Hi dadofgrad2017,
My son just received his acceptance to NU.in program. I am curious, did your son attend NU.in? If so, which abroad university did he attend and how was his experience?
Your feedback is very much appreciated as we have a daughter thinking through this. Was there No supervision at all from Northeastern? Nobody checking in with kids to see if all is OK? The food situation seems outrageous under the best circumstances, but even worse due to friction. Given that she is obviously back in Boston, all OK now?
Hi all. Just web surfing at lunch and thought of coming back to this site.
As an update, my son went to China this past Fall 2017, and is now just finishing Spring semester in Boston and getting ready for finals. Everything has worked out well for him. Getting used to Boston in January was not the easiest thing (we live in SoCal), but he wanted âweatherâ and he certainly got it!! He adjusted to life and school easily, mostly hanging out with friends he met in the NUin program. No secret, school is harder at NEU than abroad. I donât believe the change from China to the NEU campus is any different than coming from HS to the campus in the Fall. It may have been easier because he knew many more people than if he came in fresh in the Fall, and many of them were also in his classes (business major).
Otherwise, coming to campus in the Spring (really winter) is just like coming in the Fall, except for the weather. Some activities designed for Spring freshmen got cancelled due to the weather, and while they found housing for everyone, my sonâs situation was less than ideal (he ended up in a leased hotel near campus), but he is young and learning to adapt is part of starting college life for anyone, anywhere. And NEU tries to make the process as easy as possible. There are many activities, groups and events for everyone from the NUin program to attend and to meet new people and learn about the city of Boston.
As for the NUin program, to see what it is like for the kids, I still suggest checking out the YouTube videos. Easy to find, and kind of fun to watch even if they are not about your kid. Not sure what the previous post meant about the food. As for my son, the food is probably the hardest part for him - he got used to super cheap eats in Shanghai, and Northeastern dorms donât have particularly great food (not bad, just not great). But heâs not starving (I think, we will see him in a week!) just spending too much eating out with friends.
Finally, as to a previous post on the cost, as a parent I strongly recommend sending your kid to where ever is least expensive - crap, college is EXPENSIVE and based on my sonâs HS friendsâ experiences this year, the bottom line is they all end up having a great time where ever they go, and they will all get a piece of paper saying they graduated, it really doesnât matter from where (unless it is UCLA -Go Bruins!)
Finally, I will just say that it was the NUin program that sold us on NEU. It is different than any other freshman program I have seen. My son is a business major, and I have been noticing that many MBA programs are sending students abroad for the very same experience my son had and for the very same reasons that makes the NUin program valuable. He specifically chose China, and he is glad he went there rather than any of the other countries.