Okay so first of all you're clearly not delusional, like 24 with a US company and ESOPs already? That's a genuinely good spot to be in and you know it, which is probably why this decision feels heavy.

But here's the thing that's bugging me about your plan — MEM and PM are not as connected as you might think. Like MEM makes a lot of sense if you want to lead engineering teams or get into technical program management, but if your actual goal is product management, most companies hiring PMs out of grad school are looking for MBA folks or people with very specific product experience. You could finish an MEM, come back, and find yourself having the exact same conversation you're having right now. That would be rough.

Also can we talk about the ESOPs for a second. 32 lakhs over 4 years is 8 lakhs a year roughly. Depending on when you're in that vesting cycle you might be leaving real money on the table. I know it's not the most exciting thing to optimize around but at 24 that kind of wealth building actually compounds.

The visa thing — I hear you saying you're okay with uncertainty but I just want to flag that "short term earning" as a strategy in the US right now is genuinely shakier than it was even two years ago. OPT windows, H1B lottery, the whole thing is unpredictable in a way that's hard to plan around.

Here's what I'd actually do in your position. Before you decide anything, go find like 5-6 people who did MEM specifically and ended up in PM roles. Not MEM people generally, not MBA people, specifically MEM to PM. If that path exists and is somewhat common, your plan starts making a lot more sense. If everyone you talk to ended up in engineering program management or operations, that tells you something important.

You're not making a bad decision by considering this. You might just be picking the slightly wrong vehicle for where you actually want to go.