VIBE CHECK: University of Delaware

The course curriculum is average. Some courses are challenging, while others are easy. There is a mix of theoretical and practical. It also depends on the specific courses the students take. But almost every course has some practical aspect, including the classes that were supposed to be very theoretical. Positive aspect is that the professors are not too rigid in grading but have expectations of you putting in effort to learn.

Negative aspect is that cheating is rampant and a lot of students can get away with good grades without having to learn much.

I applied for the following universities:

• University of Delaware (Admitted),

• Northeastern University (Rejected),

• Stevens Institute of Technology (Rejected)

• Syracuse University (Rejected).

I applied very late in mid-April. Also, I had a poor GPA from my undergraduate. But, decent work experience and projects.

I was unsure if I would get into any US college with my low GPA and mediocre GRE scores. So I thought of applying after retaking the GRE and then applying later. But I changed my mind and decided to give it a shot in March and April.

I listed decent universities that had the following:

1) Flexible ECE Program 2) Had professors who worked on my research interests 3) Decent reputation, if not great. 4) Had no minimum GPA criteria

Admission Process was standard: SOP, 2 LORs, GRE and TOEFL. I received an admit 1 month later in May, confirmed my admission and got my VISA in the following months. I don't think there were minimum scores as such by my university.

I had a 318 in my GRE and 100 in TOEFL. But I had a poor GPA in my undergraduate studies, less than 7. But I had relevant work experience and had spent time contributing to open source projects and been working on personal projects.

I applied for Fall intake in April 2023.
It was a last-minute decision I had made around the end of March to the beginning of April.
I had planned to apply following Spring 2024 or Fall 2024 after retaking the GRE for a better score, given that I had a low Undergraduate GPA.
But I just decided to casually apply to a few places.
I got my decision around May 20th. I accepted the decision a week later and applied for my VISA.
 

There are no typical class timings. It can be as early as 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM in the evening.

In ECE, almost all students enrolled are Indian, at least in the master's program.

Around 20-30 students were enrolled in each of my classes.

I am not very sure; I think it is around 1:20. The classes are small and there is a lot of emphasis and opportunity to engage with the professor and get their personal attention. Yes, the teaching methodology is very good and it does prepare us for securing a job in the field.

Faculty members assist students in finding jobs only if the student has worked under them as an RA or TA; otherwise, they don't necessarily help in that manner.

I admire Nektarios Georgios Tsoutsos. I took his class, Applied Cryptography, in the first semester and felt it was one of the best-structured courses in my master's program. It was rigorous with 1 reading assignment, 1 quiz, and another programming assignment. But the sequence of assignments really helped reinforce and repeat the material, which led to solid comprehension.
 

While, other departments do offer RA/TA more generously. ECE department in Udel is not very well funded. Even students rarely get TA or RA in ECE department as compared to other departments. Students in CS and Data Science seem to get it more easily.

The pay range is around 2000$ per month for RA/TA besides free tuition.

Other on campus jobs are jobs in on-campus fast foods such as Chick fill ah, Den, SNAP pizza, dunkins and so on. Also in on campus store, gym supervisor, etc. Students are allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours per week as per F1 rules.

Its relatively easier in UD, almost every Indian MS does on campus part time jobs.

Students typically earn 15$ per hour in their part-time jobs. Its relatively easier in UD, almost every Indian MS does on campus part time jobs.I am not sure about the exact process of getting a part time job. But, from whatever little I have heard, its usually a senior refers a junior for a part time job. I haven't personally done a part-time job on campus.
 

I think it's around 5-10% or even less. Unfortunately, the track record of people getting jobs from ECE has been poor.

I am not sure about the exact salary range for the same reason mentioned about. Maybe this job market is a anomaly. But, I expect 70-100k as someone who is looking for software engineer roles. Students typically apply online on Linkedin/handshake and other job portals.

I know 1 person who was placed in a startup in Philly, another in Amazon as Cloud consultant and another in Microsoft for cybersecurity role.

No particular major companies hire from my program.

I found the Indian Graduate Student Association WhatsApp group through someone I met on the platform reddit, from a person who was also going to attend Udel. From the group WhatsApp group, I messaged and spoke to people to help find roommates. Among roommates, I discussed the various accommodation options.

The monthly rent is $1650 for 2 BHK, 1 BA. This includes a washing machine, dryer and oven. My accommodation is 1.4 miles from campus.

Most Indian students stay off-campus, like I do. They stay in the same accommodation as I do.

My recommendation for future students seeking accommodation is that they please stay as close to campus as possible. It does matter a lot in terms of commute and utilizing opportunities on campus.

$1,069 per credit (9 credits for the first 3 semesters and 3 credits for the last semester). Total of 4 semesters. So for each of the first 3 semesters, it is $11,116.64 per semester. An extra $1495.64 every semester is for health insurance, a wellness fee and a facility fee charged by the university.

It's charged semester-wise and based on credits.

I spend $1000 every month. $700 is for e-bill, rent, internet and water bill.
$300 is mostly for food and eating out. Very negligible transportation costs because a university shuttle is present and the public bus system is strong and very affordable. Just $1 to any destination per trip.