<p>In case any NU people are curious, the OP still thinks Northeastern and its coop program is a scam. This is from a SUNY thread:</p>
<p>Today, 11:12 PM #6<br>
TomSrOfBoston
New Member</p>
<p>Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 14 Romann</p>
<p>I assume you have talked your son out of Northeastern and its “scam” coop program, to use the insulting term you called it on another thread. You never posted an apology for that crack despite 15 posts explaining and defending Northeastern and its coop program. </p>
<p>Today, 11:29 PM #7<br>
Romann
New Member</p>
<p>Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 8 TomSrOfBoston</p>
<p>Northeastern is out of the running!!! Based on much of the feedback, it appears that no apology is necessary. I trust that you are one that had a positive experience.</p>
<p>Northeastern starting salary for business admin and management (average) upon graduation: $53,350. National Average: $44,944. Average starting salary of top 10 business schools: $50,000. </p>
<p>I got a decent scholarship to Northeastern and I am very fortunate that my parents are paying for my tuition so I got to keep all the money I earned on co-op (invested, went to eat a lot, saved a ton), but if money was a serious issue for me, I could have put the 15K that I made on coop straight to my loans and cut my debt even more. Like people have said, it all depends on your major. I’ve already made MANY connections through coop. I’m getting ready to apply for my second coop and more than a few companies say in the job descriptions: “seeking second coop students who would return for a third coop and later full time employment” or “…preferably seniors who would return for full time employment.” If you’re a ChemE and get placed at Proctor and Gamble for your first coop, it is basically guaranteed you’ll have a job there when you graduate. Straight from my PG interview, I remember my interviewer saying “we consider your employment as a COOP as the first step to full time employment.” Its not just “oh hey, I get to take a break from class and work while I’m on coop.” Its “oh hey, I just made more money in 6 months than my other friends will make in their whole undergrad career and I also get to say that I worked for company XYZ on my resume.” Find me a ChemE that didn’t go to Northeastern who can say upon graduating that he/she worked at an industry leading nanotechnology company, an industry leading pharmaceutical company, and an industry leading alternative energy company. Having a hard time? I bet. Northeastern places students (for Chemical Engineering) at Genzyme, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Genentech, A123, Lockheed Martin, Proctor and Gamble, and hundreds of small startups.</p>
<p>I mean, like many have said, its not for everyone. But it’s definitely for me and because of my work experience, I know know exactly what I want to do with my life. I’m a middler and I know I want a PhD in bioengineering. How do I know? I worked at a pharma company and thought it was the greatest company ever. Then I worked in a materials company and realized it was ok. Did some research in green chemistry and thought it was ok, now I’m doing research with proteins and love it. I have tons of friends and relatives that graduated college thinking they knew what they were getting themselves into but had no idea. Now jobless or laid off, these people are having trouble finding jobs. I’ve been told from two different companies as a THIRD YEAR student that if I ever need a job when I graduate to call my supervisors and I’ll they’ll find a position for me.</p>
<p>Great comment RedSox2007 and you link to an interesting article that I had not seen. I am afraid that Romann, the OP, is pretty closed minded. Northeastern appears to have been his son’s first choice and he has decided that the kid will go to some obscure SUNY campus instead. I can hear the helicopter (parents) blades very loudly!!!</p>
<p>The reason why my son eliminated Northeastern has nothing to do with the coop program and for your information, he is unaware of my thoughts regarding the co-op. He simply did not want to go to college in Boston and is looking for a more rural setting. </p>
<p>However, it certainly seems like I struck a nerve.</p>
<p>Romann - "it certainly seems like I struck a nerve. " - Yes, naming the discussion “co-op scam” (without a question mark) would strike a nerve, since it has the possiblility of scaring off others who have not yet done research. Hopefully the many positive posts set the story straight.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son - a city school is great for a kid that wants that, but it would be misery for a student who strongly prefers a rural setting. If he can’t arrange a co-op at his college, encourage him to work with the placement office to explore summer job options. I had two summers in industry, and that helped shape my future goals (and it paved the way to my permanent job with the same corporation).</p>
<p>I find it quite humorous just how readily people were to attack Romann for what he/she…it? said at the beginning. I too am from NY, and here the term “like a scam” is not a direct insult on the program, it is mearly a simple question involving a simple word. How some posters could take it out of context to the degree that they did is beyond me. I think that once people read what is to be said in the first paragraph of what was said by Romann they would understand what was meant to be said.
