Review of Columbia University

Texas A&M University

8.0(5 Reviews)

University of Massachusetts

7.2(8 Reviews)

Reason for choosing my college

• I chose Columbia over the other two rankings mainly because of its ranking and status. I had gotten admits at Texas A&M MS CS and UMass-Amherst's EE programme. I did not go through with Amherst, as the programme itself did not suit me as much as Columbia's did.
• I wanted to focus more on ML and AI theory, which the flexible curriculum at Columbia offered.

University of Michigan

8.5(17 Reviews)

University of Wisconsin

7.7(20 Reviews)

Purdue University

7.9(17 Reviews)

Reason for Rejection

• A number of reasons. First off, my undergraduate CGPA was lower than 9, which is not ideal these days. Secondly, I was not as involved in undergraduate research as my peers, and this significantly set me back.
• I also believe that applying to more CS-orientated programmes hurt my chances, as my background is in ECE.

• I can't think of anything special. The basics – a good GPA, research experience, good SOPs and LORs – should be enough.
• One thing that I would encourage is to contact professors in the university before you join. This could help with your application and decide whether or not the university is right for you.

• I knew that I wanted to pursue my higher education in the United States because of the ample opportunities and it being at the forefront of emerging technologies. The fact that the country has a well-built pipeline for success for international students was an additional bonus. I wanted to get into a top 20 programme, as this would give me a great peer group and better opportunities while still being realistically possible with my profile. The programmes I chose were either electrical engineering programmes with a focus on ML or straight-up CS programmes.
• I went about choosing programmes that would allow me to gain some research experience. Location and career weren't among my concerns; I correctly believed that if I performed well enough at my school, I would not have issues with those. University itself has been a great experience. Most of the courses were interesting and of good quality. There is ample scope to conduct research and interact with professors. Columbia offers a tonne of extracurricular activities, and the University is in New York, so there is no shortage of things to do. All these things contribute to an incredible student life. The campus itself is small; however, other than a really good gym, it doesn't lack in anything.

• Full-time students need to take 4 courses a semester, which is roughly four classes a week. Class timings vary wildly, and so does class strength. Some classes have 100 students and multiple sections; others barely have 10.
• Once again, the amount of work required for a class also varies wildly. Some classes barely need any work apart from a final project; others have multiple assignments, exams and reports.

• Faculty are all well qualified and knowledgeable. The faculty-to-student ratio is pretty high. All of the instructors are very friendly and approachable.
• The professors also do try and help you with your career by linking you with companies that have a vested interest in the course. Else, if you are doing relevant research, they could connect you with people from the industry.

• Campus experience has been incredible. At the beginning of the semester, there is a club orientation, introducing you to some of the clubs and organisations. There are at least four excellent libraries that anyone can access.
• Columbia is part of the Ivy league, and you can watch the teams take part in sports like basketball, football and baseball. There are intramural leagues that you can join, and numerous parks around the area which you can play casually in.

• Indian students don't have any preference; you can find them at any of the part-time opportunities. Once again, the common rate is 20 dollars an hour. As mentioned before, these jobs are in high demand, and they need to be applied to early.
• There are a number of open positions, so if things are done right, you would be able to land one. Applying to part-time jobs basically involves cold mailing the various departments that are offering them and following up with them.

• TA/RA roles are in demand and need to be applied for early on. A good number of those roles open up. There are lots of other on-campus opportunities as well; for instance, working with the disability services organisation, the fitness centre, the intramural team, etc.
• These usually pay around 20 dollars an hour and, once again, are in high demand. International students are only allowed to work 20 hours a week part-time.

• Most of the people I know have found summer internships or research positions. I have seen hourly wages ranging from a base of 20 dollars an hour to 60 dollars an hour.
• Finding jobs requires effort though, and there are multiple avenues, for instance, applying online on LinkedIn and attending career events organised by the university.

• There are online platforms like Zillow that we used to find suitable units. We had to go through an agent, had to pay a deposit and agency fee and had to have a guarantor. A recommendation would be to join the whatsapp communities as early as possible.
• Most people would be looking for people to room with, and the process would go a lot smoother with other people to help you out.