(Please Read Current NEU'ers) Questions about Northeastern's Business and General Education Program

Hi everyone,
I was considering the BSIB program for business with two co-op’s and am considering the +1 Program to get a masters degree. I was wondering how intensive the program is; is it that you have to take courses in the summer or all year round? Or does the typical student at northeastern take summer courses in order to graduate on time or is it mostly just to get ahead so optional for motivated students I guess?

I want sort of a balance between work, school, and life so I just want maybe a couple weeks off to recover and then start off strong again instead of constantly working for now.

Also can you elaborate a little bit about the core/ge requirement program? How long is it and I know it is like 11 courses now that you can flexibly choose, but when can you typically start taking courses pertaining to your major? How do AP credits play a role in this?

I’m on the verge of considering Northeastern, and I hope you can help me before I submit my SIR!

APs help alot. How many do you have and what subjects?

3 in apes, 4 in ap psych, human geo, 5 in apush and chinese. taking 5 more this year ( us gov, macro, calc, english, comp gov). At this point aiming to pass macro, english, and american gov with at least a 4 best case scenario).

@suzyQ7 3 in apes, 4 in ap psych, human geo, 5 in apush and chinese. taking 5 more this year ( us gov, macro, calc, english, comp gov). At this point aiming to pass macro, english, and american gov with at least a 4 best case scenario).

@mike8888 AP credit, check the transfer database, and then look at your degree and see what requirements the equivalents can fulfill. Often they will hit a lot of gen eds.

Look here, under the “Advanced Placement” transfer institution:
https://ugadmissions.northeastern.edu/transfercredit/TransferCreditevaluatedstudent2.asp#_ga=1.262406284.1865844849.1400816907

Copying over other answers from other thread in case anyone else has the same questions:

+1 Programs
I can’t speak to the specific program, but in general, the +1 program’s aren’t too intense. You take some grad courses instead of undergraduate ones, and then take a year of grad classes. I wouldn’t worry about deciding now, as your curriculum won’t change in the first year based on it. Wait to make any decision on that.

Co-op and Summer Courses
Think of it this way: You usually need 8 semesters to graduate from any school. Northeastern is the same. Summer sessions = half a semester. So for every semester you miss, you need to do 2 summer sessions or an extra semester. If you do 2 co-ops in 5 years, you won’t need any summer classes. A +1 program will add a year to that just like anywhere else, no summers needed.

Don’t forget about degree credit differences and AP credit either. For example, a 5 year 3 co-op program usually includes 2 summer sessions, but with a semester’s worth of AP credit, you won’t need them.

Most people at Northeastern take at least one summer class session, and there are good offerings because of that. The campus is active pretty much 365 days a year minus winter break. They enable a lot of the 4 year programs with co-ops as well, though the most common by far is 5 years with 3 co-ops and 1-2 summer sessions depending on AP credit.

Here’s a full academic calendar, more or less:
Spring Semester: January 1 - April 30
Summer 1: May 1 - June 30
Summer 2: July 1 - August 31
Fall Semester: September 1 - December 31

Co-op Calender:
Spring Co-op: January 1 - June 30
Fall Co-op: July 1 - December 31

The summer split is designed to align with co-op so anyone on co-op has the ability to take summer classes before/after if they want. A summer session is a half semester in number of classes/credits and tuition. If you don’t need summer classes for a semester, it isn’t uncommon to extend a co-op to cover the full summer, to make an 8 month co-op.

There’s a lot of nuances here, and everyone’s pattern is different. I’m actually doing something similar to you. I’m doing a BS/MS program with 2 co-ops. Because of AP credit and summer sessions (2 total), I’ll do it in 5 years and 9 total semesters, rather than the usual 10 semesters and 6 years.

Core/GenEd’s
The core curriculum isn’t 11 courses - it’s 11 learning goals. A single class can satisfy 2-3 of those at once. Some classes in your major will hit these goals. As long as you hit each one before you graduate, you’re good to go. Given co-op, every major (as far as I know) starts with classes in your major in your first year (usually 2/4 of your courses each semester). You can do them at any pace you like. That flexibility was a big draw for me, as well as diving straight into my major.