Loan Eligibility & Program Review

Kyash9 · March 15, 2021, 5:49am

I have received admits from the below Universities for Fall 2021 and now at the financial planning stage to fund my education abroad.

Northeastern University - MS Information Systems
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign - MS Information Management
Oaklahoma State University - MS Business Analytics & Data Science

Need review of these programs & guidance on if I am eligible for any loan or related service through GyanDhan.

My Financial History:

No outstanding credits
Excellent CIBIL score
No EMIs
No loan history till date
Collateral against loan available.

vishakha.bhagia · March 22, 2021, 6:45am

Hi @Kyash9

Please check your loan eligibility on the GyanDhan website - GyanDhan > Loans > Check loan eligibility.
Once you check your loan eligibility an Education Loan Counselor will get in touch with you to discuss loan options as per your profile and requirement.

Program reviews -

Northeastern University
MS Information Systems is known as a job-oriented program and less known for research. The curriculum is innovative and will prepare you for a role in the IT industry. The program falls under the College of Engineering, is a technically inclined program with core requirements as Application Engineering and Development, and electives like General informations Systems, User Experience, Big Data Systems and Analytics, Intelligent Systems, and Smart Contracts. The university is situated in Boston, an urban setting with a ton of job opportunities and internships. Since the program is job-oriented, your chances of landing a good job will be higher, obviously aided by your efforts as well. The university also boasts of 100% success in job placement, in companies - like IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, working in roles - like Projects Managers, Data Architects, IT Managers, etc. There is also a Co-op option as part of the academic curriculum for you to gain professional industry experience. The employment can last from four months to eight months in your field of interest. This is a plus point that you might not find in any other university.

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
The MS Information Management is a relatively newer course, introduced in the university in 2016. You can expect the degree to equip you with both - technical/research knowledge as well as practical industry knowledge. The program has a more holistic approach. Apart from four foundational courses (Data, Statistical Models and Informations, Sociotechnical Information Systems, and Information Modeling), you don’t need in-depth knowledge of programming or mathematics to get through the program. This is also not a purely STEM-designated program. It has elements of social science as well so you can expect reading and writing in some of the courses. You can customize the program to suit your needs, so if you have any personal goals or courses you want to complete - you will have the flexibility to do so. It also gives you the flexibility to enroll in other department courses, that is Non-iSchool courses.

I have contacted the alumni to get a more accurate program review for the Oklahoma State University. I will update the review for the third university by tomorrow. I apologize for the delay and inconvenience caused. I hope this answer helps you in deciding on the right program. All the best!

Kyash9 · March 24, 2021, 3:36pm

Hi @vishakha.bhagia ,

Thank you so much for the help. Really appreciate.
I tried the loan option as you suggested but received no call, can you please guide.

By any chance did you get any information on Oklahoma State University MSBADS program ?
Also, do you have any information on UT Austin MS Information Studies program ?

Thank you
Kumar Yash

vishakha.bhagia · March 26, 2021, 7:10am

Hi @Kyash9,

We didn’t find your email in our database so couldn’t connect with you. Please drop an email at contact@gyandhan.com and we will get back to you.

As for the program reviews, I got the following feedback -

Oklahoma State University
The program and the curriculum are top-notch. You can expect the coursework to be rigorous, with the right mix to equip you with the technical skills. It is well structured and equally distributed in all the semesters. There is an amalgamation of Programming, Statistics, Predictive Modelling, Marketing and Finance, Marketing Analytics, Data Mining, Advanced Analytics, and Optimization. Apart from the core courses, the department has formed four electives - Marketing Analytics, Advanced Data Science, Health Analytics, and Cybersecurity Analytics. You can also work with your advisor to customize the set of electives to suit your career goals.

Job opportunities - The alumni of the department are currently working in companies like Walmart, Dell, Airbnb, Barclays, Capital One, Comcast, GM, Apple, Ford. You can expect all the top companies to come for recruitment.
The department has uploaded the following stats of students getting full-time placements, industry, and average salary -
25 march

Students get summer internships and advanced internships (Co-op) as well. The companies that come to recruit for these internships in the first semester itself - will help you in experiential learning. Apart from this, there are also TAship and RAship available within the department and other departments as well. These are given on merit, and if you get one, it will help you a great deal financially.
The program has a strong brand and stronger alumni network that will help open up new avenues. This is reflected in its course and college ranking as well.
I believe it is an added bonus that the program will not sit so heavy on your pocket.

