Hey guys,
I imagine there are a lot of people trying to decide between Scholars and a variety of other schools. Anyone want to share their choices/tips/suggestions/etc to make this process easier for everyone?
Thank you!
Yeah, that can be a hard choice (although I’m proud of the program for being able to make it such a hard choice).
There are a lot of factors to consider, and I imagine you’ve thought about a lot of those already. Grad school opportunities, location, potential research mentors, cost of living, etc.
Remember to also consider how well you can see yourself fitting at Northeastern. Do you like where Northeastern is in Boston? Are you okay with its personality (ex. President Aoun makes shitloads of money, but works hard to earn it – talking with students, writing up huge reports that he sends the student body. School is not really well established, but is rising quickly and building lots of new buildings/hiring new faculty. Student body is very large, but for the most part less partying/sports than most traditional universities, etc etc).
No one can make the decision for you, but hopefully that’s a good start. Good luck! And feel free to shoot me any questions.
I’m in the same situation as you, deciding between the Scholars Program and some others. I’m not sure either yet, but I really do like the vibe at Northeastern. Visiting it, it felt like a place that was trying harder to improve itself than any other school I’ve visited, in a good way. Talking to a lot of the staff there, they honestly seemed to believe that the school will increase in ranking in the future. One of the new business teachers I talked to said that she had been recruited by Ivies such as Princeton, but Northeastern just outbid them; a sign of the investment that they are currently undergoing to become a better school. This is probably a big factor for most Scholars, because most I talked to really liked the school, but were worried whether it’s lower ranking could be problematic. I truly think it’s on an upward trend, and as part of the scholar’s program, they will put a huge amount of emphasis on you, hoping that they can help you become one of their “notable alumni”. It’s a fun feeling to be part of some “master plan” 
One of the perks I see of northeastern (and USP especially) is the emphasis you’ll get as an individual. You’ll have a lot of chances to stand out and be a bit of a bigger fish in a smaller pond, as opposed to being one of a thousand big fish at an ivy or similar. For example, this is incredible when it comes to applying for prestigious fellowships, where I had many rounds of practice interviews and huge support from the University. This is a big contrast to people on that fellowship with me from Harvard/Yale/similar, where it was very cut throat to get the University support.
Northeastern also puts a lot of emphasis on undergraduates in general, compared to a lot of research universities I considered that cared most about graduate students, and undergrads felt like an afterthought. This means a lot of research opportunities and professors that care about you.
If I were doing things over again, I would definitely go to Northeastern again. It’s big enough to have a ton of opportunities, but not so big as to be overwhelming or get lost in. I had 3 co-ops to find my direction, 4 years of research with a professor who was a fantastic mentor, and flexibility in the curriculum to study things I hadn’t considered before I started college. It’s also paid off, winning a couple of great fellowships, and I’ll be headed to Harvard in the fall for my PhD.
@nanotechnology so I’m assuming that you were part of the USP? Do you think that you ever had doors shut in your face due to “ivy filtering” or something like that? Also, it’s really hard to not sound pretentious here, I was told by a friend in the USP that he felt that everyone else in the university seemed nowhere near as smart as he was. I’m sure that’s an exaggeration, but I have heard that some of the benefits of going to a uni where everyone is a big fish is that the contacts you meet throughout your schooling can come back to help you. Do you think that northeastern, specifically the USP, still allows you to have that highly academic community to work with?
@JohnNZ - I wasn’t part of USP, because it didn’t start until after I was a student. I knew the director of the program well, though, so I ended up involved in some of the things and knew quite a few the Scholars.
By ivy filtering, do you mean places saying “no” because they only want ivy league people? I’ve never run into that. As for the part about feeling like I others aren’t as smart: Any time you’re put on this sort of pedestal of people saying you’re smart, it’s important not to let it go to your head. USP accounts for a small percentage of students, and are chosen with a certain amount of luck. The thinking that others aren’t as smart is part of the problem with the perceived pretentiousness of ivy league schools. It’s isolating and you miss out on a lot of incredible people who didn’t bloom on an admissions essay at age 17.
