Northeastern atmosphere?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

<p>So, I'm in the middle of trying to choose a college, and something that matters a lot to me is the atmosphere. How easy is it to make friends? How friendly is everyone? Is it a cutthroat environment? Do people wear sweatpants or dresses to class?</p>

<p>I know many people have many different experiences, but if anyone could give their opinion that would be nice. I purposefully applied to schools that were in cities to get a new experience (I've been at a prep school in a small town for four years, and I want to try something new), but at the same time I don't want to feel like a stranger at my school, if that makes any sense.</p>

2

<p>Sweatpants. :slight_smile: I once brought a friend from BU to Stetson dining hall and they were amazed by the amount of sweatpants. Northeastern has a slight share of the yuppy snotty types, but we’re actually a pretty laid back school. There isn’t really any cutthroat academic environment, and in the tough classes people are way more likely to become good friends in their misery and pain than to get jealous about who has better grades. And serioiusly, NO ONE cares what your gpa is (except for employers obviously). New England attitude was a little new to me since I’m from the south, but it was pretty easy to get used to.</p>

<p>The only “competitive” attitude I’ve found (and people feel free to disagree) isn’t really with each other as much as it is with yourself. Northeastern is a co-op school at heart, regardless of the other programs you can do. And yeah, when a jerk gets a 28 dollar job and you haven’t gotten interviews yet, there can be a small bit of jealousy (seriously its not that bad). But I’ve noticed that people here want goals. They want a plan for the most part, they want co-op to matter, they want good recommendations, and they want to graduate with a good career path.</p>

<p>Obviously plenty of people (myself included) are seniors and still don’t know what they want to do. But my point is that I’ve found that the people who enjoy what Northeastern has to offer the MOST are usually people who really care and want to put themselves in good positions. This is not a party school or a commuter school or a cute liberal arts school where half the people major in philosophy. We have plenty of fun and make amazing friends, but for the most part everyone I’ve met, at the end of the day, put in the effort and work to succeed. </p>

<p>Northeastern isn’t a school you sleep for four or five years through, and then wake up the week before graduation and realize you need a job. It’s a school where four years before you graduate, you’re working full-time and doing well so that maybe you’ll get a job offer or networking or new skills to add to your resume or a better idea of what you want to do. We just do a lot of that in jeans and sweatpants, especially five minutes before Wolls closes in January in the snow.</p>

3

<p>Good post. My son is very seriously considering NEU but has some concern about how co-op affects forming bonds with his class. It would be great if you could share what it is like being at a co-op school versus what you may know from friends who are at the traditional four year colleges.</p>

4

<p>Pepper03, I am not a student but I know that there is plenty of time to bond before co op. My daughter did hers in Boston and still saw most of her friends and hung out. Her two roommates also were on co op at the same time. If anything , it allowed her to make more friends and connections in the city in addition to her school friends</p>

5

<p>No worries about bonding and friendships!! We’re friendly college kids just like at any school, and co-op really does not effect social life. Plenty of people make good friends as a freshman and stay close all throughout college. NEU drills about co-op non-stop as if it’s the most important aspect of the school. In some ways, it is, but we’re STILL normal college kids. We still do normal college kid things. I think people expect co-op to be a totally different life than classes. It’s not.</p>

<p>When I’m in classes, I wake up, I go to class, I study. Maybe I meet with a friend for lunch or to study at the library. I go to the gym, I go home and hang out with my roommates. I go to the dining hall with friends for dinner (well, not anymore, but did for the first few years!), on the weekend I go to parties or to the bars and spend part of the day studying, then maybe go walking around boston or go shopping.</p>

<p>When I’m in classes, I wake up, I go to work. I come home, I hang out with my roommates. I go to the gym. I go out to dinner with friends. On weekend I go to parties or to the bars, I go shopping or walk around or go to yoga or hang out with friends.</p>

<p>Obviously, these things aren’t that different. This is talked about in the FAQ thread a few times, but I’ll just stress again that social life on co-op isn’t different than while in classes. Also, MOST of us live in boston on or around campus while on co-op, and they’re still normal, social college kids. They still hang out with friends or go to parties or bars or go to clubs/groups/etc. You are STILL a college student! It’s not like while on co-op we hide in Grown-Up caves and just think about work all the time.</p>

<p>And actually, my social life is usually really good on co-op because my free time is truly free time. I don’t have to study or do school work–my afternoons are free and my weekends are free. No worries about getting too hung over to wake up early and study sunday mornings… </p>

<p>As for atmosphere, we’re pretty friendly and laid-back. You can go to class in sweats or in your pricey designer jeans, and you’ll fit in either way. People are generally friendly, excited to meet new people, study with each other, socialize, etc. The school is too big to be cliquey, so everyone is pretty open-minded and looking to make new friends. Even as a senior, when we all have our groups of friends and our lifestyles, I meet cool new people and make new friends.</p>

6

<p>can someone comment on the co-ops? Thinking of attending for international business over GW, really like the co-op concept. Do most students attend 4 or 5 year co-ops?
What is the school spirit like? Do students get excited for hockey games?</p>