• Prakash Seshadri Nathan
  IIMB, PGP, 1993. CEO and Executive Director, Kathari Water Management

Siva, Would you like to pause after your undergrad and try out your hand in cyber security in the real world? A two to three years of work experience would clarify whether (a) this is the field of specialisation for you (b) what would higher studies in this field mean for your professional enhancement. Wet your feet and then decide. US is not going anywhere. Best wishes

• Roy Cherian
  IIMA, MBA, 1991. Founder, ASKIIMA

Siva, stand alone SUNY Albany is not a great University. But if it comes as an add on to your MBA in Fintech and Cyber Security at IIT Jodhpur it might be a good idea to take it up provided it cost is affordable. The advatnages in doing it is, one obviously an exposure to the US education, though not from a top University, is always valuable. Second it will help you differentiate from other students at IIT Joudhpur. Having said that please remember it is not an easy job market in the US now, and with Trump coming back it is going to get more difficult. So chances of landing a job in the US is slim if that is your objective for taking up this course. I hope this will aid your thought process and help you take the right decision. Wish you all the best.

Ram - I agree with Roy C with small caveat. The pedigree of Univ in US is relatively less important in tech fields and careers these companies give you a chance and don’t eliminate you like a Inv bank etc. Do you have to make the call now or in seconds year of MBa ? The closer you are to finishing it is easier to analyze job market conditions etc.

• Roy Cherian
  IIMA, MBA, 1991. Founder, ASKIIMA

Lakshmanan, today there are many private universities in India that accept SAT scores for undergraduate admissions especially for International and NRI students. Some of the top Universities accepting SAT scores are Ashoka, Krea, Flame, Plaksha, Azim Premji. There are many more. A quick google search will help you with that. But as in most American Universities, SAT score are only part of the evaluation. Your School grades are equally important, though not the only criteria used for admissions unlike most public universities which go purely by academics. But this doesn't make life easier. These universities look for strong extra curricular activities in addition to good academics and SAT scores. I would say your resume building process should start at least by the 10th grade to have a strong profile while applying to Universities which goes beyond academics in their selection process. Hope this is of help to you. Wish you all the best for your college admissions.

• Prakash Seshadri Nathan
  IIMB, PGP, 1993. CEO and Executive Director, Kathari Water Management

Hello Sathvik, If there is one part of math in general which has many (business) applications that would be statistics. I also note that you also would like to pursue a career in finance, which in part deals with numbers and different ways of interpreting them. So, in my view, both relate to creating stories out of numbers and I am glad that you are inherently interested in these areas. Your unasked question could be, does this all make sense to build a profile and a career in finance? That is difficult to answer. At your age, it is ok not to have 100% clarity with respect to every decision that you make. But one thing I can say is that a deep understanding of numbers through statistics and finance would open up many doors for you including application areas such as data science. So go ahead and plunge right in.

P
• Pankaj Rai
  IIMA, PGP, 1993. Group Chief Data and Analytics Officer

At any stage in life what is good and what is bad is difficult to answer as I think what is good for you is that which you enjoy, become good at and that pays :) so it’s a series of experiments that everyone needs to do to continue to discover what works for them. If intuitively you seem to like this line of thinking then go ahead as I don’t see any downside of that choice (which is relatively easier to assess) but hard to say this is the best for you. Happy to chat and discuss in more detail if you like WhatsApp me at 9880217069.