Every year students get admitted to MSCS at UofM and find my LinkedIn and ask me if I have some time to answer their questions. I’ve compiled the most asked questions so I can navigate you here instead.

• How has your experience been so far?

  • I love it! It’s fun, classes are a good mix of challenging but interesting. It’s a prestigious school so the name goes a long way. I love the people I’m surrounded by, I love the access to opportunities, I love that I get to teach and it’s funded. Ann Arbor is fun and UM has already offered me a lot being one year in.
  • The biggest differences I see is I feel valued more as a UM student compared to when I was doing my undergrad at UIC (University of Illinois Chicago). The school name, the alumni network - they do go a long way. Also the school pride is crazy. I’ve never been a part of a school that won things so it’s been a new sense of joy. I would defend UIC CS heavily, but we don’t have a lot of school pride the way Michigan does.

• Should I go for a 2 year program or a 1 year program?

  • I chose 2 years at UM over 1 year BS/MS at UIC and I have no regrets. Firstly, most 1 year programs don’t have funding, you don’t have enough time to do anything interesting as you ease into the program. I have been able to teach, I have been able to be a part of the Perot jain tech lab, work with a startup, take only a few classes, secure an internship - all things I probably wouldn’t have been able to do in a 1 year program. The minute you enter a 1 year program you’re already trying to secure a full time job without ever reaping any of the benefits of the program you just entered. I do agree a free BS/MS program beats a paid 2 year one but I felt like I had hit a ceiling when it came to growth at UIC and I genuinely wouldn’t have gotten the opportunities I now have had I not left.

• How difficult is it to get a GSI position?

  • I get asked this ALL THE TIME. It’s not easy but it’s not impossible. Everyone I asked when I got my admit basically made it sound like it was impossible which demotivated me. But I got it anyways so if I can do it, so can you. Here is something I wrote about getting my GSI offer that goes into excruciating detail. I will say getting a GSI position is probably easier than a GSRA at UofM if you are an MS student. (I know zero GSRAs)
  • Because of how challenging the economy has been a large number of BS students are doing their 1 year MS called SUGS and because they did their undergrad at UM, they get priority for teaching courses. 40% of GSIs go to PhDs and a large number left then is filled up by SUGS students. It’s not a level playing ground which makes it harder but once again, not impossible.

• Does UM offer placements?

  • Short answer no. US Institutions don’t have placements the way some countries like India do, where you are almost guaranteed jobs/interviews in prestigious institutions through some written exams. We have career fairs, we have student orgs that actively bring companies to campus and a fairly large network of support. They bring you to employers but it depends on your skill to secure the job. UM offers a lot of entry points but nothing that forfeits your own effort. The support is great and once again, the name takes you far. It’s one of the best schools in the Midwest and top in the nation when it comes to CS and recruiters are well aware of that too. But you have to do your homework and you need to know how to play the game. If you don’t know where to start when it comes to finding an internship : I’ve written about that too.

• Favorite Courses?

  • NLP (CSE595) w David Jurgens and Information Retrieval (SI650) w Ceren Budak. Planning on taking Election Cybersecurity next semester and I’m really excited about that.
  • Perot Jain Tech Lab is a way for you to work with a startup during the school semester for some experience
  • I only take 2-3 courses a semester because recruiting and teaching keeps my hands full.

• How do you like the courses?

  • I have learnt that I really like programming and project heavy courses and I dislike research seminars. I do think we need more software courses (we do lack in the AI/ML area I feel). I also just think everything research seminars teach me is shallow understanding of many things rather than an implementation deep dive. I’m not a researcher, I’ve made my peace with it. I’m excited to take more courses and maybe be proven wrong.

• What about research? Are there opportunities? PhD oriented stuff?

  • I have no idea. Once again, I’m not a research person. I like building stuff and I love to teach. But reach out to alumni! UM students are super helpful.

• Regrets?

  • My research courses. Been pretty down this semester because I feel like I’m not learning enough. Reading research papers is like skimming hacker news in the morning - it’s just not the same as programming GPT in PyTorch.
  • I haven’t gotten involved with any student orgs. I have no time to dedicate to it. I spent a lot of time in student orgs at UIC putting it over my own interests. I chose to put myself first this time around and as much as I want to get involved, my allegiances have shifted towards prioritizing myself which I am always in conflict with. I think writing these posts is a way for me to still feel like I’m helping people. Maybe I’ll try to get involved, spent too much time in it and regret it next semester?

• Where to stay in AA?

  • Grad students are usually on North Campus. It’s a little bit more dead than Central but hey we have our fun.
  • There’s Willowtree - affordable, 10 min walk to campus, I have my qualms with maintenance but it’s an alright space
  • Traver Ridge - cheaper but further away, also nice but unfurnished
  • Courtyards - more expensive, closest to campus, nice spot!
  • Northwood Housing - probably most affordable, hard to get a spot but apply early!

• Best student orgs?

  • GEECS and V1 is what I keep up with. Again, aimed towards undergrads but GEECS brings a lot of companies on campus (I got an OA for Stripe the day after I registered for their event). V1 does some really cool events with startups so that’s fun too.

• Biggest fumble students make?

  • Taking too many courses. Less courses so you can prioritize on recruiting for an internship. Take less courses in the fall so you have enough time to be interviewing.
  • Not starting early enough when it comes to recruiting.
  • Striking a balance between school and fun - I saw this more at my undergrad among MS students who had found a new found freedom in a new country and went crazy with it. Structure your goals and have your fun in bite sized amounts (with an occasional go crazy)