BU or NU for MS in ECE

Graduate School
1

Hello,

I have to decide between Northeastern University or Boston University for Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering. In particular I would like to concentrate on the control and robotics fields.

I have spent a lot of time looking into each university. For the most part, they seem to offer similar courses and even have the same labs. I would like to ask what others think/ would do in this scenario.

As a guideline covering what I looked into, I developed a short comparison list.

BU Pros:

  • Good education/ courses/ labs
  • More name recognition (I’m not going to lie, I am getting quite influenced by this point)
  • Better location/ campus setting as I have heard
  • Specific concentration in Robotics exists

BU Cons:

  • Full-time student requires higher amounts of credits (12 minimum) (which I have to be as I am international)
  • Higher overall Cost

Northeastern Pros:

  • Good education/ courses/ labs
  • Full-time student is minimum of 8 credits which would allow me to do a part-time job easier
  • Lower overall Cost
  • Appears to offer more courses in ECE

Northeastern Cons:

  • Generally feel like it is less known
  • More general concentration in control, communication, and signal processing

Any advice/ opinions would be appreciated.

2

I don’t know much about the graduate programs at either of them, but my grandfather graduated from Northeastern, so I am biased towards them. I do personally feel that Northeastern is pretty well known though, and that being less known is not really a con. I actually read on a site that Northeastern is one of the top 100 schools in the US for STEM related fields, not sure how accurate that is, but it might help your decision. Good luck, and have fun wherever you decide to go!

3

Have you checked into teaching assistantships? I would see if BU offers them, and also resident assistant positions could lower living costs. BU is stronger in CS, if you want to minor in CS. Northeastern and BU are ranked 34 and 36 for ECE using US News, so pretty similar rank. They are located within 1.6 miles of each other , with BU being on the Charles River, and NEU being close to Fenway Park and the Boston Museum of Fine arts. I don’t know that one setting is that much different than the other, but some people do prefer BU for location. Both have good public transportation close by .