I am not sure they are going to shift on this enrollment location as they continue to delay your enrollment somewhere else. /concerned
The reality is NEU admitted you via an option they are trying out that allows them to offer access to federal loans and other things that their pre-matriculation options do not. /frustrated on your behalf
They did not waitlist you or offer the Pre-matriculation options (money makers for them), but offered some kind of admissions purgatory. /sad
However, you have it in your power to not worry about this nonsense and enroll in a world class research university that wants you on their main campus and knows you will be an engaged scholar. Please go visit UMass in the coming days and meet with the folks in charge of the programs they have offered you. Your parents will be impressed by the opportunity there for you. (still not clear you have done this visit) /encouraging
I think OP has stated that Dad doesn’t want them to visit until after the choice has been made. If this is the case, I find it concerning. I think a lot of this angst/purgatory feeling could be alleviated with a visit to UMass. /concerned
Ohhhhhh. I knew there was something more to this. Thanks @shawk
OP, is there any wiggle room on this? I am not sure how you and your parents can possibly make this decision without this visit. You live in Cambridge so you can walk to NEU, take the T to BC, etc… this puts UMass in a distinct disadvantage by not heading out on a fun road trip with some sweet and salty snacks. Explore your state with a fun round trip taking Route 2 one way and the MassPike the other direction. /said with encouragement and all the love of a good road trip
Following up on visiting UMass. If your parents won’t take you, how do you feel about taking public transportation? It looks like there are several bus options, although it will take almost 4 hours. Do you have any friends there you can stay with on campus if you take the bus there, so that you don’t have to go there and back in one day?
I feel like UMass is the obvious answer for you but I completely get why you still feel pulled toward Northeastern. I imagine them as people you are interested in dating. UMass set up the date on your timeline, brought flowers and candy, and plans to take you to your favorite place. Northeastern is like “maybe we can hang out sometime” but you are going to have to do it on their schedule and do what they are interested in. They might be cooler and more mysterious, but will they be the best partner?
You belong at umass for so many reasons. It is really worth 200k more to your parents to try to push you into northeastern for supposed prestige? It is not that prestigious! Honestly, i am afraid youre gonna have trouble doing well in your hard science and math classes there.
I don’t know your EFC but I recall you saying that your parental income had dipped recently and is expected to be back at rich levels. So it’s possible that decrease is not reflected in the EFC (maybe it happened too recently; FAFSA requires 2021 income)
My parents will break their backs doing what they need to, to send me there if it pans out. Education is the highest priority in this household. /sorry I’m sleepy I just woke up pardon my thinking
(I’ll type out a long response to all your replies after I have my chai. Stay tuned. /sleepy)
My parents wouldn’t let me go alone in a million years. Nope. And they want to do college visits (if we did/do) them, together. /yawning (sorry I’m still tired), sighing
Another good reason to choose U Mass if your medical team signs off on it.
If your parents won’t let you take Greyhound to Amherst for a college visit- imagine what your life will be like if you end up at Northeastern? And how on earth do they think you’d be getting back and forth from Case???
The prestige of UMass Honors + BioTap >>> Northeastern
Northeastern can manipulate their data and drive up their app numbers all they want, but a sub 10% acceptance rate does not per se make them more prestigious. To be clear, I don’t dislike Northeastern at all, and believe students get a fine education there.
This is a problem. And it will be a bigger issue for you regarding your closeted status. Going to Northeastern will mean not having any real independence. Unless you require this attention for your physical/mental well-being, it’s not a good thing. /bluntly
Good morning, I was hoping the human connections to the prestigious programs you have been accepted to at UMass would have an impact on him…not the buildings, but those people that will mentor you and elevate your game. It has made all of the difference for my D who picked UNH over an Ivy for the program and the people. We had to go visit to make those connections and understand the leap of faith that would be required. /optimistic for you
Good Morning! Hopefully you have had your chai and are feeling more awake.
I have to say, I agree with all the various other posters this morning. I think that their advice is sound.
Is there any way you can talk to your parents and let them know how important a visit is for you? That it would be very meaningful to you if they went to U.Mass and met with the people and saw the opportunities being offered? That it’s important to you to have everyone behind you when you commit, and that a visit will be confirmation for you that it’s the right place and it will allow them to (hopefully) get on board with that, too?
