how good is northeastern

<p>Hey guys, can anyone tell me how northeastern uni is? I mean it is ranked 115 in US NEws list but there seems to be alot of people applying for it and some even considered it among the top for some biz program? How strong is it for finance, accounting or econs?</p>

<p>Northeastern is drastically underrated. Here's why (I posted this earlier):</p>

<p>"You should take the rankings with a grain of salt because they do not provide an accurate picture of what is good school. Here's why:</p>

<p>The U.S. News methodology is flawed because it assumes that all colleges are following a traditional academic curriculum (i.e. comparing apples to apples). But Northeastern does things quite differently. It is one of only a handful of schools to have a fully integrated co-op program (i.e. it is an orange). For example, the way the current methodology works, the rankings make it appear as if Northeastern has a high student/faculty ratio. But this is only because U.S. News assumes that all students are on campus taking classes at the same time. This is far from the case; nearly half of the upper-class students are off campus interning at companies (unlike most schools, Northeastern students follow rotations where they alternate semesters of academics with semester long internships related to their major). Anyone who knows Northeastern knows that class sizes are actually on the small side (esp. upperclass courses). The amount of money spent per student and faculty resources rank also seem low in comparison to other schools in the top 60, but again this is only because U.S. News assumes that all students are on campus at the same time using resources. Students who are on co-op should be excluded because they do not pay tuition while they’re interning. Northeastern really has more money to spend on the students who are on campus taking classes. Again, anyone who has visited Northeastern recently knows that the school has plenty of money. All the facilities are new and the professors, administrators, etc. are earning top dollar. It should also be noted that many of the departments at Northeastern are chock-full of Harvard, MIT, Penn, Cornell, and Berkeley PHDs!!!! </p>

<p>Another flaw in the U.S. News rankings methodology is the use of a six year graduation retention rate. Again, U.S. News assumes that all schools are following a traditional four year academic model. But again, Northeastern does things differently. A very large number of NEU students choose the five year co-op program (a four year program is available but for some reason it is less popular). Northeastern also offers a six year PharmD program. Obviously, Northeastern's graduation stats would be significantly higher if U.S. News factored this into the rankings. But they don't.</p>

<p>Northeastern's rating, although still top tier (under the new ranking system), simply does not add up. Still, even with its nontraditional curriculum, Northeastern has been climbing in the rankings. This is primarily because the university has made significant gains in selectivity. Northeastern should continue to rise as it becomes more nationally known. This year, the university received 6500 EA apps out of a total of 27,000 apps which is a new record. The university is also in the process of hiring 100 new star faculty. The new faculty will significantly lower the university's student/faculty ratio (this should make up for the shortfall in the rankings).</p>

<p>As a side note, the university administration has been lobbying U.S. News to make some changes to their rankings methodology so that it takes into account the university’s nontraditional academic curriculum. So who knows, Northeastern may finally get the credit that it deserves.</p>

<p>**As another side note, external research funding to Northeastern increased by a whopping 45% this year. The increase can be attributed to the ambitious faculty hiring plan. All these new star profs that the university has been hiring are bringing their research grants with them."</p>

<p>As for non U.S. News business rankings, Northeastern is ranked #37 overall by Businesweek and #4 by Forbes for Entrepreurship.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that the above poster has been known to troll on the site as well as x o x o h t h .com and he/she is quite biased. See the Northeastern link on this site and you will observe how many other posters have written similar statements.</p>

<p>True, many of the facts touted are accurate. However, you need to evaluate Northeastern's quality of education as it relates to your needs. It is a decent school and there are "genuine" reasons why it is ranked below 100. Peer assessment is one parameter. Northeastern can lobby US News about changing criteria until the cows come home. Perhaps it should be ranked higher but the fact is that it is not. I personally believe that Northeastern will be ranked higher in the upcoming years but rankings should be evaluated as one criteria in evaluating a school.</p>

<p>Northeastern's co-op program is highly regarded by many. If this is what you are looking for in a business program you should seriously consider it.
If you are looking for a rigorous business program which will lead to a top grad school you might want to consider other schools with better reputations among grad schools.</p>

<p>Would one be better off at NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, etc or Northeastern and the co-op. Kind of a nobrainer for me. The fact is that Northeastern has its place and will provide a good education but please don't let others make it out to be something that it is not.</p>

<p>Maximus isn't entirely wrong. Yes, Northeastern is an underrated school, and yes, you can get a great education there. However, don't start thinking it's a top-50 university just because Maximus says so...</p>

<p>Yes, I am biased. But I have done the research (reviewed faculty profiles, rankings, spending, research publications, strategic plans, facility designs, and co-op evaluations). Even I was surprised by the results. Northeastern should be ranked much higher than it is. My research results show that NEU should be ranked not in the top 50, but rather the top 60-70 (but in the top 50 for some programs like CS, engineering, and business). Most people who have visited this school agree with me:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=173426%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=173426&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>BTW, the poster's daughter in this link eventually decided to attend NEU.</p>

<p>Maximus,
Yes you are accurate in stating the recent positive developments at Northeastern. I agree with you that NEU is on the rise. Time will tell if it will be ranked in the top 60 -70. It's happened before but doesn't occur over night.
Any idea what the yield is for non- ED applicants?</p>

<p>"Any idea what the yield is for non- ED applicants?"</p>

<p>About 40%.</p>

<p>Another trip report:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=168222%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=168222&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It's good, but not amazing. Maybe it is a little underrated, but not that much.</p>

<p>It's a very average school for average students with the coop program being it's biggest draw. I can tell you that the high school I go to which is very strong academically and nearby sends absolutely nobody there.</p>

<p>The average SAT/GPA of students attending NEU is about the same as schools like Fordham, GWU and American, so If you want to call that "average", then that's fine with me.</p>

<p>Based on my research, Northeastern has a very bright future. Here's why:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Campus:
The univeristy is planning on adding 2 million square feet of additional building space to the campus over the next few years at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. This is on top of the half billion that university already spent on campus improvements in the last five years. The new master plan is expected to include several new luxury style dorms, a new indoor football/athletic stadium, and several new research and academic buildings. </p></li>
<li><p>Academics:</p></li>
</ol>

<p>The univeristy is in the process of beefing up academics by adding 100 new tenture and tenure track star faculty. The new faculty will result in 100s of new courses and will substantially lower the student faculty ratio. More about the plan:
<a href="http://www.provost.neu.edu/hrmjoblistsnew/FMPro?-db=hrmjoblistnew&-lay=Layout1&-format=test.html&-view%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.provost.neu.edu/hrmjoblistsnew/FMPro?-db=hrmjoblistnew&-lay=Layout1&-format=test.html&-view&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<ol>
<li>Co-op
The univeristy just completed a master plan for the co-op program which is expected to adds hundreds of more top internship positions all over the globe.</li>
</ol>

<p>If Northeastern is not already and "amazing" university, it soon will be.</p>

<p>don't you have something better to do? i mean.. why are you so obsessed with justifying how good your school is unless you have some kind of major insecurity</p>

<p>and what website would that be? well it makes sense</p>

<p>what highschool is that?(suze)</p>

<p>thx alot for the responses guys. I have looked at NEU site but it's not that impressive. I still can't figure out how come there are as many as 25000 people applying to a school that many of you are saying just slightly underrated. I mean even for schools like GU has less applicants</p>

<p>It's self selective. People apply to schools they think they can get into.</p>