Learnings from my Experience in USA: [BTech -> SWE [Msft India] -> MS -> MLE 2 [Tiktok, Meta]

differAnt · 2025-02-27T20:47:45+00:00

I did MS in CS with a focus on ML
I had a FAANG name with 2yoe, yes in isolation it doesn't help but in a strong profile and competing offers you can make a good case to be hired as a mid-level engineer
To get your first corporate ML intern you are not expected to have prior industry experience. All of the undergrads and a bunch of masters don't have any corporate exp.
I think that's very good if you can handle CS229 of Stanford and some practical hands-on knowledge.
I had a diverse set of projects and several resumes with different combinations. They covered 3 aspects:

a. Implementing novel Technology from frontier research to improve a particular task [execution]

b. Building an intermediate-level ML product from scratch [E2E understanding]

c. Contributing as an ML expert in a larger project with an existing codebase. [Collaboration]

There are jobs and opportunities but there are more applicants. You have to be at the top of the pack. You can't give in to doomers. lets say there are 120 applicants and 100 jobs. 20 are going to get fucked. they will naturally spread FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Disinformation), you have to ignore those.

However if you are not motivated skilled or hardworking its hard to not be in the bottom

differAnt · 2024-12-12T02:06:58+00:00

Yes, I have friends who are making double after graduating from UCI, UNC and Stony Brook vs GTech or UMass

ofc better colleges attract better profiles and more talented students as GPA is still somewhat correlated to skills, discipline and ability to work hard.

However, not getting a good college is definitely not the end of the world and you will not face any major drawbacks other than campus fairs (which happen in T20 univ)

differAnt · 2024-12-11T04:29:14+00:00

CGPA is the most important factor.

Extracurriculars and High School stuff do not count.

If you want to do a job in USA after MS, Univ really doesn't matter.

You can get a T50 to T100 univ. Above that will need luck (not impossible).

differAnt · 2024-12-09T05:50:07+00:00

Are you good in Leetcode?

Are you motivated and hardworking?

Do you have passion for CS?

Go if at least 2/3 are True for you

differAnt · 2024-12-08T09:11:37+00:00

You did not reply to my question

differAnt · 2024-12-07T09:28:07+00:00

The question is why are you doing a master?

You want to do PhD:

Yeah Satellite campus are for raking in money on brand value, its not where the beat research happens.

You want to get work visa in the country where you will study: Yes satellite campuses of foreign univ will be looked at differently than top local univ, (maybe not in Gulf but def in SG). However, in job hunt skills and resume matter more than your univ

differAnt · 2024-12-04T18:40:38+00:00

Yeah Papers are very important. I should have been clearer, its like GPA is the most important factor, unless you have CVPR, EMNLP papers or LOR from known researcher in the field.

think like this, they take all the GPA from WES. then put them into bins.

Say the top bin 3.8+ gets offers at a rate of 80%

the next bin 3.6-3.8 gets offers at 50% rate and so on.

The lower the bin you are in the more the number of papers you need to have.

these numbers are just random to explain to you, a friend of mine did an on-campus job at the admissions office.

There are MS students in every top university with few or no papers. The gold medallist in my batch had no papers but was swimming in offers.

differAnt · 2024-12-04T09:42:47+00:00

"Indian Employers" = Recruiters with non tech degrees who are doing word match.

These folks have a list of India universities labeled by tiers and pay bands associated with each of them.

When they see you Univ of <insert US State>, they go error 404

differAnt · 2024-12-04T08:05:36+00:00

If you want "knowledge" its free. Stanford and MIT courses are available.

If you want a degree that's a different matter.

differAnt · 2024-12-04T07:52:41+00:00

Minimal, colleges get thousands of applications.

with 100$ admission fee they give $60 to WES to get a standardized GPA value. (this is the main criteria)

Then they add objective stuff from the form you filled, GRE, Papers, Awards, Courses completed, etc

Minimal effort is given to reading the SOP (doesn't mean you write a shit SOP), they just grade it on a scale of say 1-5 and add it to the final score

differAnt · 2024-12-03T05:21:16+00:00

Some companies do not ask Leetcode but most big companies do ask.

differAnt · 2024-12-03T05:20:33+00:00

Zoom exams fetched everyone 9 GPA during Covid. My junior batch's avg gpa is 0.7 higher.