I don’t live in the northeast, but I do live in an urban area (and a neighbor has bumper stickers for Brown, Wellesley, and some other “prestige” school…along with a well-known magnet high school in our area…though that family moved in from the San Francisco area…everyone else in the city primarily focuses on high schools, but I definitely digress). For people in the midst of applying to colleges that are looking at resources that emphasize the admission rate, Northeastern looks like a really nice prize. But once one is out of those two years or so of the college search process, very few people pay attention to those college search resources, until it’s time for their own kids to do the process.
All of that is to say that Northeastern has had a great climb up the rankings of a famous, defunct magazine. But I would venture to say that the vast majority of people in the U.S. (95+%) have no clue about that rise. If they’ve heard about it (because colleges tend to be best known in their area, and only a small but very overrepresented percentage on CC are actually focused on the Top X schools), they probably known about it for its co-op program, and at most think of it as a good school with a co-op program. But I’m not sure they’d be that much more impressed with a degree from Northeastern than by one from Drexel or U. of Cincinnati.
Speaking of the co-op program, this is a question I have. I have not been to the Boston area in many, many years and have never been to NEU. My impressions from bygone years is that NEU has less of a traditional/stereotypical college feel because of the co-ops and the transience of students as they go to do their co-ops (and/or NUin programs, etc). Is that still the case? If so, how do you feel about it? You seemed pretty excited upthread about living on-campus and having the full immersion experience. Would you get something similar at NEU?
/Sincere & trying to provide a perspective that may not be as easily seen from adults of high school seniors who live in the Boston metro
Okay. Firstly, good morning everyone. My semi-retired service dog also says hi. He’s currently sunbathing sprawled on our bay window. /happily
To go ahead and answer everyone’s questions: (oh boy)
@onipl Your metaphor definitely is a good one, and I’m still pulled to both for my own reasons. /thoughtfully
@parentologist I hear that! I know UMass would be a wonderful place for me to go, but my parents noted that “would you rather already have your foot in the door and have it a bit easier going in for opportunities at NEU, or do you want to have to claw your way up at UMass?” I’m worried about my math classes regardless, and I don’t like physics much either. I’ll definitely make an effort to brush up this summer. /warmly, agreeing, thoughtful
@SouthYankie You’re correct that our income did drop, our most recent information on that dip should be coming in soon, so hopefully we can ask for more FA from both schools. /wondering, musing
@blossom My parents are slightly strict when it comes to going places alone that are far, but they’re becoming more lenient as the years go on and as I get more independent. /I can’t imagine my life in college yet even though it’s so close yet so far
@Mwfan1921 I definitely agree with your understanding of how UMass >>> NEU, but of course where I choose to attend will be a full family decision. /thoughtfully, agreeing
@AustenNut I think I would have something similar at NEU, and I have a cousin who attends NEU right now and was admitted via NU.in last year. She loved it, and she’s in a relatively similar major (Psych on premed track). I might ask her about her experience! /warmly, musing
Y’ALL THAT WAS A LOT. /whew
I sincerely thank everyone for the advice given so far, it really warms my heart. I have to go do a bunch of stuff (busy day today) so feel free to drop more responses, and I’ll check in when I can. You guys are the best, and I love this little village we’ve created. /happily, appreciative
Highly recommend reading Jeff Selingo’s “Who Gets in and Why,” in which he discusses NEU’s target marketing strategy to raise their image and thus rankings. Basically it was a heavy marketing push led by NEU’s CEO. He was determined for NEU to become a top 100 ranked school by USNWR during his presidency and reverse-engineered the rankings in order to move the needle.
OP, I encourage you to reach out to the Bio-TAP program people. Start with the admin of the program. Ask to meet on campus with a prof and at least a student or two. Go to get the “vibe” of the program and school, not to see the buildings. Your dad sounds a bit angry and dare I say disappointed (sorry), I suppose because he is prestige-focused and all those big names on your original list didn’t work out. But meeting with actual people, learning more about the program, and grabbing a meal in a dining hall, he and you may be able to start to see you at a place you will be happy and thrive./warmly, supportively
/with enthusiasm!