@RightCoaster In my school it was the opposite. The top students got offered N.U.in or ContiNUe and the average students got in RD and EA. @alexa2143 you could be right about the holistic thing but it could be me just trying to make myself feel better about not really being accepted. Same if we try to explain it away as yield protection. I have a 4.3 GPA / 35 ACT / 1000+ hours community service / 2 varsity sports / President of NHS and I have a job. This was the first decision I received, so I’ll just keep researching until others roll in. Thanks for all of the info and good luck to everyone!
@apdns19 I know that it definitely seems like you were “not really being accepted” (bc I was definitely in that position before haha) but you were. After NUin and when you get to Boston, there’s nothing really different about life at NU, other than people wanting to know how your study abroad experience was. Good luck with the rest of your decisions!!
Thanks @alexa2143 ! Your input has been very helpful and you are a great representative of the school and the NUin program. I guess I got really turned off when I read that students from NUin and ContiNUed aren’t included in their admissions stats. I think that shows NU in such a poor light, obviously scewing their stats by not counting the thousands of students that are accepted. I don’t know why it bothers me so much - maybe because it make it seem like they are too focused on their bottom line and stats. Time to move on for real now!!
@Dad2000 Welcome to CC if in fact you are a new CC member. You seem to be naïve about college rankings. That old Boston Magazine article is linked here on CC many times each admissions cycle.
To boost its rankings Boston University shifted half of the students admitted to CGS (a long standing program mostly for applicants who were not admissible to other BU programs) to January entry and requires them to spend the following summer semester in London.
Cornell University, among others, offer many freshman applicants the option of Guaranteed Sophomore Transfer. They must enroll at another 4 year college and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Thus poaching students from other colleges and hurting their stats.
Cornell and the University of Southern California offer January entry to fall applicants. Brandeis University offers January entry to fall applicants with the option to spend the fall semester at a partner institution in Europe. Sound familiar?
In all of these cases those alternative entry students do not count in the acceptance rates published. It is all “gaming” the USNews rankings but those other colleges seem to get a pass for doing it while that Boston Magazine article is dug up year after year after year to somehow show how Northeastern is cheating the system. That is really unfair. Saying that “everyone is doing it” may not be a valid excuse but most everyone is doing it up to and including Ivy League Cornell.
They specifically state on their website that these are kids “ to whom we were not able to offer admission in the fall”. So they are basically saying you weren’t a strong enough candidate to get in the Boston campus. It doesn’t make your kid feel very good about it. If my daughter has other choices (of which I hope), we will not do this. I’m sure it’s great. But, maybe they should present it differently.
The stereotype of NUin kids is definitely that they are lower-quality applicants and generally from rich families (as there’s no financial aid for the NUin term and only those who can afford to shell out $35k for a fall semester will do it.)
Northeastern plain and simple does not offer NUin to applicants they want to include in their fall stats. Northeastern does not try to deny that NUin is for applicants with lower stats. That being said, they don’t offer NUin to applicants who they believe don’t have what it takes to succeed at NU. They might consider rigor of classes, ECs, essays, recs, and international experience more heavily for NUin candidates. It’s not like they take any random off the street, you still have to be a quality applicant, just a hair below the level of fall admitted class. There is a reason you cannot opt out of the program if offered it though, and that’s because there is a difference in quality of NUin admits and fall admits stats-wise.
Students offered the guaranteed sophomore transfer option at Cornell did not qualify for freshman admission there yet many of them make the transfer without hesitation. It doesn’t seem to bother them that they are “not as good” as those offered freshman admission.
@TomSrOfBoston It’s Cornell. I was just thinking about this. If I were offered a similar program at Harvard or Brown, I would jump at the chance. Maybe because I know I am more than qualified for NU and at an Ivy, the chances of admission are so slim.
NEU was a reach for my daughter and she got accepted into NuIN after EA deferral. We are happy for the opportunity. 3.6UW and 31 ACT into the Arts school. Everyone in the Northeastern forum is accomplished and has many great schools to choose from. She got admitted at other good schools with very generous merit aid and honors opportunities. If you don’t want to take advantage of NuIN, then don’t. If it is a financial burden, then please go to another school that fits your budget. But don’t hang out here slagging the program. It does a disservice to those students and families giving it due consideration.
