<p>My son will study Mech Eng. and is deciding between a number of schools. He was admitted EA to NU but was not admitted to Honors program. Does that have a great impact on your education/dorm life? HE does not want to join a frat and loves Boston but wants a school based social life. Any thoughts on the Mech Eng dept? vs. Case Western, U Rochester or UMD? Any thoughts if the classwork is hands on focused vs. theory focused?
It has been a tough decision as all schools have pros and cons.
thanks for any input.</p>
<p>Honors does not, in all honesty, have a huge impact on everyday academics. You get nicer housing your freshman year, and have a few opportunities like a Junior/Senior Honors project. But I would not let honors vs. non-honors be the make-or-break for deciding whether to come here.
As for social life, there are PLENTY of ways to have a social life on campus without frats. (Greek life actually isn’t really a huge thing here.) At orientation and during welcome week, there are massive activities fairs where all the clubs/groups on campus have tables and you can sign up for more info. Plus there’s people from classes, the dorm, orientation, etc.
I’m not an engineer, so I will leave all of those specific questions to someone who knows what they’re talking about. Obviously, though, with Northeastern’s focus on experiential ed, there is going to be a lot of hands-on experience with co-ops (which are required for engineering).</p>