Journey in the Northeast

I applied to 4 colleges DUKE: REJECTED Engineering Mgmt UIUC: REJECTED Technology Mgmt NCSU: ACCEPTED Engineering Mgmt NEU: ACCEPTED Engineering Mgmt For Duke, I think the biggest issue was timing. I submitted my application very close to the final deadline. Top-tier schools like Duke get a flood of applications, and applying that late probably didn't show a high level of interest on my part. The earlier application rounds are often less competitive, and by waiting, I put myself in the toughest possible pool of applicants. With UIUC, it came down to experience. I was applying to a highly competitive programme, likely their engineering technology management course. When I compare my profile to the students who get in, I realise my practical experience was a bit thin. UIUC really looks for candidates with significant research, killer personal projects, or relevant internships, and other applicants probably just had a stronger, more specialised resume than I did at the time. I chose Northeastern University (NEU) in Boston primarily for its popular co-op programme and its location in a major tech hub. NEU's focus on practical, real-world experience. It was the ultimate deciding factor for me. Choosing between Northeastern and North Carolina State University was a tough call, as both have excellent engineering management programmes. Honestly, the co-op programme was what sold me. I kept thinking about how different it would be to graduate with 6-8 months of actual work experience already under my belt; for something like Engineering Management, where you really need to understand how businesses actually operate, that hands-on experience seemed way more valuable than just sitting in more classes. Boston was a huge factor too. I visited both campuses, and while Raleigh's Research Triangle is impressive, there's just something about being in a city where you can literally walk to dozens of tech companies and startups. The networking opportunities felt endless. Plus, I'm not going to lie; I liked the idea of living in a big city for a couple of years and exploring more opportunities. The way NEU structures the programme also felt different. Many professors have worked in industry, so the case studies and projects felt more relevant to actual problems I'd face in my career. NC State is an excellent school, but NEU's focus on experiential learning just aligned better with what I wanted. The application itself was pretty straightforward; everything was done through their online portal. I had to write a statement of purpose, which took me forever because I kept overthinking it. I basically explained why I wanted to transition from pure engineering into management and what I hoped to do with the degree. Start your statement of purpose early. Mine went through like seven drafts before I felt good about it. Line up your recommenders well in advance; professors get swamped with these requests. And honestly, just make sure your application tells your story. Why this program? why now? what do you actually want to do with it? That authenticity matters more than sounding overly polished. I applied for the Fall intake. The entire admission process, from submitting my application to receiving my acceptance, took just under two months. Choosing the Fall Intake: I chose the Fall intake for a few practical reasons. First, it aligned perfectly with my academic calendar, as I was finishing my undergraduate degree in the spring. This gave me the summer to get my finances in order, arrange for housing in Boston, and mentally prepare for graduate school without feeling rushed. Second, the Fall semester is the primary starting point for most graduate programmes. This means the largest cohort of students starts at the same time, which is great for networking and going through orientation activities together. It also sets up a better timeline for securing a co-op, as many recruiting cycles are geared towards students who follow a traditional academic year. My Admission Timeline My experience was relatively quick and straightforward since Northeastern's College of Engineering uses a rolling admissions process for many of its programmes. Application Submitted: January 10, 2023 I submitted my completed application, including my statement of purpose, recommendations, and transcripts, about a week before the priority deadline. Application Under Review: March 8, 2023 About two weeks after hitting submit, the status on my application portal changed from "Submitted" to "Awaiting Review." This was a good sign that all my documents were received and my file was complete. Admission Offer Received: April 27, 2023 This was the big day. I received an email notifying me of an update to my portal, where I found my official letter of acceptance. The wait during February felt long, but getting the decision in early March left me plenty of time to make my final choice....Read More

