What Students Say
Likes
- My tuition was affordable to me as I was able to pay it off without much effort
- It was close to NYC, so higher chances of career opportunities and good companies such as banking ones
- I had an opportunity to do an apprenticeship, as it helped to secure full time job
Dislikes
- Extreme weather specially during winter, it made it really tough and made commuting to the college especially for morning lectures very tough
- Not much of an entairtainment options available compared to city universities, basically no night life
- Career fairs were helpful but lacked some of the major companies like Google, Netflix,
Course Curriculum
8
- Core Subjects were of medium difficulty, while some of the ML subjects, like Deep Learning were of higher difficulty. It was mix of both, with core subjects tending towards theoretical and ML subjects towards practical
- The most positive aspect, of course, was the Ppt shared and the reading material. there were no negative aspects as in such but they lacked in updating certain materials to the latest.
- Around 2-3 classes were scheduled and timings were irregular but mostly mornings. About 20 students on average if it is not a combined class. I don't have the exact count but around 15 is a major portion, though.
Admission Experience
- I applied to 4 colleges
- Binghamton University - Admitted
- Buffalo University - Admitted
- Arizona State University - Admitted
- Florida University - Rejected
- I received admission from 3 colleges, which were Binghamton University, Buffalo University, Arizona State University
- Yes, I received rejected from Florida University only
- Low GRE Score could be the reason for my rejection
- The most major factor was the tuition fees and housing compared to other cities
- First collect your scores (GRE, TOEFL),
- prepare the bachelor's degree mark sheet.
- prepare statement of purpose,
- Submit 3 letter of recommendation.
- Submit Resume
- Fill out the online admission form, upload the documents and pay the application fee.
- Above 90 TOEFL score, GRE SCORE above 300, Min GPA 3.0
- The experience was very smooth; they had only tracking system and it was easy to track the status.
- Some challenges were waiting for the letter of recommendation, as it delayed the process. Due to my surname problem in my sheet, I had to get a gazette and upload it.
- I applied to the Sprint intake at Binghamton University. I had about 2 years of experience already working as a software engineer and I wanted to advance my degree. Moreover, the Machine learning field was on rise and the United States was a perfect destination to learn and apply the latest technology. The class size during Spring intake is smaller compared to Fall Semester so it was easier to pay attention and learn from the professors.
- For me it took about 2 months. After gathering all my documents, I submitted my application but then came the spring break, which was about 2 weeks so that delayed the process, in the next email i received the confirmation and before the acceptance, I needed to submit my vaccine reports on their portal. It took me around a week to gather all the documents for it. After uploading the document, my acceptance was confirmed. It was smooth.
Faculty
8
- In my course, the ratio was around 20:1 and 2 assistants for each professor. It was a very good ratio, as professors were able to answer each of our questions in detail.
- Some were traditional while some were modern but overall they were good; communication was clear and it did help me in securing a job
- Yes, if you reach out to them, they do help us connect with past students for referrals, which helps a lot.
- Kannad Ghose was the professor and was very knowledgeable, and his projects were tough to crack, as they focused on low-level languages. His theory exams were more practically aligned.
Campus Life
8
- There are 3 campuses: Vestal Campus in Vestal, Health Science Campus in Johnson City and UDC Campus in Binghamton Downtown
- All facilities a university has library, sports, gym, pools, and a hospital.
- Spring Fling and U-Fest are the major ones. they are like traditions with concerts, parties, nightlife, etc.
- I did not participate in other activities but the one i did was the Hack BU Hackathon organised by the student union, where you design a product and then pitch it. The hackathon ran for a long number of hours where you could see ideas coming to life.
Part Time Jobs
- Teaching Assistant (TA), Research Assistant (RA), or Departmental Assistant (DA) positions were hard to get, so if 50 professors are there, then each can have 2 TAs and 1 RA.
- For TA/RA/DA the pay is variable, as it depended on the professor you are under but one major thing was your insurance was waived and pay was on average $1000 per semester, which was good
- Other jobs include working at coffee shops, college dining, cleaning services, library assistants, etc., where pay is around $15 per hour for other jobs. 20 hours were the max you are allowed to work Very difficult due to the high number of out-of-state students
- Most of them go for TA positions and if they are not available, dining is the other option. $15 is what one can typically earn on an hourly basis in part-time jobs. It is Very difficult as i mentione earlier due to the high number of out-of-state students; almost everyone applies for it. The University post about openings on an app called Handshake, where you can search for it.
- To submit, you typically add your resume and cover letter. After shortlisting, either they take interviews or directly assign you to the job, depending on the job. For example, if it is a TA they will check your gpa in that course and take an interview. For dining jobs, they just hire you
Placement
6
- Almost 70% of the students secure employment, from what I know.
- The average salary is around ~$80K for entry-level jobs.
- Linkedin, Carrer Fairs, Career trips by university, past students are the major options through which one secures employment
- Some of them got the job immediately, while some of them took time but they kept applying, used referrals and cracked in the end. Walmart, tesla, consulting firms such as infosys
- Google, Meta and Amazon are the major companies that hire.
Accommodation
Off Campus
6
- Since on campus was expensive i took off-campus housing. There were many whatsapp and fb groups and from there i found an apartment to rent
- My monthly rent was $400 excluding wifi
- Since I am vegetarian, finding vegetarian roommates to share the apartment was the most difficult
- Yes, university have whatsapp groups always start there. FB are great but there are lot of scammers too so be sure of it before making any payment
- About a 40 min bus drive; Most of them stay off campus near downtown.
Exams
- The exams required for admission were TOEFL and GRE for a master's degree.
- Couple of documents are needed to complete the admission process
- All the marksheets of bachelor's degree
- Statement of Purpose
- Letter of Recommendations (2 from College, 1 from Work)
- Resume
- Application Fee Receipt
- Vaccine Reports
- There were no interview for my application process.
Fees
- The total cost for 2 year or complete course was $44,600, out of which $28,400 was for Tuition and Fees and $16,200 was for living expenses
- It was charged semester-wise based on how many courses I enrolled in.
- It was around $600 - $700 per month, which include around $400 rent, $10 wifi, and the remaining groceries.
- Transportation cost was around $100 per semester, which included bus service, shuttle service, etc.
Scholarship
- I did not receive any scholarships. There were some scholarships on ethnicity, but not sure of it completely.
- I did not receive any scholarships
- One of my known batchmates received a scholarship of about $1000 after admission, which was adjusted to his first semester fees
- No idea, as that number was never disclosed publicly to us, nor the amount of it
