<p>My son has transfer option of Northeastern OR URI as English major. Northeastern is attractive because of the co-op program and the city location, but it is SO expensive and short of the $5000 transfer scholarship, we'll have to borrow to get through at least 2 more years of school. Is it worth the extra freight? </p>
<p>URI has offered more scholarship money, and the difference in tuition alone would be about $!0 more per year at NEU. Also, Northeastern is not as liberal with transfer credits - currently assigning 37 transfers - compared to 97 from URI. It is extremely difficult to get updates on the transfer evaluation process; there are still 3 or 4 courses under evaluation and all of the AP scores still awaiting tallying. </p>
<p>I'm not getting a good vibe on administration ease with the credit evaulation right off the bat, and the money is making me queasy. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any thoughts on relative value of these two schools? We have extended family in RI which makes URI a bit of a plus also, although Boston is quite close. </p>
<p>Am well aware of difficulty of English major utility, and am encouraging a second major.
He spent first two years at FSU in Tallahassee FLorida. If he went to Rhody, he'd be able to graduate in a year or take on double major == thinking about something in environmental science area --in time it normally takes to graduate.<br>
At Northeastern he'd probably need another full two years to complete his first major.</p>
<p>We're torn between the opportunities here - does anyone have thoughts on relative value of these two schools?</p>
<p>What is the reason for transferring?</p>
<p>None of NEU, FSU, and URI seems to be especially highly regarded for English. There does not seem to be much of an academic reason to choose one over the other on the basis of majoring in English, which leaves cost and non-academic considerations (social fit, campus environment, NEU’s co-op program, etc.), and/or second major academic considerations.</p>
<p>While NEU is known for its co-op program, you may want to find out how easy or difficult it is for an English major at URI or FSU to get co-op jobs. </p>
<p>As far as a second major goes, environmental science does not have particularly great job and career prospects, if that is the motivation. If the student is good at math, then a second major in math, statistics, computer science, or economics may be a bigger improvement in job and career prospects.</p>
<p>Thanks ucbalumnus! Our home state is Florida and I’m having trouble getting a feel for academic values in the northeast. The reason for transferring started out simply enough - my son had switched from English major at FSU to Engineering major (he does have strong science/math background) and intially was trying to switch into a school with better Engineering dept., combined with move to northeast for cultural and family connections.<br>
It since became more complicated: He’s already flipped back to English, having a visceral reaction to a year of engineering prep classes. He does have an extraordinary passion for literature - so I’m trying to work with him on that while guiding him into some practical second major options.<br>
I didn’t have a real sense about environmental science and appreciate your input. I’ll suggest he take another look at a second major in the math/science arena since he has the time, within the normal 4 year undergraduate span, to accomplish it.</p>
<p>I was also wondering if it would make sense for him to pick up second major as educatation major, perhaps in secondary education, or whether he should pick a second math/science major and then go for graduate degree in education so he can pick up a practical teaching certficate as a side insurance policy. </p>
<p>Do you have any thoughts on this? I don’t remember it being this complicated when I went to school in the early 80s. </p>
<p>Also, in recalculating the relative cost of Northeastern vs URI, it looks like Northeastern will cost $15k a year more for tuition alone after the scholarship offsets. </p>
<p>Also - for grad school purposes - are there any schools in northeastern region with good English dept. reps that would be particularly good to look at?
