What Students Say
Likes
- Support for International Students: There are many programs to support the international students; they have a great ISO office, which is run by international students themselves. ISO was available 24 hrs.
- Huge Amount of Scholarships: LU has a policy where they try to offer 99% of international students scholarships based on their GPAs. Most of the international students get 50% of the scholarship in fees.
- Location of University: LU was located in a mid-sized city called Beaumont, Texas. In Beaumont the cost of living was cheap. Most of the students' monthly expenses do not exceed $750, including housing, food, and travel, which is great for international students.
Dislikes
- Campus Jobs: Due to the greater number of international students, most of the students don't get on-campus part-time jobs.
- Tech Jobs: Beaumont has a lot of industries, so for students who are aiming to get into big tech, it will be a drawback. Need to move near metro cities after graduation, like Houston, Dallas, and Austin.
- Research Work: Due to its low rank in research institutes, students don't get more funds for research.
Course Curriculum
8
- The curriculum was a mix of both theoretical and practical. And courses are pretty tough with tight deadlines to submit assignments and projects. And the only negative aspect of the course is they all are highly intense and will be 1.5 months, which doesn't give you much time to spend on practicals. And coming to positives, there are many, but they have a very advanced course curriculum, which gives you an advantage if you want to get into IS roles.
- Class timings depend upon the professor; it can be online or offline. And it mostly consists of 2 classes per week for each subject. In my class I can see 20 to 30 students. Well, coming to Indian student numbers, I am not sure but most of the classes have 40% of Indian students.
Admission Experience
-
I applied for the following universities:
- Lamar University - confirmed Admitted
- University of Dayton - Confirmed Admitted
- Stevens Institute of Technology - Confirmed Admitted
- University of Central Missouri - Confirmed Admitted
- Arizona State University - Rejected
- Northeastern University - Rejected
- University of Central Michigan - Rejected
- NJIT - Rejected
- Seattle University - Waitlisted
- I think, based on my experience and grades, more competition was the main reason for getting rejections.
- I have chosen Lamar University because of its scholarships. 50% of my tuition was waived, which saved me a lot of money. And I feel like I don't have the burden of bigger loans with high interest rates.
- The admission process was easy for Lamar University; it needed to enrol in the Texas University System, upload the required documents, and apply. The eligibility criteria were that the student must have passed their bachelor's with at least a 6.7 CGPA. And required to write a few additional exams like IELTS, Duolingo, TOEFL, GRE, or GMAT (which can be waived based on the programme). And has to pay the $45 admission fee (which can be waived depending on the programs)
- My experience was really smooth, and I got really good support from the admission office.
- I had applied for the fall intake. I hope most of the fall intake students get scholarships, so that is the reason for me to apply for fall intake.
- The admission process took me almost 5 months.
- December 20—Application opened and most of the application was filled out.
- Jan 20 - Contacted the admission office to submit waivers
- Feb 1 - Got waiver for GMAT.
- Feb 20—submitted all other required documents like IELTS, GRE, SOP, and recommendation letters.
- March 10—The admission office reached me to ask for B.tech official transcripts.
- March 15 - Submitted the official B.Tech transcripts.
- April 1- Got admission acceptance letter and was asked to fill out support finance forms. And asked to submit an affidavit of fiancé and loan letters.
- April 8 - Submitted all required documents.
- April 14—Got I-20 from Lamar University.
Faculty
10
- The faculty-to-student ratio is 1:6, but I feel it doesn't affect the quality of education and interaction with faculty because they are always available to clarify things. The teaching methodology was mostly interactive with students, and it was 30% theoretical and 70% practical. Professors will mostly be giving you job training.
- And mostly faculty members assist students in finding full-time jobs. Professors will almost try to assist through their personal networks or references. And I admire them because they are always advised and generous with students.
Campus Life
10
- My college has multiple campuses, which are LU Main (Location: 4400 MLK Parkway, Beaumont, Texas, 77710). Lamar Institute of Technology (LIT) (Location: 855 E. Lavaca, Beaumont, Texas, 77705. (Located in close proximity to the main Lamar University campus). Lamar State College Orange (LSCO) (Location: 410 Front Street, Orange, Texas, 77630). Lamar State College Port Arthur (LSCPA) (Location: 1500 Procter Street, Port Arthur, Texas, 77641).
- On campus there are many facilities like the library, the Rec Center, the open Rec Center, and the student health center, and there is also a police department for safety and on-campus shuttle services. Almost all the major festivals will be celebrated on the campus, such as Diwali and all other international festivals. And it has 100s of clubs, which will include sports clubs, art clubs, etc., where everyone can participate and get certifications.
Part Time Jobs
- Most of the people get TA and RA positions. And the pay range was 10-12 dollars per hour. DAs are more common and can be found across various colleges and administrative offices. They are still competitive but may have a larger number of openings. And had very few open positions in the dining hall with a pay range of 8 dollars per hour. Each student gets 20 hours per week as per F-1 regulations. It was not easy to find an on-campus job because of less availability and more competition.
- It depends upon the number of hours that student gets to work. Generally students work 20 hours with a pay range of 10 dollars, which comes to 1,200 dollars for the month, which covers monthly expenses. And working while studying at Lamar University was very easy; all the professors are more supportive. Usually in part-time jobs they have a schedule that will be given based on their class schedule.
Placement
6
- Full-time jobs depend upon various factors like market situation and student experience in the programmes. Like for Lamar University programmes like civil, biochemical, and chemical engineering and engineering management, you will be able to secure a job within 6 months of graduation due to its campus location and its tie-ups with industry. And programmes like MIS and CS have less advantage because of their fewer tie-ups with the tech industry. The average salary for LU grads is 85000/yr.
- And most of the on-campus placement drives are for non-IT roles. IT roles don't have any advantage. Students tend to find their own placement on online job market portals. And in LU has
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- I have opted for off-campus; I have found my accommodation from my seniors. And here in Beaumont near the university, we get a lot of options to stay close to the university. My monthly shared room cost me 450 per month, including the current bill, gas bill, and maintenance cost. I haven't had any issues finding and securing accommodation because of my connections with seniors.
- Based on my experience, I ask every future student to connect with seniors before coming to the US. Because it gives you an unfair advantage to figure out things. My accommodation was within 1 mile from the campus, and most of the Indian students stay in Edge Apartments or University Drive Apartments.
Exams
- Exams for admission required will be changed from programme to programme. But IELTS, Duolingo, or TOEFL is required—any one of these for English proficiency. GRE or GMAT required depending on the programme; in some programmes they can waive it.
- Required to submit SOP, 3 LORs, and CV. And needed to submit all semester official transcripts of B.Tech. And at Lamar University we don't have any interviews for admission.
Fees
- Tuition and fees: 15,698
- Living Expense: 9,980
- Insurance/Supplies: 2,274
- Total: $27,952/year
- Official student funding:
- Personal funds: 19,590
- Scholarship: 8,362
- Total: 27,952/yr
- This was a full breakdown of the fee structure. And LU was charged semester-wise.
- Monthly Expenses:
- Rent: 400 (includes current bill, gas bill)
- Transportation: 50
- Food: 250
- Others: 200 (depending on person to person)
- Total: $700 + others
Scholarship
- I had received the Exxon International Students scholarship during my first semester. Which waived half of my tuition fee. And to get that scholarship, students must need to have more than a 3.5 GPA.
- I had received an amount of $7,500 per year. And most of my batchmates, like 97%, received the same amount of scholarship. At Lamar University they almost try to offer any type of scholarship in the way of TAs and RAs.
