The Honors program has been looking to expand its LLC to include upperclassmen and freshmen together in the same place I know this because the Honors program director told this to my daughter. The dilemma is that no building on campus meets the requirements they would have - standard dorms for the freshman and then suite apartments for the upperclassman in sufficient quantities to house the honors population. East Village does not meet this requirement either (not enough apartment style rooms - although it is a building with both kinds of rooms). Since the upperclassmen honors students already selected their housing for next yet (and it was once again in WVG and WVC is set aside for second year honors again), I think this plan is not going to be in place for this coming year (and may never come to fruition). So, they could house the honors freshman in either IV or East Village - because they both have the identical room set-up (single/doubles with a shared bath in the middle).
How easy is it to transition back into campus life after a co op? For example, if you co op fall semester is it weird going back in the spring?
Northeastern students are constantly transitioning back and forth - study abroad, co-op, co-ops abroad, etc. The break from just classes all the time is nice and I don’t think students have a problem transitioning. Many co-op students continue to live in the dorms during co-op which decreases the transition.
@miapare I personally haven’t gone on co-op yet because I’m a freshman, but I’ve heard from upperclass friends that you have less work while you’re in classes so you should be fine. The transition to the co-op is the hard part, especially if it’s not in Boston.
Best dorms for people NOT in honors college?
Best freshmen dorms? You don’t get a choice, so I don’t think it’s really worth dwelling on. Certain LLCs have been in certain dorms in the past, but I wouldn’t pick an LLC based on what dorm you think it’ll be in. Especially with the new dorm, it’s impossible to say where they’ll be next year.
Current NU student, I work with ResLife and the current plan is to keep Honors freshman and IV (still really new, and the dining hall and gym make it a nice choice). East Village is going to be used more as second year housing- a second year LLC will be placed there. This year’s NUin students just got lucky this year, next year they’ll be more scattered.
Also @julianstanley I know this is your biggest concern, but I live in IV (and thus eat there close to daily) and I think the sushi is terrible. I’m really not a picky eater, and I find NU Dining in general to be really good, but that sushi is inedible.
@nustudent16 can you talk about your experience at orientation? When it was, what you did, and where you stayed in terms of housing (did you stay in the normal dorms even though you are in honors?). Thanks
@nhljohn871 I’m also an NU freshman so I figure I’ll give these a shot.
Orientation isn’t a big deal at all. There are a number of sessions throughout the summer, June through August, and at least last year it was on Monday and Tuesday. Everyone stayed in the Stetsons, Stetson West specifically I think (your parents/family, if they come, will stay in West Village). You get a random roommate for the night, not a big deal, bring a fan if possible (no AC, and it will be HOT). You’ll all wear nametags though, which have a small ribbon of what your dorm for the fall is, so you can meet new people and know if they’ll be in your building come move-in.
We did a lot of pretty boring but necessary sessions, like sessions where we talked about how to utilize UHCS (health services), policies regarding medical amnesty, they made sure everyone had NUPD’s number in their phone, what to do if you’re locked out of your room…etc. Of course we were in mini groups with ice breakers too. There was some fun stuff mixed in, like a pretty big fair for clubs and activities, and a “scavenger hunt” around campus just to learn the lay of the land. Monday night there’s also a lot of social activities like board games, volleyball, ice cream social, and a dance. It sounds a little goofy, but everyone is nervous and just trying to make friends so it’s fine.
My recommendation, if possible, would be to opt for early arrival (arriving the Sunday night before Monday) for a number of reasons. #1, if you don’t do early arrival, you have to be at NU for check-in at like 7 AM which is early especially if you don’t live close (I like around 3 hours away, and would’ve had to leave my house by 4, wake up at like 3:30 AM- no thanks). #2, Sunday night was my favorite part of orientation- there wasn’t really any mandatory boring things but instead some of the orientation leaders had mini-trips like walking to the Pru for free Coldstone or taking the T for free Mike’s cannolis.
Again, I can’t say this enough but don’t stress about orientation! I really didn’t like it, and I love it here now. Some people make lifelong friends at orientation (literally) but I didn’t talk to anyone from orientation when I moved in and I have a totally different group of friends and it’s fine. Hope this helped!
How difficult do you think it would be for a student from sunny Southern California to transition to Boston weather?
Also, can you explain the co-ops program in detail please?
Just got accepted today 
how is the transition for the NU.in kids? Is it awkward socially? Do they enjoy their experiences?
