Yashwanth Reddy Bolla
Reviewed on Feb 4, 2025(Enrolled 2022)What Students Say
Likes
- People, Staff in the university are very generous towards international students.
- I was able to learn new skills that were lacking in my profile.
- I was able to perform well in my academics and received Student of the Year award
Dislikes
- Lack of scholarships for international students.
- No research work done by professors for getting RA positions.
- Very few On campus jobs, not everyone gets a opportunity to work on campus.
Course Curriculum
10
- Since I was interested in learning something new that could help my career, it was pretty easy for me, and I was able to maintain a 4.0 CGPA throughout my Masters. I have seen a lot of my friends struggling as they were not interested in academics and were focusing more on part-time jobs.
- If you really want to learn some skills that could help you get a job, this is a nice course at a cheaper price. Our course has some subjects with exams; that is where most of the students failed in clearing the subjects and had to retake some of them again.
- We usually have 2-3 classes per day and only 2 times a week for each subject, which is much less than what we had during our bachelors in India. 90% of the students are Indians, some from Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana, and 1 or 2 Americans in the class. Each class typically has 10-15 students.
Admission Experience
- I have no idea of the list of colleges to apply to; I have associated with a consultancy and applied through them. I have applied to 4 colleges and received I-20s from all the colleges. Trine University, Lewis University, University of Findlay, University of Dayton. I had a very good academic record and English proficiency test scores so I was not rejected in any of the universities that I applied to.
- I chose Findlay because of the course curriculum. They had all the courses that I was looking for and so I went to Findlay. When I applied, it was pretty much straight forward: create a profile, upload all the necessary documents, and wait for the decision. Once the decision is made, they send the i20 along with an email saying if we are required to take any pre-requisite courses based on our profile. Now they are asking to pay $500 for issuing i20, which will be added to your workday account after joining the college. Many universities do this to avoid transfers without even joining the college; students transfer to small universities.
Faculty
10
- Some faculty are really interested in teaching us the skills that we need and some just don't care whether we understand. It is our responsibility to make the most of the class and the faculty.
- The faculty-to-student ratio is 1:15 but most of the students don't pay attention to the faculty and they look at the students who respond to them. The way I was attentive in class helped me get the TA position and the professor helped in getting that job. Each professor has their own style of teaching; some make us do activities and engage during the class, some just deliver the lecture and leave. Some give us assignments that could help us apply the concepts we learnt.
Campus Life
8
- There are a lot of student clubs and you can join any of those depending on your interest.
- I don't see any of the Indians joining in any of those clubs, as all of us are more into part-time jobs and don't see the value in joining the clubs, but it will be a nice experience participating in any of the clubs, events, or activities that happen on campus.
- Events are organised throughout the year and we have to keep note of the things happening on campus. This summer we got a chance to play cricket and had a tournament held for the first time and It was really nice playing our game after a long time.
Part Time Jobs
- We have around 5-7 GA positions on campus that are given to international students; there are but we are not eligible or they don't consider international students. Pay range is the same across all positions as per the state labour laws; we get paid around $10 per hour with taxes. We also get some grant amount if we are working in these positions, which will be added to our workday account and will be deducted from fees. There are student assistant jobs around campus in dining, physical plant, horse barns, housing, and recreation centres. Whatever position we are in, we are only allowed to work 20 hours per week. It is not easy to get an on-campus job; we may need references, especially for positions like GA.
- Most students prefer to work outside at gas stations, restaurants, etc. because they can work more hours a week and it is paid in cash. Students earn depending on the number of hours they work. Most of the students get paid 10-12 around Findlay; it may increase in bigger cities. For on-campus jobs, we can apply through Workday by filling out all the fields and uploading our latest resume with all the details relevant to the position.
Placement
4
- It changes from year to year and the current job market. Most of the students prefer to go to a consulting firm to get a job. Very few apply for their full-time positions and none of the organisations in Findlay hire international students because of the paperwork and visa restrictions we have. Moving to the bigger cities within the state or moving out of the state is the only chance of getting hired.
- We do have job fairs held twice a year but organisations are inclined towards citizens and other departments. Technology students have zero chances of getting jobs through campus fairs.
- We can get jobs with a starting salary range of $70k per year and can go up to $120k. Most of the students get hold of consulting firms to get jobs. There are students who are still looking for jobs even after 1 year of graduation. Learning skills that are required for the roles that they apply is highly important.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- I was fortunate enough to get accommodation during my first week in Findlay. I was staying temporarily at a place and happened to find resources where I can find accommodation. I happened to check with them and found the accommodation.
- I stay in a three-bedroom house with four more students, and my monthly rent share is $240 excluding groceries, Wi-Fi, and transportation. I would recommend future students get in touch with students who are currently studying or even graduated from Findlay to get help. Our accommodation is provided by the university; all the utilities are included in the rent, and we don't have to pay separately for electricity, gas, and trash.
Exams
- I gave my IELTS and Duolingo both are accepted; please check the exact cutoffs as they differ for each course. If you are not meeting the cutoffs, you can still get admission but have to take English courses as a pre-requisite.
- There is no interview process for getting an admission to the University of Findlay. After submitting all the required documents, like the Statement of Purpose, LOR, CV, CMM, Degree, and English Test Scores, a decision will be made based on the documents.
Fees
- My course includes 33 credit hours, excluding the pre-requisite courses. Each credit hour is $765 and other miscellaneous expenses can cost around $7k-$8k per semester.
- Overall, my masters course cost me around $33,000, including my prerequisite courses. Without pre-requisite courses, masters would cost around $28,000. Monthly expenses would come around $250-400, depending on the number of people living with you.
Scholarship
- By default, every student gets around $1000-$2000 as a scholarship, which gets credited to their Workday account. Additionally if you get any on-campus positions as GA or TA, some amount will be credited based on the position, which is of great financial assistance for students. I worked as TA in my semester and received 1.5 credit hours as a grant.
- I also worked as GA for 2 semesters and received 6 credit hours as a grant per semester out of the 9 credit hours we study for a semester, so almost all the fees will be covered and we end up paying very minimal amount, which can also be covered indirectly by the salary we get paid working as GA/TA (20 hours per week).
