<p>I didn’t get the Jan-Start maybe because I applied to the College of Sciences as a Chemistry major. I was surprised that many people in my school were Jan-Start.</p>
<p>I called today to ask about switching my daughter into Fall admit and they said no that would not be possible. There are people on the waitlist for fall, etc. I didn’t get anymore concrete information but of course, today was the day everyone was calling. Maybe in a few days, they will have more time to discuss it. I just think it is unreasonable to expect a first semester incoming freshman to want to go abroad. My daughter definitely wants to do study abroad but not the first semester. I think it would be hard to fit in in Jan Start with all of the people who have already had the anxieties, lack of knowing where classes are, etc. to be ahead of you and for you to start as a “newbie”</p>
<p>I know two people who have come in as spring admits after going to another college for the fall semester. I also have met two others who studied abroad (in Greece and London). I know the former two much better than the latter, and they’re both really happy to be here. And I’m pretty sure everyone gets housing as a spring admit. One of them is in a single and one is in apartment-style housing. The two who studied abroad both ended up here in IV.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you all!</p>
<p>My son was admitted as a Jan starter. His major is journalism. The grant offered was a paltry $3,200. Is this the trend, Jan starters are offered meager grants and then they also try to lure you in with an expensive —and ludicrous, IMO —first semester abroad offer? I suspect NU makes a tidy profit by putting students up overseas, with the intention of then using these students to fill in spots lost to dropouts and transfers at the conclusion of the Fall semester. Nothing about Jan start that benefits the student, this “program” seems to be designed with NU’s interests solely in mind. Anyway, what grant amounts have you other Jan starters been offered?</p>
<p>The study abroad is expensive and only a few students get large scholarships for it. Yes, it’s not that great and it’s in Northeastern’s favor. However NEU is a private school-- it makes money off of students. Books are too expensive, fees are too expensive, and meal plans try to trick you. It’s like that at any private school, and even at many public ones. Sorry, but you can’t really expect them to have students first for everything. Some things it should (academics for instance), but not everything. Also spring admits usually get better housing in the upperclassmen areas if they want it.</p>
<p>Parent of an NEU senior here. I’ll just make a couple of quick comments for the other parents who have posted here. NEU is a private school…that means they make the rules and they don’t have to make sense to anyone.
My son had a great experience at NEU but definitely experienced dealing with bureaucracy just the way any larger college student does.<br>
Admissions is not going to move a spring admit to fall even if you call multiple times. They aren’t going to explain it to you either.<br>
There are always questions about the honors prrogram and merit scholarships too. They don’t necessarily correlate. The “rules” for who gets what often seem ambigious to the outsider. It’s somewhat based on your major, on your geographic area, on the particular year you apply etc.
NOW is the time to get your student more involved in the process. The student who succeeds at NEU is the student who is very proactive and does their own research and campaigning.
To give you an example my son’s major is being shuffled under another department . He had to go to three different deans to ensure that his diploma will still say Criminal Justice. (This is due to a complicated graduation date issue as he is graduating early). He is still scrambling around with his advisor to get into a waitlisted class so that he can actually graduate in July.
He has friends in other majors who have had similar experiences.
As I say, he had a great experience at NEU and I am not posting this to complain, only to point out that your students had better learn to fight their own battles if they want to attend NEU.</p>
<p>Speaking of geographical confusions, every single full or half tuition scholarship student I’ve ever met was from Mass (although obviously I’m not claiming to have met them all). There are a lot of Mass students, but I still always felt like there were way more of them with full scholarships than normal… But of course except for a few specific scholarships that clearly say it is for Mass or Boston residents only, NEU swears that location has nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>My daughter was admitted Jan-Start as well. We don’t know what to think. Yes, happy to be admitted, but extremely disappointed that she won’t get the “college experience” in August with the rest of the freshman class. Is anyone planning on accepting the Jan Start?</p>
<p>@ebeeeee</p>
<p>What you say is true. I just want to emphasize that the NU bureaucracy is no different than what exists at any university with 20,000 plus students. When you deviate from the norm, for whatever reasons, there are hoops to jump through. Look on it as a good preparation for life!</p>
<p>well, we are trying to decide how to make the jan start a positive experience like if my daughter takes a coupld of core classes at the local community college for cheap and gets good grades and then can take more electives at Northeastern, etc. Also, we are starting to think that many students at NU also do 5 year coops, etc. that there must be such a variety of students starting and stopping and going and coming at different times of the year, etc. that maybe she won’t feel so out of the loop… however, still not her ideal way to begin a college experience.</p>
<p>^Very good way of looking at it!</p>
<p>If she does take classes at a local community college, I highly recommend that you make sure that all the credit will transfer beforehand. I have heard that NU can be picky about transfer credit. (Just something you should look into, definitely not discouraging her from going that route!)</p>
<p>Other large schools offer lots of applicants a Spring Admit (University of Maryland is a perfect example.) From what I hear it is because so many talented kids apply that they have overflow of kids slightly below the target for Fall admits but kids who will do well nonetheless. Also, since large schools like NE and UMD have many seniors who graduate after the Fall semester, they have “beds” available for a large crop of Spring Admits. By offereing acceptances now to those who applied for the Fall but did not make it, they can easily fill those empty beds and chairs in classes. Makes sense to me. The challenge is do kids want to defer their start date…</p>
<p>I was accepted to the Jan-Start program but I do not think I will be attending Northeastern. Unless it is your number one school why attend a school for only the spring semester?</p>
<p>Because once you are here, it really doesn’t matter that much. By your second year no one knows or cares when you started. </p>
<p>To be honest, looking back I would have killed to get a semester off. I’m finishing up my second year and my first co-op, and I want to take off summer 2 (I can because of my ap credit). I totally didn’t savor my breaks enough when I had them.</p>
<p>Another question. Do you have to pay the full tuition considering you’re only missing about half the year?</p>
<p>^What do you mean? You pay tuition by semester.</p>
<p>No, you’d only pay one semester of credits, so half of yearly tuition.</p>
<p>And again, like we’ve all said already, people DO take this option and end up being totally fine, usually enjoying the way the spend that free semester. I wouldn’t be too happy about spring admit, but it’s not the end of the world if NU is really where you want to be.</p>
<p>Sorry. Just new to all of this. To clarify though if you guys wouldn’t mind. According to collegeboard the cost of attending is roughly around 36,000. 36,000/2= about $18,000 a year.</p>
<p>I would graduate with everything as a Fall Admit just only be attending half a year right?</p>
<p>Like I said sorry if the questions seem really stupid. Thanks.</p>
<p>No, you would still need to complete 8 semesters at NU unless you do the NUin thing in the fall. If you do not go to school in the fall, you would make up that semester at NU. With the coop system, that would not be a problem.</p>
<p>You don’t need 8 semesters, you need enough credit to statisfy the university and major requirements. I can graduate in 6 semesters. (Not going to though, because I’m avoiding the real world) But it isn’t like if you are a spring admit, your diploma is going to stay something different.</p>