What Students Say
Likes
- The main thing i loved about my college is the professors who are extremely supportive and super approachable ,always ready to guide the students beyond academics.for example my mentor Professor Khouloud Gaaloul has always been a major inspiration in helping me grow in research as well as gaining knowledge
- Secondly the campus life here is so awesome , vibrant and convenient since iam living on campus it makes me easily access library ,labs and study spaces available at the university anytime
- The close student to faculty connection is one of the best parts of UofM dearborn Since its a Smaller campus when compared to other Colleges around the place , we can easily get to know the professors personally which really helps
Dislikes
- The first and foremost thing is the location of the campus which is so remote so nothing is nearby to explore you have to take few busses to visit certain places and buy your essentials
- Secondly i mentioned you have to take busses to go to places but sadly public transportation is poor in dearborn making it hard to commute for essentials without a car
- The academic focus is heavily centered around automotive field so students like me from other specializations like AI ,CS ,and others can find fewer research options that align with their field and interests
Course Curriculum
8
- The difficulty level of my course is moderate and manageable. The curriculum maintains a balance of theory and practical learning, which really helps us learn and develop skills. The biggest positive aspect of the course is hands-on projects and supportive professors who encourage us to learn new stuff
- One negative aspect of the university’s academic and research environment leans more toward the automotive domain, so students interested in AI and other CompSci-related fields can find fewer options here
- On average, I have three classes per week, mostly during the evening, and each class has 35-50 students, and all those students are diverse in nature, so there is a good mix of nationalities in UofM Dearborn, and there is a number of indian students studying here in the university
Admission Experience
-
Colleges that I applied to and got admitted to:
- University of Michigan Dearborn - Admitted (joined)
- Lawrence Technological University - Admitted
- DePaul University - Admitted
- Drexel University - Admitted
- Illinois Institute of Technology - Admitted
- Northeastern University - Admitted
- I got offers from all the universities I applied only thing I believe is because of my good academic background and a good score in IELTS, and, of course, a really good SOP got me into all of the universities I applied to without facing any rejections
- Why I chose UofM Dearborn is mainly because of the affordability for the high-quality education we receive, and of course, being part of the University of Michigan holds a great value worldwide
- Also, the living expenses are affordable compared to other universities I got into, and the final thing that made me choose this university is the scholarship I received here
- Now moving on to the admission process in short it was quite detailed and strict ?i Submitted my application online through their portal after few weeks they asked me to send physical copies of my transcripts by courier for verification which made the process even longer and after 40 days of my application submission i received my admission decision i was almost about to accept another universities offer before this came through
- The eligibility criteria for my course are really simple. GRE is not required, IELTS is min 6.5
- Overall, the admission process was smooth but really slow, mainly because of the verification part
- I applied for the Winter 2025 intake at the UofM Dearborn
- I chose winter because it gave me more preparation time to gather all the documents and take my IELTS. To be honest, Many of my friends had already applied for the fall 2024 intake, but I wanted time to prepare for IELTS and other documentation required for my visa
- I submitted my application around July 2024 and got my admission in the first week of September 2024. I immediately accepted it and started working on my visa process
- So it took roughly 40 days, and so for my admission process, in the meantime, in mid-August University requested I send all the physical copies of transcripts for verification
Faculty
10
- In the MS in AI program, there are more than 50+ students, and classes are usually in a 1:30 faculty-to-student ratio, which is small enough to allow direct interactions with the professor
- The teaching methodology combines theory with real-world research and application. As I mentioned earlier, professors mainly use slides, coding demos, case studies/ research papers, which help us connect concepts to actual implementations
- Most professors are super approachable and encouraging, especially when it comes to research or other assistantship opportunities, and also some do help us in getting real jobs and networking by giving us the contacts they have
- The faculty member I personally admire is Professor Khouloud Gaaloul, who is my mentor and thesis advisor. She constantly encourages people to learn and explore ideas to stay curious and enthusiastic. Her guidance truly inspires me to learn and pursue my goals confidently
Campus Life
6
- There are two campuses in my university, one is Fairlane Campus, which is near Henry Ford College, north side of the main campus, and the other is the Main Campus, which is the central campus
- There are decent amount of facilities available on my campus which is a really good Library and huge wellness center which has a ice ring huge basket ball court and a gym ?major campus festival includes wolverines day, friendsgiving etc and personally i know few clubs but there are tons of clubs especially for indians and international students some examples are IGSA indian graduate student association SAB students activities board and AIC artificial intelligence clubs like this there are tons of clubs.
