DS seriously considering Northeastern.
Would like to hear from others as to why they chose the school and are they satisfied?
Suggest asking here:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/
I did post there as well - a little quiet there
My daughter went to Northeastern. She studied science and is now finishing up in a PhD program. She chose Northeastern over other schools, including our flagship campus, largely because the financial aid package she was offered made the costs competitive. I’m not sure Northeastern is worth $60k per year. I’m not sure any school is, though I’m willing to suspend disbelief in the case of, say, Harvard, Yale or Princeton.
The pluses of Northeastern: obviously the co-ops. My daughter’s first co-op was in a Harvard lab, and she stayed in this co-op for the next four years, working in the lab part time when she was back in school. This was clearly invaluable to her resume, and opened a lot of doors. (That said, many universities offer internships and possibilities of working on campus in the area of a student’s interest.)
Another plus of Northeastern: Boston. If you’re from the northeast, this may not be as much of an asset to you. We’re in the west. To have the chance to live on the East Coast - a place that has this thing called public transportation (imagine!) that lets you go to New York City, or Washington DC or to the beach - was, to my daughter, incredibly eye-opening.
Negatives of Northeastern: Boston: expensive. Very pre-professional in orientation: not ideal for students who want a real intellectual experience. Northeastern attracts very practical students who already know their professional direction. That doesn’t mean they’re not smart or accomplished - but that their trajectory may not involve the well-rounded “shopping of the curriculum” approach to education you will find in, say LACs.
Bottom line: You get out of Northeastern what you yourself put into it. Kind of like most schools. It’s a great fit for some. Others can get similar opportunities in other schools if they’re outgoing and willing to seek them out.
@katliamom thanks for that detailed description. It is a help as we move forward
One of my former students (back when I was a teacher) went to Northeastern and liked it. I don’t know what she is doing these days, but I know she was very excited to go when she got in. And I remember running into her and her mom when she was home on break and she was really enjoying it. I taught her about 13 or so years ago. Can’t say much more about the school though…
@kiddie may be able to help.
I feel like my experience is getting old, but probably still worth talking about. My daughter attended Northeastern from 2012-2016. She went in undecided and ended up finishing in 4 years with two 6 month co-ops and a joint major of math and economics. She chose the school, over what had been her dream school - Tufts, because she just felt a better vibe with the students. (Based upon going to the two admitted student days - which I highly recommend attending.) She was in the honors program.
The experience may not be typical - not much rah rah, not a party school, and the students never come home (at school or co-op all year round). That being said, for my daughter it was a great experience, she made her life-long friends, she was challenged, she did extremely well (got a perfect 4.0), she took both classes that were needed and ones that were fun, she had two very different co-op experiences, she loves Boston (still there 4 years later), and it was a perfect fit for her.
I remember one of her professors gave them some kind of personality test (like myers-briggs) and said that Northeastern students skew to being practical. I think this is true. Almost all of her friends graduated (after how ever many years and co-ops depending upon the program), with a direction and a job (most of them staying in Boston).
I can also answer specific questions about the school and her experience, but as I started with, some of my information is getting old (the undeclared program and honors program have both changed since then.)
My DS is currently a sophomore at Northeastern. He chose NEU over schools that other kids would “die” to go to. He was salutatorian of his HS with high GPA and test scores. He received excellent scholarship money and honors program. With lots of AP credit and an extra semester of learning, he is way ahead with credits giving him room to double minor on top of chemical engineering. He was adamant that this different college experience was what he wanted. He is currently on his first coop getting invaluable experience in a chemE position, making a nice salary for 6 months. He traveled all through Europe last summer doing an honors seminar in rhetoric & human rights law through a Dialogue of Civilization (summer semester programs abroad) - 4 classes in a completely unrelated field to engineering and loved it. NEU is NOT your typical college experience. I think it is definitely for kids who are looking for something a bit unique. It is a year round school with kids coming and going, no paths or experiences really the same. Some students might find this difficult and perhaps isolating because they look at HS friends having more traditional experiences at other colleges and they feel like they’re missing out on something at NEU. You have to go out a make things happen - city living spreads out your friends and activities. While he loves the school he admits it forces you to face the real world much faster. He is an introvert so he must force himself out of his room and work to connect to people and clubs. His brother and sister had a “liberal arts bubble” college experience that they both admit was boring by senior year and couldn’t wait to graduate. I wanted him to have this more traditional experience, but he knew that was just not his thing. It’s not perfect, but it is where he knew he would thrive and feel like he got the most out of college.
