Early career/education decision for working towards an MBA

Hi, I am a student from India who obtained an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Engineering in October 2021. I was considering a future in academia until recently when I came to decide what I really want to pursue is an engineering career that might have a chance of leading up to an IT Manager or other non-technical higher-paid positions. As of now I have had no work experience—except for a short unpaid internship in “Data Science” at an obscure company—since I was planning to do a Master’s in Mathematics in Italy to further my academic goals but happened to not get my visa approved. I have been applying to PhD programs in the USA for Fall 2022 but all my applications have been refused. Now the option I am considering is applying to UK and US for Master’s in Computer Science, about which the education agents I have contacted seemed to express confidence that I could get in. Also students who have had worse profile than me from my college have gotten in somewhere in the last term. Right now however most of my confidence in general comes from my 323 GRE General score (164 in Quant), which seems to tell me I am “good enough” for this path.

My main concern right now is whether to pursue my Master’s in UK (which is 1 year starting from Fall 2022) or USA (2 years, starting from Spring 2023 as the intake for Fall 2022 have been closed). I would like to know about the pros and cons of each decision, or better: if one is strictly better than the other for my MBA odds. What I want is a degree that can open up enough opportunities to prepare myself for an MBA.

I have made many big mistakes such as not participating in the campus interviews or applying to MS in the US in the last two openings, but I believe this was a necessary phase for me to go through to figure out what I really wanted in life. I learned it the hard way, but I am looking to improve my future with what I can do from now on. While I wait to start my Master’s, I have decided to seek a temporary job. My college-mate and friend who works in PayPal advised me to look for a startup job. But even if I get a job now that can look reasonably good on my resume I will still have a gap after graduation. I was wondering how bad this can look and affect my future prospects starting with getting into a Master’s program. Will this affect me? If yes what can I do to compensate for this? I would like to know about other things I can do in the meantime, such as doing online courses.

All in all, for now, I want to know if aiming for UK or US would be the best option for me. To put my main question in the format of a question: is US or UK better to get Master’s from with future MBA in mind? Also, is Master’s in CS the best option for me or should I be seeking a Master’s in business-related subject if that would be possible? To remind, my aim is to get into a managerial position in the software industry in the future. If you also have any honest comments or assumptions about what you think my description says about my fit for the career and other things they are more than welcome. Thank you in advance, and sorry if the format of my post doesn’t fit what usually gets posted here. I’m new here!

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