- There are tons of cultural events happening on the campus, from Ethnicity Day to Diwali, Pongal, and Holi, etc IGSA takes care of all indian festivals celebrated on campus.
Part Time Jobs
- As I have already mentioned on on-campus jobs are very limited, mainly because of the limited campus size
- There are typically 15 to 25 students working as TA/RA per semester
- The pay range for TA/RA comes around 12-15$ per hour
- There are Cafeteria jobs, library/gym assistant jobs and also dining jobs, which pay even less, around 10-13$ per hour
- The maximum hours of work allowed per week are 20hours
- In my opinion, it's really hard to get an on-campus job, especially those dining or library-related positions. RA/TA is also competitive, but it can be secured if we keep trying
- Students doing part time jobs earn from 10-15$ per hour and they can do 20hours per week it is quite difficult due to the limited size of the campus and i think its solely due to the campus size they can see the job opening in the umich career portal and submit their applications if they get selected they attend interview and after that students can work if they are selected.
Placement
6
- I could say 60% secures a job after graduation, but this may vary cause this purely depends on the market and economic conditions, and also it depends on the course as well
- Upon graduation, the full-time students can get paid 35-40$ per hour while working for almost 40hours per week
- Students mass apply through job portals and do networking through LinkedIn. Also, some students have really good contacts before coming here, so they use them to get an offer
- Placement experiences currently for MS in AI are not so good right now cause of many issues going on with visa sponsorship, but however automotive engineers are getting hired really fast, and placement experience for them is really good in Dearborn
- Some of my friends are doing software engineering internships at Fetch AI, and some are doing automotive engineering internships as well
- Major companies that hire graduates from my programs are FORD, Fetch AI, and DTE. rocket etc.
Accommodation
Off Campus
10
- I opted for on-campus housing, which is at the Union, which I booked directly through the online housing portal, and the entire process was smooth
- The rent for my housing, which is a 4x4 private bed and bath, comes around 840$, which includes WIF, electricity, etc Also, we have a 24-hour Gym. ?There were no challenges since I opted for on-campus housing, and the recommendation for future incoming students is to go with the on-campus housing cause there will be no hassle
- The accommodation is right opposite the campus, so it's extremely convenient for me to access the university. Most of the indians don't stay on campus; they stay in Fairlane Meadows, which is another housing company close by to the campus, but not walkable. It's quite far, but the university provides a shuttle for them.
Exams
- For admission at UofM Dearborn, we can submit any one of the accepted English exams, such as IELTS, TOEFL
- I personally took IELTS and scored an overall band of 7.0, which met the eligibility requirement. GRE is not required for my program. Along with the application, I submitted SOP, LOR. Resume, Academic Transcripts, both physically and uploaded online copies, as well?as, after receiving the offer, they asked for my financial proof to process my I-20, so I submitted my loan sanction letter
- There was no interview process as part of my admission process
Fees
- As an International Student, I pay 31000$ per academic year. This can vary due to the course we take, and there is a standard university fee of 400$, and considering all these and the living expenses like transportation and rent, it comes around 48000$ roughly per year
- My course MS in Artificial Intelligence requires 30 credit hours in total
- My university fees are charged semester-wise based on the number of credits taken. As an international student, I am required to take 9 credits to maintain full-time status
- There was a 60$ application fee, which is claimable during the first semester, and a non-refundable 250$ application fee for the dorm
- Moving on to the living expense per month, I live in the union, which is the on-campus housing/dorm. The rent here for it is 840$, which includes WIFI, electricity, and other utilities
- However, my overall monthly expense can come around 1300$to 1500$ because of transportation, groceries, food, and other expenses
Scholarship
- Yes, there are scholarships available for international graduate students. I received the Graduate International scholarship, which is offered to all international students enrolled for 9 or more credit hours per semester. The scholarship reduces 5000$ from the tuition fees per semester, totalling 10000$ per academic year
- The main eligibility criteria for the scholarship are must be an international student, must be enrolling in 9 or more credit hours per semester, and must maintain good academic standing throughout the program
- There are different scholarships for domestic students which are not easily offered; they require tons of applications and paperwork
- Many of my batch mates received the same scholarship cause it is a standard award for all full-time international students
- On average, a large number of international students receive this award of 10000$ annually
