Binghamton University, Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering
Reviewed on Jun 16, 2025(Enrolled 2024)What Students Say
Likes
- The campus is too big to explore and it has a lot of things to do(wellness center, research labs, stadium, event center, etc)
- Faculties are highly professional and have very good network with industries and also has a research lab for one of the biggest semiconductor company
- There is separate Library building which has ample reference books to read
Dislikes
- At times the weather is harsh which might pull you off to avoid going for the classes
- Surprise quizzes during the lectures, are tough to crack but not always (these quizzes have weightage in evaluation criteria)
- No OCCT bus service during the breaks, making tough to travel around
Scholarship Received
Watson scholarship
1,000
Course Curriculum
10
- The curriculum for MS ISE is of medium difficulty level. Most of the courses are extremely practical and project-based. But core courses might be a bit on the challenging side. However, it will not be bad while grading, as many of the courses here have relative grading scheme
- Positive aspects of the course:
- Professors are highly skilled
- Courses are taught with a very high depth; also, doubts during the lectures are solved
- Classroom environment and peers are curious for learning new things, which helped me grow & understand concepts in practical way
- Software for simulation, Supply chain and others are available for all students
- Negative aspects:
- I did not find any, as I came from India and comparatively, learning & teaching is pretty student-friendly.
- Most of the departments have lectures 4 days in a week. For ISE, Monday to Thursday lectures are conducted. Usually 1 or 2 lectures in a day
- 30-35 for non-core courses and 50-60 in core courses. 30-35 % will be Indian students for ISE
Admission Experience
-
I applied for the following universities:
- State University of New York, Binghamton
- Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
- Rutgers University
- University of Florida
- Northeastern University, Boston
- Clemson University
- Arizona State University
- University of Michigan Dearborn
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- University at Buffalo
- Accepted:
- State University of New York, Binghamton
- Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
- Rutgers University
- Clemson University
- Arizona State University
- University of Michigan Dearborn
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- University at Buffalo
- Rejected:
- Northeastern University, Boston
- University of Florida
- Reason: I think, based on my previous professional experiences and the course being more technical towards design and manufacturing and my SOP being more towards engineering management, might be the reason for rejection
- I chose Binghamton because of its affordable tuition, research opportunities, and the chance to work with companies through the WISE Research Project Assistantship (RPA)—which offers tuition waivers and a stipend. Moreover, the courses that they offer were a perfect balance of technical and management aspects in the industrial domain.
- Admission Process:
- Strong SOP (aligned with the programme which I wanted to pursue)
- Strong LOR (2 Professional and 1 Academic)
- IELTS (minimum 6.5)
- Overall, the experience for me was very smooth, as I followed the steps that were mentioned on the website and also met a representative who visited Mumbai to clear some doubts I had. Also, the university and professors were promptly replying to the queries that I had during the process.
- I applied for the Fall 2024 intake. I wanted to work in the industry for a few years before my master's to deepen my knowledge and figure out my specialisation. I had prepared myself by working in healthcare, manufacturing medical devices and then later joined fortune 500 in operations. These all helped and influenced my decision that I want to explore more in the industrial domain.
- I started my preparation in May 2023, took my IELTS in June 2023 prepared my SOP, LOR, and was done with my application by 1st January 2024. I received all admits around end of February
Faculty
10
- For Binghamton and the ISE department, I never felt this ratio mattered. Faculties are just an email away from students. Whenever I had doubts, I emailed the professor and got a response in 24 to 48 hours. If not resolved, I used to schedule a meeting.
- Teaching method is very aligned with industrial standards. But for securing a job, not only academic content but also my own hard work supported me. Certifications, using Career center's mock interviews, talking with seniors for resume review and many more.
- For part-time, no faculty helps much. Binghamton has Handshake, where they put all their on-campus openings. Moreover, talking to seniors worked best for me.
- Since I'm curious to learn more about supply chain and financial engineering, Prof. Sung Chung, Prof. Nagarur, Dr. Wang, and Dr. Sreenath were the best, as they guided me and supported me in resume review for my Research Project Assistantship.
