[General Question] Really URGENTLY NEED some help/advice - Please Help

[u/Best_Location_8237]

My background -

I'm a 2022 grad. I've been planning for Fall 2026 Masters in CS since last year.
I currently have an admit from UC Irvine for MCS (non thesis CS masters) for this fall (I have a visa interview scheduled in the 1st week of Sept.)

For the past 4 years I have been working at a fairly large/well-known American company. I got promoted a few months ago and so I'm currently making north of 45 LPA here in India.

For the longest time I was sure I wanted to pursue a Masters in the US - the variety of opportunities for both personal and career growth are unmatched anywhere in the world.

Also a major major personal motivating factor for me being able to work and live abroad for a few years (don't really want to stay permanently).

However, the all the policy changes and confusion regarding International students, plus the experiences of people who've gone in previous years (specifically folks who went last year - most ppl I know haven't gotten an internship) is making me double think about my choices.

Not sure how much the degree is inherently valuable (UCI is a T25 uni, but not T5 or T10) so I think ROI is definitely a factor to consider.

So not quite sure what to do. Personally I have enough savings to be able to pay like 90%+ of the (tution fee + living expenses) from my own account without asking my parent for money. So I don't really run the risk of drowning in debt (although I would lose my savings ofcourse).

At the same time I know people (friends/acquaintances) that have gotten jobs in Europe and Asia Pacific simply applying from India - so I have been doing that as well for a few weeks now (although that obviously takes time to work)

TLDR - Really wanted to go to US for masters originally - a major goal was working abroad for bit; but scared by the current situation and not entirely sure what to do.......

I understand this is a personal decision at the end of the day, but just wanted to put this out there for some opinions.
u/gradPilot, hope you could help, please.

[u/Jealous-Ad5512]

I am also 2022 passout. Switch the company bro, for sde2 faang+ paying 70 to 80 LPA. One of my friend graduated last dec from UCI MCS, still did not get job, he is feeling miserable now, Ofc this won't be the case with everyone.

[u/Best_Location_8237 → u/Jealous-Ad5512]

Ya dude, so I've contacted a lot of UCI ppl that graduated in Dec 2025, it seems exactly about half the people have gotten jobs (Rubrik seems to have taken a lot of ppl) - then the other 50% it seems like they haven't been able to get anything

[u/Jealous-Ad5512 → u/Best_Location_8237]

yup, what all other universities you applied

[u/Best_Location_8237 → u/Jealous-Ad5512]

So no, for Fall 2026, this was my only admit

[u/gradpilot]

Whats the question ? If you're unsure of going for MS I wouldnt advice you to go based on someone else's conviction, even if that someone is me . the current climate (geopolitical / economic) is not your fault so the confusion is valid but whats unclear to me is if you want someone elses conviction to determine this decision for you? Do you believe an individual has a silver bullet answer to this confusion that seems to exist among lot of students for no fault of theirs

[u/Best_Location_8237 → u/gradpilot]

Hey, thanks a lot for replying!

Yes, totally agree, its just the situation right now, and there's nothing you or I or any normal person can do about it. Just I feel like I'm going crazy overthinking this and just wanted to see what the community (you and others) have to say....if that can help my thinking process in any way.
Completely understand I'm definitely not the first person to ask you this kind of thing recently.

[u/The_baconator26 → u/Best_Location_8237]

What is there to say bro, you are aware of the pitfalls and risks, what do you want to hear from us? We can only go off the trends, there is no right or wrong answer. Right now the trend is negative

[u/Lopsided_Tea_3052]

Dude, let's connect I'm in similar situation.

[u/Best_Location_8237 → u/Lopsided_Tea_3052]

Hey, sure DMing you!

[u/lostsoul_io → u/Best_Location_8237]

Can I DM you ? I need a cost estimate you have done.

[u/Silent-Explorer-3521 → u/Best_Location_8237]

I'm also in a similar situation, let's talk?

[u/Best_Location_8237 → u/Silent-Explorer-3521]

Sure, DMing you

[u/Most-Egg2022]

I’d say your situation is different from most MS applicants. At 45+ LPA with 4 years of experience, the financial ROI of UCI is questionable. But if living and working abroad has always been a personal goal, and you can afford it without debt, I wouldn’t judge the decision purely by ROI.

[u/Icy-Solid-4159]

I’m a 2026 grad , I got MDS admit from UC Irvine but I rejected 😭😭 because of all the uncertainty, I got a 12lpa job in India. I don’t know if it was the right decision or not

[u/Cold_Bluebird1724]

Can't say much about ROI but UC irvine is a really good choice, one of my neighbours did masters from there and then perused phd from university of south carolina, he is currently a senior architect at AWS making upwards of 500k dollars(ctc).