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What Students Say
Likes
- One of the best schools in the United States for computer science. AI and Data Science department of UMASS ranks within the top 20 in United States.
- Professors are extremely renowned and are giants of their field.
- MS in CS course of UMass has an established track record of close to 100 percent placement in domains of Software Engineering, Research Scientist and Machine learning roles.
Dislikes
- Honestly there isn't much to dislike about UMass. For my entire two years of Masters I felt blessed to be a part of this prestigious institute. However I will still try to give some pointers which might not be the strong suite
- UMass, Amherst is located in small town of Amherst, Massachusetts. The town is fairly small and might not feel happening to some students. In winter the town gets extremely cold with snow falls and harsh weather conditions which might make it difficult for new comers to settle in
- On campus accommodation prices are quite high and availability is quite low.
Course Curriculum
- Course curriculum for MS in CS at UMass is challenging and expected to be challenging at Masters level. A mix of both more oriented towards research
- Research oriented course, most of the courses comes with real world projects, huge focus on AI and Data Science, Courses are upgraded each semester to keep up with evolving technology.
Admission Experience
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I applied to the following colleges for MS in CS program
1. University of Wisconsin, Madison - Rejected
2. University of Illinois University of illinois Urbana Champaign - Rejected
3. Georgia Institute of Technology - Rejected
4. University of Maryland College Park - Rejected
5. University of Massachusetts, Amherst - Accepted
6. University of Virginia - Accepted
7. University of Illinois, Chicago - Accepted
8. The Pennsylvania State University, College Park - Accepted -
The schools I got rejected from are some of the best in the world. All of them are ranked in top 10 and they were ambitious for my profile. So even before applying I knew I had a slim chance. My rejection from those schools could be attributed to two main facts my not so strong CGPA(8.5/10) in undergrad whereas some of these schools preferred a CGPA of 9 or higher and another factor could be being from a tier two Undergraduate college.
The reasons which I gave in strength sections applies here too for choosing UMass. -
UMass application process consists of following steps:
1. Fill out the application form on UMass website
2. Upload SOP, resume , transcript, degree certificate, contact of two professors for LOR, research papers if any
3. Pay the application fee
4. Wait for the Decision
5. If selected accept the decision within 15 days
6. Request i20 by filling the i20 request form
7. Apply for F1 VISA
8. Go through F1 VISA biometrics and interview processGRE - 315 above (320 above is good)
TOEFL - 90 above (23 above in speaking section)
GPA - 8.0 above
2 Strong LORs and a very strong SOP -
Overall admission process was quite smooth. Drafting a strong SOP is quite challenging. F1 VISA process is also challenging
I applied for Fall 2021 intake and reason why I preferred it over spring is due to the fact that in fall intake you graduate at around May - June which is peak time for hiring for most of the companies.
The entire application process took anywhere from 2-3 months. This includes selecting the college, drafting SOP, getting LORs and other things etc.
Class Schedule
- Depends on what courses you take. It could vary anywhere from 0 to 3 classes per day.
- There is no fixed timing I am done courses at 8 am as well as at 7 pm. Again depends on the course you chose
~70 Average number of Indian students.
Faculty
- I have no idea of this and never cared about this.
- All professors at UMAss are PHDs research scholars and experts of their field with vast teaching experience. Apart from the regular classes they frequently takes doubt session and also have TAs under them to provide any additional support.
- Professors at UMass are strictly focused on academia and research not on at all on job search
Cameron Musco.
Campus Life
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UMass Amherst - Main Campus
UMass Lowell
UMass Dartmouth
UMass Boston -
It has all the necessary facilities like Library, gym, rec centre, Hospital, On campus transport, dining and anything else
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There are several student organizations like Indian student organization, chinese student organization etc. Lot of events take place at UMass like diwali festival etc.
Part Time Jobs
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TA and RA positions are not available for MS students
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As mentioned above there is no TA or RA position available at UMass for Masters student
Course grader, Dining, Tutor etc. 20-25$/hr - As per the regulation of USCIS any student on F1 VISA is only allowed to work for a maximum of 20 hrs on campus
- Dining jobs are fairly easy to get others might be a bit more challenging due to limited availability
- Approx 20 usd paid hourly
- It is relatively easy to get a part time on campus job while studying. Students don't need to give any extra effort to do so.
- Students can search job opening from internal job portal and then they can apply for the same. Usual process involve job application and 1 round of interview if required. For non academic jobs like dining jobs no interview is required
Placement
- More than 90 percent of students at UMass secures employment within 6 months.
- The average salary at UMass is 120k USD
- There are many ways to search for jobs like Linkedin, Direct applications, College fair, Alumni referrals ect
- Almost all big companies hires from UMass like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft,, Netflix, Nvidia, Oracle, Adobe , HPE etc to name a few
Accommodation
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I found my accommodation using the Internal UMass whatsapp group
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Monthly rent for a 2 Bed 1 bath apartment is 2000 USD excluding utility charges. You can share the apartment with 3 person which will bring the per month rent to 700 usd
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It depends on the type of accommodation that you are looking for some of the accommodations are near whereas some might be really far.
Exams
- GRE is required at UMass with an accepted score of 115 or above. TOEFL/ IELTS is requied to show your proficiency in English language
You need a strong SOP, CV and 2 strong LORs. - There is no interview process at UMass. Your profile is evaluated based on the application and any additional document that is included during the application process mentioned above.
Fees
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Fee breakdown
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Course Fee - 15000 USD per semester (3 courses 1st three semester) and 6000 USD for the last semester (1 course)
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The fee at UMass is charged per semester basis. You are expected to pay the entire semester fee before the last date of course selection freezes.
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Living expense in Amherst can come somewhere from 1000 to 1500 usd per month depending on your life style
Scholarship
- There is no scholarship available at UMass for MS students. Its exclusive for PHD students
- I didn't receive any scholarship as it's only reserved for PHD students at UMass.
- Again none of my batch mates received any scholarship as it is only reserved for PHD students at UMass
- No one from my batch received any scholarship again for the above mentioned reason
