Does anyone know if national merit finalist automatically get the merit scholarship if they are admitted assuming hey put NE as first choice by the date
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Yes, they automatically get it, however the award says up to $30,000 merit-based award. There has been at least one person who posted here in recent years that they got less than that amount.
Are there good study abroad opportunities for Computer Science and Economics majors? I definitely want to study abroad for at least one semester.
Don’t limit yourself to traditional study abroad. Northeastern has something they call dialogues where you study abroad for six weeks (one summer semester). There are also opportunities to coop abroad and to travel abroad over spring break. The nice thing about the summer dialogues is you only take two classes, so they don’t have to be in your major.
Since this question usually gets asked a million times, once you declare Northeastern the national merit scholarship replaces any other merit awards you were given with your acceptance (deans, honors, etc.) Merit awards do not stack!!
The room types will all more the same for the most part - standard or economy doubles. As mentioned, you just put your LLC and possibly if you want economy or not. Personal advice: go with standard, economy is smaller but doesn’t save much money so it’s not worth it for most.
@smile999 - I graduated in 2015 and am currently doing my PhD at Harvard. I know a number of people who have gone on to top grad programs coming out of Northeastern (in STEM, at least. I’ll admit I don’t really know the world of Northeastern outside of that.) I actually thought that co-op was a big advantage for going to grad school because I was able to get a year and a half of full-time research experience while in undergrad - I did one of my co-ops on campus in a research lab and another at a research institute in Germany. In both cases, there is funding available from the university for these types of research co-ops.There are also plenty of research opportunities for undergrads on campus, which can get you well-prepared for grad school applications.
For those who have committed to Northeastern already for this coming fall - how much is the enrollment deposit?
For current Northeastern students/alumni, can anyone talk about their experiences at D’amore-McKim with co-ops?
@novafan1225 for DMSB co-op’s
Enrollment deposit I think is around $500-600.
Hoping you can put an anxious mother’s mind at ease. DS loves NEU and doesn’t want to consider any other schools admitted to. He is a quiet, scholarly type who views college as a means to an end and feels the co-op program is a better long term investment—thinking experiential learning from job experience will be a greater benefit than a traditional “rah-rah, tailgating, frat party” lifestyle of some schools. He saw how his older siblings had mixed feelings at their NE LACs—small, cliquey, completely bored by senior year with the isolated environments, and ultimately finding it difficult to integrate back to the Boston work scene because of so much competition.
DS, 4.0, 4.7 GPA, 1560 SAT, 35 ACT got into NEU honors (chemical engineering) with a 28k scholarship. We are full pay everywhere else due to not qualifying for financial aid and striking out with merit everywhere but NEU. He is the co-salutatorian of his class (other kid and val going ivy), and most of his peers in top 1% going to the usual prestigious schools. I know it’s more my problem— I am having a hard time letting go of a traditional college experience for him (for instance, he got into W&M and Notre Dame among others). I think I want him to have more fun than he wants.
Finally my questions— has Northeastern been a rewarding experience socially? Is it too serious and business oriented? Is it hard to make friends because everyone’s academic path is so different and students are not on campus at same time? Are there ever times when you don’t get a co-op that you want? Can co-ops be lonely if you are far from Boston, especially if there are no other people your age to socialize with? Do multiple students ever go on co-ops together, especially international ones?
As I said, these are all my problems more than my DS. He feels the unique NEU experience—setting a student up for a purposeful future— is the ultimate goal of a college education. I guess I just want to make sure he will be happy in the process. Sorry if any of these questions have been previously addressed. Thanks for any insight…
Given the merit you got at NEU and no place else - financially NEU is a winning decision.
My daughter had an extremely rewarding experience socially. She found her tribe (which she never did in HS) the first week of school at NEU and is still friends with them 5 1/2 years later (she graduated in 4 years and most of her friends did 5 years). The great thing is that since many of them had co-oped in Boston, almost all of them have stayed there post-graduation with great jobs.
Remember NEU is big - there are lots of students and lots of clubs and activities. Your son will find people and things he enjoys.