What is the housing process like? Are roommates picked by like a personality questionnaire or just randomly?
There’s a questionnaire that asks about things like personality, habits, music preference (apparently that’s a good indicator of roommate success).
@nhljohn871 I did the early arrival option for orientation; I believe I was in session G, which was in late July. I kind of regret doing early arrival now; I didn’t really make any substantial friends at all so it was pointless to spend that extra time in a super hot dorm room. It’s a good idea to sleep in a hotel with your family the night before. I absolutely HATED orientation, so I was pretty nervous about getting onto campus, but everything ends up ok in the end. Orientation may be a drag. I believe @novafan1225 did a pretty good job describing orientation besides that.
@puppycujo I personally wouldn’t have much experience to tell you how the transition would be because I’m from near Philly, but I can say that the summers are much hotter here and the winters are much much colder. These days, 40 is super warm. To answer the next part of your question, I think you would be better informed if you just looked it up. It’s not that difficult to find, and I’m not really looking to answer basic questions you can find the answer to online. A summary is that instead of taking classes, you work for a full 6 months. Congrats on getting accepted! Northeastern’s an awesome choice.
@empanada I find that NUin kids generally really love the program. They all go to the same location, so they have something to bind them together and they’re all friends with each other. All of the places that NUin kids go to also have a lower drinking age, so by the time they get on campus they actually know how to drink and aren’t at dangerous levels. This year, almost all of the NUin kids lived in East Village, which added to their sense of community a lot. I wouldn’t count on that though; that seemed to be an exception this year since the building just opened up this semester. I’ve heard that the transition really isn’t that hard because you come on campus with friends you made already.
@empanada I find that NUin kids generally really love the program. They all go to the same location, so they have something to bind them together and they’re all friends with each other. All of the places that NUin kids go to also have a lower drinking age, so by the time they get on campus they actually know how to drink and aren’t at dangerous levels. This year, almost all of the NUin kids lived in East Village, which added to their sense of community a lot. I wouldn’t count on that though; that seemed to be an exception this year since the building just opened up this semester. I’ve heard that the transition really isn’t that hard because you come on campus with friends you made already.
@aliceskates163 there is a short quiz to determine compatibility, but it’s just really basic questions like “what time do you go to bed” and “do you prefer it quiet over loud” and stuff like that. My full opinion is that it doesn’t really matter who your roommate is – I find it pretty rare when people are actually really close with their random freshman roommates. I’m friendly but not friends with my current roommate, and it’s absolutely fine. I’d say it’s generally pretty random though. If you’re in the honors program, you should definitely try to go for a single!
@SouthernHope @BPearlman97 My deciding factor for Northeastern was definitely the co-op program as cliche as it is to say that. A lot of my high school friends ended up at really good schools (UVA, Northwestern University, Columbia, Brown) and none of them have thought once about life after college. They don’t feel motivated to build their resumes, they are taking classes with the focus on getting good grades instead of retention. Northeastern really allows you to build a resume and eventually a career. Northeastern really isn’t a “party school” because kids want to work hard. Here the students are about the long term goals. That’s why I chose Northeastern.
@puppycujo I haven’t read through the whole thread but I just saw your questions and wanted to answer. I personally am from a colder climate than Boston so I can’t really tell you about transitioning to the weather from my perspective but one of my friends from FL had no issue transitioning to the weather here even with the brutal winter we had. I think it just depends on the person. I recommend learning how to dress in layers because that’s the key to staying warm. Just putting on a winter coat isn’t enough. Hats are helpful too.
As for co-ops, I don’t know what it’s like for every major but in my major in our Intro@NU class (which every major has some form of and everyone is required to take) we first learned about constructing our plan of when we wanted to take co-op and what classes we would take to fulfill all of our requirements and by the end of that class we had a pretty well-rounded idea of what our 3-5 years (depending on the person) would look like. Each person gets a lot of opportunity to customize their education. We also have co-op teachers come and teach us some of the basics before we get to our co-op class, about how to prepare in advance. There was advice about creating and building a resume, creating a linked in profile, the co-ops students had taken in the past, the pay for co-ops etc. The semester before you go on co-op you are required to take a co-op class that helps you through the entire process of creating a resume, applying, going to interviews, etc. You really aren’t alone through that process and they give you a lot of advice and training to prepare you for applying to co-ops.
If you want more detail than that please let me know!