<p>I applied EA to Northeastern this year. I strongly believe that I will get into the school. I have heard very good things about the Co-op program, especially since I will be majoring in business, finance specifically.
Is the school good as a whole, or is it only good because of the co-op program?
It is going to be my most expensive school, and I want to know if it is worth it before I owe an additional 30k when I graduate</p>
<p>Northeastern has a very large and well established co-op program. Asking if Northeastern is “only good BECAUSE of the co-op program” is a little silly, though. Would companies want to hire Northeastern students if they weren’t academically prepared? I don’t think so. The university takes great care to establish good relations with employers around the world, and offering well prepared students is an important part. My cousin works for an engineering company in Cambridge, MA, and there are currently two Northeastern students on co-op at her company.</p>
<p>There will be good classes and bad classes, good programs and weaker programs, just like anywhere else. I can’t comment specifically on the business school, but we have been impressed with the university as a whole, the College of Science, and the Chemistry department specifically.</p>
<p>There is no “perfect” school. But if you graduate from Northeastern you will likely come out with two or three co-ops (depending on your preference) that give you real world experience and a better resume than many of your peers that go to other places. You’ll make some real money during these co-ops (since they are full-time jobs), and you don’t pay tuition while on co-op. That might make a difference for your financial situation. </p>
<p>Even “bad” co-op experiences can be worthwhile. Many students we spoke to discovered that they didn’t really want to follow a particular career path after their first co-op experience. One student we spoke to thought she wanted to do some sort of biomedical research. Her first co-op made her realize that a huge component of that career was working with rats and mice. She was not interested in that, and had plenty of time to change to another program that suited her better. </p>
<p>There are other schools that have strong co-op programs that might be worth your attention. We looked at Stevens Institute in Hoboken, NJ, right across the river from New York City. They have a business school, a co-op program, and place students in finance jobs on Wall Street and plenty of other companies. Stevens does really well placing computer, business, and engineering students in their co-op program. My son was interested in the pure sciences, and Stevens does not currently support co-ops for their school of science. The availability of co-op in the sciences was what ultimately swayed us to Northeastern over other choices.</p>
<p>Costs should be a serious factor in your decision. You say that Northeastern would put you $30,000 more in debt - how much debt would that be total? Is this based off of net price calculators? What is the potential for scholarships at each school? Co-op can earn you a bit of money, especially in business, but not enough to justify an extra 30k in debt. You should not really be borrowing more than that much TOTAL to pay for college - remember that federal loans are limited to less than that over your college career.</p>