<p>I am looking at the 5 and 4 year plans and I notice summer classes are required which I find a bit disturbing.</p>
<p>Can you get around this by not doing a co-op or overloading?</p>
<p>Technically yes but you have to be approved for overloading and it costs 5000 dollars per class to do it, which isnāt covered by any scholarship. Also (obviously some people will disagree) most people find itās pretty pointless to go to northeastern and not take advantage of the co-op program.</p>
<p>And it is still only 8 semesters of classes whether spread out over 4 or 5 yrs. You will have summer off after freshman yr, and by their second or third yr, most students are working full time or doing internships in the summer. How much difference is there, really, between working in the summer/taking classes the rest of the yr and taking classes in the summer and working during fall or spring semester? Itās a large school and almost half of yr peers will be on the same schedule you are.</p>
<p>You can avoid summer classes if you really want to (only doing 2 co-ops, overloads if you feel like paying for it).</p>
<p>Most of us donāt miss traditional summer vacationsā¦ our summers are actually a pretty sweet set up. Summer classes are pretty relaxed and only 4 days a week, so you have 3 day weekends. Co-op is full-time but a lot of college kids spend their summers working anyway, so itās not a huge sacrifice for those 2 months of summer. You can also squeeze in 2-month study abroad (called a Dialogue), which is really popular and gives you class credit. Either way, summer in boston is a lot of fun, and you wonāt regret not spending every summer moving back home with your parents and working at the ice cream shop down the street.</p>
<p>I adore my summer classes right now, and not a single one of my friends going to ātraditionalā schools are at home right now. Every single one of them is taking classes or interning in some city near their campus or whatnot.</p>
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<p>Well donāt you have to pay for summer classes?
If I was to overload I would just overload my General Electives, which I thought was allowed(up to 1 more class i believe for no extra charge)</p>
<p>yes, you pay for summer sessions but the tuition is prorated (eg, you typically take 2 courses/8 credits and are charged 1/2 the amount of a full term, 4 courses/16 credits). </p>
<p>My understanding is that the only free courses you can take are certain 1-credit courses (music, art, danceā¦); you are charged for any other courses you take above the standard amounts allowed for summer or full terms (unless prescribed by your curriculum, eg labs etc). More info on this is available on the Registrarās page:</p>
<p>[Tuition</a> 2010-2011](<a href=āhttp://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/billing-tuition1011.html]Tuitionā>http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/billing-tuition1011.html)</p>
<p>Per the Student Handbook:
āOverload Policy
An overload occurs when a student is enrolled in more courses
than prescribed by the programās curriculum. To register for an
overload, students are advised to consult their academic advisor.
Students who enroll in overload courses will be billed at the percredit-
hour rate, 1/16 of the full-semester tuition for that semester
per semester hour. Undergraduate full-time day students may
register for an additional music ensemble course from the list of
courses on page 10 without added charge as long as they are
registered for a full course load.ā</p>
<p>You need to get your priorities straight. It seems that having free summers is important to you. Would you be willing to forego a great coop job during the Fall or Spring terms because it would require you to attend summer term?</p>
<p>OP - You will have a normal summer back home Freshman year. After that a lot of times your friends wonāt be coming home anyway.</p>
<p>Yeah just to yet again confirm, you have to pay for every class that isnāt required for you to take due to another class (such as a lab) or your major (such as the āintro to collegeā classes or co-op seminars). So my first semester I was taking the maximum 4 normal courses, an honors required 1-credit course, a required 2-credit orgo lab, a required 1-credit cs lab and a required 1-credit intro to college class, for a total of 21 credits. However since I was required to take them, I didnāt pay extra. To get an actual class in would put you above the 19 credit limit (since it would be 5 4-credit courses for a total of 20 credits) AND you donāt HAVE to take it THAT semester (even if you want to graduate at a certain time), so you have to pay the 5 grand.</p>
<p>Also, wouldnāt scholarship money go towards paying for summer classes but not overload classes?</p>
<p>yes, your financial aid/merit scholarships will cover your required summer classes (ie, the financial aid you would normally receive for one semester is again, just cut in half). </p>
<p>Btw, if your financial aid includes students loans, you can also receive loans during your co-op period - which, of course, you can choose to accept or not (I donāt think they give any grant/merit aid over co-op periods since that kind of aid is generally applied towards tuition)</p>
<p>They donāt give any merit during co-op, but the loans are tricky. For instance they gave me a loan during co-op in spring, but they didnāt for summer (because my advisor submitted my coop cycle wrong), so my parents (not realizing this) used the spring money to help pay for fall and housing and stuff, and now are struggling to find money for summer. So if you do take the federal loan, make sure that itās not because they messed up your cycle! If they did, go argue with the financial aid office before itās too late.</p>
<p>They donāt give any merit during co-op, but the loans are tricky. For instance they gave me a loan during co-op in spring, but they didnāt for summer (because my advisor submitted my coop cycle wrong), so my parents (not realizing this) used the spring money to help pay for fall and housing and stuff, and now are struggling to find money for summer. So if you do take the federal loan, make sure that itās not because they messed up your cycle! If they did, go argue with the financial aid office before itās too late.</p>