My daughter was just admitted for NU In program for this fall semester. There are some great discussions about the program in general.
NU was definitely a reach for her, and she’s thrilled to be admitted. However, I have some concerns that she’s been a bit blinded by the accomplishment and may need to better consider if NU is a good fit. Or, on the other hand, maybe I’m a bit old school. So far, I’ve been very hands off with her application and selection process, and the final decision is hers, but I’d love a place to hear feedback on my concerns.
NU seems geared towards students with very specific, defined, career oriented goals. My daughter really hasn’t found a particular passion and doesn’t have defined career goals.
How appropriate is NU in general for a student that might benefit from some academic exploration?
If you are admitted to a particular college - can you switch your major to one in a different college? Biology major to English major - for example - if you decide early enough. Or, is you admission purely for one college.
For the NU In program, the “explorer” option is listed for undecided students. However, my daughter is interested in going to a particular county with no major at all she’s interested in. Is the explorer option really appropriate in this case? Is this even allowed? Or, will she end up with choices of courses that are all a waste of money? (She’s really interested in Italy, and no interest in arts or business!)
How appropriate is NU for a student with no interest in the coop program?
I guess my overall impression that NU has a specific enough flavor that it really might be a case of round student peg into square school hole, but, again, I don’t want to be blinded by my specific college experience.
While some do one or no coops and can have a traditional 4 year experience, that is not what attracts students and she would be in the minority. That said, part of the point of coops is to get some real world experience to help decide on a career path. Seems great or someone not sure and wanting to explore. The only problem is competition for the coop placements. Someone with a clear committment to a field would get an offer first.
So I would question why no interest in coops, and if not, why did she apply there ?
You also dont say other choices under consideration and why.
Her other choice is our state school which is much less selective, although still an excellent school. That’s why I’m concerned she’s being swayed purely by the selectivity.
She applied based on average test scores, location, and reputation.
–Question: She only applied to or received entry in her state school and NEU? Just surprised as most kids apply to 5-8 schools and with her stats, she probably had lots of options.
We are going through a bit of the “wow you got accepted at your reach school” euphoria too. Now we are rolling up the sleeves this weekend and undergoing a true pros/cons among all the choices.
–Regarding NU In: The courses will released to us in the general NU IN portal the next 1-2 weeks per the office. You can then match the course offerings to your interests and pick the countries you are interested in.
–The course offerings are going to be VERY limited. You are looking at probably at most 20 total per location. And these 20 span multiple areas: science, language, art, plus 3-4 local flavored (e.g., indigenous cultures of XYZ country so maybe 3-4 per area.
–The courses are not great and as some have posted they may even be taught by the university’s continuing ed department. Plus the students in the classes will be mostly other NU In students.
–I am thinking of the classes as a way to knock off some of the NU Path core requirements like writing. Of course if you have an interest in Renaissance Italian Art and go to Italy, that is a different story.
–Looking at the likely courses, I doubt that she will get enough of a real flavor to go from undecided to decided by the time she gets back to campus in the spring.
–NU In is a gift to your kid if you can afford it. As my wife called it: A pseudo gap semester. Go to a great country for 4 months, take easier classes, and have fun. Nothing wrong with that. I grew up in a blue collar family and worked at McDonalds for 4 years to pay for college at my state school so I have mixed feelings about the whole thing,
–Yes NEU is geared more to kids who have a strong sense (at least at the age of 18) of what they want to do but I am confident that there is a fair bit of switching around between majors. Heck, they even allow you to request a major switch now as part of the enrollment process.
Thanks to SoCratz for the specific feedback. She has more acceptances than the state school and NU. Those are just the current top two. A few more far stretches have yet to trickle in.
Do you know, specifically, if you can switch between schools? Or just majors within schools?
Are you “allowed” to apply for a country that isn’t indicated for your currently selected major?
I’ll definitely suggest she look at the courses as they become available. Italy, in particular, is supposed to be for Fine Arts and Business - both of which I’d be shocked if she selected as a final area of study. (There has been zero interest in either so far) Plus, they feel really specific, as opposed to basic courses in Social Sciences
My understanding is that you have to pick a school that aligns with your college. There is a matrix on the website. Italy is Business and Arts. As an explore/undecided student however it looks like you can go anywhere.
The NU explore program for undecided students is excellent. However, I think you would need to ask how this program works with NUin. Check out this page on the NU Explore site - https://undergraduate.northeastern.edu/explore/student-voice/tips-for-transitioning-from-nuin-to-boston-life/
Sounds like the explore students when they return from NUin do the same things in the spring that the freshman explore students do in the fall (including taking the special one credit explore class)
My daughter (now a graduate - class of 2016) did the undecided program back then and it was very helpful. I was told that students even go on a first co-op as undeclared (my daughter decided before then) and it works out. However, they have made the program even better in the past couple of years.
I would heed this warning on the NUin program page -
✓* = Students in the Explore Program for Undeclared Students should identify which college or major is most aligned with their interests when choosing a site, as curriculum is tailored to specific colleges. Choosing a site that does not align with the intended college or major may result in additional courses and/or summer courses.
Don’t go to Italy just because you want to be in Italy and have no interest in the majors supported there.
I did NUin last semester, and absolutely loved it! However, determining if the school “fits” is definitely something that’s extremely important here and if she can see herself making friends/living here, so my best advice is to visit and maybe talk to people to figure that out.
I think in general, NUin was a really great experience in terms of being independent. I’m not sure if I would say that there’s a lot of “academic exploration,” apart from taking classes and maybe gouging your interest in that topic through that; it’s really more so a great way to travel and have fun, while earning credits before returning to Boston.
Declaring your major is fairly easy, depending on what program you’re interested in. Some programs (like PT) have requirements that you need to pass before you’re officially admitted if you declare after a certain point, but for the most part, I don’t think that it’s difficult and your advisors help you with that process.
A lot of the people last year that I know that did Italy were business majors, and although a few were undeclared, I would say that it’s probably better to pick another location if you’re not interested in the majors that are being offered because going forward (after NUin), you wouldn’t be in the same classes with them anymore and it might be more difficult to find your social group. When you’re picking your classes for the semester, you have to pick a curriculum for a major. But if she really wants to be in Italy, she would likely take a lot of general NUpath requirements that everyone needs to take at some point (Engilsh, Calc, a class that is about the country’s culture, etc.).
Most majors require at least 1 co-op, and co-op is definitely a very central part of Northeastern and what everyone talks about at one point or another, so I would say that if she’s not interested in doing that, then NU probably wouldn’t be the best fit. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I would look into it.