My mind is full of mixed feelings while I write this article on the day of my graduation commencement ceremony, which is Stanford’s 118th commencement. A year has passed so quickly but I still vividly remember the first day at campus, arrived here as a curious visitor new to US system. Now I see my life and the world around with a whole perspective, this is what Stanford has given me. Past year has taught me more things and given unique experience which could not be even compared to previous 10 years of my life. It was a full action packed roller-coaster ride, once you are on board there is no turning back.

A typical day started with morning class at 8 am followed by further classes, seminars, assignments, papers, group meetings, project work etc. and lasts till 7 or 8 pm with a squeezed in lunch break somewhere in between. For stress reliving I usually went to the gym or surfed the net and again back to work. Getting an internship during tough markets like these is a big challenge and same is true for me (although most people said me that, you are from Stanford and need not worry). I applied to numerous places, got few interview calls but none turned out to be fruitful. I felt dejected and thought, what good is this Masters degree if, it cannot even fetch me a summer internship and thus almost made my mind to go back to India for this summer. But during the third quarter just one month before the beginning of the internship, I received an email from my one of my professor about an intern position at a company in Washington D.C.; I applied to the firm and got a telephonic interview call, which eventually turned into my favor. The story does not end here, the twist is that, I had already given the interview for another very big construction company in the Bay area a month ago and was waiting for their reply. The day I got to know about my acceptance as a VDC (virtual design and construction) engineer in the D.C. firm, an approval email for internship from Bay area construction company also came. This for me was one of the biggest dilemmas of my life- to choose between two very good choices. I ultimately chose to go to D.C. (due to multiple reasons) and explore the east coast.

With three quarters finished and only one more to go, I wish, I had some more time. Some of my close friends suggest maybe I should stay longer and do a PhD. I truly feel obliged and honored being a part of Stanford community. I would like to thank my parents, friends and relatives for being the supporting pillar in all the ups and downs during this wonderful journey.

Kushagra Mittal
M.S. program in Construction Engineering & Management
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Stanford University

Editorial comments: Stanford University rules allow students to walk in the graduation ceremony even if they have a semester more to go. The views in this post are of the contributer, Kushagra Mittal, and do not necessarily reflect those of www.app2us.com

Facebook is one of the fastest growing technology companies and is a highly sought-after employer for the students of computer science. These days facebook is visiting top universities for hiring interns and fresh graduates. We got the list of universities and dates of interviews from facebook website. Please visit facebook job page for details.

UNIVERSITY (RANK) (DATE OF INTERVIEW)
Berkeley (1) Jan 22

Brown (20) March 5

Caltech (11) Feb 3

Carnegie Mellon (4) Feb 2

Columbia (16) Feb 5

Harvard (16) Feb 13

MIT (1) Feb 12

Stanford (1) Feb 12

Texas (9) (UT Austin) Feb 6

UCLA (13) Jan 26

Washington (6) Feb 18

Waterloo Feb 15

Wisconsin (11) Feb 5

In addition, facebook will be hiring at the following B-Schools:

Berkeley Haas (7)

Harvard Business School (1)

MIT Sloan (4)

Northwestern Kellogg (4)

Stanford GSB (1)

Among the Engineering schools, we have indicated the US News CS rankings in paranthesis, and for B-Schools again the US News rankings. While most of our readers will not be working or interviewing with Facebook, this idea is to show the correlation between top universities and hiring trend of a top company. By the way, Facebook turned 5 yesterday (February 4th).

Reference:

Facebook, US News

The students who are not lucky enough to get an assistantship on campus may have to work in a variety of jobs which are not exactly high end – and end up getting paid the minimum hourly wages.

USA has strict laws on minimum hourly wages. Different states have their own minimum wage laws. In case of different federal and state minimum wages, the higher wage is applicable. For example, California has a higher minimum wage, thus employers in California must pay the California minimum wages. These labor laws are applicable to hourly jobs for students on campus as well.

The federal minimum wage was hiked last week to $6.55 per hour. So if you are an international student working on campus and are paid the minimum wage, then you can expect to make $131 per week during regular semesters and $262 per week during summer or when it is permissible to work 40 hours per week.

The decisions on wage hike are taken well in advance. The federal minimum wage was $5.85 per hour since July 24, 2007; it is now $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008; and will be raised to $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

Reference: website of the US Department of Labor

International students graduating from US Universities require either a valid visa like H1B or the OPT to work full-time. Those who fail to get an OPT or H1B must return to their native countries.

