<p>Half the year? You will be paying one full semester of tuition and one half semester of tuition.</p>
<p>The school year is set up with a fall semester, spring semester and two summer sessions. During the years that student are doing co-ops, they will work one semester and half of the summer (one of the summer sessions), take a full course load the other semester and only take half a course load during one of the summer sessions. The number of summer sessions you would take depends on how many co-ops you do, but in the end, you only pay the equivalent of 8 semesters tuition; it may just be spread out over 5 years instead of 4.</p>
<p>My son is a junior business major at Penn State. The Smeal School of Business has an excellent reputation. A few things to consider…Penn State is in the middle of nowhere so co-ops/internships are done away from school. If you are admitted to start at a branch campus, you’ll have to transfer to Univ. Park after your sophomore year which is a negative. PSU is a big party school – #1 in the country. All the kids I know there are partiers – don’t know what you do if that’s not your thing. The kids who go to Penn State LOVE that school. The pride is unbelievable. And there are PSU grads everywhere for job contacts in the future. My daughter, however, is passionate about Northeastern (she’s a h.s. senior now).</p>
<p>My son is a senior at NEU. A major thing to consider is that it is truly an urban school, and comparing it to Penn State is like comparing apples to oranges. Socially speaking, my son is having a great time, but misses not having a football team to root for and tailgate at on Saturdays. On the other hand, my son has been to Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots games, and has watched the Boston Marathon at the finish line (walking distance from school). He walked two blocks from campus to see the Red Sox World Series parade in 2007. He joined a fraternity- there is no fraternity house- but he has made great friends and is an inner city Little League coach. He joined the NEU ski club and skis in Maine, VT and NH in the winter. He lives off-campus, but close to campus, shares a tiny bedroom and his share of the rent is over $800. If he had a co-op, the rent still has to be paid, and that is like adding $10,000 to an already very high tuition (2 co-op terms x $800 plus utilities). And depending what your major is, some of the co-ops don’t pay. My son said that with the economy tanking in 2008, so did many of the co-op opportunites in his major (communications). You can graduate from NEU in 4 years now, co-op is not mandatory. There are pros and cons to every school, and you have to weigh what is important to you. NEU is located in a great part of Boston and has such a nice campus. you can walk to the Prudential Center, Copley Square, Newbury St, and the atmosphere is exciting and energizing.</p>
<p>Hey, you asked me to tell you about Northeastern after I visited.</p>
<p>So, it looks like a beautiful campus for a city school (though not as nice as Georgia Tech, the other school I’m considering). There isn’t much green space, but seeing students walking to class felt a lot like watching high schoolers… they looked normal and nice. Then of course there were a lot of smokers… though some of those cigarettes certainly did not small like normal cigarettes. The buildings all looked modern on the outside and friendly on the inside. The buildings were really close together though, so it was a really compact campus- so it’s either claustrophobic or easy to travel. Anyway, everyone on the faculty was so nice and open-- the woman in charge of the school of computing offered to find a current student to sit down to a free lunch with us in IV. It was really nice. The majors seem great, the coop program seems really strong, there’s lots to do in Boston… I just had one major problem.</p>
<p>Even though Northeastern met all of my standards dead-on, it didn’t excite me. I didn’t connect with the school, and I have no idea why. I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t like, but I’m not looking forward to going there (if that’s what I decide to do). The weather was great, so it wasn’t that. I’m not sure. I definitely believe in following your gut though so I think that you really need to visit to get a feel for it.</p>
<p>Finally, I didn’t really get the sense of a community or long dedication to clubs. With the Coop program, students are constantly off campus for long periods of time. People seemed busy to get where they were going… but then again, I go to a very competitive public school on the east coast so busy is normal for me. I can’t decide whether or not I liked Northeastern overall</p>
<p>Thanks DreamGRanger…ya i think instinct is the best too, should listen to that…anyways i was just wondering if u knew whether only iv had private bathrooms and if the rest were mostly communal like the llc(business,etc)…if u could shed some light on that, that would be awesome…and thanks for all in the info…</p>
<p>IV is the only freshmen dorm that has private bathrooms.</p>
<p>hey is it necessary that if I am planning on staying in Boston in vacations like winter that i live in IV or well will they put me there, even if i indicate it as a 3rd preference or smdn…?</p>
<p>Freshmen can’t choose their residence hall. They can only choose an LLC (or not).</p>
<p>“With the Coop program, students are constantly off campus for long periods of time.” - I heard that many students continue to live in Boston (sometimes even on campus) while doiing co-op… Any guesses about the split on local vs distant co-ops?</p>
<p>I seem to recall hearing that something like 80% of the co-ops were within Massachusetts and another 10% were within the rest of New England; this was a year or so ago so not sure how much those numbers might have changed. My S who is a jr, has done 2 co-ops so far, both in the Boston area and he is planning to do his third one in Boston later this yr. During his soph and middler yrs, he lived in 8 and 5 person suites on campus and some of the roommates were on co-op while others were in class; there seems to be a great deal of social interaction among students regardless of their schedule esp on weekends. There are also some clubs or activities that are easier to stay involved in even while on co-op than others, for instance S has been involved in band year-round since freshman yr.</p>
