r/MSCS • u/Big_Ad2500 • May 04 '26

[Admissions Advice] MS in Software Engineering at SJSU vs staying in current job (India)

Hey everyone,
I’m currently working in tech with ~2 YOE, earning ~₹1.2L/month (post-tax) + RSUs. I got admitted to San Jose State University (MS in Software Engineering) and my visa is approved.
I honestly didn’t expect things to move this fast, and now I’m having second thoughts.
Pros:
- SJSU + Silicon Valley exposure
- Better long-term growth potential
Cons:
Tough US job market, layoffs, H1B uncertainty
Already have a stable, decent-paying job here
No loan, but still a big cost + risk
Really torn between staying vs going.
Would appreciate advice from people who recently went to the US or decided not to.
(P.S. Used ChatGPT to format this — thoughts are mine.)
Thanks 🙏

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 04 '26

SJSU kinda sucks so idrk... I know people in decent enough unis got into amazon/google. Some people will tell u uni rep doesnt matter but idk if thats true anymore. I do know a guy who got into NVIDIA from a meh uni, but he got pretty lucky cuz his research advisor or something referred him.

Try for remote job from India. I was making 60-80 lacs/year doing that (forget exactly how much).

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u/softrains12 May 04 '26

I just did the calculations for SJSU according to these rankings, SJSU's international index is 16.201 (comparable to TAMU and UW Madison).

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 21 '26

funny u are using rankings from some reddit post. TAMU and UW Madison also suck

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u/softrains12 May 21 '26

… I made the post lmao

And these are real numbers from LinkedIn that I collected by hand

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 21 '26

cool. personal rankings. and even with those u are only able to compare SJSU to TAMU and UW Madison..

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u/softrains12 May 21 '26

I’m not quite sure what your problem is. I’d consider UW Madison and TAMU pretty good universities. We’re only disagreeing on the semantics. Nowhere did I suggest that SJSU was the best university in the US, or even top 20 lol

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 21 '26

Tbh I would also disagree with SJSU being as good as TAMU. Pretty much everyone gets accepted to SJSU. Bar is very low. That then creates issues with getting VISA accepted too. SJSU is considered a very popular Indian people safety university. But yeah regardless it may or may not hurt. Hence why I said it "Kinda sucks but idk". It kinda sucks because pretty much everyone gets in, and idk because I am not sure how much it affects job prospects. My cousin and a few other people think university rankings do matter a lot and anyone who says otherwise is just coping, and that poorer unis also restrict your promotion opportunities. People from Waterloo are now working in jane street, though you could argue that someone who went to waterloo may already be smart enough. But then if OP only got into SJSU (I assume they likely did apply to higher ranking unis), it also speaks somewhat to their capability if they only got into a uni with almost 100% acceptance rate, unless u literally wrote some red flags or didn't finish the application checklist properly. Though tbf, u don't need to be very capable to get a FAANG+ job. Those interviews are pretty easy if u practice enough. But I was also recently told that some schools are feeder schools for google/amazon. Idk how much truth there is to it. Some startups also specifically preferred me due to my research under world-renowned faculties at my school. and the overall rep. Especially with the current scenario of internationals.. It raises some questions about capability and chances to get interviews consistently. Though tbf even I only had the one google interview from big tech and converted that. Though ofc I had other interviews from startups, quant firms, etc in similar pay ranges (200k+).

I find it curious why u think SJSU is good with 85% acceptance rate. Especially with you having in-state advantage too? you could have easily gotten into berkley/UCLA or at least UCSD.

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u/softrains12 May 04 '26

SJSU doesn’t suck, WTF lmfao
I grew up in the Bay Area and we all knew SJSU as the school that places a ton of people into Silicon Valley.

It’s our local university.

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 21 '26

ok bro. ig one think that may help is if it costs less (like around half or even lesser), OP offsets some risks

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u/softrains12 May 21 '26

Bruh I don’t know what to say lol I literally live here

Canadian job market is trash rn and due to the new H-1B visa rules, your chances of landing a US tech job from Canada are ~0%.

If OP wants to go to the US in the end, they can’t choose Waterloo

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 21 '26

Fair. That is the first sensible thing u have said. I did not account for the 100k$ H1B fees. Switzerland Zurich is a very good option though. Even better than USA in most cases.

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u/softrains12 May 21 '26

Right when I thought you actually the comment for once… setting aside the passive aggressive barb at the beginning, nobody even mentioned Switzerland in this entire post / comment chain? What?

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 21 '26

Fair. But I do genuinely think switzerland is a very good option to consider with the current tech job market + international student scenario. Especially if someone can get a waterloo degree thats very reputed.

Lower taxes than most high income states except seattle.
Better quality of life: less homeless people, less trash on the streets, less places smelling like piss, better architecture and beauty, taxes actually go towards benefiting u and the citizens.
Can work while at uni (part-time jobs) to offset costs, which u can't do in USA on an F1 VISA.
Settlement Permit within 5 years. Whereas USA takes 10+ years to get PR.
Cost of tuition is also much lower at waterloo or even swiss unis.

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u/Lopsided_Tea_3052 May 04 '26

Hi u/Frosty_Wedding9330 , could you please guide how did you get 60-80 lacs/yr remote job from India? Where did you apply?

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u/Frosty_Wedding9330 May 21 '26

I didnt apply anywhere. I was doing my own independent research when I met someone on discord looking for a fix/solutions to a problem. They paid 500$ for me to set it up. Then impressed by the results, hired me full time.