Brown MS CS

[bouncmpe]

I have been admitted to Brown MS CS. I have an important question regarding the tuition fee. The amount mentioned in admit ($38,000), is it for the entire duration of MS or just for one year? If I complete MS in 2 years, will I pay 2 x $38,000?

Thanks in advance..

Edited March 20, 2010 by bouncmpe

[42horsemen]

Hi,

I'm sorry that I can't really answer your question...

I got rejected by Brown, and I was feeling a bit low about it. I was wondering why they did it, particularly as they sounded really optimistic about my chances when I emailed them back in September to ask if I should apply.

I've been trying to go into the reasons for my rejection, and I think it's because I haven't a single publication to my name. I just wanted to ask if you do, and also if you could share your other stats, if possible.

Thanks in anticipation.

[bouncmpe]

I'm sorry about it. My profile is as follows. Specialization: Computer Networks. GPA is 3.2/4 and GRE is Q800/V420/AW4. Have Cisco CCNA Certificate. Internships at Vodafone and Alcatel-Lucent network departments. Research experience on Wireless Sensor Networks but no publication. Have taken graduate level network courses. Well motivated SoP and good LoRs. Not a great profile but above average I guess.

By the way, does anybody know the answer to the question above?

Thanks..

[Josephine]

As far as I remember tuition is $38.000 for 1 year. But you can definitely be done with your masters in 1.5 years.

Edited March 20, 2010 by Josephine

[bouncmpe]

But you can definitely be done with your masters in 1.5 years.

Will this increase the amount to be paid?

Thanks..

Edited March 20, 2010 by bouncmpe

[Josephine]

Will this increase the amount to be paid?

Thanks..

I don't remember the details, but you can find them on Brown's web site. If you finish in 1.5 years, total amount should be around $ 57.000.

[42horsemen]

@Bouncmpe: Thanks. And Congratulations, by the way.

[Misa]

I got an acceptance from Brown recently, too. I have been contacting current MS students at Brown since then. It seems that Brown doesn't offer any funding for MS students, and it's quite hard to get jobs that pay tuition fee and provide a stipend. For bouncecmpe, $38.000 is for 1 year.

I did get an advice from a current student that, there are 2 ways to save money:

1. Take 2 courses/ semester and finish the program in 4 semesters, work part-time to get money for the tuition. In this case, you are considered part-time student, you pay per course (~5k/course), not full tuition ($38k/year). 3 courses are considered full-time.

2. Take 4 course/semester and finish the program in 2 semesters and pay only $38k for one year. This will definitely save you money from the living expenses and the tuition fee for the 2nd year also.

To Horsemen:

I am an international student, I even haven't finished my undergraduate program yet, nor I have any publication/intern experience. I am doing my graduating thesis with a PhD candidate.

I don't know what criteria in my application make it through the admission committee, however I could share some of my records:

GRE: Q:790,V:600,AWA:3.

TOEFL: 105.

SoP: I personally think I make my point/goal clear in the SoP, but the way I wrote it was not very attractive.

LoR: 1 from the PhD candidate, 1 from a professor at my school, and 1 from a well-known CS professor, but not in my field.

GPA: 3.84/4, ranked 1 in my class.

I hope that helps.

[Josephine]

I got an acceptance from Brown recently, too. I have been contacting current MS students at Brown since then. It seems that Brown doesn't offer any funding for MS students, and it's quite hard to get jobs that pay tuition fee and provide a stipend. For bouncecmpe, $38.000 is for 1 year.

I did get an advice from a current student that, there are 2 ways to save money:

1. Take 2 courses/ semester and finish the program in 4 semesters, work part-time to get money for the tuition. In this case, you are considered part-time student, you pay per course (~5k/course), not full tuition ($38k/year). 3 courses are considered full-time.

2. Take 4 course/semester and finish the program in 2 semesters and pay only $38k for one year. This will definitely save you money from the living expenses and the tuition fee for the 2nd year also.

To Horsemen:

I am an international student, I even haven't finished my undergraduate program yet, nor I have any publication/intern experience. I am doing my graduating thesis with a PhD candidate.

I don't know what criteria in my application make it through the admission committee, however I could share some of my records:

GRE: Q:790,V:600,AWA:3.

TOEFL: 105.

SoP: I personally think I make my point/goal clear in the SoP, but the way I wrote it was not very attractive.

LoR: 1 from the PhD candidate, 1 from a professor at my school, and 1 from a well-known CS professor, but not in my field.

GPA: 3.84/4, ranked 1 in my class.

I hope that helps.

I want to correct one thing:

As far as I remember, at Brown, if you are an international student, you can't be a part time student in your first year. Are you sure that is the case?

Edited March 24, 2010 by Josephine

[bouncmpe]

I did get an advice from a current student that, there are 2 ways to save money:

1. Take 2 courses/ semester and finish the program in 4 semesters, work part-time to get money for the tuition. In this case, you are considered part-time student, you pay per course (~5k/course), not full tuition ($38k/year). 3 courses are considered full-time.

2. Take 4 course/semester and finish the program in 2 semesters and pay only $38k for one year. This will definitely save you money from the living expenses and the tuition fee for the 2nd year also.

Hi Misa,

Are you sure that if you take 3 courses/semester you don't pay according to the number of courses taken but pay the full tuition. I have called the department yesterday and they said that we only need to pay for the number of courses taken. For example, I plan to finish MS in 3 semesters, 3+3+2 courses. By taking 3 courses per semester the first year (the first 6 courses) and the last 2 courses the third semester. They said that according to this plan I will pay 6 x ~5K/course for the first 6 courses in the first year, and 2 x ~5K/course for 2 courses the next year. But according to what you said it looks like 38K/year for the first 6 courses in the first year, and 2 x ~5K/course for 2 courses the next year. This makes a big difference. Are you sure about your plan1?

Thanks..

[Misa]

@Josephine: You are right. International students are not allowed to enroll part-time. The student gave me this info is a US citizen, he listed as many different choices as possible. Hence I just repeated what he said.

@bounce: I am still waiting for another school, so I haven't decided yet. What I told you before was just an info from a student, he did his MS at Brown so his info maybe a bit out of date if the policy changes. He told me if a student takes from 3 courses/semester, he/she is considered a full-time student. I again haven't double checked it yet.

[Josephine]

Hi Misa,

Are you sure that if you take 3 courses/semester you don't pay according to the number of courses taken but pay the full tuition. I have called the department yesterday and they said that we only need to pay for the number of courses taken. For example, I plan to finish MS in 3 semesters, 3+3+2 courses. By taking 3 courses per semester the first year (the first 6 courses) and the last 2 courses the third semester. They said that according to this plan I will pay 6 x ~5K/course for the first 6 courses in the first year, and 2 x ~5K/course for 2 courses the next year. But according to what you said it looks like 38K/year for the first 6 courses in the first year, and 2 x ~5K/course for 2 courses the next year. This makes a big difference. Are you sure about your plan1?

Thanks..

http://gradschool.brown.edu/go/tuition

"Tuition Requirements for the Master's Degree -- Master's degree students must pay tuition for a minimum of one year of full-time study. Some programs require more than the minimum of one year of full-time study."

That was the case for years, so I suggest you to double check with the The Office of Financial Aid.