to campuses and through them it is easier to pass on your resume.
Everything, I hope, this article will be useful to someone. Everything described above is a subjective view and I will welcome any comments, and, of course, questions.
There is a resource that can help a little in receipt (there is a lot written about paperwork ) - www.gradus.us . Also, I forgot to mention that you can get a PhD and study for free, but this option is long and lasts at least 4 years, which you don’t want to lose in 22-24 years. Although, if you are to science, then welcome.
In my post, I want to tell a little about studying in the USA and in parallel show my point of view on how to do it better. All of the following applies more to computer science (Computer Science), although there are some general statements.
Financial side
First of all - the prices. They are very different from university to university. Some may seem acceptable, someone unrealistically large. Educational institutions in America are divided into private and public. The latter, as the name implies, receive funding from public sources. For example, the state university is Berkeley. Harvard, MIT, Stanford as opposed to being private. Training in private is more expensive, often significantly. In the top private should focus on the price of 30-35 thousand per year, that is, this is the ceiling price, above which it is difficult to rise. Plus living expenses, books. As a rule, it is about 8 thousand per year and may differ from university to university. At state universities, for example, in Berkeley, which was mentioned above, education costs about 18 thousand per year, which is more acceptable, although for many it is probably expensive. But think that you will get a degree at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
')
Another feature - in some American universities (so far there are 6 unfortunately - Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale and two more colleges) there is a so-called need-blind admission system. This is when you are accepted to the university and you will pay as much as you can (naturally, this is confirmed by various references), in the ideal case, you will not pay anything and you will still be reimbursed for living expenses. Plus there are various scholarships. In general, the price can be mowed.
I will not chew the formalities of admission - they are almost everywhere standard and there are no slippery places in them.
Bachelor's degree
Next, I want to focus my attention on the degree that can be obtained in America. There are two obvious choices - bachelor and master (master).
First, about the bachelor. According to my immodest observations, I can say with confidence that, on average, the level of American University (located in the region of thirty best or something like that), you will not get a very good bachelor's degree. And honestly, it will be just three, or even more millions to the wind. In good Russian universities you will be taught both better and cheaper (read - almost for free). What are the advantages of this - you better learn English, and immediately after the bachelor will be ready to work, getting good money.
But, being on training in Russia, no one bothers you to submit requests for summer practice in America, which will allow you every summer to plunge into the environment of the English language, to establish some useful connections, to gain experience and earn good money. I am very sorry that being in Russia I did not know about this opportunity.
But you can take a different approach — start the course with the second one and at the same time study English. In an American university, graduates cannot work normally, except in summer, or it is given to them very hard, - the load is too big.
Getting a master
Personally, I would not have spent money on a bachelor’s degree if I hadn’t enrolled in a very good university. Therefore, in my opinion, a more optimal strategy is to get a master. What a plus of it.
Firstly, undergraduate (this is a bachelor’s degree) and graduate education in the USA is two more differences. If undergrad is on average worse than Russian, then grad studies even in secondary schools will make you pretty sweat and learn a lot of new things that you have never been told about in Russia. I can describe my situation (my university is in the thirty). In the first semester, I took courses with quite familiar names - Algorithms, OS, Networks. My knowledge in each subject was limited to a couple of introductory lectures, then I just fell into the sediment - a completely new topic began for me. I note that my Russian university was in the top ten technicals.
The second plus is that most of you will be surrounded by smart people, from whom it is very cool to get knowledge and to do projects - they are like additions to lectures. This is a huge difference compared to bachelor. In my case, I am mostly surrounded by Hindus, each with several years of work behind them. The guys very quickly understand - so that I sometimes precipitate from their speed, and ask questions in lectures that give rise to interesting discussions. I am very grateful to some of them, for the experience gained from them. What is happening in the top universities, I even scary to imagine.
Another plus is that you need to study for just a year and a half, for which you will have to give about 45 thousand. This is quite a lifting price for programmers from Russia, if you save money from the very beginning of work, then you will need to work out another two years after the bachelor's degree. Over the summer in America, you can raise some money - go on an internship. Pay differently - but according to my observations, an average of fifteen thousand over the summer. In good companies (Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Mozilla) pay twenty and more. Also, you will have permission to work on campus - there is a chance that you will get to some professor and you will be paid for living expenses, or even slightly lower the cost of education. There are many other works on campus where you can earn money, which is enough for living. I did not pass the internship, as I have one difficult situation, not related to study and I will not mention about. I’ll add a little more to the topic, but nevertheless, about finance - in Russia there is an opportunity program - they pay you expenses on admission + air tickets to America (provided that you have been taken somewhere). By the way, sometimes masters can give for free, it is much easier than getting a free bachelor. There are both good universities (if my memory serves me, then, for example, Princeton and UIUC), as well as medium-sized ones, which are fully or partially sponsored by the masters.
Well, the most important plus in my opinion is that a degree from a US university opens up tremendous opportunities. Starting from the fact that your employer will look at it better than a Russian diploma. Finishing the fact that after graduation, you can work without a visa for up to two and a half years, that is, two cycles of obtaining H-1B (this is a working visa in the United States). And this means that you will have a competitive advantage over candidates from Russia and indeed other countries, since you can be picked up right away and not wait for October (this is the month from which you can start working on H-1B). Yes, some companies are waiting for their employees for six months or more, but this is for the most part an exception. Well, the interview you will be easier to pass, while here, at the same time your English will be tightened. More recruiters come to campuses and through them it is easier to pass on your resume.
Conclusion
Everything, I hope, this article will be useful to someone. Everything described above is a subjective view and I will welcome any comments, and, of course, questions.
There is a resource that can help a little in receipt (there is a lot written about paperwork ) - www.gradus.us . Also, I forgot to mention that you can get a PhD and study for free, but this option is long and lasts at least 4 years, which you don’t want to lose in 22-24 years. Although, if you are to science, then welcome.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/150790/
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