Are you planning to do an MBA or non-STEM business degree in the USA? Part- 1

Post for Business Graduates!
Most of the Business programs (MBA or MS in Finance/Marketing) are non-STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. As the number of US citizens studying STEM subjects is relatively low compared to the number of US citizens studying business subjects, there is an increasing demand of graduates from STEM subject and STEM jobs are mostly filled by international students or by direct hires from other countries.

If you graduate from a non-STEM program, you will have only one year of work permit with no automatic extension. You will have 3 months (there are some caveat) to find a job and convince your employer to file H1B visa application on your behalf and these entire have to be done within one year. If you aren’t selected in the H1B visa lottery you are no longer allowed to work legally in the US. On the other hand, STEM graduates also have 3 months to find a job but they get STEM extension for 2 more years after their first year if they have a job and their employers have 3 chances to file H1B application on their behalf if the first or second attempt is unsuccessful. 

As a result, companies in the US don’t want to hire international business graduates. If you graduate from top business school (top 20/30) you are more likely to be hired by top organizations like Amazon, Google, McKinsey and Company, Apple and these companies provide sponsorship to international business students because even if those students aren’t picked in the H1B lottery the company can relocate them to another country where work permit is not a big deal. But getting into top business school is very hard and those schools usually do not provide any funding and it will cost a fortune to study in those top business schools! If you study in a mid-ranked business school then the chances of being hired by top companies are very low. Although few mid to low ranked business schools provide assistantship/funding, but the chance of getting a job after graduation from these programs is very low. It is very challenging even to find an internship because most of the organizations hire an intern as a potential full-time employee and if you require sponsorship after one year they are reluctant to hire you even as an intern. Moreover, the H1B process is expensive for the companies because they need to hire a lawyer for this process. As a result, employers are more likely to hire a US citizen for business positions.

So, if you are planning to do an MBA or non-STEM business degree from a mid or low ranked university and your ultimate goal is to work and settle in the US, rethink your decision. If you want to return to Bangladesh then this is not going to be a problem and this post is not intended to you.

I do not mean to discourage anyone by any means; I am just stating the facts based on my experience. The information provided in the post may not be 100% correct and do not take my words for granted.

In my next blog, I will discuss about some programs for business graduates.

Writer: 

Imran Selim

Data Scientist at Koch Industries

Studied MS in Business Analytics at Oklahoma State University

Studied MBA at Oklahoma State University

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