Northeastern v. Drexel Co-op

College Search & Selection
1

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could share their experiences with co-ops at any of those schools (especially engineering). I’ve been reading a couple of previous discussions about both schools, but I don’t feel like I’ve find anything useful. I, myself plan to major in Biomedical engineering, and since I recently found out about those schools I would really appreciate any personal or relevant information. Thank you!

2

I looked at both schools during my college search for CS (currently attending Northeastern), and I know a good deal of engineers, so I’ll do my best to share what I know here.

Both schools have very solid co-op programs. Both also have plenty of medical jobs available in the area as well as in other places beyond their home city. While there used to be some bigger differences in the programs, they are very similar at this point. Northeastern in general offers ever so slightly more from my research and experience, but it would barely be noticeable on the micro level. Most of the big names hire from both.

The bigger difference between the two are the academic programs, quality, what’s offered, and Philly vs Boston. As far as co-op goes, they are two of the top schools for it.

If you have any specific questions about co-op in general, I’d love to fill in the gaps :slight_smile:

3

Thank you for answering! I guess it would depend on my acceptances then, and I’ll see how it goes haha. Although I would like to ask you what made you decide on Northeastern. Did you had to choose between other colleges? Thank you!

4

No problem :slight_smile:

I chose Northeastern over BU, NYU, University of Rochester, RIT, WPI, and Rose-Hulman. I didn’t apply to Drexel because I preferred other schools for my major (CS) that were comparable - RIT also has an excellent co-op program, for example.

In no particular order, the reasons Northeastern won out:

  • I think Northeastern’s co-op program is probably the best of the bunch by a bit
  • The CS department has an amazing teaching philosophy and develops a program that more and more schools use
  • Boston is an amazing city - I love cities and it is by far my favorite thusfar, especially for a college student. Northeastern’s location is very convenient and the campus still feels collegy while being urban.
  • I wanted a flexible curriculum and practical focus, hence co-op.
5

That sounds great! Thank you for answering me. Northeastern sounds really appealing to me but I think my scores are way more standard for Drexel due to a poor freshman year. I will apply anyways because it is one of my three top choices, but I’m still trying to be realistic haha.