[One of the reasons he liked idea of going to New England is because Harold Bloom teaches at Yale and he was hoping to get an opportunity to hear him at a public lecture. While that is a pleasant thought, Yale is out here for a number of reasons – but are there other places with particularly good English Lit depts we should be looking at? Thanks for your thoughts!</p>
<p>What math and science type of subjects does he like, and what has he already taken?</p>
<p>Math and statistics are probably the “easiest” second majors to add, in terms of fitting in the needed courses (which typically are not as time consuming as lab science courses).</p>
<p>In terms of job and career prospects of different majors, you and he may want to look here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a></p>
<p>Note that biology and chemistry tend to do poorly compared to physics, math, statistics, computer science, and economics. Biology is a very popular major (perhaps due to all of the pre-meds, most of whom do not get into medical school), so the supply relative to the number of related jobs is high. The majors with more math tend to get recruited into finance and actuarial work, which improves job and career prospects. In terms of teaching, being able to teach both math and English means that he would be able to seek more possible teaching jobs.</p>
<p>Mother of a Northeastern grad here. In your case, the ONLY reason to pick Northeastern is its co-op program which would enable your son to put his English skills to some use: if his grades are high enough, he could get a paid internship in publishing or do copy writing/editing in a professional setting. (Just don’t count on his paid internship to pay enough to help with tuition. Unless they’re in engineering/computer science/finance, most co-ops pay just enough to cover your expenses & save a tiny bit.) However the co-ops do add on time in school - for most students, NEU is a 5-year program, so you’d have to add ANOTHER year of that extra $15K+. And Boston is an expensive city! </p>
<p>My advice would be to ask your son what exactly he wants to do with his English degree. If he wants to continue to get a PhD and teach at a university level, NEU is not the place to get his Bachelor’s, which is crucial in graduate school admission. (I don’t know about URI’s undergrad English program, sorry.) If he’s intrigued by NEU’s co-op program, research & compare URI’s internship program and if/how they place their humanities students. </p>
<p>Contrary to popular opinion English majors CAN find work - companies like to place them in PR/communications/advertising. But they need to be savvy with their work experience, have a solid resume and be able to “sell” themselves to prospective employers. Northeastern will offer that to your son. But URI might too - at a much more palatable price tag.</p>
<p>All good points UCBalumnus - my son tends to do well/likes theoretical physics - but I"m not too sure where that would take him outside of university reserch asst type job. He attended a rigorous math/science magnet high school in Fla, and loaded up on AP courses there including AP Calculus AB; PHysics C Mechnical; PHysics C Electrical & Mechanical; Physics B and Bioogy an Biology Lab - all of which he passed and pulled down several “5” and “4” scores. Also took Calc with Analytical Geometry as a dual enrollment course during high school. </p>
<p>He may have overdosed himself then, and quickly immersed himself in English lit as a creative passion and distraction once at FSU. I"m not really sure what happened there. </p>
<p>And thanks for the undergrad career survey link- I’ll get him to start browsing around in there before he picks his second major.<br>
My instincts tell me he’ll do better at graduate level – at least grant -wise – if he is pursuing one of the sciences but I don’t want to push/persuade him into doing something he really doesn’t like. Maybe he should take another look at Physics though. </p>
<p>I"m starting to lean toward URI (he just wants to do what is most economical) but I want him to do what is best for his long range academic/employment career, and hate to deprive him of a chance to study in Boston. But, maybe that money I’d save at URI is better spent for graduate studies. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Thanks Katliamom - I’m starting to think that Northeastern would be the better bet/value only if he was adamant on pursuing one of the sciences/technical degree.
He took a look at the English dept co-op, and copy editing /writing doesn’t have a lot of appeal to him. He does like idea of getting advanced degree and teaching at university level, but I suspect the no. of slots in humanities there are quite limited. I think his best bet is to pursue a double major science/humanities degree to keep his options open.</p>
<p>And if I may ask, did you feel Northeastern co-op program made a significant difference in your child’s entry into the workforce in the end? </p>
<p>I will also look at URI’s internships in light of your comments about low reimbursement rate for humanities majors at Northeastern - if he is only going to make enough to get by that ‘plus’ feature is levelled out. Thanks for your comments!</p>
<p>There does appear to be an oversupply of physics majors relative to physics jobs, but the good news is that physics majors are often recruited into other (good) jobs, such as:</p>
<p>finance (due to math skills – math and statistics majors are targeted as well)
computer software (the type of people who are good at physics and math are often good at picking up computer science)
engineering (at least those areas where ABET accreditation and PE licensing are not required)</p>
<p>NorthPalm, like you, I feel Northeastern is a great option for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) students but for those in humanities, not as much. </p>
<p>Teaching English on the college level is a very, very hard way to make a living. Most jobs are for part time adjunct instructors, no benefits, no job security. They’re good for a modest supplementary income, but not to live on. And for those few full time, tenure track positions available throughout the country, there are literally hundreds of applicants per spot. Unless you have your PhD from a top 10 school and have publications, you can’t even get an INTERVIEW. </p>
<p>As for my daughter - yes, Northeastern was crucial in her getting work. She actually had a couple of options to choose from, thanks to the extensive experience she got through her NEU co-op at a prestigious research lab.</p>