Campus Life
10
- University had 2 campuses, as per my knowledge. Main campus (University union) & pharmacy campus
- Within the main campus, where most of the things are. There is a separate building for the library where students can study, refer to reference books and do many more things. There are separate sports facility east gym and west gym. There are ample on-campus student accommodations where most of the Undergraduate students live.
- There is binghamton stadium known as the event centre, where most of the interstate, interuniversity and other level matches happen.
Part Time Jobs
- There are ample part-time opportunities. Out of which 70% get into Sodexo and others as Teaching assistant, Research assistant, or Graduate research assistants.
- 90% of the part-time jobs have $15.5 / hour pay, which is pretty enough to live and save in Binghamton. For some positions it also had $24 / hour.
- Students get part time in Library, ISSS, Sodexo dining, Event center, Grading, Gym trainer, Sports referee, museum and many other hidden jobs which can be known by networking.
- During the semester, 20 hr per week. Usually the 1st semester is tough to get part time but most of the students get in the 2nd semester.
- On an hourly basis, $15.5 / hr is the minimum pay. It is a bit easy to get part-time. I believe luck plays a big factor too. Usually, dining part-time jobs are randomly picked (but a rule: Be an early applicant) FIFO. But other RA, TA, GA, and Grader positions have interviews; most of the time 2 rounds. All the processes for part-time are through the Handshake app, for which students get access after successful confirmation of the admit.
Placement
8
- As per my knowledge for ISE, within 2 months students get their offers, but with rigorous applications. But for CS/IT it is a hard time. Students are getting full time but it is taking time. Only thing that I see is upskilling always. Even after getting rejections after multiple interview rounds, making each step a learning experience worked for them.
- Average salary for ISE is between $80,000 and $110,000.
- Most of the internships get converted to full-time, but if that is not the case, then Referral works the best, and getting a referral can be achieved using "networking". Other tools that can be useful are Jobright.ai, Linkdin jobs, indeed, glassdoor.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- For finding the accommodation, there is not just one thing that helped. I found a group where all Binghamton Students for Fall '24 have finalised their university.
- Students from Mumbai Pune contacted each other and likewise, we made a group of 8 and started to hunt for houses
- We used apartments.com, zillow, and a few others which had renting available posts from direct owners. Using that, we found an owner, got a virtual tour of the house and finalized it before flying to US (Note: all after the visa was approved)
- There are few other agents (no broking from students) that had accommodations. (Amikus)
- More details can be found in the binghamton website too.
Exams
- I applied for the Fall 2024 intake. I wanted to work in the industry for a few years before my master's to deepen my knowledge and figure out my specialization. I had prepared myself by working in healthcare in manufacturing medical devices and then later joined fortune 500 company in operations. These all helped and influenced my decision that I want to explore more in the industrial domain.
- I started my preparation in May 2023, took my IELTS in June 2023 prepared my SOP, LOR, and was done with my application by 1st January 2024. I received all admits around end of February
Fees
- Here, usually the fees is semester-wise but the post-calculation average cost per credit is around $1200
- Breakdown:
- Per Semester - 12 credits (4 courses) = $14,400 + $1,400 (insurance) = $15,800
- Fees are Semester-wise
- Monthly cost of living
- Rent – $500 to $550 (private room) with shared kitchen, washroom and other spaces of the house
- Food & Grocery – $200 to $250
- TOTAL Cost of living = around $800 to $850
Scholarship
- Yes, $1000. It was a Watson scholarship and has competitive-profile-based evaluation criteria.
- $1000 scholarship, usually received by most of the new students.
- Also, Watson Institute of Systems Excellence I received a Research Project Assistantship (RPA) under the Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE).
- With this position:
- $24,000/year tuition is waived
- You receive a monthly stipend
- You get to work directly with a company on real-world projects
- I’m currently working with one such company and have gained valuable experience.
- eligibility criteria: must be a student of the industrial engineering department and have a relevant background based on the open position.
