Tufts vs Northeastern Honors

College Search & Selection
1

My son decides between these two schools; he revisits both next week. He is considering an English major, Econ minor; humanities profile but well-rounded. The $ at both is in range. Very different schools but he really loves both for their singular strengths. Academically, Tufts has advantage in his fields, but he is also really attracted to co-op – he loves experiential learning.

Anyway, my question for fellow CCrs: is this a no brainer? Would you just urge Tufts? My friends say at this point it’s fit and gut, but I wonder if he should also not take his eye off rankings (the Forbes gap between the two is bracing). But then there is the feeling that Northeastern feels like the future.

Appreciate any insight.

2

Also, is it bad form to post this query in the respective colleges’ forums?

3

I think you definitely should post this on each university forum.

What kind of co-op options are there for the humanities students at Northeastern? For an experiential learner that may be the way to go.

I have an experiential learner. She is at a traditional college but has been strategic in her summer internships - found places where she would be doing what she loves to do. It holds her over through the next academic year especially as her resume is prepared by Christmas and applications went in in January. The choosing of where to apply, the interviews, and the anticipation/preparation keeps her feeling like she is progressing towards her goals.

4

Ok, thank you @Snowball City I will do that.

5

Just to let you know it may be worth looking into the methodology for the rankings you look at. They are all different and value different things. Forbes uses Who’s Who in America and Payscale.com for a significant amount of their ranking. They also use a 4 year graduation rate - a significant majority of Northeastern students graduate in 5 years because of the experiential learning. That is why Northeastern has such a low ranking in Forbes specifically.

6

Two great schools. Congrats. If the money is the same, he should just go by his gut and not listen to us.

7

Thank you @swimchris and @redpoodles. Luckily, he is more decisive than I and will, as you say, figure it out.

8

With the majors he’s considering, it doesn’t sound like he would want a pre-professional type of college, where students are more focused on job training than on higher education. I’d want him to give Tufts a good look. Use summer internships for resume-building. It’s not as if Tufts grads are unemployed for the rest of their lives. They all get employment.

9

On the other hand a pre-professional type college (and the co-ops) could set him apart from all of the other English majors looking for jobs if he intends to go to work and not graduate school afterward…

(I love English majors btw.)

10

@brantly and @redpoodles now you begin to see the dilemma, haha. English major woes … :slight_smile:

11

FYI, you don’t need to do any co-ops at NEU. I think I saw a stat that said 75% of the kids do, but you don’t need to in order to graduate.

12

True @RightCoaster but my kid would love co-op because he likes real work. He likes the additional attraction of a built-in break from classes.

13

Ok then, then he would probably like NEU. The 2 schools have different vibes, but both have a bunch of smart kids that like school, studying, learning and work.
I think the location of NU is way better. You are literally right in the middle of the city. Tufts, not really.

14

Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend Northeastern for a humanities student. And I say this as the mother of a NEU grad. Northeastern students are predominantly pre-professional in orientation. The vast majority isn’t into delving into literature, sitting around discussing books or philosophy. They’re smart – and certainly capable of literary discussions – but that’s not why they’re at NEU. They’re there because they know pretty much what they want to do career-wise, and can’t wait to start cutting their teeth in their fields.

Tufts, imo, is a MUCH better place for a well rounded student whose interests include the humanities and tend to be more theoretical in nature. (And if your son wants to do internships, Tufts can certainly help him out with that!)

15

^^^^That’s what I was trying to say, in a less-direct way. ;))

16

Thank you for your insights @katliamom and @brantly. This is a great problem to have, but also tiring. I keep reminding myself it’s not my problem, but it doesn’t help. :slight_smile:

17

@RightCoaster Northeastern requires 6 months of experiential learning of which coop is one type. The requirement can be met in several ways:
http://www.northeastern.edu/experiential-learning/index.html

18

Very good points so far. I think @katliamom put it best, but would also weigh that with @redpoodles point.

It basically comes down to what “type” of humanities student you have. If you’re looking more on the theory side, to always be discussing literature and philosophy at every turn with fellow students (or any moderate version of that, doesn’t need to be that extreme of course), Tufts all the way.

However, I think it’s good for the right fit humanities student. One that likes the idea of co-op so much could be that type. If you bring up humanities subjects, students here will engage most of the time (save a small population of arrogant STEM/Business majors) - as someone that is very deep personally into philosophy, I’ve found plenty of great conversations, discussions, and debates on the subject. I’ve actually found the humanities classes offered here to be pretty cool as well. Next semester, as a CS major, here’s my planned schedule:

CS 4100: Artificial Intelligence
PHIL 1667: Science Fiction and Film: Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Analysis
PHIL 3435: Moral Philosophy
SOCL 2358: Current Issues in Cities and Suburbs

So while it’s not a majority of the student population by any means, there are some good classes in the humanities, and if the rest of the school is a much better fit, I can see it being the best choice.

Is there any reason tufts doesn’t appeal as much beyond co-op for him specifically? Those reasons could help determine if the fit really is that much better at Northeastern, or if Tufts would really be comparable experience wise in the end.

I would recommend one thing:

Have him look up the offered courses at each English department, and look on ratemyprofessors and see how the department reviews in most cases. Take those with a grain of salt, of course, but it could paint a tangible picture of the department as a whole. Don’t push him to one or the other, but looking at the specific department is always good.

Agreed that in the end, let him make the choice as he seems he will :slight_smile: It sounds like it will work out well at either in the end!

19

I think of it like this. An English major at Tufts studies literature for the enjoyment of it. An English major at Northeastern studies literature to learn from it with the hope of one day being a novelist or an editor at Harper & Row for example.

20

Hi @TomSrOfBoston and @PengsPhils as always, thanks for the great advice! I am in your debt. He has been delving deeper when he has some spare time.