Positives: They have good programs for machine learning and data science. There are a good amount of professors who work on various research. It's great to coordinate with them. Other than computer science, we can take courses in mathematics, statistics, or computer engineering. All are of great quality. Good funding options. They have a decent career fair option. Atlanta (a nearby city) has a lot of software companies. Auburn has a lot of computer science and AI clubs. This could help a student to improve his skills.
Course Curriculum :
The curriculum is good. They have courses on computer networking, AI, cybersecurity, user interface, and design, software engineering, etc. Some courses are up-to-date with the industry standards and some are not. I am not at liberty to share the names of the courses. It is good for the students to look up courses name online and figure out the syllabus. You can also email the professors or TAs to get the syllabus. Some courses will be projects based. You need to have good coding skills to complete the projects. Some courses are research-based. The professor will discuss research papers with students and ask them to implement the algorithms.
Exams :
My score: GRE: 305, Quants: 158, Verbal: 147, Writing: 3. TOEFL: 94. CSSE minimum score requirements: GRE: 300 (150 minimum in both sections, but the department provides flexibility regarding the scores), Toefl: 79, minimum 16 in all the sections, IELTS should be at least 6.5. Note: I heard that my department is waiving the GRE score requirement for now. Contact Clint Lovelace, department coordinator, for more details (jcl0014@auburn.edu ).
Placement :
AU conducts career fairs where you can find more than 100 companies. I have seen 15-20 companies for my major. Some notable companies are CGI, Shipt, Tsys, NCR, Nvidia, JB Hunt, Cape Gemini, Sogeti, Mueller Water Products, etc. Placement Process: Placement is not guaranteed. The students have to approach the companies by themselves. Auburn career center might provide assistance with resumes, or any other related requests. Students have to research the companies, network with company people, and submit their resumes. Additionally, students have to look for jobs on Linkedin by contacting people from other companies. There is an Auburn Alumni page where students can reach out to alumni for help.
Internship :
No, I don't have any internship experience.
Events :
All the information will be available on AU Involve. Campus infrastructure events happen regularly. We have good Wifi, and library facilities (24x7 on some days). We have a recreation and fitness center (highly sophisticated).
Fees :
If a student pays all the fees, they may have to pay around 35-40 L. The fees will be paid credits-wise. 1 credit is around 2000 dollars.
Scholarship :
No, I haven't received any scholarship. But, in my university, there are 2-3 possibilities for getting full-fee funding. 1. Getting a TA from the department. Should contact Dr. Xiao Qin (xqin@auburn.edu), Asst. Department chair. Also, before that, the student should get at least volunteer research work from any professor. Only MS thesis students will be awarded funding. 2. Getting an RA from professors. Could cover 2 years of funding. Not mandatory to choose the MS thesis option. 3. Contact the RFID lab (https://rfid.auburn.edu/) to get any job opportunities. The students will be funded (both academic fees and monthly salary)
Faculty :
The faculty is good and helpful. We have professors working on different research areas (AI, Natural language processing, Operating Systems, Cognitive Science, Computational biology, Cyber security, Evolutionary computing, and Software engineering. I worked with Dr. Tung Tanh Nguyen, my professor, to develop a software defect prediction model. He is a great professor, and he is knowledgeable in software engineering. His courses are on par with industry standards. I highly recommend students take his course to get hands-on coding. He also mentors students if they are applying for jobs or attending technical interviews. Before accepting an assistant professor position, he cracked Amazon and Microsoft interviews.
Hostel :
I took a private sharing accommodation. I paid around $375/month for a 2-bedroom apartment shared with one person. The total rent is $750. On average, for a 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom shared accommodation, students may have to pay around 500 - 550 dollars including rent, wifi, water, and electricity.
