Northeastern v. University of Rochester (UMASS/amherst and RPI, maybe still Stony Brook)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
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Son trying to decide between Northeastern and Rochester. RPI, UMASS, Stony Brook still in mix, too. Have visited both NU and Roch twice, once last year, and during recent accepted students day. His major is physics.

Visited Northeastern during very snowy March 28 Saturday, got a good immersion in the physics department, with impressive presentations by four physics professors and four students, including one who just returned from coop at the CERN (Switzerland), a dream for son, and another from a lab in Italy. Tour of physics labs, impressive. Had not had much info on Northeastern physics prior so this was a great introduction. Just returned Friday from visit to Rochester (gorgeous sunny 60-degrees, definitely not your typical Rochester kind of weather) and sat with chair of physics department for an hour and got grest info from him as well, and son got to sit in on an astrophysics class.
So, we’re weighing pluses and minuses of both.

At Northeastern he was not invited to honors college, but offered a $30k/yr scholarship, plus combo of subsidized loans and work study bringing cost to around $22k out of pocket. He’d be in Boston, a big plus, likes the campus, but it’s much smaller, albeit, you’re in Boston and the Fens park is adjacent. With so much emphasis on coop, not as clear on what the regular academic experience is like, tho the physics professors we met all seemed very nice, approachable, down to earth.

Rochester also offered scholarship ($18k) and grants ($4.7k) loans, work study, but still cost would be about $33k/yr out of pocket, so about 10k+ yr more. More flexible curriculum, more traditional 4-yr academic schedule, etc. Possible opportunity for a summer internship at CERN, as opposed to full 6 month coop. Rochester’s physics dept is bigger.

He’s slso a runner, and is good but not elite, and has good chance to make Rochester’s varsity team (D3), but basically no chance at Northeastern varsity, but they do have a robust running club, so he’s pretty ok with that.

Rochester’s campus is bigger, greener, on campus beautiful track facility, but you’re in Rochester (which isn’t so bad), but it’s not Boston. Undergrad population 5k v. 13k. Both have great opportunities for undergrad research. Students we met seem happy both places. I know Rochester’s “ranking” is higher FWIW, but only by about 9 or 10, and really, we could debate all day the meaningfulness of USNEWS rankings.

Boston only three hours from home; Rochester more than 5.

Just to complicate things further, Stony Brook, which has highest ranked physics department of schools he is considering, , a huge campus he really likes, but very mixed reviews on student life, etc has offered full tuition, and we’re in state so we’d just be paying room and board. $14k. I know there are those who say, just take the cheapest offer, but I’m willing to pay more for quality of life, and a happier fit.

Same for RPI, they have offered a stunning $46k/yr scholarship (our jaws hit the floor), tuition there is $48k, so we’d essentially be paying just a bit more than room and board. I know RPI is an amazing school academically for science and engineering, but you’re in Troy, NY, the boy/girl ratio is 70/30, and not sure he wants to be in a place with no humanities/social sciences/ etc. Seems such a lack of balance. The campus is very nice.

Finally, UMASS invited him into Commonwealth Honors College, I know their ranking is lower, but seems becoming more and more competitive, he liked the big sprawling campus. Planning visit for later in April but pretty late for decision making process, have been to campus but not official tour past fall. Also, UMASS offered $12k scholarship but not clear if any other aid/loans will be offered so cost would be about $29k for us.

So, decisions decisions…

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It would seem to be between Northeastern and RPI.

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@TomSrOfBoston‌ Yes, Northeastern was at the top of the heap, but our visit to Rochester made things tricky, as we both really loved it there, too. Walking around campus on a gorgeous 60-degree day I’m sure gave us a slightly skewed view of what life would be like in Rochester though! The extra $40k out of pocket does give me pause, though. I also just want him to be sure the coop model is right for him. However, with physics, it seems like many coops are spent in labs on campus, which he would actually like, as gets gets to do coop, but remain part of campus life, which seems a good balance for him. And if he’d get the opportunity to go to CERN, he would jump at that.

