Grace Chen

@orange turtle You had my respect!

Thanks both.

Thanks for all your replies. @ExponentialDecay Out of interest, why would you suggest not using pre-graduation OPT? Does it reduce post-graduation OPT months? Hypothetically, if I leave US to work during the first year term breaks, am I still bounded by f1 terms? I am more concerned about the continuity of work as compared to getting extra income. If I intend to work in US post-graduation, what's the time frame that I should get H1B sorted? is it Apr of the 2nd year?

Hi GradCafe community, as a 1st post, I'm kinda anxious about the grad school decision. I applied for a few graduate schools last minute and got just one offer for a 2-year masters at Duke. While it could have been a good news, I started to have several concerns: concern 1: I have worked numerous years, but when I go for certain job that I wanted, HR would say it's not the right profile as I don't have an advanced degree, even though I meet the technical skill requirement due to self-learning. This kinda prompted me for a master, but at the same time, 2 years without salary and out of workplace can be a considerable opportunity cost. I understand there're restrictions for international students on f1 visa. Does grad school make financial sense for those in the early 30s? Besides that, just for continuity's sake, I want to be able to keep working on stuffs, small client projects etc, to keep me in touch with current real-world demand. I wonder would my student visa be too restrictive. concern 2: I know I wanted to move to US but I didn't do much research on Durham NC beforehand. Now I have some doubt on whether I can get used to suburban living, and to what extent the location would be a disadvantage for job hunting afterwards, given the tightening H1b. If I'm younger and already located in US, I probably wouldn't worry about this. What's your thoughts? Have you once faced the same doubt and sailed through it? Thanks.