The portal can be a little flaky. Perhaps it is complicated for them to make the portal show the right things to each applicant, because there are so many possible admission decision options. Glad you found it.
My son got the same offer, but not interested in that at sticker price. He wants to study abroad, but in a Spanish speaking country, and doesnât want to spend extra time away from his main campus (plus heâs half British so London isnât a novelty)
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No, but not requiring a second or third additional essay makes it very easy to apply without much thought. It is definitely a way to garner more applicants, more $$ and seem more selective. Many of my kidâs friends added Northeastern to their list of schools simply because it was a quick click to apply whilst in the process of applying to BU, BC and Tufts. I think Northeastern counts on it, actually. And thatâs how all of these kids get caught up in the whole yield game. How do they know âwhy Northeasternâ if they donât even ask?
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I agree it makes it easier for kids to apply - Iâm just not sure thatâs why they donât require one. Having to write a âwhy this schoolâ essay might dissuade some, but I doubt there are truly all that many remarkable and unique essays of that nature.
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What is the name of the group?
Agree, same with my son too
Do you know the name of this FB group (Global Scholars)?? I canât seem to find it. Thanks!
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@DTC29
Northeastern Global Scholars 2023
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what do you mean negative recommendations?
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My kid got into MIT EA and Northeastern EA.
I do think there is a lot of deferring happening for yield protection, though, and we were fully expecting âdeferred.â
I suspect the two factors that may have made the difference were female in CS and maybe the campus visit?
What I am wondering is whether there is an advantage to applying EA for âtop statsâ kids. Assuming the kid is still interested in the RD round, are they more likely to be accepted if they applied EA originally and were deferred or are they equally likely if they just waited and applied RD.
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I donât know whether there is an advantage to applying EA for Northeastern. For some schools such as USC, however, you must apply in the early round (or by a certain date) in order to be eligible for scholarships.
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BU has ED or RD, no EA, but even if you are applying RD there is a scholarship deadline.
I was wondering more if it indicates interest or something like that to get your application in EA to a school that offers both EA and ED and seems to strongly prefer ED.
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I guess my only reply to this is that NU has never required a supplemental essay and their numbers have gone up. It seems that they have always offered some fee waivers to certain groups (and I still wonder which those are) perhaps to attract folks from certain geographical regions or high PSATs, URMs, who knows? The only change they have made is their switch to TO which so many schools made and their numbers definitely went up.
Do they play the yield management game, of course. Every school does. Why are folks not complaining the same about ivies? NU offers the programming it does and it is attractive to many students, and now being TO, it is considered more accessible to more students. Schools offering value have seen increases in their application numbers.
I also think some students interested in NU apply to BU just because itâs Boston in a similar vein. I know my D did. She was not interested in tufts. You canât fault NU for having its brand and for folks being interested in it.
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Agreed. Many applicants will apply to BC, BU and NU because of the Boston location (including international students and others who may not have toured the campuses) but those most familiar with them would know that BC is very different from the other two. My NU student did not like BC after the tour.
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Bu also has a very different campus feel, as itâs mostly just 2-3 streets that house the buildings of bu rather than a more traditional campus. For me one of the big draws to northeastern outside of coops and their global programs was that northeastern was in the city but also still felt like itâs own campus rather than a cluster of buildings in Boston.
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My son says NU has the better campus and BU has better alumniđ
The Ivies donât play yield management games. They can accept who they want and not worry that much about yield. Most students will accept.
The reason people complain about Northeastern more in this respect than other colleges â aside from a few like Tulane â is that NEUâs enrollment philosophy seems to be primarily focused on rankings/selectivity/yield. All schools care about these things, but most have seem to have them a little farther down on the priority list than NEU.
Applications at most top schools have increased because of TO, as you said. NEU has a pretty specific approach to education through co-ops and alternate starts/locations. NEU could add a supplemental essay, asking why their approach is a fit for the applicant. That would help to sort who is applying because itâs easy and who has a genuine interest. But they donâtâŠthey seem to care more about the volume of applications they get than ensuring that they have students who are a good match.
What more evidence is there that they prioritize numbers than reading about the many, many kids on this thread who were accepted at a campus or into a program in which they never expressed interest? Can you imagine many other situations in which people would go along with an $80,000/year unauthorized switch? If you put a bid in on a $320K house in Boston and the realtor came back and said your bid wasnât accepted but you could buy a $320K house in Oakland, Ca., what would you think?
Northeastern has great programs. Their questionable approach to admissions doesnât take away from the potentially great education kids receive there. But they do play more games than most other schools, so it shouldnât be a surprise that people complain more about them.
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This!!
I think many people miss this critical point. They read all the criticisms of the admissions process and think itâs an attack on the university itself. Itâs not.
NEU has done wonderful things for their students and has many great programs. The admissions office runs independently.
I hope people understand the distinction.
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My son was accepted to a program at BU he did not apply for, which was a January start in London. Other colleges, including Clemson, offer various admissions, including a summer start and a January start. With more applicants at NU (96,000 this year) come more complaints. But the freshman retention rate is extremely high so most students/families are happy.
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I definitely agree that NU has some great, valuable programs.
In terms of yield, I am developing the opinion that this is especially prevalent with colleges that offer unrestricted EA AND ED1 and ED2, including NU, CWRU and U Chicago (the last of which I would personally include in the Ivy+ category).
Having both uses unrestricted EA to drive up the application rates with very little chance for acceptance for candidates that definitely fit what the university wants (even below the very low published rates) and then ED to manage the yield. Defer tons of high quality candidates in the EA round, then see who switches to ED2 (usually with a nudge from the collegeâwhich shows they do want these candidates if they will commit) or continues to demonstrate interest in RD (meaning they didnât get in somewhere they prefer).
You get more applications than you otherwise would if you only offered ED and still get most of the enrolled students you would have anyway (the ones that you accept ED2 or who are still hanging around RD after being deferred l) with no risk to your yield rate.
The Ivy schools and most of the Ivy-comparables, excepting U Chicago which definitely played this game to increase its perceived prestige, have ED or REA (or unrestricted EA in MITâs case).
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