So, novafan1225…NEU doesn’t want to include a 34 ACT and a 3.9? UW in their stats??? PLEEEEAAASSE. My daughter had one B in 9th grade and a few A-…and took as many AP and honors classes as was available. So, don’t say my daughter is not a quality applicant. She was just waitlisted WUSTL. So, apparently they think she’s worth putting on a waitlist.
@alizarin Admission is holistic. It is more than GPA and SAT/ACT. Northeastern is a unique school. They are looking for students who are interested in the experiential learning model, not those looking for a safety.
It’s totally normal to question doing NUin or hesitate because of how it initially sounds – I know I definitely did when I first got that acceptance, and thought that there was absolutely NO way that I was going to spend my first semester abroad. Obviously that changed lol. If you’re unsure, my best advice would be to to visit Northeastern, either on a welcome day or during a normal tour (preferably on a weekday to see how the school really is) and see how you feel. I really think it’s one of things that you just “know” and if you can see yourself living here, and also enjoy traveling/have ever wanted to travel around Europe, consider NUin. It’s only 1 semester, and it really does go by quickly (and being able to just have fun and travel while earning credits for your first semester without worrying about finding a job in a year, like other study abroad options, is always a bonus). However, if you have absolutely no regard for co-op or only perceived NU as a safety, it’s probably not the right school for you.
I never said it was a safety, TomSrofBoston. I’m not a DA…I do understand admissions are holistic. novofan1225 was saying the NUin students weren’t quality applicants. I was disputing that fact.
My son, a business/finance major went to Greece in 2016. He had an amazing experience! When he initially got the nuin acceptance he was not very happy. And honestly was not really happy up until his departure to Greece. Once there, he had an amazing time and made great friends. Friends that he is still close with. They traveled to other countries and went out A LOT to the clubs in Greece. He didn’t love his roommate in Greece, but they coexisted and he found his people.
The transition to campus academically and socially was good for him. He joined a fraternity and has made a large number of friends outside of the nuin program. Academically I think the classes were easier, but the were level one classes and very small so hard to tell. But he has continued to do well in Boston.
I would say that if you are outgoing and are willing to join clubs or frats then you will be fine. He said most the parties are frat related.
He has a friend who went to Australia for engineering. He is also doing well academically and socially.
Hope this helps!
Congrats on your acceptances!!
@alizarin DA??
What novafan was trying to say is that in the past students offered NUIn had lower stats in general than students offered Fall Boston admission. Although looking through the decision thread this cycle there are students with 1500+ SAT scores being offered NUIn.
Many students offered Fall Boston admission expressed interest in the program and Northeastern started NUIn Spring in Greece and England. They spend the Fall in Boston then go overseas in the Spring. So what some claim is a consolation prize is highly desired by many regular admits.
@Novafan125
Just stop. I don’t know why you are spewing all this nonsense on this forum.
NE is an exceptional school with many programming options. Various schools are offering alternative start dates. Lehigh has a new January start date (wait list, looking for a cohort of 30 students to start in Jan), USC has one and the list goes on. I think kids and families valuing education enough to invest in these schools, don’t size up other students in this manner. I personally know high stat kids who applied direct to NUin so they could have a global perspective going into their studies. They do not need to read your threads and worry.
When do we receive financial aid info, cost of attendance and all that fun stuff?
NUin is definitely not JUST for those kids who are a hairline below the Fall admits in stats. Many qualified students receive an Email asking if they would consider this program as an option well before the decision date.
As far as I can see they view the application holistically and offer it to those kids who have somehow conveyed their capabilities to handle a semester of study abroad right at the beginning of their freshman year.
These kids are independent, confident, and mature enough to live in different parts of the world, the very first time (for many) they step out of the protection of their home. They adapt to live in a different time zone & culture, make some amazing friends and travel the world when they are barely 17 or 18. They are far more well adjusted to handle the rigor of their challenging course load when they come back, especially given that they will be away from the campus with in semester or two for their co-op.
They are taken care of by amazing Nuin staff who travel with them and help them in every possible way while abroad and back in Boston. Transition is very well managed and most of the kids comeback to Boston with friends they made while away. They fit right in with the rest of the community, join clubs and enjoy being engaged members of the Northeastern Community.
Good luck to all those who are considering this journey.
My guess is that NUIn is offered mostly to kids are are full-pay, or nearly so. Those who need a lot of financial aid aren’t likely to be able to swing it.
NU is very generous with merit aid (as opposed to need-based aid). What level of merit aid do kids get who are offered NUin?