I applied for the following universities: PACE University - Admitted Univ. of Albany - Rejected NYU - Rejected NJU - Admitted Northeastern Univ. - Admitted UNT - Admitted UTD - Rejected I believe our scores of Bachelor's degree mattered a lot. As well as our letter to the univ explaining why we're an ideal candidate. Our scores in GRE/IELTS/TOEFL have more weightage above all. And it'd be even better if we had some experience working/interning somewhere combined with some amazing letters of recommendation to get into exceptional universities. In my case, I couldn't score as much in GRE which impacted my admission for even better universities. I like Boston and was excited as soon as I got admitted into Northeastern. About the admission process. It completely depends on course to course. For example, MS CS requires 320+ GRE scores, while my course in Applied Machine Intelligence doesn't require as much. I recommend checking these details on the programme website for up-to-date info. Northeastern generally accepts GRE/TOEFL/IELTS scores + Your Degree certificates + letters of recommendation (if any). And it'd typically take 20 to 45 days to hear back. Overall, it's like any other admission process. Always recommended to cautiously prepare the materials before applying. I applied for the Spring '23 intake. It took me around 20 days to receive the decision from the univ. The course I enrolled in is MPS Applied Machine Intelligence, which is 18 months long. The decision timeline differs between schools. I like Boston and I liked the reviews about the univ., which influenced my decision. Also, given that top schools like Harvard and MIT are just beside, it also encouraged me to take part in various co-curricular activities not just in NEU but in those schools as well, which eventually encouraged more networking....Read More

I had applied to 10 universities in total. (4 Dream, 3 Target, 3 Safe) 1. Northeastern University 2. Ohio State University 3. Indiana University Bloomington 4. Syracuse University 5. Columbia University 6. University of Southern California 7. Purdue University 8. University at Buffalo 9. Arizona State University 10. University of Maryland College Park Categorization- Dream Universities (Difficult to get an admit from) 2. Ohio State University 5. Columbia University 7. Purdue University 10. University of Maryland College Park Target Universities (Medium Chances of Admit) Admitted - 1. Northeastern University 3. Indiana University Bloomington 6. University of Southern California Safe Universities (Surely an Admit) 4. Syracuse University 8. University at Buffalo 9. Arizona State University Admitted - 1. Northeastern University 2. Ohio State University 3. Indiana University Bloomington 4. Syracuse University 6. University of Southern California 8. University at Buffalo 9. Arizona State University Rejected - 5. Columbia University 7. Purdue University 10. University of Maryland College Park Reason for my rejection in these universities would be: The batch size of these universities is a lot smaller as compared to other common universities. These universities hold positions in the top 15 in the US for computer science, thus making it very competitive for getting an admit even with an above-average profile. My profile, especially my CGPA, wasn't that great. I had a CGPA of 8.8 when sending out my applications, which was one thing I think could have led to the rejections. A CGPA of above 9 is considered good and sufficiently competitive. These 3 universities were in my "dream university" category in my shortlist and thus were a long shot. These universities demand extensive prior research experience (all top universities are research-based), which I think was lacking in my profile. I didn't get waitlisted for any application; I got either a reject or an admit. I got a confirmed admission from all the universities i got an admission from: 1. Northeastern University 2. Ohio State University 3. Indiana University Bloomington 4. Syracuse University 6. University of Southern California 8. University at Buffalo 9. Arizona State University Northeastern University was the next best option I had after Ohio State University. In terms of ranking, both Northeastern University and Ohio State University stand the same for computer science, but the overall tuition fee at Ohio State University exceeded my budget. Along with that, Northeastern's location was