I’ve been a student at MIU from November 2019 until roughly December 2021.
Had a nice interaction with a student who happens to also work for the media department at the school, he was nice enough to take some good pics for me to appear professional on my Linkedin and later asked me if I want my picture to be taken for an ad for the school and to return the favor I said yes.
Why I’m telling this story? because this ad was the reason I get so many questions on social media about the school, a friend sees the ad and says, wait for a second, that’s Ammar, the friend leaves a comment with my name and even mentions my profile if it was on Facebook and now everyone can find the Facebook profile of the person in the ad to ask them questions.
I decided to write my detailed review so I can put out the answers to most of the questions I get hoping it will be helpful and helps me provide an accurate and well-prepared review.
Note: the article talks about the COMPRO or computer professionals program, a program that is for international students who are seeking a master’s in computer science, other programs at the school can be different.
Disclaimer: I don’t claim to provide any accurate information about the school, this article reflects only my personal experience and my thoughts, please contact the school if you need formal information.
Q: What is the financial aid program the school talks about?
A: The school charges you a small amount of the fees (3k$ was my case, others had to pay an amount that varies from 3K to 8K), the rest of the amount you pay after you get hired.
Some people take a bank loan with a 9% APR1 (that was my case and 9% seems to be a pretty high APR) and some people schedule payments with the school itself (in this case you don’t need to pay any APRs but monthly payments are higher and you make an extra down payment of 5K before monthly payments).
This information may be not up to date but you get the idea, the school provided some sessions to explain this stuff more and you get pretty long and detailed emails about your options with every step forward.
Q: Does the school provide the paid internship/help hire me?
A: Short answer: No.
Long answer: the school helps you prepare your resume, prepare for interviews, has a website that has your resume and contact information, and tries to contact employers and recruiters to reach out to you.
The school wants you to get hired so you start paying them back, but they don’t hire you, they just help you, it’s up to you to negotiate your offer and land yourself the position you want.
Q: What if I didn’t get hired?
A: I have no personal experience with that, I have heard rumors that you can go back to your country and you don’t owe the school anything but that could be completely not accurate. I encourage you to contact the school regarding that if it’s a concern to you though.
Q: How long does it take for me to get a job?
A: I personally spent about 6 months looking for a job, and I almost gave up2. some people spent a few days to a few weeks, and few people never got a job.
Probability-wise3, you will get a job, but I will not pretend that there’s no risk there, take the risk on your own terms.
Q: How much will I get paid?
A: That really depends on your skills and the state you work at.
I’ve heard numbers that range from 50K/year (generally considered as low pay and usually people who take these offers spend long enough in their job search or are juniors who want to get experience) to somewhere around 200K/year4.
These numbers are before taxes so taxes have to be deducted and all, you can do your own research about taxes and all or maybe I can write a post about my experience with taxes but for now let’s just say in most states your salary will cover your living expenses and your loan payments if it’s more 65K/year, take this number with a grain of salt and do your own research.
The last class on campus (career strategy) gives a pretty good idea of how to calculate the cost of living, loan payments .. etc.
Q: How good is education there?
A: To be honest, many of the students want to take advantage of the financial aid program, but if you are worried about how good the classes are, well, most classes are not that good.
I did have a couple of amazing classes that I enjoyed a lot and learned very neat stuff, but most other classes were not worth it in terms of quality of education, some instructors make me wonder how they convinced the school to hire them.
To summarize, the school is a good and financially affordable (compared to other schools in the country) way to start your career development in the US, other schools can provide better education but might be more expensive or harder to get in.
I’m not giving advice here but personally, if time or money is not a concern I would go for a better degree, otherwise it’s a very nice opportunity to potentially land a job in the land of tech (or whatever you prefer calling the US ).
Appendix
1: APR – Annual Percentage Rate, Read More about it here.
2: I was looking for a job during the pandemic lockdown, average time to get hired was higher than usual, some people got hired fairly quickly still though.
3: Statistics show that the tech sector is forecasted to be a growing sector over the upcoming years
4: Reference
5 responses to “My review for Maharishi International University”
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Thanks for sharing Ammar.
May I know whether you are still in your OPT or already got a full time job?
I would like to know the jobs opportunities there during OPT for an international student.
Thanks in advance
Phyu
I’m currently on H1B Visa, I was on OPT for 1 year and didn’t need to file for the OPT STEM since I got my H1B earlier.
Most employers I came across who are willing to sponsor H1B visa were also willing to sponsor an OPT VISA, however I don’t have accurate data on how broad is the market for OPT holders!
Sure and thanks so much for your kind advices. Ammar
Thank you soo much Ammar. This is really helpful for y case right now