<p>I live in Illinois and just found out I was accepted (woo!!). The only problem is that no one around here has even heard of this school! I obvioulsy know it is a good school from test scores, gpa, etc., but when you hear the school "Northeastern", what is the general connotation that goes along with it? Good/bad? What's another school of similar caliber it would be comparable to?</p>
<p>I’m from NY and I know about Northeastern that it’s pretty good.</p>
<p>Is it a common school to know about if you’re from that area? Like NY MA etc?</p>
<p>Yeah it is. Usually competitive students from competitive schools apply for these schools from my area that i know of.</p>
<p>Thanks 
any other opinions?</p>
<p>If you attend, Northeastern’s prestige could be much different when you graduate. Jumping 50 ranking spots in a matter of years means the school might break the top 50 in two or three years.</p>
<p>I live in the West, but those who know of the school respect its coop program.</p>
<p>It is not Northwestern but to give you an idea, I think more highly of it than Boston University and I think it is on par with Boston College.</p>
<p>oh wow that’s great to hear I’m glad that some people out west have heard of it because everyone in the Midwest is totally clueless hahah. Thanks!</p>
<p>Northeastern has exploded in popularity within the northeast in recent years. It’s often looked at as a really good school, not a Harvard or MIT, but a bit better than BU, similar to BC. Northeastern has a really good reputation in New England, not sure what it’s like elsewhere. I currently go to Penn State, and not many people are familiar with it from the Pennsylvania area.</p>
<p>We share MichLover’s experiences. When mentioning Northeastern here in this small, decidedly un-coastal state, the reaction has been: “Don’t you mean NorthWESTern?” In reply, we’ve started asking “Where is Northwestern?” Not everyone knows, so we’re not surprised they have no idea about Northeastern. The questioners likely don’t spend much e-time on CC. Totally agree with JuniorMint - Northeastern is a school whose reputation continues to rise.</p>
<p>Northeastern, along with BU and BC, were pretty much local schools until the 1970’s. When BU and BC went regional and later national, they had the advantage that no one had to ask “Where’s that?”. It was in their names. </p>
<p>BC has an advantage too in having major intercollegiate athletics. Major by New England standards anyway.</p>
<p>Northeastern is increasingly being recognized at the national and international levels.</p>
<p>My D is an international student and she was just accepted to Northeastern. I know there are many in Europe who know of Northeastern.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how many students attend NEU that aren’t from the New England Area? I don’t want to be the only one there with a Chicago accent 
haha</p>
<p>According to the website, 1150 from the US outside New England plus 400 international out of 2800 freshmen.</p>
<p>A Chicago accent will mesh well with a Boston accent!</p>
<p>I’m from Wisconsin, and aside from having to occasionally tell people at home I’m not going to Northwestern, it’s been good. Yes, hardly anyone had heard of the school in central Wisconsin, but I don’t think that should be how you decide what school to go to. Northeastern is a very good school with a strong co-op program and research opportunities, from my experience. There aren’t a lot of students from the midwest, but it has not made me feel out of place at all.</p>
<p>I am from Ohio and while not many people have heard of it, those who have know it is a good school. They all mention the great opportunities of the co-op program and living in the city of Boston, the main things that attracted me to it. While the rate that Northeastern climbs in the rankings will most likely slow over the next few years, the improvements that school has made are impressive and widely recognized.</p>
<p>I graduated in 2011. I’m now a PhD student at a “prestigious” graduate school. My impression is that Northeastern is well respected and people assume I’ve gotten an adequate education there. I don’t think anyone has looked at my resume/school applications and thought, “Northeastern! Must be a genius!” but no one thinks that I’m an idiot either, and my work experience from co-op speaks more for my abilities than the name of my school does.</p>
<p>It’s less known in the west (where I’m from) but on the east (where I have lived since coming to Northeastern in 2006), it has a reasonably solid reputation, and I think it’s only going to become more well-known in the coming years.</p>
<p>Well, I come from a pretty prestigious school from new york city and NEU accepts over half of our schools applicants. It’s usually thought of as a decent safety for students. Average GPA accepted from my school is 90 and average SAT is a 2000.</p>
<p>I think that Northeastern is definitely on the rise. It’s known nationally for its top notch co-op program, has a strong international population, and is making many improvements to its campus. Also, you have a pretty good chance of finding a job right out if school and its reputation as a premier university will only continue to rise as people recognize its strengths. You should go there.</p>
<p>"It is not Northwestern but to give you an idea, I think more highly of it than Boston University and I think it is on par with Boston College. "</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s at all on par with Boston College. Boston College is a Jesuit school and as such, educates the whole person. This involves much more than classroom instruction followed by job placement. We attended an Info Session at NU and there was no discussion of learning for its instrinsic value; it was all about getting a job upon graduation. That’s somewhat understandable given current economic realities, but NU struck my entire group as a vocational school with very good career services. Perhaps NU’s recent rise is due to fear of not finding a job upon graduation more than anything else. That’s certainly a valid reason for its popularity.</p>
<p>BC is ranked #31 by USNWW. BU is at #51 and NU at #56.
[National</a> University Rankings | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/spp+50]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/spp+50)</p>
<p>Maybe some students would choose NU over BC (though I personally don’t know of any), but most likely for coop & job placement reasons or a highly specialized program, not for superior academics or a better collegiate experience.</p>
<p>Kelly,</p>
<p>I wouldn’t judge a college based on US News Reports. As you may know, no one cooperates with them in the rankings process. HS guidance counselors deplore the rankings as do the colleges. Reed and Kenyon, among other schools, spoke out against them. If you read CrazyU, written by Andrew Ferguson, about the whole college process he went through with his son, he explains how the rankings work, because he is good friends with the statistician who does the rankings. US News was going out of business, and then this man decided to do rankings. He tells the schools when he calls that they can either give him the truth, or he’ll figure it out “his way.” Emory got in trouble a few years ago for inflating the SAT scores of students they said applied. That’s why mass mailings go out to students from all the schools, so that they can pound their chests and say X amount of kids applied…then the poor kids walk away deflated when they are denied after receiving these mailings.</p>
<p>I’m in CT, and NE is a great school. Loads of kids love it, and although, it could be a safety for some, it is a great program nonetheless, and the new facilities are supposed to be lovely. My d would have gone there had she not been accepted to her first choice. She received $20,000 in merit aid from the school with her offer. That was extremely generous, and we hadn’t applied for financial aid yet.</p>