My Experiences with UCI !

Its been more than 6 months since I came to University of California, Irvine. Two out of four quarters down and I didn't even realize that I'm almost half way through. The last 6 months or so have been good and bad in some ways. I would like to share my experiences which might be helpful for friends who are thinking about Masters in CS at UC, Irvine. I hope it answers some of your general questions about UCI. Some things to keep in mind before going ahead..

1. These are my personal views and you can choose to disagree.

2. All the points are from the point of view of CS and may or may not apply to other branches.

3. Some statistics are bound to change as time goes by.

4. At no point do I compare UCI with any other University.

I have got considerable help from a similar document made by our senior.

1. Why should you come to UCI?

The ICS department at UC, Irvine is top class when it comes to Machine Learning / AI, Databases, Security, Compilers. You will find world renowned professors in these areas who do extensive research work and have very good funding available. People like Micheal Carey, P Smyth, Gene Tsudik, Michael Franz are some names who are amongst the top people working in these areas. So if you want to pursue your Masters with focus on ML / AI, DB, Compilers or Security you should consider UC, Irvine as one of the best options. You will find atleast 1-2 courses every quarter in these areas. You will also find some good courses in Distributed Systems [+ parallel computing] and Algorithms at UCI.
Another point to note is that UCI is very good for research. Professors here do a lot of research work and UCI is known for that.

2. Why should you NOT come to UCI?

People with interests in Networks and OS or Systems in general will be deeply disappointed considering the courses and their variety offered at UC, Irvine. There have been good courses and professors in the recent past but somehow for us the experience has been very disappointing. Some of the problems faced by students are no good courses, no good professors and courses which were supposed to be offered have also been dropped due to one reason or the other. There is NO professor in the ICS department whose interests lie in OS.

3. Quarter System at UCI
You have the quarter system at UCI. This means that you have 3 quarters (fall, winter and spring) in an academic year instead of 2 semesters. Each quarter is of 10weeks. You have to take 3courses in each quarter for the first 3 quarters. The quarter system as such is not hectic. It largely depends on the courses you take and the professors for those courses. It is fast paced as compared to semester pattern. Some people say that the advantage here is that you can complete you MS in 4 quarters (CS non-thesis) and in 5 quarters for CS thesis. You get less time to work on the courses and projects. So you need to do your tasks fast. Take a look at the quarterly calendar here.
I will personally suggest going for semester pattern if your more interested in doing research.

4. I20 amount for UCI

The I20 amount for Fall 11 was $45,939 and for Fall 10 it was $43,517. Assuming a 5-10% increase, it will be around $47-48k for Fall 12.

5. Fees at UCI

The I20 fees is $29,939 (which is for 9months i.e 3 quarters). The tuition fees per quarter is $10,015. If you take insurance from India this comes to $9,354 / quarter. CS students generally go part time for the 4th quarter which means you are taking 8 units or less in the quarter (provided this is your last quarter and you passed all courses that you had taken at the normal course load of 12 units / quarter for the first 3 quarters). You will have to pay approx half fee for part time i.e. $9354 / 2 = $4,677.
Thesis students pay full fees for 4th quarter and go on a filing fee for the 5th quarter. Filing fee is around $200 approx.

6. Other expenses at UCI

For housing you can consider it to be between $550-$700 a month depending on your living style. This amount includes housing rent + utilities + phone. People completing in 4 quarter should multiple it by 15 and those doing it in 5 quarters by 18. Consider you might take additional 3 months post MS to get a job, you could add 3 months to each. Let us assume it to be $650 / month.

7. Total cost

CS non-thesis

(UCI Insurance)

$29,939 + $5,008 + ($650 * 18) = $46,647 (23.33L @ rate 1USD = INR 50)

(Insurance from India)

($9354 * 3) + $4,677 + ($650 *18) = $44,429 (22.21L @ rate 1USD = INR 50)

No earnings (internships or on-campus job) included in this calculation.

8. Insurance from India

University insurance costs $660 / quarter. You can waive it off and get insurance from India which can be around Rs. 32k-38k for 12 months. This way you will save $660 / quarter and will end up paying $9354 / quarter. The flipside is the reimbursements (this might be cumbersome but we mostly resort to self-medication here).

9. On-campus jobs at UCI

There are very few on-campus jobs at UCI. In our batch hardly 4-5 people got  on-campus jobs. And it is not easy to get an on-campus job (as in some other colleges). An on-campus job will easily cover your entire monthly expenses (not fees).

10. Internship scene at UCI

Students generally do a 12 weeks internship in Summer. It can pay you anywhere between $4000 - $6000 per month. This year the internship scene is very good for CS students. Almost everyone has got calls from good companies and it is upto you to convert them. There are career fairs at UCI where you get the chance to submit your resume and interact with the employees. Though the career fairs are not very good (in comparison with USC / CMU / Gatech) but they are improving every year. More and more companies are showing up for the fairs. According to me, UCI has a good name in the industry and people have got calls from biggies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Qualcomm, Salesforce, etc.

In Fall '10 batch almost all landed up with an internship and have also got full time offers. Big companies like Google, Microsoft, Salesforce give calls to many but hire only in small numbers.

11. Does being in California help a lot for jobs?

Now, being in California does help. But it helps in a way that the numerous startups / medium sized S/W companies will prefer you than relocating someone from other state. It surely does not guarantee you a job, just that it opens you to more locally situate opportunities.

12. Off-campus housing at UCI

Almost everyone doing Masters stay off-campus at a location called Parkwest Apartments. You get unfurnished apartment with 2BHK / 3BHK. The rent is around $1700 for 2 Bed 2 Bath apartment. Housing decision can be taken later in July after your done with Visas and stuff and once you have formed groups. Get more information  Parkwest Apartments.

For conveyance, students use the OCTA buses which are relatively convenient (every 30mins during peak hours and 45mins otherwise). It takes 10-12mins to reach UCI by bus. You get a yearly OCTA bus pass for $155. You can travel anywhere within Orange County and not just to UCI.

13. On-campus housing at UCI

This option gives you housing closer to the campus. But again its costly when compared to Parkwest. Master students are not guaranteed on-campus housing. Get more information at on-campus housing.

14. Funding at UCI
Masters students do not get funding. There are rare chances of getting funded but that too only after coming here. So I would suggest coming here without expecting any funding.

15. Some useful Edulix Links
UCI Decision Tracker Fall '12
UCI Post Admit Discussion
UCI Specific Thread
UCI Fall '12 FB group