So I was accepted into both Purdue and Northeastern but I wasn’t really considering them until I got rejected from my top 7 schools. Now that I have to make a decision, I don’t really know enough about either of them to decide where to spend the next 4 years of my life. I will be researching them thoroughly, but I would like to hear your opinions.
The current main factors for my decision:
Northeastern
Good:
N.U.id (going abroad first semester sounds amazing)
Boston (I like the city but normally I don’t like urban campuses, kind of a good and bad, not sure yet)
Seems to be the more prestigious school (acceptance rates are much smaller and average SAT is much higher)
Bad:
Co-op program (not sure yet if this is good or bad, I like the work experience part but it seems like social life and community will dwindle as people start leaving campus all the time)
Lack of sports (I want a community that will rally behind their team and actually attend games, sports don’t seem that big here)
Purdue
Good:
Sports teams (okay football team and great basketball team)
Outstanding engineering program (I hear it is world renowned)
Honors College (I was accepted to the honors college there)
Indiana (I generally like the less urban campuses more but still have to visit both. So far of the campuses I’ve toured, USC has been my favorite, just to give an idea of what I like)
Bad:
Seems less prestigious (60% accepted and lower SAT scores)
Much bigger (this isn’t really a bad thing, I don’t care about the school size, but I have heard with so many people, you are just thought of as a number and the school doesn’t care as much about you or your success. The Honors College could offset this though)
The colors (this is kind of trivial, but black and gold are not great school colors, especially for clothes. I have just suffered through a high school with brown and yellow school colors and don’t really want another 4 years)
Let me know your opinions and anything you think I should consider
Cost of each? Affordability?
Surprising that you would list coop as “bad” for Northeastern. As an engineering student at Purdue you would hopefully doing optional coops or at least internships.
I don’t think the coop is bad, but having a large, interactive, and social community is something I desire in a college and the coops seem to take away from that
They are both going to be strong schools academically, especially with the honors college at Purdue. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the acceptance rates, for example. Purdue is known as an excellent engineering school, and you’re right that the honors college will also likely improve the opportunities you have there.
Like the others, I’m going to argue that co-op isn’t a negative (though you also point out you’re not really sure about it). I also didn’t take co-op too much into account when I chose Northeastern (for my major it wasn’t required). But it really ended up helping me figure out what I wanted to do (academic research, rather than industry or med school) and gave me experiences that allowed me to get top fellowships and get into my dream PhD program.
They are also going to be very different environments, as you point out. Purdue will be much more of the classic college experience, focused around a large state school full of sports. Northeastern is more concentrated as a campus, doesn’t have the same sports enthusiasm, and co-op does mix up the classic four year college experience. It’s also in a big city. I’m from a small city in the midwest, and I ended up really liking the setting; there was so much within walking distance, but at the same time campus felt like an oasis and a real campus. I don’t think co-op will affect social life as much as you’re imagining, in part because most people do co-op in the Boston area and don’t move. That means your friends will be in a mix of co-op and classes (sometimes you’ll forget which). Friends on co-op will have more freetime in the evenings and weekends (and maybe more money to go out), but they’ll complain about having to go to work in the morning. Those in classes will have a lot more flexibility, but then grumble about homework and projects. I actually really liked the mix of the two. Breaking up classes and co-op was refreshing, and what I did in one motivated me for the other.
And as TomSr pointed out: cost! If there’s a huge cost difference and you would need to take out a ton of loans for one over the other, it’s not worth it. They’re both excellent schools.
Given that both options are academically comparable, I would focus on fit and price. I don’t think someone who doesn’t enjoy cities and wants big sports schools spirit would be very happy at Northeastern unless they were really drawn to co-op or something else specific. It sounds like Purdue is the better fit. Add that in with prices, and do visit both if you can before deciding. Either way, there isn’t a bad choice academically. Good luck!
Thank you everyone for your contributions, I will be visiting both of them in the next week or two. While visiting, is there anything campus specific about either that I should see or find out about? What should I pay attention for when visiting?
When visiting any campus, in addition to taking the official tour, try to get a “feel” for the place. Eat lunch in a public dining hall, sit around the quads (weather permitting) and perhaps strike up a conversation with some students.