<p>D was accepted into NEU honors program and is apply RD to BU and Tufts. How do these three schools compare? Any thoughts about the academics compare?</p>
<p>I was accepted to all three and obviously chose Northeastern. I’ve never regretted my decision once. It was definitely a tough choice between the 3. I ruled out BU and think I’m much happier at NU than I’d ever be at BU. I picked NU o er Tufts on April 30th. It was a tough choice, but Tufts would have cost twice as much and NU made a lot more sense to me especially with co-op and all the amazing study abroad opportunities (I went to Spain last summer right after freshman year and will be going to the Dominican Republic this summer-- and I can use scholarship money for both). Tufts is an amazing school, but as much as I absolutely loved the campus, I couldn’t be happier with being right in the middle of the city while still having a campus (which you definitely don’t get at BU). </p>
<p>What’s her major? Like I said, I had to make this exact same decision, so feel free to ask any more specific questions!</p>
<p>D is undeclared in terms of her major. She is interested in Gender/Women’s studies, psychology, sociology, neuroscience—basically cognitive science which NEU doesn’t exactly have and Tufts does. She used to be interested in NEU’s comp sci program and that’s what first drew her to the school (in 10th grade). She is an unconventional person and has worried that NEU might be too conventional, but she LOVES to co-op program. My feeling is that she will find more people like her within the Honors program (at at surrounding colleges) so that is a plus. She likes the location of NEU; did feel like Tufts was too far away (even though it’s just a few T stops from Harvard square.</p>
<p>I think there are plenty of options at NEU for someone interested in cognitive science. We don’t have it as a major, but a psych or neurobiology major will have the flexibility to focus their studies by taking more cognitive classes. Also, undergrad psych/neurobio majors are super broad. My degree in behavioral neuroscience isn’t going to be much different than a degree in cognitive science. My degree also covers a lot of what a biology degree would, and some of what a psychology degree covers. There are good co-op options for that kind of thing also.</p>
<p>Not to say go to NEU rather than Tufts (well, I say rule out BU, but I’m biased!) but someone looking into “sociology/psychology/neuroscience” should be able to find interesting classes at any school with a large psychology and neuro/biology department.</p>
<p>“someone looking into “sociology/psychology/neuroscience” should be able to find interesting classes at any school with a large psychology and neuro/biology department.” That’s I think also and linguistics and comp sci are also a part of cog. sci major.</p>
<p>Why don’t you like BU?</p>
<p>Eh. I’m a NU senior. I am conditioned to believe NU is better than BU. I expect and good BU senior to fight me on that (and not without telling me how much better BU hockey is). I don’t objectively think NU is better. Actually, objectively, I say they’re equal except for a bit of an NU advantage in jobs thanks to co-op.</p>
<p>I guess I just don’t really see any real advantages BU has over NEU. Two similarly ranked urban boston schools with about equal academics. Both in cool locations. Both with some awesome faculty and some mediocre faculty. Both with great social scenes. Both with lots of good clubs and campus activities. Both expensive private schools. Both with decent reputations within Boston. We have co-op, we have a defined campus. They have a better hockey team (but we’re both better than Harvard!) and maybe some nicer facilities (Agganis arena etc).</p>
<p>But some people don’t like NEU campus and feel sorta meh on co-op. Some people just don’t feel like they “fit” at NEU. In which case, no reason not to go to BU.</p>
<p>I think co-op and defined campus are definite benefits of NEU over BU. </p>
<p>Tufts is outside the city, with a lovely campus. It does have a different, more liberal artsy feel to me than NEU. It didn’t appeal to my engineering/math son, but many students do love Tufts.</p>
<p>NEU will likely give the best merit $ (Tufts I know is only need-based FA).</p>
<p>Emily brings up a good point regarding a “fit”. I wonder now that Northeastern is somewhat of a “hot” school to apply to, if applicants realize how pervasive coop/experiential learning is to the campus and culture of the school. Even if you choose a non-coop path, Northeastern is not a traditional school with a Fall and Spring semester and summers off: there is a 50% rotation of students each semester. </p>
<p>I noticed a few posters some time ago saying that the idea of going to school at least part of some summers is a turnoff. They want a summer vacation. One poster didn’t even want to work coop in the summer. BU or Tufts would be a better fit for them. </p>
<p>Regarding Northeastern over BU, I obviously favor NU. BU is arguably the one school in the Boston area that has not fundamentally changed in the past 40 years. It is much bigger but not necessarily better (for undergrads) than it was back when I made my choice.</p>
<p>I’m applying to all 3 schools, so I might face the same decision if I get accepted to all of them. If I get into Tufts, I’m going to Tufts. No question about it. Tufts is my top choice and I am so in love with the school. If I don’t get into Tufts (my stats are slightly below their average, but I am an international student, which is why my scores in CR and W are a bit lower than they should be for Tufts) and it comes down to deciding between BU and NU I honestly don’t know which one I’d pick.