University of Texas at Austin
The MS in Information Systems offered by the university has mainly three components - Core courses, electives, and Capstone experience course. There is a single core course (Perspectives on Information). The electives can be selected within the School or in any other department of the university. The “capping” experience/course will mainly help you integrate your theoretical knowledge with the practical. It is similar to your thesis or project in the last semester. You can, however, choose the type of capping experience you want to complete. Options include - a fieldwork-based project, a Master’s report, or thesis. The main difference between report and thesis is that thesis will stretch over two semesters with longer research.
Coming to the faculty - the faculty comes from diverse backgrounds and is an expert in their respective fields.
I would suggest looking at the courses offered by the department because a large portion of the students enrolled in the course is looking to follow the librarian/archivist track. The university is top-ranked and the course has become reputable. However, the ranking and reputation won’t matter if what you are studying does not correspond to your career goals. The reviews for the course are good overall. Even the employment opportunities after graduation are vast and are not limited to just one field.

The alumni of the program got hired for positions like - librarian, Archivist/Digital Archivist, Software Engineer, UX Designer, UX Researcher, Data Engineer, Records Manager, Data Scientist, Product Designer, and Analyst. These are the top 10 job titles with an average salary of $78,491. Students usually start the job search 12 months prior to graduation.
The alumni are currently working in companies like Amazon, Cisco, Dell, Deutsche Bank, IBM, Austin Public library, and many more. To lighten your financial burden, there are of course TAships and RAships available.

I hope this helps you. If you have any further doubts or queries, do post on this thread. I’d be happy to help.
All the best!

Kyash9 · March 31, 2021, 8:59pm

Hi @vishakha.bhagia ,

Thank you so much for your help on these universities. Really appreciate the hard work you put into sharing these valuable insights.

Can you please share a bit more information on UIUC MSIM program which you mentioned above with respect to job and assistantships statistics.

Thank you once again
Kumar Yash

vishakha.bhagia · April 1, 2021, 4:24am

Hi @Kyash9,

It’s no problem.
I will get back to you by the end of the day with the stats you asked.

If the answers helped you, please like them as a feedback. I’d really appreciate it.

Kyash9 · April 6, 2021, 9:11am

Hi @vishakha.bhagia ,

Hope you are doing great.

By any chance did you get UIUC MSIM program statistics with respect to job and assistantships. Or any info on like how we could defray the tuition cost & full time job opportunities once we complete the program ?

Thank you
Kumar Yash

vishakha.bhagia · April 8, 2021, 4:03am

Hi @Kyash9,

Apologies for the delay.
I got the following information for your query -

The MS in Information Systems is a self-supporting program and therefore, does not offer tuition-waiver generating assistantships. There are only graduate-hourly positions - basically, on-campus jobs that may or may not be academic in nature depending on where you apply. These openings are available across the campus.
As for the job opportunities, the college has published the following stats -

Average salary of graduates -

The university has not shared the companies that come for recruitment. However, they have shared the industries graduates end up working in - Accounting, Automotive, Business Services, Banking and Financial Services, Consulting, Consumer goods, etc.
The job opportunities would be plenty after graduation. According to the university data, most graduates get placed in states like California, Washington, Illinois, and New Jersey with more than 80% of the class getting placed full-time.

In short, there are on-campus jobs to help you financially. The college does not offer tuition-waiver-generating assistantships.
After graduation, you can expect a good start to your career. To make you more employable, the school has experiential learning courses such as Practicum (IS 549) where you will work under a professional so as to gain practical knowledge of the field. There are other programs such as connecting with a mentor to help you network. Moreover, the university has come up with a tool called Handshake, wherein you can upload your resume for potential employers. The tool will share entry-level jobs, hourly positions, internships, practicums, volunteer positions, and campus assistantships. So you can stay up-to-date.

I hope this answer helps you!