The H1B visa process is long and a new H1B worked can start to work on H1B status only starting October 1 of a particular year. Students complete their studies and graduate in December, or May or August or any other month depending on the schedule of the Universities or depending on their own thesis defense date. The OPT (Optional Practical Training) allows the students to work full-time from their graduation / completion date to the next October 1.

For the past many years the OPT was given for 12 months per degree level. Starting 2007 the H1B quotas got filled on day one itself resulting in many qualified applicants denied the H1B. Those who could not get H1B visa must stop working in the USA at the end of expiration of their 12 months OPT.

Due to this situation DHS on April 8, 2008 issues a interim final order to increase the OPT period by 17 months to a total of 29 months for qualifying students. The key criterion is that the degree major should be one of the STEM fields, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics. MBA students do not qualify for the extension.

What it means to you the app2us.com user? This is good news for those applying to US Universities for Science and Engineering related programs. If you are an applicant to MS or PhD programs in the STEM list, you will hopefully get a 29 month OPT. This will give you and your employer two shots at your H1B application in two consecutive years. Even if you do not get or do not wish to get a H1B visa, in 29 months of full-time work you may be able to earn enough dollars to be able to recover the cost of your education. If you are undecided between your goal of getting an MS or MBS from a US University, please keep this factor in mind while taking a decision. Got a question? Ask the question on our forum at www.app2us.com – all guidance is free of cost.

Imporatant OPT extension related links:

NAFSA – 29-Month OPT Rule Updates

USCIS Page about OPT

DHS Interim Final Rule

Wireless Sensors and Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (WiSe MANet) Lab at the University of Memphis is doing some cool research. Dr. Santosh Kumar and his team of researchers are working in the areas of coverage, connectivity, and deployment, with emphasis on localized design, and energy efficiency.

WiSe MANet Lab is looking for an exceptional and ambitious candidate for a Two Year Postdoctoral position to work on their NIH and NSF sponsored projects. See the complete advertisement here. If you are planning to pursue M.S. or Ph.D., some funding might be available at this lab. According to Dr. Santosh Kumar, “If you believe that WiSe MANet Lab is a good match for you, send an email to Dr. Santosh Kumar with a compelling argument to support your candidacy and cite any prior performance that may support your claim.” Contact details can be found here.

Some students have asked on our forum at app2us.com about working part time outside their University campus.

For international students, it is illegal to work off campus. There could be some exceptions like a University authorized internship or working at an off-campus facility that could be part of the University.

We strongly advice all our users to follow all rules when in the USA. Do not ever try to seek a part-time job outside your University. Rules are very strictly adhered to in US, and if caught, punishment could be swift. If caught in an immigration raid, you are looking at the possibility of termination from your University, deportation and even jail time. If in any doubt about what can you do and where can you work, always contact the International Student Advisor at the International Students office at your University.

Disclaimer: we at app2us.com do not claim to be experts at legal or ethical matters. However our advice is always based on what we understand is legal and ethical.

Many of you will end up with admission offers from good Universities, well, without any funding. You will have to make an easy decision to join a low ranked University or the difficult decision to join a great University without funding.

Students do take some risk and go without funding. Many of them eventually get some job or assistantships in library, computer center or even other departments. You can do one small thing before reaching US which will assure you some kind of job on campus. Learn some HTML and programming skills. Make your own website which you can show to an employer to prove you really know HTML.

Students from any background even History or Biology can do this. We encourage you to learn some computing skills and use it to find on campus student jobs. Working outside the University is illegal for international students. Details here.

After the intense academic programs when it is time to graduate, many international students look for a job in USA. The salaries depend on a lot of factors including the area of specialization, location of the job, prior experience of the candidate and the current state of the US economy.

It is relatively easier to find jobs in Science and Engineering related fields, because the employers are able to prove that they did not find qualified US citizens for the job. High Tech jobs pay higher than jobs in other sectors.

However it is not always easy to find a job, especially because many employers have a policy of not considering international students. Some students also find it difficult due to their poor spoken English skills.

As in 2007, a student with an MS degree and no work experience can make anywhere between $ 40,000 to $ 90,000. Salary comparisons based on location can be found on www.salary.com.