I completed a bachelor's degree(mathematics Hons) with a 3.93/4 GPA from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2015. After that, I wanted to get into higher studies because I wanted to secure an academic position in a university. I applied to a few other USA universities including (UCF) and got the admission, tuition scholarship and teaching assistant position from almost all of them. I have heard about those universities through some senior Sri Lankan students who were studying there. The first reason to choose UCF is that I love hot weather and hate snow, so Florida is my best choice. Then as an institution, UCF is the largest University in the USA with great facilities for international students. Communication is really efficient. As an international student, I had to send many emails back and forth and got replies very fast. Since I got quick replies it was easy to deal with the visa process in advance. Also compared to other USA institutions application fee is cheaper.
Course Curriculum :
For the master's program, there are two options such as master's by course work and master's by the thesis option, where I did the second option. We have a range of subjects to choose from. But we have got some compulsory courses such as Analysis 1 and 2, Numerical Analysis and Applied math, Linear Algebra and advanced matrix theory. A person doing master's by course work have to pass qualifying exams (Analysis and Algebra). A person doing the thesis option has to choose a thesis supervisor and a panel and has to submit a thesis to get the completion. The course curriculum is flexible and is being updated frequently.
Exams :
I did TOEFL internet-based (got 87, wanted 80 ) and GRE general test. I first enrolled in the Mathematics Ph.D. program. Then because of a personal reason I wanted to move to Australia. Therefore, I converted my Ph.D. to a Master's in the second year. Now I'm completing my Ph.D. at Monash University, Australia. The reason why I wanted to do a higher degree in mathematics is because of my passion and also as I mentioned earlier wanted an academic career in mathematics. Get in into UCF was highly competitive. I joined UCF in fall 2016. We had around 12 students in my batch, most of them were international students. Then even after getting into UCF, we had to do another English language exam which is similar to TOEFL before starting our teaching assistant position. They also had free English language programs for international students, which I valued.
Internship :
Yes, there are plenty of internship opportunities if you are working in applied math or if you want to join the industry. Also, there are many summer school, conference opportunities. Moreover, students can showcase their research work in annual research week (hold separately for graduates and undergraduates) They also started a financial math track which forces to get real-life experience.
Fees :
Yes, scholarships and fellowships are available for international students. This includes tuition fees and health insurance. Also if you get a teaching assistantship you can cover all living expenses. I'm a recipient of both scholarship and teaching assistantship. For the teaching assistantships priority is given for the Ph.D. candidates. But we have to pay a semester fee of around $2000 per year which includes gym services, university shuttle service, library services, etc. The application fee was $30.
Scholarship :
Yes, I've got tuition scholarship+health insurance and the teaching assistantship. We have to submit a separate form for both scholarship and teaching assistantship with university application. Selecting process is highly competitive and it's based on our Bachelor's results and GRE, TOEFL results. Also, we have to submit a statement of purpose as well.
Examination Structure :
In each semester we have to take 3 courses worth 9 credits. The thesis is worth 6 credits and it's year long. In each course, they have their own structure. But they all have a final exam. For some courses final exam comprises two parts take home and in-class, others in class only. Most of them had mid-exam as well. Other than that, there were weekly or bi-weekly quizzes and assignments. The final exam is around 3 hours. But if you finish early, you can leave. Grades were A, A-, B+, B, B-,...
Faculty :
All new teaching assistants have an orientation. The workload is bearable also flexible. Faculty of science and the library provides a variety of services for thesis writing. You can get a mentor for your thesis writing for free. They help regarding language matters. Also, there are compulsory professional development modules that we need to complete before graduation. Also, they provide many useful seminars regarding communication, time-saving, etc.
Hostel :
I lived in an off-campus uni affiliated apartment complex. So I was able to access free shuttle service from and to the campus, it took around 20 minutes in non-traffic times. It was around 40 minutes walking distance to the uni, 10 minutes from a car. I also used the campus buffet which had some offers for teaching assistants. There was a Walgreen by our apartment complex. To get into a Walmart or Aldi I had to use some transportation method. The reason why I choose off-campus mainly because it's cheaper than on campus. And during holidays and special situations like hurricanes, on-campus residents have to move out.
