Not sure what type of engineering I want to pursue, but I’m curious how reputable each one is for engineering in general.
Prices are about the same.
My friend got accepted to Northeastern for engineering and what turned him off was the three co-ops he had to do for engineering. He would only go home for one summer all through college and graduated in 5 years
If you are an engineering major at any school you had better do optional coops or at least summer internships if you hope to have a job after graduation. Spending your summers at home while working odd jobs just won’t cut it anymore.
Some notes on co-op:
You are not required to do 3 co-ops, or even one. The only requirement is one experiential learning experience, which can be co-op, research, service learning, or some global experience. That said, it would be an odd choice to go to Northeastern and not do co-op. Most do two to three and usually choose to do a 5-year program. There are some very manageable 4 year programs if you’re in a rush, but most decide against it.
Many students are very bored when they go home for the summer in college - I personally prefer doing something than going home. I get restless when I’m not working on something, whether it be school, a job, or something personal. Finding stuff to fill a 4-month break and not wasting it is hard if you’re home. If you’re concerned about visiting family for long periods of time, that makes sense. I have a good friend who explicitly doesn’t take summer classes so she can spend time with her younger brother. She will do 3 co-ops and still have 10 months of time at home in the summer, in addition to winter breaks and the like.
Regarding the schools:
Tufts is not very known for its technical subjects - It’s a great liberal arts college. If you are looking for that, Tufts would be the pick. For engineering professionally, it would be a bit odd given that if you could get into Tufts, you can get into many superior engineering programs.
Between BU and Northeastern there are a lot of similarities, and the big difference is co-op. That’s usually the deciding factor in both directions. BU is a bit more liberal arts focused while Northeastern is practically focused. I’d personally say Northeastern is more known for engineering, but they are peers in the end.
What are you looking for in terms of fit beyond academics?
Since you are undecided in what type of engineering you should be aware that Boston University does not offer civil or chemical engineering.
What? Tufts is known as an excellent school for engineering! It has been for decades. The engineering program at Tufts is very rigorous and has its own requirements as you no doubt know. I fully agree that getting some work experience in the field prior to graduation is helpful.
Academically, Tufts is probably strongest.
I would, however, explore carefully when you need to select your area of specialization at each if you are undecided… The coursework for a Chem E. is a bit different from that of an EE, for example, and the different programs may allow different time frames to commit to a specialty.
In the Boston area at least, they aren’t really known for it in my experience. If you say engineering, they may be the 5th school I think of (MIT, BU, Northeastern, WPI). The academics are probably comparable, as Tufts has very good programs, but they aren’t known in industry or research as being a top engineering school. To be fair, none are known in research really in this thread. Tufts ranks about the same for undergraduate engineering as the other two here, and a decent deal below in graduate level. Of course, those are just rankings and I don’t think that’s a valid primary focus, but it’s a data point. It’s easy to say engineering at X is rigorous - ABET accredited programs have very little difference in the end and are all tough. I do think that various fit factors and student experience is an important focus in the conversation, as Tufts/BU/Northeastern is a pretty wide spectrum.
To @gardenstategal’s point on specialty selection, I can’t speak to Tufts or BU, but Northeastern has a first year engineering program that can help you decide any specialty, and co-op is a great way to test out a specialty and switch direction if needed. Many schools have similar programs and would expect BU / Tufts to have a version of the same thing. The engineering forum here will probably have people who can help there.