@clarinetdad16 I take it that you have never been to Bethlehem, PA;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem,_Pennsylvania
@TomSrOfBoston - again what makes Bethlehem urban?
CollegeBoard defines Lehigh as:
Residential Campus
Suburban Setting
Small City
Good grief!
I consider these schools pretty much peers. Northeastern has the better career prospectus but Lehigh has that traditional college campus feel.
I think your D should visit each to see whether she would like to be in a big city or whether she prefers the more suburban campus feel.
Academically speaking, she’ll be fine at either.
@informative “Northeastern has the better career prospectus”
Can you explain that a bit more. I am not sure I understand what it means.
@TomSrOfBoston - Northeastern’s urban campus in Boston is a very small 73 acres for almost 25,000 students.
Lehigh’s suburban campus in Bethlehem is 1600+ acres for 7,000 students.
And financially Lehigh has double the endowment of NEU. And on a per student basis, Lehigh’s endowment is 7+ times larger than NEU which is very significant.
Check out Case Western Reserve University…they have Engineering, coops, research opportunities greek life, City close by and D3 Swimming
Northeastern is right smack in the middle of Boston. It’s an urban campus surrounded by two different T lines. Across the street from Boston’s Museum of Science, 4 blocks from Symphony Hall, etc.
Lehigh is on the side of a mountain overlooking a very urban small city. It’s beautiful campus is distinct from the not so beautiful small city but you could not mistake the neighborhood around Lehigh for suburban. It’s kind of like Tufts, which if you cross the street, you’re in Somerville, or like Brandies, which has a distinct campus, which feels really suburban, but if you walk down the road, you are in Waltham, which is quite urban. Somerville and Waltham are small cities too, though not quite as busy 24/7 as Boston.
@bopper “Check out Case Western Reserve University…they have Engineering, coops, research opportunities greek life, City close by and D3 Swimming”
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. You are exactly right.
On paper, CWRU is the best match for her based on her own criteria. The problem is that she is a sociable 17 year old girl, and a couple of her friends have told her that CWRU is only attended by nerds and losers with no social skills whatsoever. That is not true, but the reality is that at 17, nothing your parents say can hold up against what your peers say.
Having said that, if her intractability means that she ends up at Lehigh or Northeastern, she will have done very well.
Insist on her adding Case Western to her list (you could make it the “parent pick”) and if she gets in, let her go for an admitted student day. Who knows? Between now and March she may change her mind. 
URochester, Pitt, Bucknell
Case Western and Northeastern are both fantastic schools. I would prefer to attend Northeastern over Case Western, but that is more of a desire to live in Boston over Cleveland than it is for the academic reputation. The OP’s D could have the same feeling. Visiting each campus is very important in picking a school, as you have to live in that city for four years.
I would suggest touring each school and city. They are very different.
@Informative You are right that she prefers Boston over Cleveland. The positive for Case Western is that they are DIII and she could swim for them. She has visited Lehigh, and Northeastern.
Will bring up CWRU again after she is done with the ACT tomorrow.
“As a result however, most freshman students are forced to study abroad in their first semester at NU because of the lack of on campus residential area in the fall semesters.”
This is not correct. A small percentage of NU’s freshmen enter through the NUin program. My understanding is that NUin students are not top admits for the school and are not offered merit awards. Because they do not matriculate at NU until the January term, they are also not able to access need based aid for their semester abroad. Therefore, those who do accept the offer must be able to pay the full amount (I understand it runs some $32K+). Many do not accept the NUin offer because of that factor. However, I know a few NUin students and they had a fantastic time abroad.
The school offers a five-year program that incorporates 3 six-month coops. However, that is just one option. Many students are gravitating toward four years and two coops or are doing the five year BS/MS programs. Like so many other students, my son studied abroad for half the summer and took two additional courses for the other half after his freshman year. Most of his friends were on campus part or all of the summer, taking classes, doing research, working for the school. The possibilities are endless and students are able to customize their educations. NU students seem to always be on the go - the school encourages experiential learning, which seems to result in lots and lots of foreign travel! The school accepts AP credits, which frees a student up for even more flexibility in course choices.
The campus is somewhat small but pretty and right in Boston proper. Between campus happenings and the city at his doorstep, I can’t imagine how anyone could be bored for a minute. My son has found the teaching to be excellent - I don’t think he can say enough good things about the professors for his study abroad and those in his major. He’s been very happy with advising in both the Honors program and his major.
The perks for Honors students, which include some nice merit aid, are indeed appealing and bring in some incredibly high stats kids. That may be called “gaming the system,” but we have no complaints…
Just to clarify on the NUin program…students can use Northeastern’s need based aid for the semester abroad. My son is an engineering major currently in the program and having an absolutely amazing experience.