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FWIW, co-op students are still very much integrated in campus life in my experience. Many, many co-ops are in Boston meaning those students just work during the day and still come to club meetings/whatever in the evening. I visited U of R and didn’t like their academic model at all- that “cluster” stuff didn’t appeal. The way you describe your son sounds as though he’s a really good kid that can make the best anywhere. I’d go with NU for for the cheaper option, cause I’m sure he’d love it here.

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@novafan1225 I think in the end you’re probably right and that is where we are leaning. I’ve followed your posts and appreciate all your input (what year are you in again?), so if my son winds up at Northeastern in the fall would be great if he could have a chance to meet you in person!

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I was searching RPI related …
Still baffled? Throw a dice between RPI and SBU, I did not know that NU has a physics department, just kidding.

Choose a scholl that treats you well.

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@sapphire50 ah I’m glad you found it helpful! I’m a first year. If you happen to be at the welcome days next weekend I’ll be giving tours!

Also, something that I missed before: Boston is about 3 hours from home for me too, and that’s a pretty good amount I think. Close enough where I can get home relatively easily for the weekend if necessary, but far enough where I’m integrated in college life and not having parents drop in every weekend. 5+ hours sounds like no fun to me, if your son really only plans to come home for winter and spring break that’s fine (that was my plan too)- but I ended up coming home for Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, and now Easter, on top of traveling out even further to central NY once in November and once in February to visit my boyfriend. I think 5 hours would be too much for me, but that’s obviously a highly personal thing, just something to think about.

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@novafan1225‌ We came to the March 28 accepted students day. The day it snowed all day. three hours v. Five-plus hours definitely a bonus. Drove home from Rochester Friday night in miserable fog and rain. Was not fun. We live in Westchester.

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Snowed all day on Welcome Day and was gorgeous the next day! Can’t win them all.

I know the student who was on co-op in Italy - and he’s going to CERN for his next co-op. I think Northeastern almost always has 2 students on co-op there, doing work connected to what researchers on campus are doing, so it’s definitely a great opportunity.

It sounds like you’ve got a lot of great options and your kid would be successful at pretty much any of these places. I sympathize with the difficult choice! If your son is considering grad school, co-op is a great chance to get in-depth research experience that can really make you stand out in the application process. It sounds cliche, but I really feel like co-op has enhanced what I feel the “typical” academic experience. Co-ops helped me figure out what I want to do, gave me more direction in picking my classes, and made my courses more interesting since I understand how they fit into the research I do and my post-graduation plans.

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Definitely should be between U of R (Rank / name recognition) and RPI (Price/Rank combo)

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yep yep, was going to say if SBU won the lottery, change it to Rochester and throw the dice again, the two Rs are wonderful schools , easy decision.

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My son is a sophomore at northeastern. The campus is really friendly. He has done remarkably well there. The students are collaborative, not competitive. His co-op is in Boston, so he is still living in his dorm room while on co-op. Rpi by comparison has always seemed gloomy to me. Rochester might look great on a sunny day, but most of the winter is going to be depressing. Coop is really great. They help you find the coops. The class schedule at northeastern is also good because after coop from jan -jun, you can still take classes in July and August. Or you could do a summer study abroad. A lot of other colleges finish in May and you don’t go back to school until August or September. Northeastern is much better about using your time wisely so you can make the most of your college years. Depending on your field of study the coop salary can also be substantial which offsets some costs.

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My son had the same choice this is very interesting!

I don’t know anything about the sciences. One of his best friends went to UR and loves it! They will be starting a grad program this fall-it was the perfect place.

He chose NEU and loves it! I am sure he would have loved UR as well-what a nice choice your son has!

If he likes the coop that would be the tiebreaker it was for my son-well that and the location. The location is really hard to beat but you don’t take classes in a location!

Best of luck!