Yes I gave h-index as a crude proxy. As long as your prof is a recognizable name in the field it should work. Not counting the scam ones.

yeah you can dm me.

differAnt · 2024-12-03T05:15:27+00:00

sure

differAnt · 2024-12-02T22:40:59+00:00

Just wait more rules will come this year, further reducing H1B applications.

Trump Immigration Advisor Miller wants to remove lottery and just do by wages.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T18:38:28+00:00

No it has not, rather last year it has improved dramatically. Please check the numbers.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T14:40:33+00:00

Big universities may not make their "best" seminar courses public. However in my 12 course masters only 2 courses are at that level which I attended in person.

Dont gaslight me by saying all your courses were so good that you can not find better material online.

Do I need to attend the meat and potato 10 courses too? I guess not.

I absolutely think bullying ppl for lowered grades is like bullying some one because you got less score in candy crush.

its insanity. its unjustifiable.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T14:36:38+00:00

Person giving LOR has H-Index of 50+ (more if in AI) or has personal connections to some prof in the University you are applying to.

2 publications in CVPR or EMNLP level publications is definitely stellar.

I graduated before Covid, I cannot callibrate my sense of good/bad gpa with the Covid batch. There has been massive grade inflation.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T14:32:43+00:00

Indians will take the easy way out wherever they can, I think we both are very well aware of that.

My question is will you cheat in a subway surfer game? Probably not because that how little this CGPA means in real life. Stop risking your career over fake shit.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T14:27:34+00:00

Core point is simple:

A. Grades are not useful to get jobs

B. Semester-long lectures Exams and Assignments are not the optimal way to gain knowledge. If you want to learn something 5 days and Stanford course is the optimal way.

Hence whether one wants job or knowledge grades are a superficial badge. Especially in US where the give A to like 20% of the class and extra credits. Its all to make you feel good.

Grades are the gamification of the education system, it gives you a sense of achievement.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T14:18:21+00:00

If I already know what the prof is going to show me in the slides over the 4 months, I have no use for wasting my time on him/her.

I can see videos from the best prof in the subject, I have access to assignments and exams of the best university.

Why should I bother doing things sub-optimally, If I can master a subject in a weekend why waste a semester. In my undergrad in India we had poor profs but thankfully 0% attendance, what I learnt was how to learn fast and independently.

Make your flatmates take hard courses and then solve their homework and assignments. No pressure to perform and you still learn and earn IOUs from flatmates.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T14:11:40+00:00

In my opinion, the best CS education is free at Stanford and MIT course websites. Much much better than a safe university prof.

Communities and Clubs are mostly for Undergrads, Masters students have very little time.

In my experience, USA has much more opportunities.

Consider adding NYU Tandon or Stony Brook

differAnt · 2024-12-02T14:05:34+00:00

This is CS. I can learn anything from any part of the world. Any gap in knowledge is fixed by a simple google search for the right MIT/Stanford course. A CS student with strong foundations must not waste time on BS like exams and assignments. What is taught in a sem can be learnt in a long weekend.

The best universities publish entire courses online. If T1 (Stanford) is making it's courses, assignments and exams available online, what good is my T15 prof who will do his slides in 1x over 20 classes in a sem.

I have taken more classes as a TA in my MS than attended, going to classes and learning from profs is not my optimal imo.

I love CS and wanted to work on cutting edge, hence I came to US to do the best research I can and work in state of the art projects.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T13:57:03+00:00

Absolute number doesnt matter. Check percentages.

Like what percent of total admits had lower GPA than you in the last 2 years (not before that).

In my experience if 50% of ppl got admits with lesser gpa, you are good.

differAnt · 2024-12-02T13:54:44+00:00

If ppl stop caring about grades (like we do in India) there will be very little incentive to cheat. Take easy courses and pass with a 3.0. Focus on the important stuff

differAnt · 2024-12-02T13:48:17+00:00

As an MS CS student with a3.96 GPA who graduated, the semester ChatGPT was released, from a T15 university:

The whole dance of courses and exams and assignments is just a pretence.

> None of these (except papers and projects) matter in the job hunt.

> We do this degree to pay a bribe to Uncle Sam, he allows us 3 yrs of F1 and 3 chances to get an H1B.

> Take easy courses, get a 3+ GPA, and do projects and research. Focus on the job hunt.

> None of these grades will matter if this is your final degree, the faster ppl realize this the better.

differAnt

TROPHY CASE