Assuming my son will get 4s or 5s on his current AP tests, he will enter NEU with 30SH of AP credits. Most of these will not count toward his major, but they will cover five of the NUpath requirements (ND, FQ, WF, SI, AD). It would be nice if he could chop off one semester to save some money. Is it possible to graduate with seven semesters of coursework and three co-ops?
His current plan is to major in CS and Math. The only AP’s he has that would be related to that are Calc AB and Computer Science. And I believe his Freshmen Writing is covered by AP Lang. I’m a little confused about the Computer Science credits as it is listed as elective credit. That doesn’t cover an intro class in the major?
Of course, this may all go out the window if he changes his major…
The AP CS curriculum is nothing like the intro CS class (fundamentals) and so he will only get electives credits for it. My daughter came in with a bunch of AP credits and ending up graduating in 4 years with 7 academic semesters and 2 co-ops (and a double major and a minor) - basically only having the first summer off. The co-op rules are you can’t go on your first co-op until second semester sophomore year (regardless of AP credit standing) and you can’t graduate after a co-op semester (your last semester must be an academic semester). Plus some classes required for graduation are not offered every semester. You might be able to swing 4 1/2 years with 3 co-ops (you must get on the early co-op cycle and it might work) but it will have to be carefully planned.
As mentioned, there are more details but generally yes. I’m cutting a semester with 22 credits from AP. I also added two for semesters for a masters for a net gain of about a semester of total class time, and then cut a co-op to make it an even 5 years, 2 co-op’s, and two degrees, with an internship in place of a co-op. It takes careful planning but generally, schedules are pretty flexible.
OP, my son is a CS major. He had 38 AP/ dual credits coming in covering most if not all freshman Core classes. His initial plan was to graduate in 3.5 years with two coops and six semesters of classes. He changed his mind a year later about graduating so early, added two minors (including math) and is now slated to graduate this December after 7.5 semesters of class and 21 months of coop at four separate companies.
AP Comp Sci is a pretty basic course so it only counts toward electives. NEU teaches CS their way beginning with their Fundies 1&2 courses. Congrats to your son. The CS program at NEU has exceeded our expectations in every way imaginable. My son’s coops have been incredible. The opportunities are amazing and high paying, particularly in San Francisco and Silicon Valley (companies snap up high performers at NEU). It’s hard to imagine him having the college experience he’s had at NEU anywhere else.
Thanks everyone! Hopefully, he will be able to graduate a semester early.
I have a question about housing for co-op. If the student is in a dorm for fall and has a spring co-op in Boston, does he have to leave the dorm and find off campus housing?
Also, if he takes a co-op somewhere else, does NEU help the student find housing?
If they are co-oping in Boston they can stay in the dorms (pay the same costs as students). Sometimes it gets tricky, your co-op will span a summer and a fall or spring semester and not all dorms are open in the summer, so you may need to switch dorms during your co-op.
The second questions depends upon where. NEU has some housing for co-ops in some cities and some connections with housing in some other cities. But it is really up to the student to find housing.
There is a co-op housing office that will help with general resources, finding out if there are other Northeastern co-op’s in your city, etc but the process is generally up to the student.