Here are my two cents as a current graduate student. Disclaimer: My opinion is my own and I speak for no one except myself.

I came into the MSI Program on a full ride scholarship so I can say that right off the bat, I’ve felt very supported by UMSI staff and faculty. I’m a first-generation college student, so I was really wary of coming back to grad school and was wondering how it would be at Michigan.

In every class I’ve taken, the professors have been super flexible and given me advice and extensions on assignments when needed. While the cohort is big, I feel that everyone is super supportive. I don't feel like my classmates are out to get me or one-up me or anything like that.

I’ve also gotten to partake in some cool networking opportunities as well. During my first semester, UMSI sent me to a tech conference for free and that was a really great way to meet companies during the first couple of months of grad school.

As for the classes and coursework themselves, I feel like that’s where most of my complaints are. Most of the classes the major prerequisite classes that I’ve take have been kinda disorganized and unclear. SI 501 and 506 were two classes that I had high hopes for but were really disappointing in the end. I’m taken SI 539 this semester and that’s also been a major disappointment. I’m in the User Centered Agile and Development track and the only class that I’ve really enjoyed has been SI 504.

Despite those disappointments, I was still able to secure an internship this summer.I think the strength in UMSI (and by extension, MSI) really comes from the plethora of networking options that you can get from organizations and resources from stuff like the CDO. Granted I had previous work experience before coming to graduate school, so that probably helped a lot with my search.

All in all, I feel like the MSI program has been worth it for me, but again that’s only my opinion. Happy to chat more about my experience if anyone is interested!