I was recently admitted into NU.in for the fall 2018 semester and since Northeastern was my #1 school I am really looking forward to going there. That being said, I did not imagine myself studying abroad my first semester as a college student. So basically, I have a few questions for people that have already gone through the NU.in experience:
- how was your experience there?
- were classes more difficult there compared to when to the classes you took at the main campus?
- most importantly, how was ur transition back to Boston? Was it difficult to make friends that were on the main campus? Did you have a difficult time being with ur NU.in group of friends at Boston?
Basically, I’m sure I’ll have a great experience while studying abroad. My biggest fear is that when I go to the main campus I’ll have a difficult time making friends with people who have been on campus since the beginning because I’ve heard that typically friends groups are already formed by that point. Please let me
Know how your answer to those questions and especially what it was like transitioning back to Boston.
THANKS!
Disclaimer: not an NUin student but know a handful and am also an RA so we talk about catering to NUin students on the spring.
1.) Most everyone I know loves the experience abroad, how could you not? You’re taking easy classes in a foreign country with a bunch of people who become really close friends. From what I’ve heard, the hardest part of the program is Thanksgiving as most students stay abroad but it’s obviously traditionally a really family-focused holiday. Of course that’s almost the home stretch and I doubt you’ll forget the Thanksgiving you had in Greece with friends.
2.) Almost everyone I know has said that classes are much more difficult in Boston. They’re obviously not unreasonably hard; if you get into Northeastern, no matter how, you can probably handle them; but it’s just a stark contrast from abroad. If you take your NUin classes with the mindset of them being very easy and expecting classes at NU to ramp up you’ll probably be fine. I think it most affects the kids who assume that all of college is like that.
3.) Transition back to Boston is the hardest part by far. There is no one dorm for NUin students so they are placed wherever there are openings. Typically, there are very few openings in freshman halls (nobody is leaving for co-op/study abroad) so the vast majority are assigned to upperclassmen buildings. The perk is that your room will probably be nicer than a lot of freshman! The bad part is a.) you’ll find it harder to meet other freshman and b.) you’ll probably find most people in the upperclassmen dorm are content with their friend circles as is and are not seeking out opportunities to meet you. On top of that, you will be behind in certain major classes (i.e. all business students must take BUSN1103, and most take it freshman fall; you’ll do it in the spring when you return) and because of that, a lot of your classes will be with other NUin students, making it hard to branch out. It can feel isolating and a lot of NUin students then basically just continue hanging out with their NUin friends. If you make an effort to join clubs and sports and whatever you can overcome it easily imo.
Considerations: your GPA from NUin WILL NOT count towards your Northeastern GPA. If you are planning to co-op your sophomore spring, you’ll be applying sophomore fall. That means you will only have the GPA from your freshman spring on your resume to send to employers. Be very careful as I know this has messed with a lot of my friends’ plans, especially knowing the difficulty level at NU is much higher than abroad.
From what I understand every NUin student is required to post a video on YouTube about their experience with the program. Feel free to watch some to get a better idea.
Congratulations on your acceptance to Northeastern! My daughter did NU.In in Ireland this past Fall (2017). Her experience abroad wasn’t great but most of that is because she’s a very shy kid who wanted a big city school but ended up at UCD Ireland which is in a suburban area outside of Dublin. She also didn’t really click with her roommates but found other friends in the program and outside the program. The campus and surrounding area are very different from Northeastern - everything, including all the eating places on campus (btw no dining halls as everyone lives in an apartment with a kitchen) closed by 6 pm, the library closed and wasn’t open on the weekends. Now that she’s back in Boston, she has said that the classes at UCD did not prepare her for the workload she has now but she adjusted after a few weeks. Socially she is happier since she likes her roommates and has kept in touch with her friends from UCD. She doesn’t regret going abroad but if she had to do it over again she would have picked another location in a city with a dining hall. If you are an outgoing person and like new experiences and meeting new people you will probably really enjoy NU.IN. Most of her peers seem to really have a great time. Good luck!