Master's in the USA—Part 1-University Level
This article targets the students who have got their F1 visa approved and are ready to move to the USA for their master's degree 🇺🇸
Coming to the United States is one of the toughest decisions we make. I cannot say for everyone, but I took around a year to decide whether to do this. Many people, including family and friends, were behind this major decision of mine. It was not a solo decision in my case.
In this article, I aim to share the real experiences many of us went through during these two years of our master’s journey.
I started my major in computer science during the Spring intake(January) and it was a 2-year program exactly.
First Semester
It started around the middle of January and lasted until the 15th of May approximately.
Apartment Search — I joined a university student WhatsApp group based in the USA that kept posting about space availability, furniture items, and any other stuff for all the students. I was able to find a place by reaching out to people who posted about the space availability. Try talking to your roommates to get an understanding of all the basic things you need to bring from your home country to easily settle in the new place.
Part-Time Job Search — I started my search before landing in the USA and reached out to multiple senior students from my university to get an idea of different on-campus job availability. Within a week of settling in the country, I made sure to go in person to different departments in the university to figure out the part-time jobs.
I was able to grab a part-time prep-cook job at the campus dining area around February. The job does not sound pleasant to the ears, but the truth is, a lot of students start with some odd jobs on campus before getting into a TA, RA, GA or any other administrative role. I worked here for a good amount of time, and though it was physically draining, I learned a lot of culinary skills and made lots of connections.
University Experience — Within the first few months, you will be able to get an idea of the class roster, part-time jobs, assignments, midterms, deadlines, cooking meals and of all the new people around you. Usually, multiple events are happening during the Spring and Fall seasons for the new students to explore the university, different departments, services and all kinds of things that happen on the campus.
My piece of advice — If you have made the strong decision to come to the USA, please don't restrict yourself to meeting people only from a specific region or who speak the common language. Try connecting with anyone and everyone regardless of personal biases. This is very important, especially during the master's journey.
Second Semester —
By now, as a student, you will be good with managing almost everything — a part-time job, assignments, midterms, finals, buying groceries, cooking, etc.
Now, this is the perfect time frame to start applying for summer internships for the next year. The month starting July till November is the peak period for making any applications for both part-time & full-time jobs. I started slowly in June, with very few applications to begin with, but by the time I reached November, I had around 1000 applications. To anyone’s surprise, no, I didn't keep track of the number of applications. I was planning to do it in the beginning, but eventually, it just didn't feel useful to me.
Basic platforms for applications:
- Job Boards—Linkedin, Jobright, Github repos.
- Careers Page.
- Cold Emailing, reaching out to the old network.
- Apollo.io— a great tool to reach out to people.
The US job market from 2022 has seen a huge downfall, and this is a fact! Even now, in 2025, it's NO better. So utilize the time of your masters properly, plan your steps, and take necessary actions to land your job at the end of your 2-year program. There is no guarantee that even after doing everything correctly, we may get a job given the market. So if you have come this far, make sure to not waste any opportunity or time.
Honest Note — I have friends who are strong technically, have previous job experience and have completed around 3–4K applications in last 1–2 years but still didn't land a single offer. Its not about them or their resume, but the job market.
Third Semester —
My third semester started around Spring 2024. This is the time when a lot of job opportunities start coming up as most of the recruiters return to work after all the holidays and vacations.
For Masters — In this semester, you will mostly focus on finishing your classes and getting that proper grade to maintain the status. I have heard cases where people fail to maintain a 3.0 GPA, ending up in the probation period. Probation is the worst thing to happen in your degree, so avoid getting into it. Probation may send you back to your country if not cleared within a specific timeframe.
I landed a new part-time job of working as a Teaching Associate on campus during this semester.
For the internship/job — Keep checking the market and applying to jobs as and when you can. I always prefer Quality over Quantity in cases of applications. Aim for 10 jobs a day but keep it all aligned to your skills and experience. No need to apply to random jobs available on LinkedIn. Remember, when your aim is clear, it's easy to hit the target sooner.
I think by the end of the 3rd semester, most of us feel like just getting done with the degree and getting into the job market. Trust me, all of us feel the same way at some point or other. Managing so many things alone for two years is no joke. So keep up the hard work!! It will be worth it.
Fourth Semester —
This is the time when you will be in either of the situations below -
You may have a CO-OP.
You may have an internship or full-time offer in hand.
Or, you are still on the lookout for that one opportunity.
Whatever the situation may be, last semester has mixed emotions. You want to get done with your degree, but then again, somewhere inside, you like these good days with your friends or your group. Emotions are always evolving during the last semester as the master's journey approaches the end.
A few major things in this semester— Getting done with the final project, getting a job, and making sure to create enough memories before graduating.
So that's all about a short semester-wise master's journey from my side, there are a lot of other things too, but I am planning to write about them in part 2 of my article.
MAKE SURE TO ENJOY WITH YOUR FRIENDS.
MAKE MEMORIES.
KEEP HUSTLING.
DON'T GIVE UP.
FAQs —
How I found the WhatsApp groups of students — I reached out to multiple seniors from my previous batches who were already pursuing the degree on LinkedIn. So don't forget to make connections!
Happy Reading!