better than OSU and had a better industry track record. Winters in Ohio are more severe than in Boston; hence, Boston was always my better choice over Ohio. Boston in itself is the hub of education here in the US, with top-notch neighboring universities like MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Boston University and the list goes on. This opens up more opportunities and calls for better connections. The application fee for the graduate programmes at NEU is 100 dollars. The application portal was pretty much the same as what the universities have but with some additions. They had asked for my technical expertise, like the programming languages I know and how many lines of code I had written in each. They also asked for my personal history statement in addition to the statement of purpose. They were some basic screening questions related to social, cultural and economic barriers and how I overcame them. I had to put in all my basic personal information along with my previous education information and also any internship/work experience I had. There was a section to upload my resume, and then in the end was a section to put in the details about my recommendations. On entering their email and mobile number, they would contact them for my recommendation letter and other general questions. For admission to any of the courses of the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, you are required to have a good enough GRE score (although its not compulsory, its optional); with that, you have to submit your TOEFL/IELTS score as well; TOEFL - 100 and IELTS - 7.5 are the minimum requirements for admission. Along with this, good research experience is also expected for an admission into the Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Admission into the Khoury College of Computer Sciences can be really competitive, so the better the scores on GRE and TOEFL/IELTS, the better the chances of an admit. My overall admission experience was filled with ups and downs. With me having no one to guide me and tell me about how to go about things in a new country, I reached out to my BTech college seniors studying at Northeastern University. I made around 10–15 connections and asked them doubts regularly; they were kind enough to put with so many questions of mine. Out of those, I am still in regular contact with 3-4 of them. After I got my admit, it was time to get the i-20. Upon uploading my financial documents, NEU issued my i-20 form in just 2 days; this was in February. After that came the visa process in June. My biometrics and interview took place at the Mumbai Consulate and it went pretty well. I suggest getting help from a counselling service for filling up the visa forms and also preparing for the visa interview. After my visa got approved, me and a friend of mine (who also got admitted to MS in Data Science at NEU) started searching for accommodations. We somehow got lucky with finding all 5 flatmates through mutual connections and didn't have to go through the painful process of getting to know someone from scratch. We contacted a Boston-based broker through their Mumbai office for giving us options close to the university, and we got one after 1 month in July. In August it was time to leave and packing is like the most crucial part; you have to very strategically plan what to take along with you and what to leave given the airline baggage constraints. I applied to universities for the Fall 2024 intake because I had completed my B.Tech in June 2024 and wanted to pursue my master's directly instead of taking up a job. I chose to go for an MS as soon as I completed my BTech so that I wouldn't lose my habit of studying and then take up a job after all my education is done altogether. Admission Timeline:- It took a total of 12 months, starting from preparing my application documents and file to acceptance and then flying to the US. June 2023: I started working on my SOPs and LORs with the help of my professional counselor, friends, and family. October 2023: Completed and submitted all my applications. (Tip: applying early increases the chances of admission and scholarships.). January–March 2024: Received admits/rejections from universities. May–June 2024: Begin the visa process and preparations for travel. (Accommodation and bag packing) August 2024: Flew to Boston. September 2024–Fall 2024 semester started on 4th September....Read More

