Why are you throwing your H1B?

A strange, strange state really....

(1) I have an H1 B, the VISA most IT people yearn for, thanks to my present employer. But becuase I have an admit from a top 20, I am keen to give it up and ask the USCIS for an F1..

(2) Two years down the line, when my F1 will be near its deathbed, I will be begging for an H1 B...

Among these thoughts, just when I was about to apply for student VISA, the next step towards the education that I badly need to start this fall, my DM gave me another option... This is what he said: "Why are you throwing your H1B? Move to the US on H1-B by mid April, file a COS, work till July, get your F1, start your education in August"....

A very lucrative offer indeed.... But it has its cons...
I will be missing out on all the fun I was planning to have before I start my education... I will miss out the month long stay with my family, a vacation for which I have yearned since I moved out of my hometown for my under-grad... I had promised my mom and grand mom that I will spend a long time with them, before moving to US for MBA... :( Here are the options:

(1) Take the offer, move to US --> Financial benifits
(2) Stay at home, relax for two months --> Emotional benifits... A lot of them actually...

I am supposed to reply within a day!

Edited on 23 rd April, 2007 - Made the decision finally, tomorrow is my last day @ work!!!!!

Scholarship reconsidered!! Enrolled!!

This is not an attempt to fool anyone on the April Fool's day... :-) I was trying to negotiate the scholarship amount with the Adcom at Emory - and finally they have considered me worthy enough for 'a double'... Yahhhhoooooo!!!

It took a lot of contemplation, at first, on whether to retake GMAT merely for scholarship reconsideration. It also took a weekend dipped in Sentence Correction and a missed trip to Pondichery , the low of a 650 in Kaplan and the high of a 760 in GMAT Prep 1 & 2... and finally a 740 with quant 49 and verbal 41 in the GMAT attempt 2... :-) However, when an investment of $250 yields you such high gains, you definitely do not want to crib for the efforts you put in... :-)

This leaves me with less than 20% of tuition fees to be paid from my pockets... Very close to the goal with which I started my application process... With the acceptance deposit deadline approaching soon, I have digged the first hole in my pocket and have sent the needed $1000 draft to Atlanta...

On the other hand, McCombs is still not replying... :-( and I am losing my interest as well... :-(