Is Northeastern Worth It?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

<p>So, I was accepted to Northeastern 's PharmD program. Now, their Pharmacy program is amazing--especially because it is a 6 year direct entry program. This is great because I'm not the best at math or science and I know the PCAT's and reapplying to pharmacy school would be extremely stressful.</p>

<p>The problem is, Northeastern is SOO EXPENSIVE!! My family has lost a TON of money this year due to the stock market and a very bad investment. This does not reflect in my financial aid however, because Northeastern still expects me to contribute 35k a year.</p>

<p>Is Northeastern worth 35,000/year? I know that my parents can contribute maybe up to 20,000/year, leaving me with about 15,000 minimum. This would make me owe about 90k in debt. </p>

<p>It is really unfortunate because I really do want to do pharmacy but I am absolutely terrified of not making it into pharmacy school, but being in debt forever is not a great option also.</p>

<p>So, should I take the plunge and go Northeastern or stick to my state school, which offers a pharmacy program where I would have to reapply, but would only cost me about 12k/ year?</p>

2

<p>If I were you, I'd say go for it. Get the loans and pay it off after you finish and get a job.</p>

<p>You don't want to live with the fact that you got direct entry into Pharm School and you turned it down. </p>

<p>Applying later on will be stressful and not guarentee you a spot. Be safe.</p>

<p>If it is not an option, then I guess you could go to state school. It will be more work in the end.</p>

3

<p>We're wrestling with the same decision here! What's a more solid guarantee worth to you and your parents? A total loan amount of $72K would leave you with a monthly payment of approx. $848 for 10 years. Loans of $90K would be $1036. You can play with other amounts/terms here:
FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator</p>

<p>In our case, the state school option is UB which requires a 3.5 math/science gap for a guaranteed seat or she'll have to take the PCAT and reapply. Costs are low and FA is good so D's loans would be almost non-existent, at least until the grad level hits in year three. We project she could end up with about $70K in debt, which isn't horrible for a PharmD. But many pre-pharms there do not make the cutoff and it's very competitive to get accepted without a guarantee. She could apply to other schools as well or continue with another year of undergrad, but that does delay entry into the field.</p>

<p>Her other 0-6 and 2+4 acceptances require a gpa from 2.7-3.0 and minimal composite scores on the PCAT. But she would have to take at least the full Stafford loans every year from year 1, parent contribution would increase dramatically, and the total loans to her would be $20,000-40,000 higher by the end of 6 years. She would like to keep loans lower so she can have some flexibility if she wants to do a residency, take a year off later on to have a child, etc.</p>

<p>Do you have a third option, like MCPHS or another school that offers a guarantee but is less expensive than NE? I would recommend having a serious financial discussion with your parents now, and doing detailed year by year projections which include expected increases for tuition over time. For us, I think it will boil down to how focused and organized she thinks she is vs. the average prepharm freshman, how prepared she feels to handle the pressure of school with high requirements, and how much she and I feel able to pay through savings and income.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>We have discussed the same question regarding the "worth" of Northeastern. We are MA residents. I'm convinced that if your senior can get into UMass Amherst, it is a far better value than Northeastern. There is no a single major at Northeastern that is worth $27k more per year than UMass Amherst. As someone who is familiar with the "old" Northeastern (pre-1990s), it boggles my mind that someone would pay $47k per year to attend there when there is a lower priced alternative that is as good or better academically.</p>

<p>Overall, while Northeastern is a good school, it has no more "prestige" than UMass Amherst. I can't imagine loading a kid up with $80-100k of loans after they graduate for the purpose of attending Northeastern when UMass is available with perhaps no debt. </p>

<p>There is no guarantee that kids coming out of college four years from now will have the resources to pay large undergraduate student loans. We are trying to tell our senior that large loans will hurt them financially for many years. And, except for about $6k per year for Stafford loans, most loans have to be co-signed by the parents. I know a few people who are now responsible for paying the loans of their 23 year olds because they can't pay them.</p>

5

<p>sweetarte, you ask "So, should I take the plunge and go Northeastern or stick to my state school, which offers a pharmacy program where I would have to reapply, but would only cost me about 12k/ year?"</p>