Romann, I too am deciding between UB, Northeastern and am leaning slightly towards UB at the moment, as well as URI. I heard about if you do Co-Ops at NEU it’s a very rewarding system, actually I have several friends who have landed jobs at big time Law Firms and Engineering Places from their Co-op employers.</p>
<p>New Yorkers can speak with rather unvarnished phrases, it is true. My son really likes Northeastern, but unless he gets some kind of merit aid, he won’t be attending. </p>
<p>The coop sounds awesome, but we can’t afford the additional $120,000 it would cost over the $80,000 we would pay to send him to a state school. Not with 2 others to pay for down the road.</p>
<p>I have not lived in NY for 15 years and perhaps am out of touch with current lingo… but the “scam” title followed by “BUT you spend 5 years (and an extra $50K) to graduate” certainly sounded negative to me (and the $50K part was just plain wrong). </p>
<p>The points about NEU being more expensive than SUNY options even on an 8-semester to 8-semester comparison are valid (unless the student gets good aid or scholarship offers from NEU). But that is the case whenever you compare state schools to private schools. </p>
<p>Good luck to all the families sorting through decisions of NEU vs <lots of=“” other=“” colleges=“”>. Senior year is a busy, stressful time.</lots></p>
<p>It’s definitely worth it if you ask me. Northeastern has the best co-op program in the country. You can’t beat the experience, and most people make ALOT of money. (On my 1st co-op I was paid $25 an hr and worked full time.)</p>
<p>You don’t pay an extra $50,000. You only pay tuition when your in classes and everybody does 8 semesters. The only thing you might pay for is housing in your son does co-op in Boston and wants to stay on campus. I’m from NY too and I did my co-op in ny and lived at home. You choose where you do your co-op.</p>
<p>You should go on the NEU website and see what it’s all about.</p>
<p>Okay so going back to the original (and highly faulty) post- Northeastern is a better school than SUNY Buffalo. When your kid gets into a better school that gives out awesome financial aid for people who get early acceptance you suck it up and let them go. Added to that when he goes on co-op, which as many have pointed out, you aren’t paying anything for, he will be making money which will lessen your expenses. Also, keep in mind that if he graduates with a year and a half of practical, on the job, experience he will not be going into some crappy entry level job which will pay him so little he wallows in college debt like a state-schooler. He’s going to have more loans than if he went to SUNY but he will be able to pay them back faster. Also, if you’re so concerned about the extra cost of the better school make one of the conditions of him going be that the extra cost is on him to pay back (if you’re one of those parents that is cool enough to be helping with college costs unlike mine). Even if that’s not enough for you there are tons of on campus jobs available for those who seek them.
At Northeastern students get to experience a great city, a diverse student body, and on the job study. There aren’t a lot of places you can get that. If the city isn’t for him then that’s too bad and he probably shouldn’t come here. Northeastern is expensive but if we’re honest no one can really afford college and I personally would rather pay my money to the University which will allow me to use the name to my advantage as well.
The co-op program bashing bothers me. A lot. I came into NU not knowing exactly what I wanted and entered the business college. After my first co-op with Goldman Sachs it became very clear to me that as much as business is an excellent major it was NOT a fit for me. If I hadn’t spent that 6 months on the job I would have graduated a business major and probably regretted it. I changed to International Affairs and did my next two co-ops with Amnesty International and the Consulate General of Ireland. I graduate at the end of this semester and I’m already contracted to work for the UN so anyone who says NU doesn’t place their graduates is terribly misinformed.</p>
<p>Whew! Looks like some people like TomSr. have pretty thin skin. If you would read the posts for their actual content you would discover that Romann actually said this in the actual post itself…</p>
<p>I heard/read some stats recently - 87% of NEU 2009 graduates were employed full time within 9 months of graduation…compared to 57% from a large very well known prestigous OOS flagship (not in Mass)…</p>
<p>Okay, wait a minute about this NY lingo. I’m from NY and when someone titles a thread co-op scam (without the ?) is sounds pretty negative to me, especially with the misinformation about paying for a 5th year. It’s an inflammatory way to start a conversation no matter where you are from.</p>
<p>That being said, I am not connected to NEU (or is it NU now?) and my daughter who was accepted EA to the honors program with a very nice Dean’s scholarship is trying to figure out where to attend. There are so MANY pluses to NEU that I have read about but for her, the question is–is it too conventional for an unconventional person? I have addressed this issue before on CC. As she wants to study woman and gender studies as well as psych and sociology, the big question is are the other areas strong enough to outweigh the lack in WGS? Will she find her “group” of like-minded activists at a university like NEU or be frustrated? Will she be actually able to obtain a decent co-op job in the social services area> Is it enough for the big pluses (co-op and location in Boston) to overcome the aforementioned negatives??? So many questions…</p>
<p>As a parent, I am very, very happy with all of the opportunities that have come to my daughter , who is a middler at Bouve.
She makes the best of all of it too…NEU has opened many doors for her , and I expect even more to come before she is done with her her undergrad</p>
<p>My son is seriously considering attending NEU after not even wanting to apply!</p>
<p>The more I learn about this school the more I like it. We live in NE and I didn’t even consider looking at it when we started this search-I had the old idea in my mind that it was a commuter school, etc. We couldn’t have been more wrong.</p>
<p>I have talked to so many people locally who either went to NEU, have relatives that went to NEU, or have children who are attending NEU. I have heard nothing but good things about the co-op program-kids getting co-ops and good ones even in this economy, graduates who have graduated with a job offer already from where they did a co-op, and kids learning while on co-op this isn’t for me and being able to change their major and graduating with something they really want to do.</p>
<p>It may not be for everyone but it is far from a scam.</p>
<p>TomSr, your passion for Northeastern is admirable, however calling the OP close-minded seems rather hypocritical. There definitely is a detectable bias for you to support the school since you have graduated from it. Your opinions participate in the institution that you describe. If the OP was truly close-minded she would have not made this thread for people to try to convince her otherwise. If her son has decided to not attend, it would be best to respect that.</p>
<p>This thread is a year old and was dead and buried until oregank363 revived it with his insightful comment. I believe that romann knew exactly what he was starting last year and was not seeking clarification.</p>
<p>Pepper03, my daughter was offered a job at her first co-op already ! she is flattered , but wants to go beyond what she was doing there , and actually she did stay on part time there this semester while back in classes , instead of a campus work study job. She has madea lot of connections that I think will help her in the future</p>
<p>Yeah I agree with Tom. People don’t start threads like that just to get everyone else’s opinions. They do that to whine, complain and get out some anger. It’s the internet. It’s what people do.</p>