KWrite

To a large number of observers, the now financial center of the universe is London, not New York City (see this and this [1]). I’m sure many of you will find it ridiculous but well, whatever you believe doesn’t change the deteriorating reality. Let’s see why what is what from an immigration view point [1.5]. Historically, America was famous as the Disneyland for talents. It doesn’t seem to be the case nowadays.

US. H1B Program.

Suppose that you’re an international citizen. You will need to apply for an H1B visa in order to work in the US. It’s a complex program but generally speaking, here are some relevant facts to keep in mind:

• You need a job offer and the sponsorship from an American company/institution in order to apply for the visa. Even if you’re a semi-superman but living in another country (or your country) at the time you apply for jobs, it isn’t that easy to get such an offer.
• Let’s keep assuming that you’re a semi-superman. You still may have to enter the H1B lottery game to decide your fate. The lottery is very likely if you don’t hold an advanced degree (Master or PhD).

How many talents would be crossed out by this system? A lot, I assume. Moreover, this complicated and hilarious process does discourage many smarties and a good percentage of them just don’t give a damn working in the US.

UK. Points-based Immigration System.

The UK has a fundamentally different program called Highly Skilled Migrant Program (HSMP) [2], besides the usual work permit system. Basically, you earn points by your track record including education level, age (the younger the better), income, UK experience, etc.. If you have enough points (75), you are automatically qualified to enter and work/do business in the country. No a priori job offer needed. No sponsorship. No quota and no lottery.

If you’ve received a PhD (50 points) from a UK university (5pts) and you’re 27 (20pts), then boom: they (British people) red carpet to welcome you. If your PhD is from somewhere else, a little income will qualify you as well. Until recently, an MBA from a top business school would also give you the unconditional access. Try this HSMP calculator to see if you fit in this highly discriminating system.

Is it similar to America post World War II?

Footnotes

[1] The NYTimes and Fortune magazine articles were published in 10/2006 and 08/2007 (respectively), when the US economy was much stronger than it is now. There are also numerous other writings on this newly debated subject.

[1.5] The rising or London (or decline of NYC) and their immigration policies are correlated. However, this article doesn’t assert with confidence that one is the cause of the other. On the cause, some joked that the British merely benefits from the influx of Russian millionaires/billionaires.

[2] The HSMP is being phased out and replaced by a similar program called Points-based Immigration System – Tier 1.

It’s not hard to figure out my above-average admiration for great public speakers. Steve Jobs and Randy Pausch are two examples that I’ve written about. We learn from those speeches not only their insightful thoughts but also their attitudes, their voices, their body languages, and their styles. There’s just so much to learn from such speeches. Here’s another personal reason: I admire people who can do what I unpleasantly can’t.

I’m sure you know what I’m going to say next. That is, I’ve listened to another fantastic talk, this time by Guy Kawasaki. A former Apple employee, he’s now a Silicon Valley venture capitalist and the author of the best-seller The Art of the Start. His talk, in 2006, was essentially about the title of this book, i.e. entrepreneurship. I haven’t read the book but from his talk, I can imagine how thoughtful it is.

Every point in his 40-minute presentation is worth being listened. This guy does possess a great sense of humor, on top of other master public speaking skills.

(PDF of slides here)

For out-of-state and international kids, UT Austin (or UT) is among the toughest undergraduate schools to get in.

According to the new statistics by the admissions office (published on the Daily Texans newspaper), 29619 high school students applied to UT. Of these, 12665 were admitted and among them are 9252 Texas high school students admitted under the controversial Top 10 Percent Law.

That leaves 20367 other students having competed for the remaining 3413 spots. So, the admission rate for students not qualified by the rule above is essentially 16.7%, as low as of Ivy league schools. If you’re an admitted out-of-state or international freshman, you have every reason to feel proud of yourself.

However, the almost 10000 students automatically admitted may damage your education at UT. Everyone knows that there are so many high schools in Texas at which a retard can end up in the top 10%. Texas legislators really need to revise this stupid law immediately if they want UT competitive. Here are a few options:

• Abandon the rule completely. I’d love to see this option implemented but it’s quite infeasible for a state school like UT.
• Change the rule from Top 10% to Top 5% or Top 3%. This alternative is not the best but still much better than the current law.
• Better yet, allocate the number of automatically qualified students for each specific high school according to its rating. It’s not expensive to compile/revise such a ranking every 2-3 years. Not only will UT admit the better students but this rule, if implemented, will also create incentives for Texas high schools to continuously improve to be competitive.