<p>Our main concern with NU is the location of campus and how safe it is. NU abuts some of the roughest territory in Boston. Comments from current students and their parents would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I am an alumnus and some current students will likely respond soon but you may want to read this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/publicsafety/pdfs/annualreport.pdf[/url]”>http://www.northeastern.edu/publicsafety/pdfs/annualreport.pdf</a></p>
<p>Campus security is quite visible as it is at most universities. Northeastern also abuts the Museum of Fine Arts, Symphony Hall and the Harvard Medical campus is nearby. It is an urban neighborhood with all the pros and cons that that entails. The student newspaper prints a weekly Crime log:
[Crime</a> Log: March 15 – March 21 | The Huntington News](<a href=“http://huntnewsnu.com/2011/03/crime-log-79/]Crime”>http://huntnewsnu.com/2011/03/crime-log-79/)
Most incidents involve theft of unattended property (carelessness) and intoxicated students. </p>
<p>This past year in the Boston area a Boston College student was stabbed and another student beaten while trying to stop a group of non-students from entering a dorm, a non-student was stabbed to death on the campus or Regis College in toney Weston, three Harvard students were robbed at gunpoint in Harvard Square at 2 AM and a non-student shot himself to death on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. A couple of years ago, a non-student was shot to death inside a Harvard residence hall while delivering drugs to a Harvard student. I mention these incidents to show that crime can occur anywhere, even at suburban schools and at Harvard. Northeastern is no more dangerous than any school and precautions and common sense need to be used.</p>
<p>There is always some danger when you live in a big city. Campus itself is very safe. Areas immediately surrounding campus are also pretty safe, but there are occasional reports of robberies. Roxbury isn’t a good area, but no NEU student has any real reason to be wandering into roxbury anyway. </p>
<p>Also a few threads on this topic found here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/703960-neu-faqs-answered.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/703960-neu-faqs-answered.html</a></p>
<p>Emily: In '09, in one of your posts helping someone who was struggling with Tufts or NEU, youu wrote you thought NEU was average in its academics but in the coming years would be getting better . Do you still feel it is just average?</p>
<p>No. I’ve written in a few posts recently that I think NEU is a totally different school than it was 5 years ago when I got here. My class was dramatically more intellectual than the classes before it, and now this year’s freshmen put my class to shame.</p>
<p>At the time, I didn’t think someone smart enough to get Tufts admission would find the NEU student body to be smart or interesting. It wasn’t so much the academics that were “mediocre” (as I believe I phrased it then), it was the students–the kinds of questions asked in class, the discussions, the level of reading/writing/critical thinking. I just didn’t think it would compare to the student body of Tufts. But now as a senior, I’m meeting these freshmen/sophomores who are SO much smarter than the kids in my class. </p>
<p>The problem with my old posts is that the school has changed super fast. My impression of the student body is based on the graduating classes of '06-'12, mostly (so the kids who were seniors when I was a freshman, and the kids who are now 4th years). The student body now is totally different. So, I guess, disregard those posts :)</p>
<p>And, blinkangel, who I thought should go to Tufts, chose to come here and seems pretty happy. Turns out I’m not always right! Just usually.</p>
<p>I would be concerned about safety at NEU (or any city campus) if there were no campus police. But I attended the Parent sessions at orientation last July, and I was very impressed by the efforts to ensure campus safety.</p>
<p>The buddy system makes sense off campus at night.</p>
<p>I am pretty happy, Emily 
and your advice throughout my whole decision process was very, very helpful! The student body at Tufts would definitely be different than Northeastern’s student body, but in all my International Affairs classes, there are tons of people who ask way better questions than me and think of things in very refreshing ways. I know I would have loved Tufts, but I really can’t imagine myself going anywhere besides NU (especially since I’ve been offered my first co-op position as of this morning!). </p>
