I am very interested in Northeastern University and I plan on applying early decision in the fall of 2019. I have two questions concerning the school itself.
For one, is Northeastern as supportive of the arts as it is with sports? I’m currently following the school on Instagram and they post a lot about their sports teams and I have not seen many regarding theatre and music, which is what I am very involved in. I currently go to a very sports-centered high school and the arts don’t get much recognition which is very disheartening and frustrating at times, and I would like to not have that same experience in college. I have also yet to visit the school in person, so I don’t know for sure what the atmosphere is.
Secondly, is the LGBTQ+ population, primarily WLW (women who love women, as I am a WLW) very prominent at Northeastern? I know the school is in Boston which has a heavy LGBTQ+ population, but I would really love to branch out and look for romantic relationships in college and I was wondering if there is a big LGBTQ+ scene on campus.
Third, I’m still a little wary of how big the school is. I know there are a lot of undergrads, which is something I wanted to avoid as I was looking more for 6,000-10,000 undergrads and Northeastern has more than that. At that size, is it even that noticeable? Is there still a community atmosphere or is the school too big for it?
Fourth, what is Northeastern’s political lean? Does it lean more left or right?
Fifth, is Greek life a prominent part of the social life on campus? I don’t plan on joining a sorority; will I still be able to make friends and have a good social life?
I know many of these questions can be answered by visiting, but I am not planning on visiting until this summer when school is out. I was just wondering if anyone who goes to Northeastern could answer these for me. Thank you 
Hey! CS student who’s straight here but much of my friend group is in the LGBTQ+ space so I can try to share their experiences a bit.
- I'd actually say Northeastern is far more focused on STEM/Business etc than sports.
The social media accounts aren’t really representative of the school’s focus, and it doesn’t help that Northeastern’s few teams people pay attention to (hockey/basketball) have both done really well in tournaments. Most people don’t even know there’s a game otherwise and I personally picked Northeastern specifically for its lack of sports focus and it’s checked out over my time here. It’s a “there if you want it” scenario.
In terms of arts funding, I think generally CAMD does see less funding than some other colleges, partially based on size and partially based on STEM focus. That said there are still decent resources on campus in terms of theatres, practice rooms, etc, though I think generally there could absolutely be more. As you’d imagine, much of the art spaces are very ingrained with the LGBTQ+ community here.
- I'd say yes, absolutely. It's hard to say what's selection bias for me here (I was raised by non-straight parents and have had non-straight friends for most of my life) but there's a very welcoming LGBTQ+ community here in my experience. There's even a meme group called "big gay" that's exclusively for LGBTQ+ identifying individuals. I can't speak to WLW dating logistics but I would put it this way: if I were you I would not be at all worried about my dating pool size.
- Northeastern tends to be a bit more of an independent focused student body. There's still a community but it's absolutely fair to say it's not in the same way as say a small LAC. But there is a camaraderie with co-op and the academic philosophy of the school that everyone shares that I would say generally bonds the student body together unilaterally.
- I'd say middle left is a fair assessment. It's not the most liberal you'll find by any means but it is nowhere near right or center. I'd say something that defines it as more center liberal is that there are more students that are "apolitical" or simply not focused on it than in many other places.
- I think greek life is 10-15%, so pretty low and absolutely not a focus. It's another "there if you want it, can be ignored if you don't" situation like with sports. There's absolutely no pressure to join them.
Hope that helps!
PS: Northeastern still has a decent amount of students on campus in the summer thanks to the co-op schedule so it still should have some people around!