<p>Are you comparing the $12K to the $15K you would have to borrow for Northeastern or to the full $35K you're responsible for? I assume to the $35K, which means no debt for you versus $90K. That is really a big consideration. If it's only $3K/year then it's a different story.</p>

<p>A few points: </p>

<p>If you got into Northeastern Pharmacy School, which I gather is not that easy, what makes you so doubtful you'd get into another later? You've obviously done well enough so far.</p>

<p>Have you thought about asking Northeastern to reconsider their Fin Aid package based on your parents' altered situation? Can't hurt.</p>

<p>Not to be pessimistic, but if the economic situation doesn't improve, can you be sure your parents will be able to maintain $20K per year?</p>

<p>I may be having to think along similar lines regarding my son before long, although he has yet to hear from Northeastern. In his case, he says he wants to go to UMass anyway, so it may not be an issue.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>I wouldn't put myself 90k in debt when I could instead graduate debt free. It's just a school. </p>

<p>You may be able to qualify for more aid if you've really lost a substantial amount of money, and you'll also be able to make some money when you're on co-op. But both of those things will only make a dent in a number like 90k. Also, living in boston is absurdly expensive, don't forget that tuition is not the only expense you'll have while in school.</p>

7

<p>Would you do co-op? Don't forget that that's a time when you could be earning money and not paying tuition, which can make a significant difference. If you're doing the standard five-year co-op schedule (which may be different with the pharmacy program) you really only pay the full tuition amount for two out of the five years, because you don't pay it for the time you're on co-op. So it's the same amount of money, but a bit easier-to mange year-to-year.</p>

8

<p>I think life is too short and you should save yourself the stress. Just go to Northeastern and get that ride into Pharm School.</p>

9

<p>I was in the EXACT same position as you; my mom actually showed me this post yesterday lol. I applied to UCONN, URI, MCPHS and Northeastern for their pharmacy programs and got into all of them. I got my financial aid packages about a month ago from all these schools, with URI + UCONN + MCPHS all costing about the same (~23-25k with room& board etc + scholarship). However, at these URI and UCONN they only offered me scholarships for 4 out of the 6 years and I don't really want to take the PCAT as required by UCONN... and MCPHS doesn't guarantee housing for sophomore year+.</p>

<p>I submitted by deposit for Northeastern a few weeks ago. A number of factors actually contributed to this decision, as my family's current financial status is about the same as yours (my parents have a pretty good income but lost a CRAPLOAD in stocks so... not too many loans/financial aid = probably a lot of debt.)</p>

<p>I visited NEU 3 times now, asking about the financial issues with NEU. I received a 16k/yr scholarship for NEU - this scholarship renews all the years in the program. In the program, you have a full year of co-op (so technically 5 years education 1 year co-op). Co-op semesters you do NOT have to pay tuition for. You can co-op at home and stay at home to save money & you get paid for co-op - (at the Early Action welcome day, pharmacy students said their co-op paid $12-18/hr at some places) meaning you can pay off loans/debt/housing+room&board at NEU etc. </p>

<p>The last (6th) year of the program, it's more "Advanced Practice Experience" - essentially, another year of co-op/full hands on experience. They told me you pay a flat rate fee for this year (they said like $10.5-11k per semester when i asked but that might get inflated by the time 2015 comes around so perhaps $15k by that time)</p>

<p>Essentially, if you are willing to get a job and do all the co-ops and get paid for the co-ops, you can manage the debt that this'll eventually amount to. My mom researched around and i was basically deciding between MCPHS and NEU. Apparently, NEU pharmD students often get higher starting salaries than MCPHS/other pharmacy school graduates (probably due to better/more work experience from Co-ops, etc.) - my mom saw a figure of a NEU student getting $140k-$160k starting salary as a graduate of pharmacy versus MCPHS student's starting salary as $110k. That difference could make a SIGNIFICANT difference in paying off debts etc.</p>

<p>Overall I decided on NEU because I figured I got into the program and there is no uncertainty that I won't finish this program - I am absolutely determined to finish this. I hate the feeling of uncertainty when it comes to re-applying when nothing is guaranteed. I also chose NEU because of co-op, since experience is definitely what counts in this field when determining starting salaries etc. The job itself at the end of the program has basically a guaranteed salary that will help me pay off whatever debts I have comfortably in the future.</p>