My son is a freshman in engineering/computer science. So far, so good. He is excelling in his classes, plays on a club sports team, and is a member of two other clubs. He loves being in Boston which is a long way from Texas where he had always lived. At this point, he hasn’t experience a coop or a dialog abroad but he is looking forward to both experiences.
The admitted student day is what sealed the deal for him. Students spoke about their coops, internships, and research projects. Some explained how their coop led them to change direction and some shared how it solidified their choice of major. The engineering professors were engaging. The other students and parents felt like his people.
Even though Northeastern is often described as pre-professional because of the coops, Northeastern seems to be churning out research. To me, it feels like people working to solve real world problems right now.
This may be true in general but many students at Northeastern do explore options and change their direction and majors. There was a CC’er a few years ago who entered as a premed. With AP credits her plan was to graduate in 3.5 years. She ended up staying 5 years, did three coops, including a research coop in Germany. She changed her major to computer science, received a Marshall Scholarship for a master’s degree at University College London. Last she posted here she was completing her Ph.D. at Harvard in computer science.
You are not locked into a career path, anything is possible.
Agreeing with @TomSrOfBoston . Northeastern has a very strong undeclared program, where students can decide on their direction (called explore). There are lots of anecdotes of students saying things like “I wanted to be a lawyer and after my first co-op in a law office I changed my mind”. One thing that made my daughter choose the school was that she felt that co-ops, the explore program, and the strong advising, would be good to help her decide on her path.
My D20 will be going to NEU next fall and is super excited. She loves the campus and being in the city was very important to her. Our plus is that her brother (S19) is literally next door.
@Artist2233 my daughter is a current freshman in the college of engineering. She’s also involved in a music ensemble, society for women in engineers, and is now a peer tutor. If you have specific questions, please DM me.
For the most part, NEU was the right choice. Between the city of Boston, the travel abroad opportunities (she’s going on a Dialogue or DOC to South America this summer) and the forward-thinking research, she’s in the right place.
It is definitely a place for ambitious students who want to carve out their individual path of study, NEU encourages this individuality and it was one of the reasons she chose it over other colleges.
Are you considering visiting during Student Day on March 29th? Officially has not been canceled (yet).
From admissions website this morning:
“COVID-19 Update: At this time, all prospective student information sessions, campus tours, and college programming previously scheduled for our Boston campus between March 16 and May 1 will be offered on a virtual platform. The virtual information sessions will be available no later than April 1. Please check back for links to access all information session offerings. In the meantime, we encourage you to view our virtual campus tour. For additional information about how Northeastern is preparing for COVID-19, please visit this dedicated website.“
Looks like admitted student days are cancelled and are being replaced with online content. We were planning to go as well. D20 is very disappointed.
@5678mama Thank you very much. No obvious recommendation if sessions at cities throughout the country are cancelled, too. My guess is that we will soon hear about these as well.
@AthDia Yes, we were wondering about that too. No notification yet but I am assuming that is canceled as well since it would require their staff to travel. Our local event is scheduled for the 30th.
I am hearing that most colleges are replacing admitted student days with web material instead. I think that may be the best you will get this year to help your student make their decision. If many of the panels that you would have attended are available as videos you should still be able to get some good information.
@5678mama Thank you. Ours, too, in Chicago (Skokie). I do not see this happening and even if it is, do not see us going. Anyway, this is a fluid situation evolving daily, we are watching carefully, following the rules and hoping for the best!