It is not too serious or business oriented in my opinion. The students are serious in that they have direction - they have goals which they are working towards. The earliest anybody goes on co-op is the second semester of sophomore year, so you have a solid 1 1/2 years to get a core group of friends. Yes, kids co-op all over, but many stay in Boston (especially for a first co-op) and many live in the dorms when they co-op.
Yes, there are times you don’t get the co-op you want (some are very competitive). Every semester there are some kids who fail to find a co-op and take classes instead (this is a small number). However, most co-ops (even ones you hate) give you experience and help you decide what kind of job you want after graduation.
Yes, co-ops far away and in other countries can be lonely. The school has social events that they sponsor in cities where lots of kids co-op (like Seattle, NYC, DC, etc.) In these cities there are typically a large group of NEU kids on co-op at the same time. However, nobody is forcing you to co-op anyplace you don’t want to. Some kids stay in Boston all 5 years (just like in traditional schools some never study abroad). You make your own plan (another great thing about NEU - is the flexibility to do just that - make your own plan - go abroad or not, co-op 1, 2, or 3 times, etc.)
From your description, your son sounds like a good fit for NEU, not being driven only by prestige, looking for more than just partying in college, and evaluating college as an investment in his future.
@kiddie thanks for your response. I guess I need to trust that my child actually knows what’s good for him! He is the baby of the family yet more mature and practical than his older siblings. He is completely unconcerned with prestige and didn’t even want to apply to ivies in spite of having the stats. He doesn’t feel like he would have to be a fake person or suffer from “imposter syndrome”and other prestige related anxieties at NEU, something he believes would happen at other schools. Hope he is right, finds like-minded friends, and has a happy and rewarding experience at Northeastern!
Your son will not have an issue getting a coop in engineering. From your description, it sound like NEU is a good fit for this kid. Mine would have been bored to tears at a LAC in the middle of nowhere. In Boston, there is so much to do (including frat parties if that is you thing). He can still go on spring break, and do the same stuff other college kids do. They just can’t do the same stuff he does 
With honors, I believe he also gets a free Dialogue (you pay tuition for 2 courses minus merit, they pay for flights, hotels, etc,). These are 5 week study abroad trips with an NEU professor to 100 different location options. Fulfills 2 NEU courses. Amazing experiences and a hugely popular program.
Everyone is really smart in honors (honestly, as competitive it’s gotten, the whole school is filled with really smart kids).
My D was in a very similar situation last year and choose NEU in the honors. She immediately found kids with similar priorities to hers and is having a great time. Rah Rah isn’t for everyone and she is making her own college experience !
@elderwood Your son sounds exactly like mine. He outright refused to apply to any ivies or other highly prestigious schools despite having the stats. In fact, he only applied to NEU and BU (with NEU being his #1). I think NEU is a perfect fit for him.
All of these responses are giving me reassurance that he is making the right choice. Parents get so caught up in the process that sometimes we can’t see the obvious. I look at these threads where students are always asking to help them choose between top schools and I am starting to realize, as smart as he is, he would probably be very unhappy at most of these places with a lot of these students.
In case you need any more assurance, I think this post in another thread will probably help as well 
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21391507/#Comment_21391507
@MrElonMusk I’ve co-oped with a Big 4 accounting firm, in investment operations at a local HF, and now boutique investment banking M&A. IMO the business school has a ton of a great options. High GPA is critical for top jobs but if you have that (and ECs, decent interviewing skills) you’ll get great opportunities. I have friends at VC firms, all of the Big 4, Morgan Stanley, Goldman, UBS, Jefferies, Scotiabank, Credit Suisse, and a ton of boutique IBs. And I mean friends, none of this is hearsay. Admittedly my friends are amazing and so this is an exceptional list but it’s certainly possible if you’re hustling. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Anyone know anything about the creative expressions or healthy living LLC’s? Haven’t heard much about either of the two. Specifically with healthy living, do students have more healthy foods more available to them, and does the dorm tend to be closer to the gym?
@maby56 Neither of those will be the case - the LLC’s describe the people’s attitudes that live in them and the types of events RA’s may put on, not the amenities or location. Every dorm is a 5 minute or less walk to the gym though.