What Students Say
Likes
- Plenty of opportunities for funding through assistantships(GA,RA,TA). Plenty of chances in minimum wage part time opportunities.
- Top class infrastructure with many facilities and the urban setting is highly beneficial.
- Good range of courses and professors(must be chosen properly).
Dislikes
- The campus is very decentralized and architecture is not really fancy as some college (both of the factors doesn't effect functionality/flexibility).
- Moderately high fee when landed in internship.
- Not very great efforts/opportunities for placements.
Course Curriculum
8
- If the admit is given to you and if you have not done the related degree in your undergrad, the department may ask you to do prerequisite courses (which mostly don't happen in CS). The curriculum has many easy courses, some difficult yet worthy ones; you can pick them according to your academic/intership hunt priorities. If utilised well, you will learn a lot.
- The timings will be mostly between 9 and 5, sometimes also evenings. The structure for the courses will vary with each for which you have to attend the classes in which you are interested and choose the ones you like before the deadline. The class sizes vary too. So for the MS students, there will be 400 levels (undergrad courses) and 500 levels (PHD courses); at least 4500 must be completed to complete your masters.
- Indian students are more but also you can observe diversity. The positive aspects of the courses are that they make you really learn and make you dive deep into topics. The negative is that if not kept up, the student can easily manipulate to get a grade by using the same assignments from the previous year (happens for only a few courses).
Admission Experience
- I applied to 10 colleges
- Accepted: University of North Carolina Charlotte, Arizona state University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Georgia state university
- Rejected: University of Florida, University of South Florida, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of SUNY Buffalo, California state University Long Beach (waitlisted initially), San Diego State University
- University of Florida, San Diego State University, and Umass Amherst were pretty competitive at that time and kind of ambitious for my profile. The SUNY Buffalo was only giving admission to experienced candidates while I was a fresher and there were a lot of applicants, heavy competition, similarly for CSULB.
- This college is kind of tied with ASU (ASU might still be better) but the fee waivers attracted me and are still a good decision.
- Apply, decision, acceptance, I20. Then formalities with OIS and financial support, etc.
- GRE, IELTS (320+ in GRE maximises chances of admission) minimum could be 310 and in IELTS 8
- Overall academic experience is very easy. Not a big challenge, depends on the type of challenge you choose.
- The admission experience was smooth and very well guided.
- I applied during November/December of 2022 and got a decision in March 2023. The major factors you should keep in mind while applying are that trying to have a GRE of 320+ adds up a lot to your application (I am telling this because I have seen very few people with a GRE score below 315), projects, and experience add up (I didn't have experience, but it was totally fine).
- The process took 3 months; the decisions are out in March, mostly for the fall semester. And make sure to apply through the normal application, not the UIC global application (in general, consultancies apply through that as seats are mostly guaranteed). So what happens here is that the one’s who apply through UIC Global will not be eligible for assistantships, even if acquired waivers are not provided. So the application is given, then the decision is given by March; after that, a deposit has to be paid and an application for I-20; some formalities with the Office of International Services (everything will be guided by them).
Faculty
10
- Student-to-faculty ratio of 18:1
- Its a very good approach and is practical enough to land a decent job and learn the required skills for that.
- Not explicitly. but once you build a connection with them/do a project along with them, chances are high that they can recommend you in LinkedIn andalso through their personal network
- Grechanik Mark, he is the best. Though the coursework is a bit hard, he actually makes you learn a lot. The project are very good in his course and have a lot of demand in the market.
Campus Life
10
- We have many campuses, mainly west (for medical studies) and east for engineering. There is also a law college in the downtown.
- Library (2 of them west, east), gym (2 of them), sleeping pods, popup pantry (free groceries), night ride (free rides after 10 PM), college students, lot of study areas (literally every area is a study area), good wifi, many free events, career services, wellness center, commuter centre, etc.
- Thanksgiving clubs are mostly sports-related, and basketball is top-class and very popular.
- There are hundreds of student clubs, including indian clubs for celebrating indian festivals and 400+ student organisations, including the Society of women in engineering
Part Time Jobs
- The part-time availability is very good the salary will range from 15 to 30 per hour. The 30 per hour is mostly for the assistantships. The TA would require to maintain academic excellence and should have 4/4 compulsory. The remaining doesnt need GPA. All the postings are made in Handshake and UIC jobs portal. 20 hours is maximum per week. Most of the students acquire part-time at least by thirst semester; it is mostly easy to get a part-time. Other on-campus jobs include dining, teaching aid, office aide, usher, fitness instructors, housing, etc.
- 15- 30 per hour. Most of the openings are on the Handshake website and you should be ready with a resume and CV. And also class schedule in most cases. There is also a website for UIC sperately that has postings of part times and full times; even that should be kept in mind and applied. Also, sometimes postings are made through emails.
Placement
6
- Linkedin, Networking
- Mostly applying online with good skills and having a good connection to be able to refer you to their place.
- Amazon, Motorola, Bectran, and PayPal are the main companies that come for placements.
- The placements completely depend on your skills; there will not be any extra push from college.
Accommodation
Off Campus
6
- I have found my accommodation through the WhatsApp accommodation group but it can be found using aptartment.com and Zillow in general. The roommates were found through a yocket and an excel sheet of incoming students.
- 480 USD; only water is included. Application fee, overpriced options
- Join accommodation groups and, if possible, have a tour before joining and discuss with your roommates everything beforehand to avoid conflicts
- My accommodation is around 1 mile from CLG, walkable distance. Most Indians live off-campus, housing in a radius of 1 mile and very near campus. Mostly in the zipcode 60607. Wouldn't suggest crossing that zipcode.
Exams
- You must submit required admission exams like the GRE along with English proficiency exams like TOEFL or IELTS for international students. Necessary documents include official transcripts, letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, proof of English proficiency, resume/CV and a portfolio. The application is submitted online through UIC’s portal. There are no interviews taken, mostly.
Fees
- The fee is 12k per semester if taken 9 credits and 17k if taken 12 credits. And this is it—no additional fee academically or for insurance. In total, 36 credits. Hostel is something different again and off-campus housing would range from 400 to 850 depending on the type of room and quality/location. Semester wise, 3.800 dollars
- 480 rent (can vary), 50 groceries, 150 utilities, miscellaneous
Scholarship
- There are many scholarships that an individual can apply for. Most of them are external and some are funded by organisations and recognising communities. The university sends a weekly mail showing the opportunities for scholarships. But if you get a fee waiver, you won't be eligible for most of the scholarships. Rather than scholarship, the fee is mostly covered through assistantships.
- The award amounts range anywhere from 500 USD to 20,000 USD, depending on the scholarship. There will be some emergency helping funds. You should keep an eye out and apply, all of them are mostly difficult to acquire since they are not initiated by the university.