<p>No matter what school you decide to do (as long as you work hard either way), just remember that the job at the end - Pharmacy - it pays well and high enough straight from graduation that you can pay off debts. It all depends if you want to get higher salaries later or pay more debt off later.</p>

<p>Hope this helps! :) and best of luck</p>

<p>**Also MCPHS is a good, cheaper alternative - i agree with the 3rd poster above that you should consider there too for a guaranteed pharmacy 0-6 program (instead of 2-4 program) if you are really in a financial bind. Tuition is only $23k there and they give LOADS of scholarships (I got $12k guaranteed every year) and housing i think might be a bit more expensive than other schools but overall it would cost the same as another out-of-state state/New England regional school)</p>

10

<p>Well, another option actually exists - do your prepharm at NE, take the PCAT early in your second year and apply to the state school and see what happens. You'd still have the safety of the 0-6 guarantee, but may get an offer from a less expensive alternative.</p>

11

<p>Don't forget that starting second year, you'll be doing Co-op :)</p>

<p>and I'm curious; you didn't get ANY scholarship at all?
Since you're in PharmD program, you should have gotten some scholarship - </p>

<p>I got about 10K per year... So check myNEU webpage.
Scholarship info updates a little after the acceptance decision.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>(in conclusion: don't worry about 90K debt - since you're going to be a pharmacist, the debt isn't going to drag you down that much ;))</p>

12

<p>My daughter is at NEU, Bouve . She also got accepted to MCPHS as well as a few others. They offered her nice merit money. she never pursued it further than that because NEU was her first choice and that is how it worked out for her..
That being said, I wouldn't be worried about the housing only being guraanteed for two years..most college students in Boston rent off campus by junior year anyway ( got two kids there ) We were pretty impressed by MCPHS dorms. Some of the nicest we have seen, though it did seem like a suitcase school</p>

13

<p>btw, the tuition is 35K - so if you add the extra cost it should be around 45K :(...</p>

14

<p>One of my friends graduated from the pharm program last year and is making $125K right out of northeastern...just something for you to think about. :)</p>

15

<p>Thanks for all of your great advice. I never expected so many replies. :)</p>

<p>I forgot to add, the reason why I have to pay 35k is because I got a 14k scholarship. </p>

<p>Soooo..if I do decide to go to NU.. How much is a reasonable amount that I should take out as loans and what my parents should take out so we both aren't in over our heads.</p>

<p>How much money do you expect I can make in total from my co-ops?</p>

16

<p>Keep in mind also that Northeastern just announced a policy to review financial offers if your family has taken a significant hit because of the financial crisis. Take a bit of time and contact the Financial Aid office and see if they can up your offer!</p>

17

<p>Co-op is a decent amount of money... but don't forget that unless you're living at home you still have living expenses. A good chunk of my co-op income went straight to rent/utilities/groceries/transportation, etc. </p>

<p>I would guess most students make somewhere around $9000-$12000 before taxes. Obviously, some students take very low paying jobs while others can make more... it really depends on major, work experience, and luck.</p>

18

<p>Thank you Emily! I keep pointing that out to people. My son is a NEU middler. The cost of rent/utlities/grocery/transportation leaves little savings from the coop income. If you are fortune enough to live close enough to coop while you live at home you can save quite a bit. If you are on campus or in an off campus apartment, don't count on an lot of your coop salary to be going to the next semester's tuition.<br>
Also the OP is a pharm major but for some of the other majors it is becoming difficult to find paying coops.</p>

19

<p>Soo..basically the co-op won't do much unless I live at home?</p>

20

<p>not really. Say you make $9,000, after taxes, in 6 months. </p>

<p>Income: $1500/month</p>

<p>And a sample of monthly expenses based on what I think is average, at least for my friends:
Rent + utilities = $800
Food = $150
Transportation = $25
Cable + internet = $25
Other = $50
= $1050</p>

<p>In this situation you'd be able to save $450 a month, and $2700 over 6 months. That doesn't really make a dent in tuition, and you still need money to live off of while you aren't on co-op.</p>

<p>You could also just live in roxbury, eat only ramen, and walk everywhere, which would save you some serious $$. I do most of those things but I have a nasty newbury-shopping addiction so it evens out...</p>