Social Life at Northeastern

What is the social life at Northeastern? I’ve just been accepted into their Computer Science program. Academically, I am thrilled about the school. The CO-OP program is amazing and it isn’t some half-assed liberal arts computer science thingo. It’s a super serious concentrated program. The problem I see is that the majority of the students seem to be a little introverted. I am a very extroverted, social and energetic guy. So a few questions: What is the social life like? I’m a bit of a party animal. I know that Northeastern itself doesn’t have any party scene so what would I need to do to get a good social experience? Also: does living in Boston give you the chance to socialize with a lot of kids at other schools?

This has not been my experience at all, even within CS. Part of the reason I came here is because there was a balanced student body. Then again, I’m technically an introvert, so different perspective. It sounds like you’re a really strong extrovert.

This is also certainly not true. There aren’t frat houses, but every Friday/Sat there are plenty of people throwing smaller apartment parties ranging from 5-20 people (maybe even 40 for big ones on a rare occasion). It’s different being in a city, and will not be like a kegger, but is def a party scene of some sort.

Make sure to be very social freshman first semester, even if its awkward. I did this my first semester, and it has given me a lot of options through the years, even if I still stick to a smaller friend group personally. As a CS major particularly, socialize outside the major. I lived in the Music LLC my freshman year to get some balance. There are plenty of CS kids that will have that take up their entire life, which does not sound like something you want.

I would also consider joining a fraternity if you are interested, but do be careful on which one you pick.

For sure! I have a decent number of friends at BU, and a few elsewhere. I’ve mostly met them through CS actually - coworkers, hackathons, and friends of friends. I wouldn’t call it a lot, but probably much more than other schools, just simply due to the concentration of colleges, as one might expect.

Hope that helps!