How I managed my finances while pursuing Master's at Columbia

Columbia University is one of the most expensive Universities in the world. The cost of paying tuition at Columbia combined with living expenses of New York can be insurmountable. Hoping to use this blog post as an answer to queries about living expenses in New York while attendind MS in CS program at Columbia.

DISCLAIMER: Everyone’s financial situation, risk taking capacity and living preferences are different. Please try to gather information/advice from multiple sources before making a decision always. This is my experience as an international student from India with limited resources.

Living Situation

1. Renting an apartment
   

   Students usually prefer to rent an apartment near the campus, typically from streets 100th to 125th (the pandemic has blurred these boundaries of course). However, you require a guarantor - who is usually a person working in the US willing to guarantee that they would pay rent for you if you fail to make a payment. This usually requires them to share personal details like credit history. There are options like Rhino who act like third-party guarantors for a fee. Other options like paying multiple months of rent at once might or might not be successful as it is illegal for landlords to accept multiple months of rent in advance, but would be worth a try if you have money.
   You can look for apartments and roommates on OCHA. Other options are websites like Zillow, StreetEasy. Additionally, you may have heard this before (if not, you definitely will) - the rent market in New York is full of scammers. Before finalizing an apartment, make sure to visit it yourself, or have someone else visit it for you.

2. International House
   

   There are other options like International House. I loved my time at International House South, but that subjects warrants a blog post in itself. Things are different at I-House currently due to the pandemic. Don’t be fooled by TripAdvisor reviews hating on I-House, talk to an alum (or multiple?) before making a decision.

3. Columbia Housing

   Columbia Housing is another great option - Columbia owns a lot of property in the neighborhood and rents it out to students. I fortunately got an apartment through Columbia Housing during my last semester. This was because the apartments were mostly vacant due to the pandemic. However, it is usually difficult for Master students in SEAS to secure a place in Columbia Housing.
   

Living expenses

My numbers at a glance -

Food

If you cook at home, a rough estimate would be about $3 per meal. Eating takeout might cost anything between $5 at Halal carts to $15 at a normal Italian place. A tiffin service I would recommend is Bombay Takeout. Barnard College has buffet meals for nearly $9, which is absolutely fantastic with a lot of variety.

Education Loan

I took a loan from Bank of Baroda. They offered better interest rates and also had discount for female students. People also take loans from other banks like SBI, ICICI etc. It depends on which bank you are comfortable with, where you get best interest rates or services from. There are other options like Prodigy, which I do not have experience with.

Part-time work opportunities

In the US, there are limitations on what kind of jobs international students can pursue. You are only allowed to work on campus during your first year of study.

1. Teaching Assistantship, known as Course Assistantship (CA) at Columbia

   Pays less, easier to secure.
   It pays $2500 per semester per subject (peanuts, I know). Responsibilities typically include grading assignments, holding Office Hours, answering questions on Piazza. Different subjects have different load on CAs. Might be helpful to take reviews before jumping in in the first semester. If you have taken a subject before, you have higher chances of securing a TA postition for it and it becomes relatively easier to work as an assistant for it since you are already familiar with most of the material. I worked as a CA for 2nd and 3rd semester.

2. Research Assistantship

   Pays more, difficult to secure.
   Students who are interested in research and actively pursue it from the first semester, might get funding from Professor for the last semester. (The topic of whether you would get an RA or not is very broad and experiences are highly varied).
   Typically, in the last semester you have to take 6 credits. However, based on my friends’ experiences, if you pursue an RA you have to take 12 credits. RA pays for your tuition entirely and awards a stipend of nearly $3500.

3. Fellowships at Columbia

   Columbia CS offers a fellowship called CA Fellowship. This pays for 6-12 credits in a semester. The percentage of students who get it is very low. Columbia also offers another fellowship called Shardashish Fellowship.

4. Other Scholarships

   I applied for the scholarships below, but unfortunately wasn’t able to secure any of them -
   AAUW International Fellowship
   JN Tata Endowment

5. Summer Internship Stipend

   Typically tech internships pay well, and you get enough money to pay tuition for last semester (6 credits). You can expect to get around $25k before taxes.

Closing Notes

Money is a very subjective topic. What you may find expensive, others might not. Someone might have a lighter subject load and might find time to work as a CA, whereas you may be drowing in assignments. Hunting for internships and jobs definitely adds to the stress. I would advise you to be prepared to pay for at least the first two semesters in full in case you decide to join Columbia.

Feel free to comment below if you have any questions, and I will try my best to answer them.