<p>I want honest answer(s) please - I know this may be biased due to the posting location!</p>
<p>The title may seem a bit misleading, but it basically sums up the point.</p>
<p>I am majoring in business at the undergraduate level. My two choices of schools come between Northeastern University or the University of Pittsburgh. At the University of Pittsburgh, I would be double majoring in Business and Statistics (or Mathematics), and at NEU I would just get a BSBA in Finance & Insurance. Both programs (double major at Pitt or the three co-op program at NEU would take 5 years) The NEU program is ranked slightly higher (by Businessweek - #22 vs #86 for Pitt) but USNews rankings are closer (about 10 apart).</p>
<p>The cost can be a factor as well. I am planning to go for an MBA. NEU's program would cost about 40K a year (including room/board) not factoring in any co-op salary. Pitt would cost just about 20K a year. Pitt doesn't have an active co-op program, but is ranked slightly higher overall. Also, I don't know how much the co-op factors into tuition in a five year plan.</p>
<p>Opinions please! Basically, does the co-op program at NEU make it a much better choice (despite being double the cost)? Thank you.</p>
<p>My normal advice is that financials are king. The issue with Northeastern is that the co-op program is very helpful in this job market - you may leave with twice the debt, but much greater job assurance. </p>
<p>I was accepted into both schools, and as it was, Northeastern was a more financially viable choice for me. But if you’re particularly concerned about finding a job after graduation, the co-op program is a great step up. </p>
<p>As for how co-op affects prices - good news and bad. First, co-op salary probably isn’t going to make a dent in your tuition. The good news is that generally, it should be able to cover the majority of your living expenses during the period while you’re on co-op, and unless you’re taking classes while on co-op (which is rather rare), you won’t have to pay any tuition while on co-op.</p>
<p>So this definitely won’t answer your real question, but I feel the need to point this out.</p>
<p>You can definitely do the same jobs with both of those majors (Business/Statistics and Business/Finance). BUT the classes can be very, very different. If you are interested in statistics, I’d advise you to not go to Northeastern (as much as I love this school). We are not strong in statistics, although our overall math is good. We have great finance classes and co-ops but the best you could do for math is two or three statistics classes taught by professors who don’t like the subject. It’s not great. I’m a statistics nuts, so this is my biggest problem with the school.</p>
<p>Financial wise, if you are 100% certain that Northeastern is 40k and Pitt is 20k, then I’d say go for Pitt. 40k over five years is a lot worse than 20k over five years- especially if you want to go to grad school.</p>
<p>Also- never count co-op money towards tuition. After living expenses and rent, you barely have anything. Even if you did put the meager savings towards tuition, it would barely make a dent.</p>
<p>neuchimie always seems to give great advice! He is exactly right about not counting on co-op to help pay for school. The best thing about co-op is the real world experience you will get. But 20K is a big chunk of change. That’s almost 100 grand for the entire program. If finances are an issue and you will need to borrow heavily, I would go with Pitt.</p>
<p>i graduated a few years ago and have a BSBA in Finance from NEU…from my personal experience, the co-op was a crucial piece in shaping my career after graduation. just my 2 cents… but i had a big competitive edge over others that were fresh out of school with minimal experience. also, since i was living at home and commuting to work during my co-op’s… i cut a huge dent into the tuition costs.</p>
<p>Additionally, the co-op’s were invaluable from this perspective… i learned what I wanted out of my career. I was able to experience different roles and narrow down exactly what it was that I wanted to do for a living. (specialization in one field is key these days)</p>
<p>sarora… i would also advise that you worry later about the MBA…as it may or may not make sense for you to get one depending on your career path. Graduate… work for a little bit, you’ll find out quickly if it’s appropriate/necessary for what you want to accomplish.</p>
I took french for six years, and started as a chemistry major. Hence “chimie”.</p>