<p>Most people stick around while on co-op. And scansmom is right, there is really NO difference in social life when you’re on co-op vs in classes. I go out with my friends on weekends while in classes and while working, and my friend groups stay the same, the things we do with our free time is the same, etc. Each semester I probably have 2-3 friends who are somewhere else on co-op, so sure, sometimes people leave, but it doesn’t really affect my social circles or my social life that much. </p>
<p>I have friends who are really into doing co-op in other places (some who have done 2 out of 3 in another place) and it’s fairly common for people to go away for at least one co-op. A lot of us choose to stay in the city though, it really just depends on each individual person.</p>
<p>Thanks. That was helpful information! Since we’d be sending our son from Colorado, we like the idea (logistics and social life) of staying on campus. But he has a great scholarship offer at NEU… so we have said that we’d spring for an international co-op along the way.</p>
<p>dreamergranger- I had a very similar experience to yours, except I did connect to the campus. I loved it, and could definitely see myself going there. However, the same things that you didn’t like too much- the lack of ‘community feel’ is what really turns me off about it.</p>
<p>colorado_mom- from what I gathered during my last visit- I could be very wrong, so take this on stride- they said that it really depends on your major. However, it is pretty evenly split, mainly because students are given the option to pick their co op if they have connections (uncle owns a business or… something). Some pick to go to co ops near their hometown so they can live at home for free (I know my friends brother is currently doing that), others go abroad, or are ‘placed’ in some pretty good room arrangements if they go OOS, and even those that stay in Boston, most of the time they live off campus because either room and board is still pretty expensive compared to some of the rent options or their co op far away from campus. That really leaves them no ties to the campus and I can’t see why those people would come back to campus for reasons other than to see their friends every now and then. So yeah, there is definitely a lack of ‘community’ feel because so many students are off campus half the time (in fact, in college p r o w l e r it was voted as one of the things students disliked most about the school). Not only is co op a problem (and I say problem in THIS situation, I think co op is great!), but also the fact the school is in the middle of Boston, so there is so much to do that people don’t really bother with the clubs, sports (except hockey), etc.</p>
<p>So that is definitely something to keep in mind. Like posters before have said, it really depends on what’s important to you. For me, even though I loved everything about NU all 3 times I was there, this aspect was definitely a turn off.</p>
<p>I just want to add that as I come to the end of my freshman year, I have not felt a lack of “community feel” and have participated in many student organizations here and have met a whole lot of people through those organizations. (Again, I am a freshman, so I don’t have any experience with co-op yet, but I’ve met a lot of people on co-op who are still actively involved with these organizations and some still live on campus.)</p>
<p>@fRace04
City universities do not have the same level of cohesiveness that college town and suburban schools do. You will not be on a “cloistered” campus. One of the reasons to attend an urban university in a good city is to experience the city. If you go to school in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Montreal etc. part of the learning experience is the city. Harvard students no doubt spend more time off campus than their fellow Ivy Leaguers at Dartmouth and Princeton. The level of partying is also lower at urban schools. The big party schools are in college towns like Penn State and U of Florida. There isn’t a whole lot to do there other than study and party. </p>
<p>The disconnects that coop may create are lessened by Facebook, Twitter, email etc. According to NEU’s website, 82% of coop jobs are in Massachusetts. Northeastern is not the “traditional” college experience certainly. Even at traditional colleges, internships are the big thing. Not everyone can get a good internship for the summer. BTW, I just learned that Boston University has adopted an optional coop program in its College of Engineering. After all the decades of maintaining a “pure” campus experience, they are adopting the NEU model!</p>
<p>^ I totally agree. I was just pointing out that if campus closeness or ‘college feel’ is important to someone, city schools (like NU) may not be the best choice for that aspect alone. There’s certainly lots of perks though- like you said, experiencing a city is a great part of the learning process.</p>
<p>As for the co ops, I’m just relaying what a lot of people from NU that I know personally are saying. It’s not the same having them live with you, go to classes with you, have lunch with you, etc than the occasional facebook chat. This is just from what I hear, that it really does suck when your friends go away for co op/study abroad. Not that it’s a bad thing, and I’m sure it happens to a lot of colleges that have study abroad, but just saying. It is something to consider. Then again, YOU will be away during a co op/study abroad at some point as well and experience great things, so that’s a plus!</p>
<p>Us being “disconnected” from campus while on co-op is a misconception, I think. I live off campus, but even while on co-op I go down to the gym, have lunch on campus with friends, go to the dining hall, go to on-campus events and such.</p>
<p>It’s true we’re not a small-town college campus community, but most of us don’t really want it to be that way. We like the urban feel and being able to get off campus (in general, not just for work/apartments) and to kind of be on our own a little bit. But I really always feel like a NU student, even when on co-op.</p>
<p>Also, like I’ve said in other threads, some people are really into doing co-op away, but a lot of us want to stay around NU because we enjoy campus/student life.</p>
<p>Thanks Emily, I’ll trust your insight then since you’re an actual student! It’s a relief to hear I was under the wrong impressions.</p>