Rpi vs Northeastern

I need help deciding which school, I know this is the RPI forum but can I have some feedback on the perks of each school please?

Northeastern cost is 25k a year
RPI is 23K a year

I have a while to make a decision but I would just like to know why RPI over Northeastern, or if you didn’t like RPI why Northeastern

I have the same question. Northeastern, however, gave full tuition. If schools are similar, makes sense to go to the cheaper school? Thanks.

Northeastern is in a great city and helps you get coop work experience (though takes longer to graduate as a result).
RPI has a longer reputation as a top school, lots of hiring managers out there who would have the perception from the past (Northeastern had weaker students by far up until the last 2 or so years, little difference now per stats).

Both great options, if you visited you should have some gut instinct which was more desirable to you ?

I would usually go with the cheaper school but it’s only a 2k difference. And I visited RPI and I liked it a lot and im going to the Northeastern Accepted students day so I’ll see what I think then.

And thanks for the input guys

My son is faced with the same choice and is leaning pretty strongly toward NU, though he will be doing follow up admitted student days at both next month. The schools gave very similar, and significant, amounts of merit aid. He would be going to the School of Computer Science at NU and really likes what he has seen there as well as the impressive coop opportunities. He thinks of CS at RPI as being secondary to traditional engineering, likes Boston a lot more than Troy, would have easier access to home at NU, and is not crazy about the M/F ratio at RPI. That said, he also likes the geekier overall feel of the RPI student body, which would be a better fit for him than NU. I think it would have been a no brainer in favor of RPI 10 years ago and have been around long enough to still think of NU as the poor relative of Harvard, BC, and BU in Boston, but the school and campus have improved dramatically since then, and we love what the relatively new dean of the CS college is doing. Curious to hear why others lean one way or the other.

My husband went to RPI in the 80’s and received a phenomenal education. Went to one of the best med schools in the country after for MD/PhD and was well prepared. RPI has always been an incredibly strong school… was then and is now. Northeastern’s reputation has certainly grown over time. I received my MBA from Northeastern in the later 80’s. I have a child who applied this year to colleges for science, but engineering is a backup in case he changes his mind. We had him apply to RPI, but not Northeastern. My husband, who is a scientist in Boston, feels Northeastern is not strong in science. That’s just his opinion though. Northeastern has certainly become a harder school to get into in recent years and has a very solid reputation. Boston has a lot more to offer socially than Troy so that’s a factor to consider also. With full tuition at Northeastern I think it would be hard to justify paying for RPI. Again, Northeastern’s reputation has grown considerably. If paying about the same, however, I think RPI is the stronger school. RPI is known for giving a lot of work so be prepared for that if you go there. Good luck to both EngrBound and ScreenName17!

Thank you all for the input, however and this was unexpected, I got a likely email from Cornell Yesterday so it may now be between Cornell, Rpi, and NEU

There was a poster here for many years who had kids at RPI and Cornell, and I think they were both engineering majors. She actually said she liked RPI better.
I have one at RPI, and he has been very happy there. The year he was applying, there were some who went each way (NE vs RPI).

Visited RPI and loved it, however, financial aid makes it almost impossible to attend there. NEU, however, offered full tuition. Deciding if we should bite the bullet for a school we KNOW we like vs. a more inexpensive school (have not visited NEU yet). May love it there too…

@EngrBound …looks like we’re in the same situation. See you at NEU’s accepted student day?

@ScreenName17
Yup I’ll see you there on the 16th

@EngrBound Awesome! Would love for you to post back & get your thoughts comparing the two schools. Good luck to you.

I have a son at Cornell, and a 2nd planning to accept RPI soon (over NU and WPI).
My older one truly loves Cornell. Congrats on having so many great choices.

We got more merit scholarship money from RPI and WPI,
and he was a recruited athlete at RPI, so NU is not under serious
consideration for us. Also, we visited NU last summer,
and honestly did not get a good vibe from the students.
The profs and admin seemed very good, but did not
love the social aspects of what we observed.

That said, if the merit worked the other way for us,
would send him there. Our neighbor’s kid is at NU and loves it,
so vibe does not mean much.

My nephew took the generous Financial Aid offer from RPI and ran with it a couple of years ago. Good choice, though I am impressed by NU’s recent major capital investments in its Engineering School. Not sure if NU engineering will ever catch Cornell or RPI but the critical thing in undergraduate engineering education is ABET accreditation and career placement.

@LakeWashington Thanks for the info. As I understand it, NU engineering is ABET accredited and they have a great co-op and job placement rate? RPI is first choice but financial aid makes it almost impossible, NU gave full tuition. Have some decisions to make…

@ScreenName17, IF RPI is truly your first choice, I suggest you send RPIs financial aid office a very nice note letting them know that, and the amount you were offered from NE (you may want to include the award letter from NE). They claim they don’t match money, but experience says otherwise.
Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

@1214mom Thank you! Just got another tuition paid offer at a second school. Should I send both? Pushing my luck? Lol. Figured I have nothing to lose asking RPI what they can do for me. Will keep you posted. Good luck to you as well!

It depends on the school. If it’s from Cornell, for example, then certainly. If it’s from a school of “lesser reputation” than RPI, you may want to just mention it. Stating the obvious, I have very limited experience, but it doesn’t hirt to try for more money. Just be polite and act sooner rather than later.

I’m going to be watching how you made out with this. RPI is on our radar for next year. Haven’t looked at Northeastern. We’ve looked at MIT, WPI, RPI, UMASS Amherst scheduled or GeorgiaTech and UMiami.

Even though I haven’t gotten my financial aid package yet, I’m fairly certain I’m going to Cornell since the EFC calculator shows about 10k a year which is by far cheaper than Northeastern and RPI. RPI is definitely a great Engineering school although I didn’t really like the surrounding area too much. I thought I was going to get rejected from Cornell for sure, if I knew I had a chance I def would’ve gave MIT a shot. Either way, I’m really happy with the choices I have

Hi, I’m in the exact boat you’re in. Do you mind me asking what kind of stats you have? I have gotten accepted to Northeastern and Rensselaer, and am just waiting to hear back from Cornell this Thursday.