Deepakintherace

Feb 11, 2024

13

Are you ready for Masters?

To all the Master's aspirants, I know that you have been marketed by a lot of people in the US or UK or whatever that Foreign countries are amazing and all that but let me give you a heads up on the reality of Masters so you come prepared.

And all of this is easy if you have money but if you are the student loan guy...give this a read.

From Day 1...You have to cook or at least learn to cook, wash dishes, carry your clothes 1 mile away to wash them and dry them, and then walk back and bring them. The next thing that you encounter is a culture shock, you will come here with a lot of hopes that you will get to meet a lot of other country people but trust you will end up in the same circle cuz, you don't eat the same food, we use water they use tissues and there are 100s of differences from accents to everything and it will take time for a lot of people.

After a few days and the "Wowww Americaa" vibe has settled, Homesickness will kick in and you will miss your people, your food, and the life you had back in India and start regretting the decision you made. Randomly your friend will call and ask you how many companies did you apply to? You'll be like Whaaa? It's Week 2. He will rant that he *just* applied to 100 companies and his friend already applied to 600 companies and solved 1000 LeetCode Problems. You will be like WTF and by the time you create your Resume, you have 3 assignments deadline, 2 Project Presentations, 2 Paper Reading assignments, and Midterm exams in 3 subjects.

You somehow finish all these with sleepless nights and then now you have to go ask for ON-CAMPUS jobs, and you have to build a rapport by visiting each of them every week. You also have to roam to get an advisor for a project or thesis (at least in my college). After a few days, the Rejection Emails start kicking in and you realize that there is a thing called ATS and your Resume did not even pass that. Then you hear none of your seniors who passed out 2 years ago got a job and all of them are in consultancies or have extended their studies. You have a mild panic attack and think "Pesama India ke poidlam Sivaji nu", but no, you are here for a reason.

A few days pass and like Game of Thrones, "The Winter is Coming". Never have I ever thought that climate is a thing and it would cause problems, especially here if you don't have a car everything else becomes 2x harder. You will have problems in your house, water leaks due to rain, an increase in the EB bill due to the heater, and a lot more. Apart from this, you will hear a lot of people who died due to gun firing, accidents, suicides, and all the nonsense. Some people get sick and they don't go to hospitals afraid of the bill. The urge to party, hit the gym, and the temptations to use all the facilities that are there cuz all the Undergrads have 4 years and are supported by their parents and have all the time and money in the world. But you are different and you know that you can't waste time on all this.

Your parents are already upset and are worried about you and hats off to all the kids who don't say a thing to their parents and are taking the hits like a soldier. You guys are great!!!

So the guys coming here thinking that life is awesome looking at the 2-3 days we enjoy on the beach or someplace else. Yes, we do have fun, I am still the happiest I have ever been cuz I enjoy these kinds of things, I enjoy the Biriyani I make, and I enjoy the late-night rants, but I see a lot of people suffer so...if you can take all this, then Masters is for you but also remember that the current market over here is not that great either so...I don't even know if it will be worth it but yeah...All the best!!!