NU has the co-op and the Behavioral Neuroscience major, but BU has the French House and some form of interdisciplinary studies major (not sure what they call it there, that’s the name they have for it at Tufts), where students can create their own unique major, combining all of their fields of interest, which is something I would love to do.
As much as I love the idea of the co-op program, I’m going to be very far away from my family and my boyfriend (as I said, intl. student). I’m not sure if I could stand being away from them during the summer, because that’s what makes me confident in the long distance relationship thing: that we’d be able to spend MONTHS together in the summer. I know you can do Co-op overseas, so I could try that, but if the internship isn’t in Munich, I might as well just stay in the states for co-op.
Because the two schools are pretty much tied for me, I guess it would come down to the financial aid packages.</p>
<p>I think D’s main concern about NEU is it’s conventionality–not the program, she LOVES the co-op program–it’s the people. She is an activist type, a geek who defies convention and is concerned that she may feel like she’s back in hs with the those same kind of students. </p>
<p>I feel that by being in the honors program, she will find more people like her. But I have read that NEU is not an activist type of school</p>
<p>You have to understand that Northeastern has soooooooooooo many students. I do agree that the honors program may help her find more like-minded people. She may be interested in the Progressive Student Alliance group that we have here. They’re very into activism. We also have a STAND chapter, Invisible Children, and many many other groups (such as Peace through Play where students volunteer in local elementary schools to promote peace-making). Is she interested in anything in particular? With all the groups I’m involved in and the classes I’m taking, I’ve met a lot of people who sound like your daughter.</p>
<p>Upstatemom, I see exactly what you mean about your daughter. I graduated from Northeastern in May, and I had some of the same issues with the school that your daughter is concerned about. They don’t offer a huge selection of women’s and gender studies classes, and I wish that I had taken more. I agree with the point that she will found her crowd, and her friends, but the majority of students will not be like her – in the two psych classes that I took – one was intro and one was a much higher level, there were a lot of dumb questions. In specific classes, like women’s studies, she will get some good discussions because of the kind of people that take those classes, but the average class discussion, I felt would have had a bit more depth at an LAC. I would guess that BU is comparable, and Tufts probably better in that regard, but I know that the entering class profile improves every year, and the student body itself is probably changing a lot, so my strong recommendation would be to try to attend classes in her area of interest and make her own judgments.</p>
<p>I don’t at all mean this to be a slam on Northeastern. I loved a lot of things about the school, particularly coop. However, with your daughter’s interests, is she planning on a Ph.d? I feel like coop is the most useful to people planning on immediate post-graduate employment; although I was a journalism major who was never considering a further degree right out of school. Others may certainly have a stronger differing opinion.</p>
<p>I think Northeastern is a great school, and I’m really glad that I went there, but some things in your post did kind of strike a chord with specific issues that I had.</p>
<p>I totally agree with eireann. I grew up in a super socially/politically active environment and a lot of my friends went to hipster intellectual LACs, so when I got to northeastern my biggest complaint was the lack of people like my friends from home–more activist types and people who were really intellectually curious.</p>
<p>But, also like eireann, I’m an older student and we came to NEU when things were just starting to get popular and attract a higher caliber of students. The younger classes are definitely smarter/cooler than my year is, and I think coming years will continue to be better.</p>
<p>Northeastern is a big and diverse school, so there are people of all types. We do tend to be a little more of the out-to-the-bars/attractive/ugg boot population (hey, you can pry my ugg boots off my cold dead corpse, and I’ve been known to stop by NEU bars at last call on friday and saturday, so…), there are definite intellectual/geek niches… you just may have to do some digging to find them. I think honors will make a big difference, though, there are a lot of students who turned down good schools for financial or other reasons, and they’re usually easy to find in honors or by getting involved in groups/clubs.</p>
<p>Lastly, I agree that students are mostly looking for post-grad employment rather than going on to grad/professional school. But I know a lot of people applying to grad school, and co-op looks just as good on a grad app as it does on a resume. I’m really set up to get into a good grad school solely based on my co-op work experience (I also already have job offers on the table, thank you, Northeastern).</p>
<p>Thank you all for your insights! Eireann–your points go exactly to the heart of my D’s issues. She’s has an undeclared major and is leaning towards Gender and Women’s studies and psych and cognitive science. She’s looking to go to a school with intellectually curious students where she can have good philosophical discussions like at a LAC. She’s not set on grad school right after college; she’d prefer to work hence the excitement about the co-op. She, like just about everyone else (?), isn’t sure where her interests will lead and loves that the co-op will give her a chance to “try-out” jobs or get a taste of a particular job/career before committing.</p>