I applied to the following universities: Stevens Institute of Technology - Rejected New Jersey Institute of Technology - Rejected UT Arlington - Accepted San Diego State University - Rejected I think the primary reason I got rejected from these colleges was the fact that I was trying to switch my stream from Mechanical Engineering to Software Engineering/ Computer Science. It may also be down to the fact that I came from a not-so-famous university in India. I chose Northeastern over my other admits because this was where I got to study my desired stream. I had also heard good things about the co-op program at Northeastern. So, that was also a big part of my decision. I just applied with the required documents and got admitted. The only required exam is IELTS/TOEFL. The minimum score for IELTS is 6.0. Once you do receive an admit, they take a lot of time to release your admit, because of which your scheduling for your visa interviews might get delayed. I applied for the Fall 2023 intake. I think I applied some time around February/March of that year. I applied to multiple programs at Northeastern. So, I don't remember exactly which program I applied to and when. I might also have applied sometime in the previous year to a program. I received the admit that I wanted to go for in April 2023, so it took around 4-5 months....Read More

Neu is famous for its coop program, it is indeed good, but again too much students is killing the job market, so other than that no major advantage, Its all about you....Read More

I had applied for 5 universities I got rejection from 2 Universities and accepted from 3 universities. 1. University of New Haven - Admit with Scholarship and TA fellowship (I did not accept the offer because it was not a well-known university) 2. UC Davis - Reject (My SOP was not so outstanding) 3. Northeastern University - Admit 4. Arizona State University - Admit (There were only 2 people I found in the whole course) 5. North Carolina State University - Reject  (My SOP was not so outstanding) I accepted the offer from Northeastern University as they guaranteed Co-op programs there. There were lots of Biotechnology students to whom I could approach to, and got good insights about the university. After my undergrad, I looked out for internships ( because, to apply for the US Universities, minimum 3 months of internship or hands-on training is a must) I did one training and few internships, parallelly prepared for the IELTS test. IELTS or TOEFL, you can take any tests. These are like English proficiency tests. Then I started preparing my SOP (Statement of Purpose), personal statement, resume, and LORs (Letter of Recommendation) and listed the universities and their requirements. I gave my IELTS Exam, took some more time to modify and change my SOP and resume. Then I started applying to the universities. Later, I waited for the decisions. Meanwhile, I attended some biotech workshops and events. Got 3 admits and 2 reject  Choose the best among those 3:  • Arizona State University • University of New Haven • Northeastern University Then I paid my enrollment fees to confirm the seat. Then comes the visa process. I waited to get the visa slot, looked everyday on the visa website, as soon as the slots were open I booked my Visa in Chennai. I went to the bank with all the documents. SBI bank was making things too late. So I changed to HDFC Bank. I got the loan and forex card.  Paid my tuition fees, registered for the classes, booked flights by comparing the amount and dates (the early you book, the cheaper it will be) After that, I prepared all the docs required for the Visa, I went to give my visa interview, got approved.  Then I did shopping for clothes, kitchen utensils, indian masalas, skincare items, etc etc.… and Finally, flied to Boston. The admission process was pretty easy, they'll send you all the steps in your email and you just got to follow that. You can always reach out to the university administration through email or just ask students or Aluminium on LinkedIn....Read More

I applied to only one  college and one course.  Northeastern University, Master's in Professional studies in Analytics from College of Professional studies and I got admission from here. I applied to this course for January intake.  In my opinion, the selection process for a master's degree depends a lot on when you are applying. The sooner the better the chances of getting an admit. Also, SOPs should be convincing. I did not receive rejections from anywhere. The factors like coursework had the major influence and also the fact that my friends went to the same university gave me some comfort. The admission process was the fill the applications which involved GRE scores and I chose duo lingo for language test and writing SOP and LORs. Apart from this, undergrad marksheet and high school result marksheet were needed.  The overall experience was pretty straightforward and simple. I applied for Winter intake. That was the only option available for my course. I would suggest taking Fall intake as that allows you to use even your first summer for internships. I applied in July and got my result by September end. It took me about 2 months but the process of receiving I20 took a while and I got it by November end and my visa date was in December first week which made it very close. I have heard this happening from many students....Read More

I applied to a plenty of colleges, from which I got rejected at the New Jersey Institute of Technology because of my low GRE. In the rest I was admitted, all the admissions came in pretty quick except for the University of Maryland; it took a little while to arrive. Some of the other colleges I got admissions to were from Illinois institute of technology Stevens George Mason University of Maryland Pace University I chose this college because of the ranking and it was more about the study-focused institute, as coming here as an international student, I wasn't much into sports. This school is well known for its discipline and research. After you get admitted, you just have to follow a simple admission procedure, pay some minimum amount to confirm your seat, do the paperwork and get registered for your program. A minimum of 6.5 overall for IELTS is required. As such, there were no challenges, as the international administration here will help you throughout the process as they're quite responsive. Fall 2023. The early admission for fall for undergraduates starts in November of the previous year and the application for masters starts around January. The admissions process didn't take as long. It was about 2–3 weeks. I got my admit in April end. Then it was the fee payment and making of the I-20, which you require for visa and the admission paper work was done online on work day....Read More

The University is private, and their academic curiculum easier. They have good placement and CO-Op options to work in high-techs, The size of campus is pretty large, the faculty and staff is helpful. This University comes in top fifty ranking universities in USA. This is best university for techincal Education, or Stem programs....Read More

My experience has been great. The university fosters inclusivity with numerous Indian clubs and events. While the overall curriculum was good, I expected more in terms of the technology taught and course selections. The campus life and supportive community have made my journey amazing....Read More