I chose Purdue University Northwest (PNW) as it is a part of Purdue System and master level programs are maintained by The Graduate School - Purdue University throughout 4 campuses. The tuition and fees is very less, one can easily afford and you get top quality education by great educators. Other factors that excited me - this campus is just 45 minutes away from Chicago which makes easy to search jobs, internships and as well as able to socialize with people.
Course Curriculum :
I say my courses syllabus was very relevant to my studies, professors tried their level hard to provide the quality and updated materials to the students. Some of the courses are exception like Algorithms and Operating Systems as one could not change much in those fields. Software Engineering is one of the course where I learned how to build an actual software for the company in a team which had a Project Manager, Requirement Engineer, Test Engineer, Software Architect and an Integration Engineer. Professors have contact with individuals in local companies where they can recommend you for internships to gain real world experience.
Exams :
Admission criteria depends on the program. My university accepts IELTS, TOEFL, TWE. Earlier they used to have mandatory GRE score for Graduate programs but it is not a requirement now for many programs. My scores: GRE 152 Verbal 162 Quant 4.0 Writing; TOEFL iBT 90
Placement :
Companies generally in US come to campuses just to promote vacancies and career opportunities to students not to direct hire. Same is the case with PNW for any program. University's Career Center organizes career fair and sessions with different companies related to various fields so, students can connect with recruiters in person and get to know more about the opportunities which would help them in making right career choice.
Events :
I would say campus life is fine not so great. There are more than 60 student clubs and organizations at present where students can connect with like minded people or develop new skills which they were never aware. I was part of Residence Hall Association (RHA), Student Government Association (SGA) and served as a Student Senator for College of Engineering & Science for 1 year. Right now due to covid events are not happening but before we had Purdue Homecoming which has 4-5 events over a month, Halloween Party, Chinese mid-autumn festival and other events hosted by different clubs. Residence halls have bi-weekly activities where students can engage with each other and trying to host some events over zoom nowadays. PNW has great research facilities including Center for Innovations through Visualizations and Simulations, Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center, Energy Efficiency & Reliability Center, Water Institute, Center for Cybersecurity etc.
Scholarship :
No, I did not receive any scholarship as no scholarships are associated with the program I chose.
Faculty :
Faculty to student ratio is 1:12 on an average. Faculty and staff members are very knowledgeable and expert in their respective fields with so much research work and corporate world experience under them. In my opinion all are approachable, one just need to ask for a help or reach out to them and they are 100% willing to guide you in the right direction. Roger Kraft, he is genius, his teaching style makes you enjoy the course and you would find always engaged in his class. Even the assignments mimic real world problems and there is no time frame within which you need to complete your assignment as he believes in the process of understanding.
Hostel :
I used to live on campus but not right now. PNW has two university villages in Hammond - Griffin and Peregrine. Both has 4 bedrooms and 2 bedrooms apartment. Student can choose according to their comfort level. All apartments are very spacious and overall will be good for your stay. Students can also fill their preferences of roommates while filling out the application or choose not to. Other options include finding the apartments nearby the campus which costs around $500 on an average but depends place to place or contact students who are already living outside for room accommodation which can cut your living cost.
