Myth 4 – Don’t Study Bachelors Degree in the USA (Come for Masters Degree)

Have you read the previous three myths about Studying in the USA? If you you can find th elinks at end of this article.

Are you ready to dive into Myth #4?

It is ideal to come to the US for studying Masters and not for Bachelors because bachelors it is expensive.

Myth 4 is prevalent among Indian Parents.

But that’s changing as more parents see their friend’s sending their son or daughter’s to study Bachelors Degree in the United States or other countries.

These series of Myths are written by Abdul, a student from India who studied Bachelors Degree in the USA.

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I think that it makes much more sense to come to the US to study your bachelor’s degree rather than studying your master’s degree.

It is the experience that counts.

A candidate with a bachelor’s degree and four years experience will get a job faster than a candidate with a master’s degree and no experience whatsoever.

I know some high school graduates who are working at the top positions in Microsoft.

All that matters is the experience that you have gained.

People think that the bachelor’s degree is expensive in the USA, but in reality, it is the time which is costly.

By doing a bachelor’s degree, I saved two years of my time.

I don’t need to do a Masters in the USA.

My high school friends back in India are still searching for a job whereas I have been working for three years now in a well-paid job earning a handsome income.

My friends thought that I was making a stupid decision by going to study Bachelors Degree in the USA, but looking back, I made the right choice.

If you can apply for the right scholarship and find excellent opportunities like research, assistantship, etc. then you can at least cover a portion of the tuition fees.

Because I studied a bachelor’s degree, I always used to get involved in group studies and meet a lot with other students. This way, I developed excellent communication skills.

While doing masters, most of the students come to the university just two or three days a week and not learn much. They also don’t communicate a lot. A lot of things in the US are expressed differently.

For example ‘I sent you a mail,’ actually refers to physical mail that a mail-man delivers as compared to an email which is the meaning for an electronic mail.

However, people from India refer to email as mail, which gets me quite confused at times.

Pronunciation is also very different in the US.

For example, while pronouncing ‘773’ the people in the US say ‘Seven Seven Three’ and not ‘Double Seven Three.’

The concept of double and triple does not exist here. It’s a UK thing. You will notice that when taking the IELTS listening test.

Another thing which does not exist in the US is a “Good Name.”

Most of my Indian friends who have lived here ask me what my good name?

However, for people living in the US, there is only your first name and your last name. There is no such thing called a good name.

So studying bachelors helped me understand these simple things about the way people in the USA communicate with each other. Being a real estate investor having a good communication skill helps me a lot these days, and I have only my bachelor’s degree to thank for this.

Please don’t take me in the wrong manner. I am not trying to mock anybody or discourage anybody from coming to the US. I am just giving my perspective. I encourage everyone to go to the US for their bachelor’s degree, learn excellent communication skills, and work in the best of companies.

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Comments from Raghu

Abdul’s take on why you want to Study Bachelors degree has a twist. It focuses on two aspects:

1. Cost of Studying Bachelors Degree
2. Improving Communication Skills

I agree with the cost element. There are universities where you can study for less than $25,000 per year, including living expenses for a bachelors degree.

And the student can make up the living expenses by working part-time on-campus jobs.

But I don’t agree about the communication part.

Studying a Masters Degree provides ample opportunities to improve communication skills.

But, the question is not about the opportunity, but effort.

But, having reviewed 1000’s of resumes from Happy Schools readers, that most Indian students don’t allocate and make a dedicated effort to improve their communication skills.

I was no different!

When I was studying a Masters degree, I did not spend time to improve my spoken English or Written English.

But, I did spend time to learn, how to network, attend interviews, what kind of resume work how to talk with the interviewer.

I would call that as inter-personal skills, then just communication skills.

Let me share a most recent example.

I created a form for job seekers to submit their resume to match with few employers who had IT Job Openings.

About 75% of applicants don’t know how to name the resume file!

About 25% of applicants did not write their Name or the University Name in the Sentence Case!

I don’t even have to open the resume in such instance.

To land a job, you need skills beyond the lessons learned and acquired from the classroom.

What you are learning in the classroom will help you answer the technical interview questions, while you on the phone or sitting in front of the person during the actual interview.

Colleges will not teach the interpersonal skills, interview techniques, body language, communication, neogiaiton skills.

Student often complains about the challenges of not getting interview calls.

If the resume file name looks resume_SriK_master3iit.pdf?

I can’t possibly expect this person who can’t pay attention to the name of the resume file to communicate effectively.

Let me pause here for a second.

Did you even know or paid attention to how you should name your resume?

Little things matter.

Observer carefully about the people around you.

Some unspoke, invisible traits play a huge role in your career growth.

Parents – Instead of paying 10, 20, 30 Lakhs Rupees as a donation for Bachelors Colege admission, send the kids to study abroad. They will fair well in their life.

The bottom line:

• Understand there are invisible and unspoken traits directly responsive for success
• A dedicated effort is required to identify missign characteristics and improving those skills.
• Your First Day in the USA is your Day 1 of your Job Search.
• Studying abroad will give perspective in life that one can’t learn from studying in one’s home country.

Myth Busted Series

1. Myth 1 – H1B Visa is Required to File Green Card
2. Myth 2 – Scholarship is Not Available for International Students 
3. Myth 3 – It’s Impossible to get Part-time Jobs for F1 Students
4. Myth 4 – Don’t Study Bachelors Degree in the USA
5. Myth 5 – Masters takes 2 years & Bachelors takes 4 years to complete
6. Myth 6 – Employer Will Not Apply for Green Card in the first year
7. Myth 7 – OPT is issued only after Graduation
8. Myth 8 – You can study at one university at a time