Which leads to the question of networking. I am looped in with a lot of incredible northeastern alums doing everything from tech startups in Silicon Valley to MD/PhD research at MIT and Harvard. Not to mention the network I have through the professors I’ve worked with. One of my references is one of the top robotics researchers in the world, who advised me on a co-op in Germany. That’s another place to build networks - co-op. Northeastern has co-ops pretty much anywhere you’d want to work (including Antarctica), which is an unparalleled networking opportunity. That’s why I think northeastern offers she best of both worlds. You have incredible opportunities, but it keeps you grounded.
@nanotechnology That’s awesome, thank you for the response! Spending time in a very competitive high school sometimes leaves a sort of “Ivy or Bust” mentality. Are there any drawbacks with the school that are good to know? How hard is it to get paying Co-ops that give relatable work experience in your field?
@JohnNZ honestly, I can’t imagine you’d be happy at Northeastern because it’s clearly already nagging at you that NU isn’t prestigious enough for your needs. I’m not sure why you think it matters if NU students have ever run into problems with “Ivy filtering” when you weren’t accepted to one Ivy. We have answered questions multiple times stating we love the experiential learning and co-op model, we feel challenged, and there are plenty of opportunities for us here. It’s not an Ivy, no, but again that’s not an option for you so I don’t know why you keep making the comparison.
@novafan1225 I think you’re reading into things a bit too much - as he just mentioned, a very competitive high school can have that effect, even on those who don’t believe it but are trying to stop the line of thinking you are assuming.
@JohnNZ Almost all co-ops outside of either nonprofit work or art work will be paid, and nearly all of those will be relevant to your major.
I know this is late, but my son just went through this exact question and he is from a highly ranked high school where a lot of the students do go to the highest ranked colleges. After several visits and a lengthy debate, he decided on the USP. He felt that the scholars program at Northeastern gave him more flexibility to map out his future to accomplish his goals, including to found his own business, rather than to just go through school and work for a preexisting company. Additionally, the academics seem to be rigorous enough that he will still be challenged and, although not part of the USP, his AP credits will given him a lot of flexibility on the classes he takes. He knows it will be dependent on him to make use of all that the program offers. My son did read, edit and approve this message.
By the way @PengsPhils, he will be a CS major with extensive experience, so any advice you can give him to get the most out of the NEU CS program would be helpful.
Hey!
For CS majors with extensive experience, it can actually be a hindrance if you’re not careful - for the first semester, forget everything you’ve done in CS. Come in as a blank slate. If he’s done Java, the syntax alone will be fighting against his instincts from Day 1. I made sure to focus on that and I think it went a loooong way for me. I’m now a TA for the first class, and I see it every semester - learning not just how to code but how to problem solve and design is much more important and will follow you for the rest of your classes. After that first semester/year, then go back to what you learned before and add it in.
For professors for CS2500, there are a lot of options, all decent to amazing, but I would recommend Shivers or Lerner for most students. If he wants a tough professor that really challenges you, go for Felleisen if possible (he’s the creator of the program and the author of the essay below).
If he hasn’t already, have him read this essay (I spread it like wildfire because it says everything I want to, nicely):
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/matthias/Thoughts/Growing_a_Programmer.html
Once you get into it from your first year onward, the department does a great job of leading you where you need to be. Just make sure to get on the co-op search early and in career fairs, not just through the online system. Many people get tons of offers in CS before official resumes are even sent out just by on-campus networking. Oh, there’s also a Northeastern CS group on Facebook that is a great way to get advice from upperclassmen for professors, classes, co-op, anything. It’s part of the Northeastern Facebook group family, which he should join ASAP for everything, not just CS.
Hope that helps!
Thanks, knew you would come through with good advice. My son will definitely follow it.