UCLA (OOS) vs Northeastern ChemE

Hi, I was accepted into Northeastern’s Honors program to study chemical engineering. They gave me a $25k scholarship for 4 years. So it would be about $50k a year. I was also accepted into UCLA to study chemE but didnt get any financial or merit aid. Im out of state so it would cost around $65k a year.

A little bit about me: I want to study chemE because I’m super passionate about climate justice. I would like to minor in something like Energy Systems/Sustainability and Spanish because I have lots of AP credits. I would also like to go to grad school to get a masters.

What do you think I should do? What else should I factor in? Do you think its better to have more work or research experience during your undergrad as an engineer?
Here are some things I am considering!

What I love about UCLA:
-amazing research opportunities
-seminar style classes
-study abroad options!
-happy weather
-opportunities for internships
-I am comfortable with socal/la because my family is from there
-engineering community is very strong!

some things i dont like:
-big, classes are overwhelming
-it seems like I would really have to advocate for myself (even more so than if I went to northeastern)
-gender gap in engineering department

as for northeastern I love that:
-guaranteed 1 years worth of work experience that can be abroad or even in research
-smaller classes, personal attention
-study abroad is very accessible and encouraged
-boston is an amazing city!
-flexible minors

i dont like:
-it seems like they don’t have as many research opportunities
-the transition between co-op and school could be difficult cause you’re going 6 months without studying

please help!!

If for your parents a total of $260,000 would have a financial valuation of $2,600 with the decimal translated over two places to the left, then consider UCLA. If it is a very real $260k total to them, then absolutely pick NEU.

northeastern is a tier 1 research institution and there are MANY research opportunities for people in all majors and all years (you can do it your first semester freshman year if you want). transitioning between co-op and classes really isn’t difficult, and co-op actually really helps with burnout

2 Likes