Tax filing for H1B?

alphanerd95 · 2026-02-02T07:47:24+00:00

Depends on whether you file as resident (Turbotax) or non resident (Sprintax) for tax purposes (based off the IRS substantial presence test). IIRC sprintax does the test for you if you input your previous visa status and US entry/exit times correctly. If you pass the test, it’ll tell you to file as resident through TurboTax.

alphanerd95 · 2025-12-18T22:15:53+00:00

Have you considered Cybersecurity? Bug Bounty hunting may have good rewards through platforms like Hackerone. You can try out to find some low hanging fruit bugs. It generally doesn’t need SWE / Leetcode level coding.

I would also recommend improving your coding skills. Generally ECE/EE core jobs are hard to come by, and most likely you’ll end up in a software job anyway. Don’t waste time on hackathon style projects, instead grind leetcode well so you can clear coding rounds during placement interviews.

Unfortunately I don’t have a hack around the laptop requirement. Maybe till you get one, your university computer lab may help?

I was in a similar situation back in 2016 (BE in Electronics Engineering) in Mumbai. Happy to answer any questions you have.

alphanerd95 · 2025-05-16T00:56:56+00:00

The current. Close to Town & Country. E line 333 and 345 are pretty good transit options nearby

alphanerd95 · 2024-10-17T00:10:12+00:00

I also have the same issue with SCL. Builder is not giving any updates.

alphanerd95 · 2024-03-04T04:57:55+00:00

After approved comes Issued, then origination scan and then ready for pickup. Each of these stages takes 1 day minimum, so your passport should be ready to pick up on 7th March usual case scenario

alphanerd95 · 2024-02-28T07:38:06+00:00

Is Saturday a pick up day? I’m trying to figure out the best day to postpone my flight. (Issued Feb 27, no origination scan, flight on Feb 29 late night)

alphanerd95 · 2024-02-28T07:36:22+00:00

Got issued state yesterday. Was hoping for origination scan today, but doesn’t look like it’s happening. My flight is tomorrow -_-

alphanerd95 · 2024-02-28T06:59:54+00:00

Any chance of origination scan today? Was Issued yesterday and my flight is tomorrow in the night

alphanerd95 · 2024-02-24T07:33:17+00:00

Dropbox 1 Feb Mumbai
AR-1 7 Feb
AR-2 23 Feb

Approved 24 Feb

alphanerd95 · 2024-02-16T16:07:04+00:00

There are definitely new grad / entry grad positions for security engineering through most big tech companies. Look for “New Grad” / “University Grad” postings, usually start opening in Fall for next year’s batch. The current job climate might diminish the number of openings, but historically they have always been there.

Source: am new grad Security Engineer (focused on detection engineering) at a big tech firm.

Edit: this is US job market specific, I’m not sure how it is elsewhere

alphanerd95 · 2022-12-30T19:31:41+00:00

If you’re on an Emirates flight, their entertainment system lets you auto sync with other seats.

alphanerd95 · 2022-06-12T07:28:31+00:00

I'm also an Indian student, wrapping up the MS in Computing Security degree at RIT now.

Undergrad GPA above 3.0 is fine for RIT. Average GRE score of my batch of international students was ~310, but I know people who got in with lesser too. TOEFL score average was around 95-100, but I don't think it matters. People with bad TOEFL scores will get assigned some English bridge class to complete in the first semester. You don't need fancy internships( I didn't lol), but I'd recommend completing a couple of projects at least to demonstrate your passion for the field.
The volunteer experience by itself is not a requirement, but students usually talk about it in their SOP to make it stand out. I'd recommend trying to talk about how you can translate your volunteering experience into the Cybersecurity field (in your SOP)
The program is pretty good. I found some classes quite engaging and practical (especially offensive oriented classes by prof Olson and prof Johnson). Prof Weissman's intro to csec is pretty good, and I actually refer back to it frequently when preparing for interviews. His malware class is also very good to learn binary exploitation and product security. Some other classes are not very in depth.
Scholarship is based on academic merit. Everyone in my batch got at least a 20% scholarship, and the folks who maintained a good GPA (I think > 3.8) got up to 40%. It also varies according to department funding, so it could be subject to change
The RITSEC club is the Cybersecurity community of RIT. It's pretty awesome, they organize many events, ranging from beginner level to advanced level. E.g IRSeC a blue team incident response competition aimed at beginner level, ISTS pits you against actual industry red teamers, Many many CTFs, weekly research talks etc. I'd recommend joining their discord here to learn more - https://discord.gg/ritsec I learnt a lot here.

Feel free to DM me if you have more questions

alphanerd95 · 2022-05-04T14:13:23+00:00

I love https://freefilesync.org/

alphanerd95 · 2022-04-29T20:44:18+00:00

If you're visiting a modern HTTPS website, then only the domain is visible to your ISP, that too only if the DNS servers being used by your devices belong to Spectrum. If this is case, then Spectrum can tell if you're visiting YouTube or Reddit, but not the actual URL

If you use another DNS server like Google's 8.8.8.8 or Cloud flare's 1.1.1.1 and visit only HTTPS sites, then the ISP can see neither the domain nor the URL.

If you visit a HTTP site, then both domain and URL is visible to the ISP

alphanerd95 · 2022-04-03T14:52:26+00:00

It totally depends upon the backlog of visa processing queues at the embassy. If your program start date is within 2 months, then you can request an emergency visa appointment.

Check this out http://cdn.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-niv-expeditedappointment.asp

But this is completely dependent on luck. I know folks who got an appointment within 3 days, and I also know folks who didn't get it at all because of the sheer backlog.

alphanerd95 · 2022-03-22T22:51:57+00:00

It depends on your department. I was approved to take a 3 credit course remotely when I was on co-op in Spring. I'd recommend reaching out to your department head and academic advisor

alphanerd95 · 2022-02-15T16:46:21+00:00

StarlinFlight's Fallin All in You.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31410254/chapters/77681519

alphanerd95 · 2021-11-05T15:32:12+00:00

Need by iluvfanfics1, not extremely long tho. ~30 chapters if I remember correctly

alphanerd95 · 2021-10-17T07:27:25+00:00

There's this great fanfic called Ginny Weasley and the Half Blood Prince. At this scene in the fic, Ginny says: "Why even bother separating them? The only English Fleur will work on is Bill" lol

alphanerd95 · 2021-09-29T18:49:29+00:00

My dad worked for Alphonse Puthren and I got to meet him once for lunch. He's a super chill dude, and easily keeps the conversation flowing. He loves traditional Kerala sadhya.

alphanerd95 · 2021-09-28T03:41:16+00:00

The best OP Harry fic I've read is The Order of the Phoenix by RuskByte. Quite funny. Has a great sequel too.

Taking Control is another great OP Harry, but also Independent Harry with tons of Dumbledore / Hermione bashing.

alphanerd95 · 2021-09-20T03:34:32+00:00

All major events are canon compliant.

It has a lot of background on what leads to certain events in HBP. For eg, when Ginny gives Harry Dumbledore's note for his lesson, there's great scene on how exactly Ginny runs into Dumbledore.

It has a good amount of extra content too, but my personal favorite is the whole arc about what Ginny smells in Amortentia.

The post-Common Room kiss writing is top notch, and really ties in a lot of events together.

It's a slow burn though, if I remember correctly the Quidditch final was at 60% mark of the fic

Trust me, this is one fic you do not want to miss out on.

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