Can I get a student visa with 58% marks in Computer Science Engineering and more than 10 years of study gap

[sheetanshu1987]

Dear all,

I am from India and am planning to apply for a one year Graduate Certificate program from a college in Canada. I am working as a front end software developer in my own Private Limited company which I incorporated on 2nd January 2017. I have two major concerns.

I passed out in 2010 and have only 58% marks in Computer Science Engineering.

I have sent mails to various colleges explaining my situation and have got a positive response from Conestoga College in Ontario and Saskatchewan Polytechnic college in Saskatoon and they are of the opinion that I might be eligible if I have a valid IELTS score above 6.5, which I have. I am planning to go for a course in Artificial Intelligence which I think I can justify because it is a new field of study and it has become of the most wanted skills for a software developer. AI is pretty much the future after all.

However,I am not sure my Visa will be approved though. I am planning to apply via SDS and have enough funds for GIC, fees and other requirements.I am married but my wife will not be accompanying me during the studies. What is your opinion regarding my Admission and Visa chances? Should I even bother applying?

 

[wonderbly]

Your chances are almost zero if you apply for Graduate program in a college after 10 years as a Software Developer.
10 years of experience in programming qualifies you to be a Senior Architect/ Development Team Manager, what would getting a certificate from College teach you that you don't already know and teaching others?

If you really want to go the study route, try universities. I think Bishop's university will accept you based on your experience, though your GPA is lower than what they require.

 

[sheetanshu1987]

Your chances are almost zero if you apply for Graduate program in a college after 10 years as a Software Developer.
10 years of experience in programming qualifies you to be a Senior Architect/ Development Team Manager, what would getting a certificate from College teach you that you don't already know and teaching others?

If you really want to go the study route, try universities. I think Bishop's university will accept you based on your experience, though your GPA is lower than what they require.

Thanks a lot for your response mate. AI is something I really don't know. For most of my life, I have been working with Javascript and related frameworks like Node and React etc. So I do think there is really something to learn in there.

Like you rightly pointed out, universities might not accept me because of my low GPA. Also, when you say my chances are zero, is it that chances of me getting me an admission is zero, or chances of me getting me a visa is zero? Regards

 

[adhik]

Thanks a lot for your response mate. AI is something I really don't know. For most of my life, I have been working with Javascript and related frameworks like Node and React etc. So I do think there is really something to learn in there.

Like you rightly pointed out, universities might not accept me because of my low GPA. Also, when you say my chances are zero, is it that chances of me getting me an admission is zero, or chances of me getting me a visa is zero? Regards

You might get admission, but it's very hard to get a visa with your course choice. You have 10 years of experience and you want to go for a meaningless one year program? How's that going to help your career? It all sounds fishy and VO will surely think that too. You have to climb up not down. If you were going for masters it would be a different case.

 

[wonderbly]

Thanks a lot for your response mate. AI is something I really don't know. For most of my life, I have been working with Javascript and related frameworks like Node and React etc. So I do think there is really something to learn in there.

Like you rightly pointed out, universities might not accept me because of my low GPA. Also, when you say my chances are zero, is it that chances of me getting me an admission is zero, or chances of me getting me a visa is zero? Regards

Admission is easy, most colleges will give you admission as they are all about the money you'll pay. Visa is a different story, chances are almost zero if you go for a college program.

I am a Software Developer for over 17 years . I got admission to pursue MSc computer science in a number of universities and some of the specializations includes AI, Machine Learning and Quantum Computing - all of which is new to me and I have no previous knowledge in. So you being new to AI is not a reason to pursue a redundant college program.

 

[sheetanshu1987]

Admission is easy, most colleges will give you admission as they are all about the money you'll pay. Visa is a different story, chances are almost zero if you go for a college program.

I am a Software Developer for over 17 years . I got admission to pursue MSc computer science in a number of universities and some of the specializations includes AI, Machine Learning and Quantum Computing - all of which is new to me and I have no previous knowledge in. So you being new to AI is not a reason to pursue a redundant college program.

I see. Thanks a lot for your guidance.

I have seen a video on Youtube of a student from India (more than 10 years of experience and study gap) who got a student visa after getting admission in the Cambrian College in Ontario for a one year course in Web Development. His reason for getting his Visa application accepted, according to him, was that he was earlier working as a software developer but didn't have a formal computer science degree and thus he was able to justify his age gap. Should I consider him exception to the rule? Or there is still a chance if my SOPs are aligned.

 

[wonderbly]

I see. Thanks a lot for your guidance.

I have seen a video on Youtube of a student from India (more than 10 years of experience and study gap) who got a student visa after getting admission in the Cambrian College in Ontario for a one year course in Web Development. His reason for getting his Visa application accepted, according to him, was that he was earlier working as a software developer but didn't have a formal computer science degree and thus he was able to justify his age gap. Should I consider him exception to the rule? Or there is still a chance if my SOPs are aligned.

I've given you advice to the best of my knowledge. Perhaps you want to contact the youTube guy to see how he went about his application. All the best!

 

[wonderbly]

I see. Thanks a lot for your guidance.

I have seen a video on Youtube of a student from India (more than 10 years of experience and study gap) who got a student visa after getting admission in the Cambrian College in Ontario for a one year course in Web Development. His reason for getting his Visa application accepted, according to him, was that he was earlier working as a software developer but didn't have a formal computer science degree and thus he was able to justify his age gap. Should I consider him exception to the rule? Or there is still a chance if my SOPs are aligned.

You do have a formal degree, don't you? How is your case the same as the youTube guy?

 

[sheetanshu1987]

You do have a formal degree, don't you? How is your case the same as the youTube guy?

You have a point there. And to be honest, I did contact the youtube guy as well. He is a nice guy and did give me his perspective. I wanted to take other perspectives as well, before I could make a final decision. In India, we don't have course specific degree, and you either learn all subjects or you don't. Also, as I did my degree 10 years back, I did not take any course related to the Certificate I want to pursue. No denying that the subject specialisation is high in demand and a recognised certificate unlike the ones from Udemy would definitely give my CV some degree of higher weightage. I know you might say that a degree is just a piece of paper and it's the knowledge that matters, but in my experience, both have their own benefits.