What Students Say
Likes
- Commuter friendly- bus service was free for students
- Spacious campus- UCR is one of the biggest UC campus
- The faculty department is great with experienced professors teaching students in ways that help students retain the knowledge.
Dislikes
- The fees for international students - even with scholarships, it was quite a hefty amount of fees as compared to the Citizens
- For me, a few of my lectures were from 7pm - 10pm so as to keep in mind the students who were also working during the day. But as the bus service was only until 9:50pm, it meant that i had to walk back home alone after 10pm and that was a bit unsafe.
Course Curriculum
8
- The course was a mix of both theoretical and practical and we had a lot of group/individual assignments.
- The most positive aspect is the groupwork that was a part of all the courses, which made everyone communicate with their peers and it was easy to make friends as well.
Admission Experience
- I applied to UC Riverside, University of Texas at Austin and University of North Texas at Dallas in the US. I got confirmed admissions from all 3 universities and did not receive any rejection or shortlist/waitlist.
- I tailored my SOP's for all the universities I applied to after doing extensive research (i.e., the course, why I would be a good candidate for the program, what I was looking to learn from some of the faculty members) on each and I think that would be why I was admitted to all.
- In addition to this, I applied to Auckland University of Technology and University of Auckland in New Zealand and received confirmed admissions from both as well.
- I initially wanted to go to New Zealand but the country was not providing student visas due to the COVID lockdown period. Hence, I had to defer my admissions for 2 semesters before I decided to apply to universities in the USA.
- The reason I chose UCR is because of its great Masters Programme and the location of the university (who wouldn't want to move to California!) and also because I received a good $20,000 scholarship from the university upon admission. Whereas UTA was providing $5000 scholarship.
- So in comparison, UCR was better in all aspects.
- I applied in May 2021 and received acceptance around mid-June 2021; all the documents required for admission were clearly stated and in addition to that, there was a GRE waiver due to COVID as well. I took my TOEFL test before I started applying to any universities and received an 8.0 on the test. The minimum criteria was 7.0. The minimum required GPA was 3.0 out of 4.0 in the bachelor's degree.
- The challenges faced by me were mainly due to the student loan application process and they had the possibility to hinder my chances of getting a visa. All in all, everything worked out great.
- I applied for the fall intake because a student must be in the U.S. for at least 9 months before starting a summer internship.
- Based on my calculations, fall was the best option. The admission process took under two months; I applied in May and received my acceptance letter in June 2021. In addition to that, the visa process took around 1 month with regards to the prep, scheduling the interview, etc
Class Schedule
8
- The earliest classes were from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the late classes were from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. There were a few classes from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. as well.
- The average students would be around 40-50 and the Indian students were around 15, in addition to Chinese students and American students
Faculty
8
- Aside from the core subjects, the faculty-to-student ratio would be 35:1 and all the faculty is very involved in the course.
- The teaching methods are so different that Indian faculty teaching methods involve much more the students and also respect the students.
- I think my favourite class was MGT 227—Fixed Income Securities—because the professor made it very fun!
Campus Life
10
- UCR only has 1 campus, which is in Riverside, San Bernardino County.
- 2 libraries are on campus, in addition to SSC, which is a place where students can go and study. Sports grounds are available and the UCR
- The gym is also a great place to play team sports with your friends. It has 2 pools, 2 floors worth of gym area, tennis, basketball, badminton courts, etc.
- The Spring Splash is a popular event but sadly, its only for undergrad students. We also have the Winter/Spring banquets for the Business School students.
Part Time Jobs
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Students who have a GPA above 3.5 typically secure a TA/RA position and they typically earn upto $1500 per month as a TA.
The pay range might vary depending on the course they are a TA/RA for. Other on campus jobs include a position at UCR dining, lifeguard at the gym area, jobs at the department as a front desk job, etc. The maximum hours per week are capped at 20 hours and the pay range is from $15-$18 per hour. - Students usually earn upto $18 per hour at r part time job on campus and most of the jobs would require some previous experience as a working individual. One can either apply through Linkedin/ Indeed or the UCR careers webpage for these jobs. The process is simple as applying to any other job and some jobs dont even require an interview. You have to make sure that your Resume/CV is up to date for this.
Placement
8
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I would say 95-98% of my batchmates have been successful in securing a job after the course completion. The salary range would be anywhere from $65k - $120k. Many individuals have been securing jobs through consultancies like Flexon, etc for securing a job. There are job fairs every quarter at UCR wherein one can go and dropoff their resume, various networking events are held throughout the course and there's also a dedicated team on campus to help you with tailoring your resume/CV according to the requirements of the job market.
My batchmates have been placed in companies like Blackrock, JP Morgan, Apple, Deloitte, PWC, etc.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- I found my accommodation online, through my university's website. The monthly was around $1000 with facilities like pool, study room, game room, gym, etc. I think I would suggest students seek on-campus accommodation; mine was off campus and it was almost 1 mile away from campus. But the grocery stores were nearby so there were no issues and it was a safe place with patrolling, etc.
Exams
- Previously I mentioned that I gave the TOEFL; what I meant to say was that I gave IELTS. GRE was not necessary during that time as they had a GRE waiver. Additionally, a Statement of Purpose, 3 LORs, and transcripts sent to the university directly from your previous university were also necessary.
- Interview was not a part of the admissions process at any of the universities I applied to.
Fees
- The fees were $5000 for each course, each course was 4 units each and as an international student you have to take 12 units of courses per quarter. The fees were charged quarterly. And as per the scholarship norms, I would get $5000 minus the rest of courses so basically it was $10000 per quarter for me.
- My monthly expenses were as follows:
1. Rent: $1050
2. Groceries and utilities: Upto $35 per week
3. Mobile bill: $25 per month
4. Transport: Up to $50 per month.
5. Leisure expenses (movies/restaurants/etc.): up to $50 per month
Scholarship
- I did receive a scholarship; the minimum amount was $10000 for my course and the maximum was up to $80000. The scholarship criteria depended on the GRE/TOEFL scores and how early one applied for the course. Most international students received scholarships depending on when they applied as well. All of my batchmates (who were Indian) received a scholarship of up to $20k to $35k.
