Comparing schools - Tufts vs Northeastern for Engineering

College Search & Selection
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Anyone have advice on choosing between Tufts and Northeastern for Engineering? Thanks

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Do you mean for ED?

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Yes for ED

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the key criterion, I think would be

  • do you want to co-op (and what that entails: not seeing your friends most of the year because either you or they will be gone? essentially preprofessional classmates, who mainly want to learn to get a job v. learning stuff ‘just cause’ it’s interesting?)

Another, less essential criterion would be: do you want to be in Boston or close to Boston? Both have their advantages and disadvantages (in terms of campus community, how much the school organizes v. how much is on you to go and explore, etc).

Both are excellent and highly selective, so you’d be in rarefied company and would get an excellent education at both if you got in.

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Before comparing the engineering programs, I would start by asking what the student wants in terms of a college experience. Tufts is in a suburban location, but is walking distance to a fun urban neighborhood, Davis Square, and has good public transit access to Cambridge and Boston. Northeastern is in the city in an area with a lot of other colleges and universities.

Tufts is basically a large LAC with some grad schools added on – the major one, the med school, is some distance away, in Boston. Northeastern is much more pre-professional feeling and (for the most part) the graduate schools are co-located on the campus. In keeping with the pre-professional vibe, Northeastern’s claim to fame is its co-op program which provides actual work experience before graduation. Northeastern has 10,000 more undergraduates than Tufts.

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What type of engineering are you interested in studying? There may be significant differences between the schools in terms of program quality, depending on the specific type of engineering you wish to study.

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Probably mechanical engineering but I like how both schools allow you time to explore the engineering majors before deciding. I like the idea of co-op a lot but also like the the tight knit community at Tufts. Wonder how the NU Engineering community would be if I live in the living and learning community and if it would feel close-knit even though it’s a much bigger school.

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Have you visited both schools?

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Yes

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and you really have no preference for one over the other?

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Just really like both and hard to figure out preference

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Northeastern may be less tight-knit because students in the same entering class will choose different co-op schedules, so your class (whether within your major or overall) will not really be together after the first year. Example of different scheduling splits of school and co-op terms: Mechanical Engineering, BSME | Northeastern University Academic Catalog

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A different view of cooping. It allows you to break up what will be a very rigorous academic schedule with work experience that will shed some practical application to what you are learning. It allows you to meet people outside of your normal sphere and make friends beyond just those you might make in class and at your university. It also has the advantage of giving you insight into what is like to be an engineer. Most students I know who have cooped liked the experience very much and appreciate the experience (and the money that went along with it).

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Thanks for offering a different perspective, since I hadn’t thought of those points!

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Very good points.
(I was mostly addressing the residential/traditional college experience side, but you’re 100% right!)
Both are very very different.

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My son is a sophomore at Northeastern (not engineering). They try to honor LLC requests but my son lived in a Computer Science dorm freshman year although that wasn’t his major. He made good friends and is living with CS kids this year. He has found the students to be very nice and friendly. Admission is competitive and you will have a lot of smart, motivated peers. He enjoys walking, running and biking around the city and going to games at Fenway. There are a few locations on campus for Blue Bikes. Good luck with your choice.

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Thanks, that’s great to hear!

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