<p>I understand Northeastern has been consistently been rising in the ranking over the past few years. It is evident from the stats of entering classes, higher selectivity and from the recently breaking the top 50 on the US News rank that Northeastern is getting better and better each year.</p>
<p>However, most ranks seem to contradict this. I do understand that the fact that most students graduate in 5 years does old it back in the ranking, however, not only I believe it doesn't hold it back that much, also in most rankings it is substantially behind universities to which is close on the US News Rank on most other ranks. A few examples:</p>
<p>QS World University Rankings: 397th place
THE World University Rankings (Times): 184th place
Forbes (US only): 236th place
Ranking Web of Universities: 816th place
Academic Ranking of World Universities: 301-400 (world); 109-131 (US)
Business Weekly (just because it has been posted recently on this forum) - 19th</p>
<p>Also I do understand that some of these rankings, when compared to US News, put LAC's and RU's in the same rank. Also I do understand how different methodologies give different results. I have read all of them quickly and they all seem to be a more or less good way to rank colleges. And again they seem to give results that are mslty consistent with the US News rank as regards most other universities with ranks similar to Northeastern, except for Northeastern which falls way behind.</p>
<p>What is the reason for this large difference? Is Northeastern really as good as we make it sound here (mostly based on the rankings where we are better placed)? And, more important than the rankings, can anyone give me some insight on how well regarded Northeastern is when it comes to the real world, job applications and post graduation applications? And what about international prestige, anyone has any info on that?</p>
<p>Thank you all for reading this and for answering the questions of a prospective student :)</p>
<p>While there are a number of rankings, I’d say USNWR is the most widely referenced/used. Quite frankly, I’ve never heard of the ones you’ve included that rank NEU very low, except Forbes. I wouldn’t worry too much about those (unless maybe those are European/international ranks and you want to work somewhere other than the US?)</p>
<p>I think NEU does quite well in the “real world”. As you’ve said, the name is continuing to gain familiarity and prestige. While it’s obviously not the same as having Harvard on your degree, I would say it is competitive against a lot of school name wise. However, as I’m sure you’ve heard a million times, the co-op is what sets apart an NEU grad. While they have a good school on their resume, they also have 12-18 months of relevant work experience. This is huge to employers, particularly in fields like business, medical/health, entertainment industry, etc.- places where either experience and/or connections play a large role.</p>
<p>(1) Many of those you cite are world ranking, so many international universities are ranked above Northeastern (and other US universities). It is not valid to compare a university’s place in US and world rankings.</p>
<p>(2) The Forbes ranking upsets Northeastern people because it incorporates 4 year graduation rate and doesn’t give Northeastern an exception for its 5 year program.</p>
<p>(3) Rankings are highly subjective, as you point out. Lots of them have formulas that seem logical at a glance, but there is always a counter-argument to whatever they choose to consider and how they weight it. It has also been argued that the options are chosen in some ways to reinforce what we already see as top schools (Ivy league, Stanford, MIT, etc.).</p>
<p>(4) One of the things that Northeastern prides itself on is its practicality, in a sense. Experiential education (including co-op) is about applying education to real life. It also has top-ranked career services. They also like to tout statistics like 50% of students getting job offers from former co-op employers and 90+% of students being employed in their field within 9 months of graduation. Personally, I feel that my co-op experiences have made me much more confident in the direction I plan to take and will make me a great candidate for PhD programs.</p>
<p>I have to say I found the exact same things as the OP in my research, and at first I was just as puzzled. To me, the explanation I found was the fourth point nanotechnology made. I know two NEU grads, and both are working jobs from their co-ops and are very well off. I am choosing the school for the practicality, and I think it is the main reason for the rise of NEU. With the uncertainty of the US economy and job outlook, pure academia can put you at a disadvantage. The practical philosophy of NEU has made them more popular, and their popularity has given them means to improve. The cycle has just kept fueling itself, and in my personal opinion could drive Northeastern into the Top 20 very easily.</p>
<p>International rank is also partly to their recent arrival on the international scene. I believe they have grown over 200% in international co-ops, and are still relatively nationally focused. I have no idea how the future for this looks.</p>
<p>The standout number is their career services ranking that Nano mentioned. If you are looking for a college that works in the real world, NEU is your game. Employers are also noticing this. In my research, I talked with a family friend that works and hires in the CS field. He previously had your average conception of Northeastern. After I showed him my research and gave him the reasons I was looking at NEU so closely, he actually said that, knowing what I had told him, he will think of NEU grads in a better way than he did before. I see that happening a lot more as they keep rising, and people have to ask themselves the same thing we are asking here: Why?</p>
<p>The worldwide rankings are weighted heavily on research, USNWR is essentially based on undergraduate criteria.</p>
<p>If you look at the QS rankings, you will see that Dartmouth is ranked 117th, Vanderbilt is 181, Georgetown 189, Notre Dame 224 etc. All of these are top 25 in USNWR.</p>