@cooollegebound I was hoping someone else would right a huge paragraph or two and then I could just add my bits but I guess I’ll do the whole thing and someone can add to what I write.
Social Atmosphere:
This is a harder question to answer because we have around 15k students and we are all doing different things. Overall northeastern has changed since both my boss a previous northeastern alumus and my uncle went. The school has shifted and it has become very competitive and with this so has the demand from employers seeking students. Overall the social atmosphere can fall into different categories depending on your major/ interest/ future plans. We are all your regular students and most of us get along just fine. We have a lot of diversity and that really contributes to my lectures because we all learn from each other. One thing i really would like to let you know is that we all care about our studies and our future careers and most of us picked the school for the co-op and other experiential learning opportunities. The campus is in Boston and we all love the city except during the winter months. The skii club kids don’t count they take trips and snowboard during these months. The campus feels like its own area within a city this is a not a joke. We have fenway,downtown,state, and prudential and while those two spots are 10minutes walking distance or uber distance, you could spend your whole time in the campus vicinity and would be just fine.The hardest part about the social atmosphere at Northeastern is knowing that you might not see your friends every semester. You could switch colleges and have a different co-op cycle, study abroad, summer sessions, and this part sometimes sucks but it makes you a better professional in a way and also gets you to move past your comfort zone every semester. Proffesors have some much experience here and they really are there for you if you have any questions about your career or future career path. We are a community in the sense that we all go through the same struggles, co-op classes, awful reqs we deem unnecessary, bad time slots for classes (first 2 years), classes being filled, and much more. We also go through the great times like snow days, springfest, food trucks, co-op connections, clubs, as northeastern students we all understand each other and something like saying Good luck to a student prior to their interview will make their day and even calm their nerves like you have no idea because we all know what that feeling is like. Overall we have a pretty standard social atmosphere other than tailgate parties or D1 stadiums for football, but we are all career oriented and for some students that doesn’t work and that’s okay I just want you to understand this( ask me any particulars if you want as well)
Students:
There are so many different types of students here it’s really hard to narrow it down to a general description. We have jocks, we have students that party, we have lots of international students, and we students that will study at snell 24/7 and I admire that dedication. Students are all pretty understanding and the respect is mutual especially in classes where students inputs are welcomed. I would really like to say that student at northeastern, or a good amount of us are here for jumping into our field as soon as possible and really work hard in trying to figure out what we want to do in the future. I will like to say that we are a campus filled with diversity and i have yet to have had a problem in getting along with anyone in classes. Group projects are pretty standard here so you learn to work with each other and lots of times you will run into your group members again. If you have any specifics on us students in particular please let me know I’m trying to give you a basic run down.
Parties:
Okay, so i’ll be blunt, freshman year will be tough depending on the type of student that you are and there is nothing wrong with this. Some students do not party at all and will study and dedicate their time to clubs and co-op and their career development 24/7. There is nothing wrong with this. As a freshman you are really constricted in the sense your dorms are small, and its not like you can throw a kegger in the common area, but if you do join a frat or a sorority maybe an upper class man will take you under their wing which is cool. As you progress you will find out that off campus northeastern apartments (as well as some of the upper class man suites) are where most of the parties are held, but it’s all about networking and making connection. We won’t be out there advertising location and time with flyers ( lols) so getting out there and making friends your freshman year will help. The whole getting out there and doing this can take some time for some students so don’t be discouraged. As a sophomore you are considered an upper class man and if you pull a good lottery number with your friends you can get an apartment style selection and from there I’d like to say its all traditional partying :). I constantly mess with my friend about this because I don’t think he realizes Sundays are not Fridays especially when we both have a 9AM. (ask me any specific questions about this if you want as well)