<p>As for safety, I’ve never feared for my life or anything here. It’s all about common sense and developing some street smarts. I can’t imagine living anywhere outside of the city now.</p>
<p>Ah! First co-op offer! I literally was jumping and squealing… and did it again with my second co-op, except that time it was in public outside of Stearns.</p>
<p>To chime in here, I’m currently finishing my first year here at Northeastern.</p>
<p>With regards to safety, I feel safe. I’m an international student who came over to Northeastern from Europe, so I guess my perspective may be different than most although I have lived in less secure cities than Boston. </p>
<p>Yes, Northeastern isn’t in the greatest area of Boston and there are dangers, but at no point have I felt unsafe here on campus. There are Northeastern police everywhere, especially at night. The most unsafest part of the campus (in my opinion) would be this T-stop (metro/bus) crossing called Ruggles, which you have to cross to get to International Village, however there are police stations on both sides of it! Keep in mind that this t-stop is 100m (~330 ft) long. </p>
<p>Northeastern University cares A LOT about student security, it’s strict, but it makes our campus safe. They have made sure that this is the second safest campus in the US, and they don’t want to lose that.</p>
<p>@neuchimie: 
There was definitely lots of jumping and squealing involved in my reaction as well haha And after staying up until 5:30AM writing an essay, it was absolutely the only reason I was awake all day. </p>
<p>Oh Ruggles. I think IV kids have a much different perspective on Ruggles, literally walking through it all day, every day. I love Ruggles. It has some very interesting characters. Yeah, it’s kinda sketch, but there are cops walking around in there all the time.</p>
<p>Country’s safest campus, but don’t go through the fens on a night jog, you’ll end up in the crime log…</p>
<p>I’ll be living in IV next year. Should I worry about walking through Ruggles at night?</p>
<p>^^ HAHA I LOVE THAT VIDEO!! i was thinking the same thing
don’t go past columbus!</p>
<p>which video are you referring to?</p>
<p>Walking through Ruggles at night is not going to make you feel all warm and fuzzy, but everrrrrrrrrybody living in IV has to do it. Just be alert, y’know? </p>
<p>And the video is called “Northeastern State of Mind”.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Northeastern State of Mind](<a href=“Northeastern State of Mind - YouTube”>Northeastern State of Mind - YouTube)</p>
<p>If you have not been to campus yet and are wondering about Ruggles Station, here is a picture from flickr:
[Ruggles</a> Station/Northeastern University | Flickr - Photo Sharing!](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/omar-bonilla/5569852806/]Ruggles”>Ruggles Station/Northeastern University | Omar | Flickr)
It is not a dark and dingy place per se. You just need to be aware of your surroundings.</p>
<p>Nice photo, Tom.</p>
<p>I am a worry wart kind of mom. But I really don’t worry much about my son who walks frequently between his IV dorm and the NEU main campus. (I’ve even commented that the glass tunnel over Ruggles makes for good protection from the Boston weather.) Ha, when he comes home to visit and borrows the car… then I am back into mom worry mode.</p>
<p>is there any security presence around Ruggles at night? is it a hangout for unsavory characters?</p>
<p>Plenty of NU cops, and I’m pretty sure transit cops are there too. I know they just built this box thing that the transit cops sit in so they can see down the length of Ruggles.</p>
<p>So I’m a new poster (I’ve been surfing this website during the college process, but it’s only now that I’m narrowing down my decisions that I’ve decided to start posting/asking questions), and I’m not at a college yet, but I can say that Northeastern is a school I’m seriously considering.</p>
<p>When I’ve visited it has appeared safe to me, but my dad doesn’t want me to attend Northeastern at all and is vying for Boston College, which is in Chestnut Hill as opposed to the city. He feels pretty strongly considering I got 20k at NEU and he still doesn’t want me to attend. Partially his concerns come from my uncle, who is a Massachusetts cop and knows a bit about the city (and as someone familiar with Boston, I can say that the orange line is one of the sketchier lines).</p>
<p>Obviously my dad is a parent and therefore biased and nervous for my safety, but I thought I’d add his concerns, if only to prove safety concerns are valid.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to scare you off Northeastern - I’m still considering it after all, haha.</p>