I’m considering going to Northeastern if I get in. I’m confused about the co-op.
How exactly does it work?
So you take classes while doing a part time job?
If I plan on majoring in Physics, does research qualify under one of those jobs?
If I were to go somewhere far from Boston, how could I take classes away from campus?
Is the tuition the same as if you weren’t doing the co-op at the moment?
Questions about Boston:
How is the city?
Are people as unfriendly as they are portrayed?
Is it a clean, nice city?
How well is NEU centered in the important places in Boston?
Is the city easy to navigate?
Thanks! For students that already attend NEU, how do you like it? Do you like the school, your professors, the classes? What are your favorite parts and what do you not like?
Coop jobs are full time jobs. They generally run from January to June or from July though December. You are not in class while working on coop, however a few students may take online classes from Northeastern while on coop.
You will pay for a total of 8 semesters tuition. You are not charged tuition while on coop. If your coop job is in the Boston area you may choose to live on campus and you would pay room and board but not tuition.
Coop is just one form of experiential learning. As a physics major you may have a paid coop job in that field or you may be doing research at Northeastern or at some research lab elsewhere.
Where are you from? If you are from Southern California or Texas, Boston will be a new experience. You will be taking the T subway around town, not driving. Northeastern is in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston across the street from the Museum of Fine Arts and near Prudential Center, Harvard medical area and many other schools.
Boston is a big city and like every big city there is noise, congestion etc. Compared to many large US cities Boston has a low crime rate. The biggest negative about Boston is the very high cost of housing because so many people want to live in the city, demand is so high. As for “unfriendly” I would say the Bostonians tend to be more blunt and direct than people in other parts of the country.
Please read through these websites for information on experiential learning:
This is old but it’s pretty spot on even 5+ years later. Not sure if it translates as well to people that don’t have at least some perspective on what they are talking about but it is a pretty clever way to cover some of the bases of the feel of life at Northeastern. Makes me chuckle every time I’ve watched it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhl6o-pdN9I
Hey! Current NEU sophomore here All great questions and I’ve been meaning to answer this for a while but kept putting it off.
Tom covered co-op pretty well in terms of logistics. It's a full job for 6 months with no classes unless you choose to take one as an extra for any reason (most do not). Absolutely no tuition. There's a lot of great advantage of it. First, you can graduate college with up to 18 months of real experience in your field - both useful to you in getting a job and to get to try out your major's career, not just it's academics. If you find you don't like your career via a co-op, you still have time to change and that's a great thing: co-op is about finding out what your major translates to in the real world. Co-op also builds great connections: about 50% of NEU students graduate with a full-time job offer from a co-op.
Boston is AMAZING. It's my favorite city so far out of Seattle, San Fran, NYC, Philly, and Chicago for reference. Boston isn't the biggest city or the tallest city, but it has a lot of nice advantages. The city is very young, academic, and the buildings and style is very clean and cohesive through the neighborhoods. It has amazing food (except Pizza: NYC, of course, beats Boston there), a great public transportation system (the T) that's simple and easy to use, partially due to the very nice size of the city.
NEU has an incredibly great location: we have the Fenway neighborhood a 10 minute walk away, the Prudential center is 15 minutes away walking, downtown is a 10-15 minute T ride away (NEU has two of the 4 main subway lines connected to campus). Cambridge is 30 or so minutes by T.
Boston Landmarks and Schools and Travel Time:
-Fenway Park - 15 Minute walk
-Aquarium - 20 Minute T Ride
-Boston Commons - 10 Minute T Ride
-Downtown - 15-20 Minute T Ride
-North End (Little Italy) - 20 Minute T Ride
-Harvard Square - 30 Minute T Ride
-Newbury Street - 15 Minute walk
-MIT - 20 Minute T Ride
-BU - 20 Minute Walk/T
-Fanuiel Hall - 20 Minute T
I love the school. The co-op philosophy, the classes, the location, everything. I can't speak higher of it. If all this sounds up your alley, I would go in a heartbeat. I am a CS major, and I love my classes - the school is improving all around, and they are improving the faculty as well and it is showing. There's also a great tutoring network, and professors are very easy to talk to and approach about just about anything.
