I got into both Drexel and NE for mech E, and Drexel gave me a 23k/year scholarship. No aid for NE. I’m leaning towards drexel partly because of the price. I know this decision is mine alone, but any advice from people who knwo the schools? Some relevant things that I know or have heard:
Northeastern is a better school by quite a bit in general
Northeastern has 97% freshman retention, Drexel 84%
Drexel does have a more focused engineering program
Theres a lot more stats and stuff i have compared as well. I like Drexel, I guess I’m mainly just concerned why so many people drop out after the first year, and I’ve read some nasty online posts about the school.
Northeastern student here who was born in Philly (grew up elsewhere, though spent time in the city though when older).
I want to say this with a disclaimer of high respect for Drexel, but my experience with the two schools is always that Drexel was a bit of Northeastern Lite for a variety of reasons. Philly is a much dirtier and industrial city compared to Boston which is a vibrant academic city and is currently thriving with booming medical and tech industries, Northeastern’s co-op program is just a bit more expensive and polished (mind you, Drexel is still one of the best and few out there, and the co-op model, in general, is still amazing), and I think you see that in the student “caliber” and retention rate. I think a part of Northeastern’s high retention rate is how great of a city it has around it, in addition to co-op and really solid academic programs. I’ve had an amazing time at Northeastern, and Boston is absolutely a part of that along with academics and co-op.
All that said, money is real, and you’d do well graduating in engineering from either school. The important question here is whether the extra cost is worth it. Where would the 100K difference over the years come from? Is any of this loans? How are you paying the 40K cost at least of either. Where and how you get the money is an important factor in this decision IMO.
All of this should be taken with the grain of salt that I’ve never attended Drexel. It probably is a good idea to visit and see for yourself. Asking about your concerns on the Drexel forum would also be a good idea to get some actual first-hand accounts.