I’m not sure what the Honors program provides at NEU, but I would think that not having a hard-and-fast formula helps to keep their number of apps up, which they want.
I think I could give my little two cents here …
My S so far has gotten into NEU as University Scholar, BC (Honors), USC (Presidential Scholarship of 1/2 tuition because of his likely NMF status), University of Miami with good Merit Aid 28K in Presidential Scholarship + 3K in Grant for Florida Students for a total of 31K a year.
So far NEU is the only logical choice for us. Why would we pay tuition? NEU’s location, offer, and programs (University Scholar and Honors) make it an extremely attractive option for S.
Obviously it is way to early in the game. The overwhelming majority of schools S applied will release decisions in late March; however, we know that turning down NEU would be really, really hard. Outside the Ivy league, MIT, and Stanford nothing is worth starting one’s life in the red.
In general, based on reports from admitted students posted here on CC over the past few years, it appears that merit aid goes to students in the top quartile of admitted students. Currently that means SAT 2200 and above, ACT 34 and above. The higher the test scores, the more merit aid. This assumes a comparably high GPA. Northeastern makes no secret of it that they are looking for high statted students. Selection for Scholars is a black box. In looking at the geographic distribution of Scholars they appear to be looking for geographic diversity both domestic and international:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zlqIr4NDmTcE.kGvcb6JVN4bo
Now none of the above explains why some 2300 SAT/3.8 UW GPA students are denied, waitlisted or offered NUIn. Reports on CC show that has happened.
To the parent that said that kids won"t choose Northeastern over Ivies, that is just not true. My son chose Northeastern over Penn. He knows other kids who chose it over Harvard and Stanford. If you are not getting any financial aid at the ivies but then are offered a great merit package, in some cases full tuition, it makes it very hard to not choose Northeastern. I know we have been very happy with his choice financially and academically. When tuition is around 48,000 a year at these schools that is no small sum to turn down. Especially if you plan to go to graduate school, merit money is great. People say that if you aren’t getting financial aid then you don’t need it, but that is just not true in many cases. Putting three kids through college without financial aid would cost 750,000. Then how can you ever retire?
Curious, is there a standard merit amount NEU offers NMFs? My D hasn’t received confirmation yet from her high school but assuming she made finalist. Is the merit dependent on anything else besides being a finalist? D received the “likely” email on Saturday, but curious how merit works at NEU. Also, do you learn about any need-based aid when you learn about merit, or does it come later (if at all)?
NMF finalists get $30,000/year merit. Both need and merit awards come out with the admissions decision. Until NMF is confirmed your student would likely receive a Dean’s Scholarship. Once NMF is confirmed and Northeastern is chosen as her first choice the NMF scholarship would replace the Dean’s. If selected for Scholars that replaces the NMF. Merit does not stack.
How do you find out if you did get merit aid? Will it come in a letter, or will it be in the online portal?
@jessiatwi245 There will be a section on the left side of the portal that says Scholarship.
Crap.
@anotherparent22, I’d agree to the extent you’re talking about the population of kids whose families would struggle or can’t pay the tuition. Of the group who can swing it, my sense, based in part on some experience, is that 9 out of 10 will choose Tufts regardless of NE’s merit offer. Tufts is a better school with a much stronger reputation nationally.
@Malm59, sorry, but I agree with the other guy. NE is a fine school, but I’m on #3 now, and I’ve seen many smart kids go through this process in the greater Seattle area. I hear you about the cost (Middlebury, Pomona and now, potentially, Wesleyan, Vassar or Bryn Mawr … and who knows what else). I do, and I’m fortunate to be able to afford it.
As I said to anotherparent22, my experience with this stuff is simple: if the family can afford it (which means different things to different families of course), even if it’s a sacrifice, they’ll trade up. I don’t think I know a single person whose kid attended a Stanford, an Ivy, an MIT, a Rice, a top LAC, who would have chosen NE instead by virtue of a generous package. These people (us included), or should I say our kids, turned down schools like UW Honors college, UTexas, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and even schools like Emory, all of which I’d say are at least comparable to NE, to attend the bigger name. It’s just how it works most of the time it seems.
My D received $5K per semester ($10K/year) starting 2nd year and only for 3 years. Is this delayed award common? Do you think it is to boost retention rates? Also, does anyone know if that excludes co-op semesters and therefore actually equates to 4 years if she decides to do the 5 year program with 2 semester co-ops? Also, she really wanted honors college and did not get accepted, does anyone know if that makes a difference throughout your time there. We are trying to understand it and not sure what to make of it all and trying to figure out the actual cost of attending.
Scholarships are for academic semesters, so they would not be for co-op’s. You don’t pay tuition while you are on co-op though - the general rule is to usually expect your pay to cover room/board while on co-op, more or less depending on your major. So for price calculation, consider it one full pay year and three years with 10k less.
So, that’s $60,000 + $50,000 * 3 = $210,000
I have heard of the delayed award only in the past two years - not sure why it’s there because NEU already has a really high retention rate (96%), so I doubt it would be for that.
As far as honors goes, here’s a good thread discussing it: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1874188-northeastern-honors-program.html
In the end, the program has its perks (nice dorms your first two years, smaller class sizes here and there) but won’t make or break your time here by any stretch of the imagination. By the end of your second year, there barely is any difference between honors and everyone else.
@PengsPhils - Thanks so much for the information. It is really helpful. So, if I understand correctly, hopefully she can spread the $5K per semester over the 5 years as she will only be doing 6 semesters over the last 4 years (with first year deferred) - is that how it typically works? We were really hoping for a bit more as it is so expensive but we need to try to figure out how to compare costs. She will hopefully get paid for the two semesters co-op to defray R & B as you said.
@hopefully16 Yep! If you come in with AP credit, some can even make it with 7 or 7.5 academic semesters - it depends. If you do summer courses and two co-ops, you can graduate a semester early, or do three. Lots of options, but you will pay for 8 academic semesters unless you choose to do less / more - the rest is independent of cost more or less. You’ll get the scholarship for your first 6 after your first year I believe - check the wording of the award to be sure.
At this point, if you make $17 an hour or more on co-op you will at least break even on R&B (even when considering taxes etc) while in Boston. There’s many ways to lower that as well but use the higher to be safe. CS / Engineering / Business average in the mid $20’s, so those majors will actually be able to ideally pocket about 5k+ per co-op. Other majors make closer to an average of $15 an hour but can vary up or down. Overall, the wash of co-op and room / board is pretty accurate - I would consider anything more extra and not in your financial planning.
For the total cost, it’ll be the number I had in my last post spread over 5 years, more front heavy. If she does three co-op’sand is on a spring cycle, this is what it would look like:
Year 1: 60K
Fall Year 2: 25K
Spring Year 2: Co-op
Fall Year 3: 25K
Spring Year 3: Co-op
Fall Year 3: 25K
Spring Year 4: Co-op
Fall Year 4: 25K
Year 5: 50K