Hey! I am an international OOS student planning to pursue a major in business management (maybe data science? I want to keep my options open) and I am currently torn between going to KCL and Northeastern. Here are my pros and cons list for each university:
Northeastern
(+) Located in boston, so good student community
(+) Co-op program, good career experience and $$
(+) Can easily transfer to other majors (i plan to transfer to information management systems)
(-) Less name prestige than KCL
King’s College London
(+) Good name
(+) Located in london, pretty city in general
(+) Super nice facilities (nice library, accommodation, etc.)
(+) Joint courses with University of London colleges (e.g. LSE, UCL, etc)
(-) Low student satisfaction
(-) Conditions (35 total IB with 766 in HLs and 5 in math SL :() Atm, I feel like the conditions are not worth meeting for 3 years of low student satisfaction
(-) Cannot transfer to majors easily. Even if it is possible, king’s does not offer a major on information management or data
(-) London’s party life can get in the way of studies
Because I am international, financial aid is not a problem for me godbless but I am facing familial pressure because generally Kings is percieved as more prestigious but I feel that Northeastern gives me better opportunities. If anyone can give their advice or any experiences studying or choosing between both schools that would be a great help. My major factors while choosing a school is program flexibility and employment success rates
Yes, I do! I’m admitted to Northeastern for the fall and King’s in September but UK offers need IB exams to consolidate their offer whilst I think Northeastern is (unconditional?)
What’s your goal postgrad? Each have much stronger reputations in their respective countries. If you know which one you want to work in postgrad, that would be a large factor for me.
I had friends who went to KCL and loved it. My impression is the “low student satisfaction “ is mainly due to bad admin (which is their fault) and London being expensive (which isn’t).
Flexibility will always be greater at a US college than a UK university. The flip side is that you get to finish up sooner in the UK.
I agree with others that you should be keeping in mind wherever you want to work when choosing.
Question, are you worried about being able to meet the conditions for KCL?
My biggest worry is that I got in to King’s for Business Management which, in my country, is very popular and so alot of competition to have so I am kind of considering to learn Data Science or Information Systems and Northeastern has the flexibility for me to choose between majors or major in both. Should i stick with the more respectively prestigious college with the less respected/searched for major or should I go to a less renowned college who can give me the opportunities I needed to pursue subjects I am interested in?
I’ve talked to people within the employment sector and those people are not looking for more business-y type but more people within the technology center. Based on family experience (my sisters and parents take business), management doesn’t really differentiate you from others. My country has also been booming on the e-service startups so demand for career in data has increased.
What school would you choose (with reason), I’m really conflicted right now haha
Are these your only two options? Money is not in issue? I assume KCL is much cheaper. In which case, you could get an undergrad degree there as well as a more quantitative master’s.
Though it seems like a more technology/CS-oriented degree would be better for you. It should be easy to switch majors at NEU. Another possibility is taking a gap year and applying. Again. KCL and others have business+CS courses.
hi! im british and i nearly went to kings last year for law. i have a lot of close friends this year going to kings and i have friends at northeastern too. i would choose northeastern. KCL doesnt have the same “prestige” as the other london universities (UCL/Imperial/LSE) and imo is not as good as northeastern in that aspect. If you are looking for an incredibly british experience, the university is incredibly international dominated. my friend on her economics course is teh only british one there! Her housing is south of the thames and requires a relatively long commute which in london isnt the most convenient and if you are a tube user, the prices can add up and your living expenses will be huge! Everything in london is very expensive and you will not be guaratneed accomodation past your first year. Also, theres the extra pressure of meeting the academic conditions which are stressful enough as they are.
Northeastern is on the rise as a more prestigious university and it certainly has the reputation for being academically demanding. KCL would be cheaper but for career development i think a US college is easily the better option. It has a reputation as being career orientated if that is osmething you are looking for. With a US visa also it will be easier ot transfer visas to pursue internshisp in the summer in a multitude of major cities whereas with england you gain access to london and then perhaps the smaller manchester and birmingham.
good luck with your decision and if youre too unsure, take a gap year! i did and i have very much enjoyed it.
You have already deposited at Northeastern, so that is locked in. Why don’t you just wait on a final decision until you have your IB scores and know whether Kings is still an option or not?
But neither does northeastern, so this is a strange argument. The commute stress etc are maybe more valid arguments. There are certainly countries where KCL is much better known than northeastern, so the “prestige” argument anyway is hard to judge without knowing where OP plans to be looking for work. (While acknowledging the problems with rankings, the THE world rankings have KCL at #38 and northeastern at #184… this might not matter in the US but it might matter very much elsewhere).
All that said… agree probably best to wait and see if the conditions are even met for KCL before stressing over it.
I have been studying fairly rigorously for the past month to be sure to meet King’s conditions and I think I can fulfill the points that I was supposed to achieve (fingers crossed). However, stressing out about IB conditions made me reconsider Northeastern and now I am actually rethinking its value as a school that I should go to, even if I do meet the conditions
For reference I want to work back home in my country (We are in Southeast Asia) and I am trying to get into the modern business/tech/startup/data world, so which is better?
Northeastern will be more prestigious in North America and since you’re not sure which subject you want to study, it’d probably make more sense. At King’s you’re locked into the course you for into and if you don’t like it ou need to reapply and start from scratch in another one (if they admit you for the other one). King’s will also require you to live off campus, up to one hour by tube to the university (even if you’re in university halls).