Unfortunately not I am mostly familiar with CS, Engineering, Business, and Communications just due to the friends I know. As far as I know they should be at the same level as all of the above with Boston having many medical facilities in the area. I would expect lower pay though, probably in the $10-15 an hour range versus up for $30’s in CS.
So, I assume you’d have to pay for room & board or housing wherever you co-op? That’s an added extra expense to your college bill. I know co-ops are mostly paid so is it worth it? Thanks.
Most co-op’s pay for themselves in terms of housing/room/board/food. Nearly all of them are paid. Unpaid co-ops are in the incredibly small minority and are usually in hyper competitive fields like clinical psychology or something. Good ones will pay for more than room/board. If you go out of Boston, many co-ops will offer free housing as part of the job. The rule for financial purposes is to expect that you break even on co-op - any extra is nice but not guaranteed.
In terms of worth it, I would say easily. The experience, the ability to really be able to try out your job before committing to it and feel confident in your career choices, and it doesn’t cost you any extra in terms of tuition/housing. You’ll probably make money on it, especially in certain fields.
Thanks. Major is Chemical Engineering. Having a tough time justifying the gap in financial aid (I’m poor). If co-op housing etc…was an extra expense that will shelve it for me. Co-op sounds like it would really help in finding a job quickly upon graduation. Thanks for your input.
Chemical Engineering will make good pay: you should actually be able to save some of that, but yeah, assume an even break in terms of considering NEU financially. It most certainly won’t be an additional expense.
For what it’s worth, when I toured the school, I stayed with a NEU grad working at Merck - he had his second co-op there and got a full-time job offer from them when he graduated.
Best of luck! As many on CC repeat often, be careful with any loan options in particular - there are many great schools out there. Were you admitted EA or into the USP?
Son just got into Northeastern? In Chemical Engineering, where are examples or where co-ops would be? How much would pay be?Are co-ops usually in Boston or what other cities?
The first Northeastern student/graduate I ever met is currently working at Merck, a chemical research lab in the Boston area. It was their second co-op, and they had an offer on graduation. Many will work in other research labs in Boston and around. Pay is decent, ranging of course. There are some higher ones and lower ones.
Co-ops generally are plentiful in Boston but also other major cities such as San Fransico, Seattle, New York, DC, LA, and Philadelphia. Northeastern has co-op housing in many of those listed. Again, I can’t speak exactly to Chemical Engineering, but perhaps someone else can!
Edit: I just realized I shared the exact same story in a previous post in this thread way back - oops! lol.
I really can’t give an exact range with certainty, but guessing based on experience, $15-$25 an hour would be my estimate.
How about International Coops @PengsPhils ? Do you know anyone who did them and when in their Coop cycle did they go (1st, 2nd?) Do they pay? Sounds intriguing but wondering how many students actually participate and if they like it. The honors program offers up to $6K for one of these - which sounds amazing.
I know a few people that are about to head to international co-ops. In general, they usually pay for housing and food explicitly and then don’t pay beyond that. Travel as well is common. I know of one in CS that does pay beyond that, but in general, co-ops pay much better in the US. Of course, you get an amazing experience abroad and that is usually the primary factor for those that choose to do one.
Not that many participate due to the plentiful other abroad options like dialogues and traditional study abroad. It is certainly common enough, though. The international co-op process starts earlier due to travel planning, passports, and other logistics, and there are many NEU events that try to recruit students for them. I get about 5 or so a semester about global co-op events and deadlines, even though I have never expressed any interest for them.
I am mostly familiar with CS, Engineering, Business, and Communications just due to the friends I know. As far as I know they should be at the same level as all of the above with Boston having many medical facilities in the area. I would expect lower pay though, probably in the $10-15 an hour range versus up for $30’s in CS.