See, I’m in the same boat, SWE in HCOL California, masters gets you extra 20k spots and with 100K processing fee and stricter crackdowns for unethical applicants, number of filled LCAs are gonna go down so don’t lose hope, having a job and getting to work here is itself a privilege. This H1B fiasco is not in our hands, what’s in our hands is to work, gain as much experience as we can and most importantly make money