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CURRENT STUDENTS
PROGRAM
FACULTY
INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Telecommunication Systems
Management
Graduate School of Engineering
130 Snell Engineering Center
Northeastern University
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115-5000
Ph: 617-373-4312
FAQ FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS
This Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page was created as a mechanism to
more effectively answer concerns that prospective students may have.
If your question is not answered here, please contact
us.
1. What courses should I take in my first semester?
2. How do I register for classes?
3. What are the research opportunities on the TSM program?
4. How much does tuition at Northeastern cost?
5. Is it possible to get fellowships or scholarships?
6. Does the TSM program provide RA/TA positions?
7. What are the other on-campus job opportunities?
8. Are international students allowed to work off-campus while
studying?
9. Are industry internships available during the summer?
10. What are the job prospects after graduation?
11. What could be the job profile of a typical graduate of
the TSM program?
12. How long has the TSM program been in existence and how
many students are currently in the program?
13. What other activities are TSM students involved in?
14. What are the possible options for housing?
15. What is the weather like in Boston?
16. How do I get around Boston?
1. What courses should I take in my first
semester?
It is generally recommended that students take core courses in the first
semester as they are pre-requisites for many of the advanced courses.
Please find detailed information on the core courses here.
Information on when the core courses are usually offered is here.
2. How do I register for classes?
Course registrations are generally done online
using MyNEU.
For domestic students, once you have received a Northeastern ID, you may
register for classes. However, new international students can register
for courses only after receiving immigration clearance from the ISSI office.
3. What are the research opportunities
on the TSM program?
The TSM program is a professional master's program, not a research program.
Students who wish to do academic research should apply instead to a research
master's degree program at Northeastern with, for example, the Dept.
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, or the College
of Computer and Information Science.
4. How much does tuition at Northeastern
cost?
For graduate students on the MS in Telecommunication Systems Management
program, tuition is charged on a semester hour of credit basis. The
cost of a semester hour of credit varies from college to college.
The tuition rates for graduate courses offered by the College of Engineering
and the College of Computer and Information Science is usually the same.
The rate for graduate courses offered by the College of Business Administration
is usually slightly higher. Complete information on current tuition
rates is on the Registrar's
web site.
5. Is it possible to get fellowships or
scholarships?
The only scholarship available to new students is the Dean's Scholarship.
The TSM program offers a limited number of Dean's Scholarship to new students
each semester. All new students who apply by the deadline are considered
automatically for the Dean's Scholarship, i.e., students do not need to
apply for the Dean's Scholarship explicitly. To have a real chance
of getting an award, a student must be ranked in the top one third of their
program’s incoming class.
Students selected for the Dean’s Scholarship will be notified separately
by the Graduate School of Engineering. For full-time students with
a Dean's Scholarship, the tuition is reduced by one-third for the duration
of their program of study at Northeastern. For part-time students,
the tuition is reduced by one-quarter. (Note: Dean's Scholarships
are awarded only to new incoming students, not to continuing students.)
No fellowships are specifically available for this program. Most fellowship
programs administered by the University are open only to United States citizens
or permanent residents.
6. Does the TSM program provide RA/TA
positions?
At this time, the TSM program does not offer any formal teaching assistant
or research assistant positions. In general, the number of SGAs (Stipended
Graduate Assistantships) available to students on the TSM program is extremely
limited.
NUTAs (Northeastern University Tuition Assistantships) are occasionally
available to qualified students to provide teaching support on graduate
courses. In general, students need to have completed at least one
semester of study before becoming eligible for a NUTA position. To
be qualified for a NUTA position on a TSM course, a student will need to
have demonstrated prior knowledge of the course material and to have a high
overall GPA.
In exchange for a 5 or 10 hour per week work commitment, NUTAs earn tuition
remission for either 4 or 8 semester hours of approved course work.
The tuition remission is considered taxable income as it is compensation
for work performed. There is no stipend with NUTA appointments.
7. What are the other on-campus job opportunities?
Once you are registered as a student at Northeastern, you can access hourly
on-campus job postings through the Student
Employment web site. The Student Employment office manages all
student employment on campus.
The Student Employment web service is available to help students and employers
in the job posting and hiring process. Students must log into the
Student Employment web service through the SelfService tab on myNEU
in order to apply for a job.
8. Are international students allowed
to work off-campus while studying?
F-1 students can work off-campus in their area of study only as part of
an approved graduate co-op. It is possible
for students to go a co-op after one semester as long as their GPA is at
least 3.000 and they meet the other program requirements.
More information on the legalities regarding Curricular Practical Training
(CPT) for international students can be found here.
9. Are industry internships available during
the summer?
Industry internships at Northeastern University are part of the co-operative
plan of education. Co-ops are usually of 6 or 8 months duration.
This program does not as a rule support summer interships or co-ops of 4
months or less. These are regarded as being too short for a true educational
experience.
There are numerous companies in the telecom sector in the Boston metropolitan
area. Students are not restricted to the Boston area for co-op, and
may go on co-ops elsewhere in the U.S. TSM students have gone on co-ops
to New Jersey, Texas and Maryland. The Co-op office in the College
of Engineering continues to build relationships with area companies in order
to provide more graduate co-op opportunities.
10. What are the job prospects after
graduation?
Graduates of the TSM program have been very successful in finding positions
in the telecom industry.
The Career
Services office at Northeastern holds career fairs in both Fall and
Spring semesters. Many companies also carry out on-campus recruitment.
Students nearing graduation use HuskyCareerLink
to learn about job opportunites.
Although the TSM program is a relatively new program, our alumni have been
active in letting us know of job opportunities for our current crop of TSM
graduates.
11. What could be the job profile of
a typical graduate of the TSM program?
Because the TSM program is truly interdisciplinary, the job profile depends
on a student's area of specialization and prior work experience. However,
most TSM graduates join the telecommunications workforce through technology
positions.
12. How long has the TSM program been
in existence and how many students are currently in the program?
The Telecommunication Systems Management program started in fall 2002 with
just four students, and our first graduates entered the workforce in May
2004. Five years later in fall 2007, we had over 110 students active
in the program.
13. What other activities are TSM students
involved in?
Many TSM students take advantage of free passes to attend the VON
Conference which is held in Boston each fall. VON is an industry conference
that focuses on voice and video over IP, and telecom convergence in general.
In recent years, the VON organizers have been very generous in providing
free passes to the full conference for all TSM students.
Many TSM students also participate in activities of the NU
student branch of the IEEE and the Graduate
Engineering Bridges (GEB) organization.
14. What are the possible options for
housing?
TSM students generally live off-campus. Most students share an apartment,
usually within walking distance of the campus. The price varies naturally
depending on which part of Boston you choose to live in. For example,
monthly rentals for a 2-bedroom apartment close to Northeastern start at
around $1200.
Information on off-campus housing can be obtained at: http://www.northeastern.edu/offcampus/apartment/index.html
15. What is the weather like in Boston?
Boston has a continental climate with very changeable weather patterns such
as wide temperature swings in a matter of days, and unseasonal snowfalls.
Summers are usually sunny, hot and humid. Winters, by contrast, are
often bitterly cold, windy, wet and snowy. Boston averages 108cm of
snowfall annually, much of it deposited in north-easterly storms.
Fall (autumn) is particularly lovely when New England's trees wear their
colorful fall foliage.
16. How do I get around Boston?
Most full-time students live within walking distance of the campus, which
is very compact and is located in the city of Boston, close to Symphony
Hall, the Museum of Fine Arts, and Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox
baseball team. Two subway ("T") lines run through the campus which
supports easy access to downtown Boston, Cambridge and other parts of the
city.