As decision time rolls near, my son has narrowed down his options and is leaning toward Northeastern (first year in Oakland). Other options he is seriously considering are Brandeis (mid-year with fall semester in Florence) and GW (typical, 4 year experience in engineering school). All options are affordable - he wants to be in or near a major city. He is a likely computer science major although he may pivot toward business, with the idea of working in a tech start-up.
He loves Northeastern for the coops, relative strength in comp sci, frequent travel opportunities, and entrepreneurial focus of the Oakland campus for the first year. He prefers the Boston campus, but has visited Mills and could see himself there for a year, with the idea that it could be nice to start out on a smaller campus.
As a person from the generation when Northeastern was more of a commuter school, I fully recognize the schoolâs incredible rise in the rankings and extraordinary increase in popularity. It is clearly the most selective school to which my son was accepted with a strong group of students. That said, as a likely outdated mom, I am still a tad concerned that the quality of the education and experience may not be on par with his more established options. Classes are small at Northeastern, but are professors accessible? Is it hard to get the classes you want or need? Are research opportunities plentiful? Is there personalized attention or do students feel more like a number?
Thanks so much for sharing any information or thoughts you may have!
My daughter is a second year electrical engineering student at Northeastern and so far nothing but positives. She loves her classes and has had no complaints about class size or access to professors. When we attended parentsâ weekend freshman year, the one professor of herâs that we interacted with at an open house definitely knew her. Finally, her coop class was useful and she has a great coop lined up for summer.
I can add that Brandeis, while an excellent liberal arts university, is quite different from Northeastern. Brandeis is much smaller and focused on the arts and sciences. They do have a fairly new business program though. I had heard that they have their own version of NU In too. I do not know what career services Brandeis offers.
The Mills/Oakland option is interesting for freshman year. Classes will be small and the campus is beautiful.
While all colleges large and small now offer computer science, Northeastern has had the program in its own College of Computer Science since 1982. It is not part of arts and sciences nor engineering and offers a myriad of options. The student can specialize in CS as much in CS as he wants or he can choose among several dual majors. And the career services are the best in the country.
Thank you both so much! Do you feel like Northeastern is living up to its new reputation as a top school? I agree that Brandeis is quite different from Northeastern. I think my son can see different sides of himself at each school, if that makes sense.
Northeastern has changed dramatically in the past fifty years. It has changed a lot in the last 20 years even. What has not changed is its emphasis on preparation for life. Even in the arts and sciences a student will be required to think about life after graduation. Coop has been around for over a hundred years and is now part of experiential learning. That has not changed. Long ago that was considered a drawback. Now it is an advantage. Northeastern has never been a place to close yourself off from the world and contemplate ideas. It is a place to see how those ideas can be applied to your life and society. Hmm! I sound like a recruiting brochure.
So, is Northeastern a top school? It is for those who want that environment.
If you join the northeastern parent page, you can get a lot of direct experience info from parents there. I had two Dâs get BS/MS at NU (â17 and â22) in diff majors and not CS, but both had phenomenal experiences, amazing profs, easily accessible, great advisors (Although since covid and and a high yield in fall 21 that seems to be a bit of an issue now) , small classes (never more than 50? In basic classes but usually much smaller). We could not have been happier. Far better than I know they would have gotten at UCs where we are from. Great coops for each, lots of international travel. Both were hired easily right out of college and are well on their way in the respective careersâŠ.
Older D looked at Brandeis⊠it seemed so drab compared to the vibrancy of being in the city (and she was looking for a smaller LAC to begin with.) personally I think NU has so much to offer any student. Seeing all that their friends studied, researched, traveled, coops, and jobs after, I cannot say enough except that I wish had had those opportunities when I was in college!
My S is a combined Econ and Business major. NU makes it easy to do combined majors. Class sizes have been under 30. Dialogues of Civilization (summer study abroad programs) are popular, with many countries to choose from. On my sonâs Dialogue, it was 1 NU professor and 15 kids, so it was a small group and a very valuable and well-planned trip. Parents in the Facebook group have said it is easy to do research by simply asking a professor. My S was asked to be a TA and did that.
Course registration - has not always gotten his first choice but has enjoyed his classes, especially economics and entrepreneurship. He enjoys living in the city but Boston rents are high. DC is probably high too. The acceptance rate now is 6% and Chancellor Ken Henderson said in the article below they are looking for students interested in global experiences and research. Good luck with the decision.
Hi, I am a a current first-year student at Northeastern and this past year has been amazing! All my classes have been good with small class sizes and caring professors. I havenât had any issues with meeting with professors outside of class times either. Course registration depends on your credit amount and while you may not get your top choice professor for everything, I have been able to get into all the classes I have wanted to in order to progress with my major. Overall I have been super pleased with my education here so far and feel like I am learning a lot and will be well prepared for co-op and beyond. Let me know if you have any more questions!
Hi! Thanks for posting. Did you start directly on the Boston campus or with one of the abroad options? Iâm wondering how kids transition to Boston in the second year? Do they fit in easily? What is that like?
I started directly on the Boston campus, however from what I have seen with the NU In. students entering this past semester, a lot of people transition nicely into this campus. From what I have heard, the groups abroad often form tight bonds and friendships due to the smaller population of students, and that when coming to the Boston campus, it becomes really nice to have familiar friends around in such a big transition. I would say the groups that come from abroad tend to enter with those little bubbles of friends and they stick together at first and then are able to branch out and meet others as well. Northeastern also offers a lot of opportunities to get involved each semester, with club fairs, greek life recruitment, and on campus activities and events. While I didnât experience one of the abroad programs first hand, I have only heard positive feedback and I donât think the incoming students are âexcludedâ from those who started in Boston, and those who do go abroad have amazing memories and experiences to carry with them!
