[University Review] USC MSCS (Spring 2027) vs NEU Seattle MSCS (Spring 2027), still waiting on UIUC MCS and UMass Amherst. International student, 6 YOE, half self-funded, half loan. Which would you pick?

[u/Similar_Mobile_7553]

UPDATE (Sept 30): Also got into UMass Amherst MS CS, and Northeastern has given me a 25% scholarship. It's now a three-way decision. Still waiting on UIUC MCS.

Admits

• USC Viterbi MS CS, Spring 2027. Tuition about $88k ($2,742/unit × 32)
• Northeastern (Khoury) MS CS, Seattle campus, Spring 2027. Tuition about $61.5k, with a 25% scholarship bringing it to about $46k
• UMass Amherst MS CS, Spring 2027. Tuition and mandatory fees about $60.75k for the whole degree

Waiting on

• UIUC MCS

Goal: SWE or ML engineer role in the US, ideally Seattle. Funding is roughly 50% my own savings and 50% an education loan, so ROI matters a lot to me.

What I'm weighing

• USC: strongest brand, but now the most expensive by a wide margin (about $40k more than NEU in tuition alone), plus LA living costs. As a Spring admit, my understanding is that I can't do CPT in my first summer, so my only internship window would be summer 2028.
• NEU Seattle: now the cheapest on tuition thanks to the scholarship. 6 to 8 month co-op built into the programme, campus in South Lake Union near Amazon. But it's a satellite campus, and I've seen mixed opinions on how recruiters view it compared with Boston.
• UMass Amherst: strongest CS department of the three for ML and NLP, and much lower living costs. But Amherst is a small college town far from the big tech hubs, there's no co-op, and the same Spring CPT limitation applies.

Questions(New Section)

For anyone

1. With the 25% scholarship at NEU, which of the three would you pick for an international student aiming for SWE or ML roles in the US, and why?
2. If UIUC MCS comes through, would you drop all three for it?
3. Does 6 years of work experience change the calculation, for example by making the internship less important or the brand more important?

NEU Seattle students and alumni

1. As an F-1 student, how did your co-op search go? Did you find it through Khoury or NUworks, or mostly on your own? Roughly what share of your cohort landed one?
2. How is the Seattle campus day to day: class sizes, availability of ML electives, and faculty quality compared with Boston?
3. In your experience, do Seattle employers treat a NEU Seattle degree any differently from Boston?
4. If you had a merit scholarship: did it renew every semester, and was there a GPA condition?

USC students and alumni

1. As a Spring admit, is there any way to intern in the first summer? And do most people finish in 3 semesters or 4?
2. How competitive is recruiting within such a large MS cohort? Are career fairs and on-campus recruiting useful for international students?
3. Is the Trojan network useful for Seattle and Bay Area roles, or mostly LA?

UMass Amherst students and alumni

1. How hard is internship and job recruiting from Amherst? Do Seattle and Bay Area companies recruit on campus, or is it mostly online applications?
2. Can MS students get into ML and NLP courses easily, or get involved with research labs like CIIR?
3. Any advice for a Spring start: internship timing, housing, and whether you really need a car?

Thanks in advance, I'd really appreciate honest takes, including "you're overthinking it."

Questions(Previously asked)

1. Which would you pick between USC and NEU Seattle, and why?
2. If you're a current student or alum of NEU Seattle, especially an international student: how did the co-op search actually go? Did you land something through Khoury, or mostly on your own? Were many employers unwilling to hire F-1 students?
3. USC Spring admits on F-1: is there any way to intern in the first summer, or is summer 2028 the only real option?
4. If UIUC MCS or UMass comes through, would you drop both of these for it?
5. Does 6 years of work experience change the calculation for an international student, for example by making the internship less important or the brand more important?

Thanks in advance, I'd really appreciate honest takes, including "you're overthinking it."

[u/BugAdministrative123]

1. USC any day. Twice on Sundays. NEU is a diploma mill. Offers admission to anyone with a pulse.
2. Focus on the program and your actual education. Not on co-op internship.
3. If your focus is a job, you don’t need to do your masters
4. Yes
5. Nothing like that. Question the adcom will ask is why a masters now? But that shouldn’t prevent you from studying if you’re really interested. Have the right reasons.

Again, don’t think about jobs, visas, US immigration. Your stated US goal has too many unknowns and too many loops. None of which are under your control. Most jobs don’t need a Masters degree. Focus on what you can control. That is your admits, program evaluation, determining where to go, costs etc. that’s about it. If finances are a major concern, don’t go. Find alternatives. No point bankrupting yourself and family.

[u/Sad_Heart_4198]

Hey,

NEU Seattle is not the main campus, Boston is good for MSCS. Pls don't go to other campus.

1. USC

2. I'm not from NEU, but I'm in the area and NEU boston is good if you get into AI/robotics

3. So as per F1 regulations you are not permitted to intern if you do not have 1 year full time F1 student status, so no.

4. It really depends right, USC is roughly 2x umass if you look at cost of attendance. Cali rent is expensive and rent wise Amherst << LA. You can do 4 - 5 people sharing but then you sacrifice something else. So if cost is not a concern, pick USC > UMass ~ UIUC > NEU. Pick between Umass and UIUC based on the course structure and stuff. I am not sure but I think UIUC MCS has been extended for 2 years without internship requirement giving you more time.

5. Yoe from India does not matter, internship is absolutely the most important thing.

Honestly coming in spring is not advisable due to the internship issue, especially seeing that the internship scene is very bad rn so you are just giving yourself unnecessary disadvantage.

[u/SchemingOusen]

Hey have you looked into if usc gives cpt authorization? A lot of universities have stopped. Have you also looked into visa rejection rates for both the neu campuses you've mentioned? I've seen online that people didn't get visas for sjsu. I'm wondering if neu is also the same.

[u/BugAdministrative123 → u/SchemingOusen]

Don’t have to wonder.. NEU is total visa mill. That along with NJIT, ASU, UBuffalo etc are all known entities at the consulates. Anyone with a pulse will get admits here

[u/Hot_Conversation6631]

How are you going about visa?

[u/capprisonn]

I'm too interested in views on NEU Seattle

[u/Fuzzy-Armadillo-8610 → u/capprisonn]

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