Hey All,
So I’ve committeed to Northeastern (over a full-ride to Clark University) as part of the University Scholars Program.
When I went to look at the cost of attending northeastern, I noticed that, even with the scholarship, it is quite pricey - nearly 20,000 a year for room, board, books, and other fees. My family can do it, but since we have 16,000 budgeted for college, we’ll have to go into our savings a bit (which means my parents can use all of the help they can get).
My question for CC: what opportunities should I look into to help me pay for room and board?
You can generally keep your costs below the estimate with smart budgeting, to start with. Opt for a cheaper meal plan (10 per week was plenty for me even though I eat every meal. You can use the dining dollars to get things like breakfast food.) After freshman year, you can live in apartment-style housing, whech means you can cook for yourself which is WAY cheaper than a meal plan.
You can also look for a part time job for extra money. There are a lot of jobs available on campus or nearby. I’ve had a job as a tutor and now a TA which has let me earn up to a few thousand bucks a year.
Anothes big one for after freshman year: look into becoming an RA. That covers all of your room and board.
I think Northeastern uses “total cost of attendance” on the financial aid forms, including things like textbooks and travel costs to get to and from school. Meaning, you don’t pay those up front and you aren’t charged those amounts. For me, both of those estimates were drastically larger than what I ended up paying. This semester I probably spent ~200 on textbooks/online access, and last semester was ~80 (and I was able to resell these to help pay for this semesters’ books). I’ve spent some on travel, but I’m not someone who flies so that too was drastically overestimated.
I’m on the 15 meal plan and I wouldn’t recommend less. That’s two meals a day (and a bonus), and I’m not someone who eats breakfast other than like granola bars so it works out perfectly. I’ve found the dining dollars don’t cover a ton, maybe Dunkin’ before your classes for the semester but it won’t last you the whole time if you’re consistently buying meals. My roommate and my suitemate are on the 10 meal plan, and my roommate always runs out of meals and has to pay to order in food while my suitemate resorts to eating microwave single-serve oatmeal cups for dinner a few nights a week.
Apartment-style housing is available to upperclassmen but they kind of screwed with rising sophomores this year. Since they built East Village, they can house more people on-campus and as such they gave out a lot more lottery numbers including to upperclassmen who aren’t always guaranteed housing (they’re often put on the waitlist, though now they’ve guaranteed housing to current freshman and beyond for their duration at NU). So all the current freshman got the late numbers (and that’s fair), BUT most all of the spaces in the apartments were snapped up by upperclassmen, and a LOT of current freshman got stuck living in East Village next year. Not like suites in East Village, but the semi-private rooms like the ones in IV. Meal plan required, no kitchen, no common room in your room. My recommendation would be to choose housing with fellow honors kids, because they get some Honors 2nd year rooms in WVC and WVF- your suite must be all honors students to live there.
Look into being an RA, but if that’s not something you’d be into, don’t do it; it’s a LOT of work, and if you’re only in it for the free R&B you’ll be miserable. It’s also a really competitive process; this year there were over 500 applicants for less than 40 spots available spots. Feel free to apply, but don’t count it as a sure bet. I can answer more questions about that too, if you’re interested.
I’m a current sophomore and thought I would chime in- room and board doesn’t cost anywhere near 20,000 a year. Last year I lived in IV (the most expensive freshman dorm at that time) and had a 15 meal plan and my room and board totaled around 12,000. Now that was to live in a double. It’s more difficult as a freshman because you don’t have a say as to where you live (unless you live in IV, in which case you can pick a single vs a double). If you are in IV and you are living in a single and that’s how you calculated the cost, a quick fix to that would to not live in a single.
Also after freshman year you can choose to live in an apartment which means you don’t need a meal plan, and you can choose an economy or standard structure over an enhanced one. Becoming an RA is difficult, because the process has become so competitive. This year they accepted less than 30 new RAs, out of the hundreds that applied (this is for fall and spring) so while that is a great way, I wouldn’t rely on it and I would have a back up plan.
There are a lot of small scholarships (a lot are probably offered through your high school) that can help cut the cost down your first year. Depending on your major, once you go on co-op you can contribute some of your earnings to your room and board. And after your second year you can move off-campus, which is usually a lot cheaper.
I have a question about Co-op and financial impact making up for classes during Summer Classes. If I decide to stay in NEU dorms for both my 6 month co-ops, I wlll need to pay for room+board for this 12 month period as well as additional $$ for room+board to make up for my classes by attending 4 summer sessions. Has anyone made financial calculation on how much more it will cost with 4 X Summer sessions for room+board? I am aware that total Tuition remains the same with 2 X co-ops for a 4 year term.But the room+board will definitely add on to the expenses on top of the $62,202 per year X 4 Years.
I think you’re referring to a 4 year, 2 co-op plan? Think of it this way: you’ll have eight semesters of tuition + room + board, which includes your summer sessions, where you’ll have the same costs. Separate from that, you’ll have your co-ops. You’ll pay room and board during this time, but if you have a paid co-op, you’ll generally at least break even on the costs for those 6 months. That’s why the rule of thumb is to not count money earned on co-op in how you’ll pay for school. So that means your overall costs for 4 years would be the same as any other 4 year school.