I was admitted to both UCSB and Northeastern this year. I am a California resident, so UCSB would be very affordable (only 7k a year with scholarships/grants), whereas Northeastern will probably be more expensive (I haven’t received my aid package yet). However, I have always wanted to go out of state for college, and I loved Boston and the campus when I visited Northeastern. My biggest concerns though are 1) I’m unsure that I will receive a traditional college experience at NU because of the co-op program and 2) I was admitted into NU.in so I would have to go abroad my freshman year, which I’m not very excited about. However, I know that NU will really help me with my resume and future careers (I want to go to law school), so I’m torn. On the other hand, UCSB is a traditional college experience, cheaper, and a great school, but I’m not sure how I feel about staying in California. Please help!! Also, I have a complex about going to the “better” or “higher ranked” school, but I’m not sure which that would be. Thank you!!!
What are you planning to study? Those two are pretty polar opposites in terms of school feel.
Sample size of one: friends’ son did NU.in a few years ago, no issues at all coming back to coming back to campus and getting into the swing of everything. My understanding is that with the co-op system, that’s just the natural flow of the campus.
Also, law school is expensive and very GPA focused (+ LSAT), so plan accordingly.
Thanks for the quick response! I’m going into Criminal Justice & Philosophy at NU, and undeclared at UCSB (but probably going into sociology or philosophy or pre-law).
@arc918 ^
My $.02: it probably comes down to dollars in the end. I think you’ll be in a better position to decide once you see true cost differential between the two. Also factor in the travel cost to Boston vs. SB.
@arc918 ya, I agree. it would be MUCH cheaper to attend and travel to/from UCSB than Boston. Although, I would be making money during co-op, but definitely not enough to cover tuition. Thanks so much for your insight!!
Seems like pre-law pushes saving money somewhat higher in priority, since law school is expensive.
Congrats on the success and hard work paying off. NEU and an awesome UC is huge!
I was all against NU.in until recently talking to a couple of local kids who went through the program. First they loved the overseas part after a few weeks. The other point was that group became really close and stayed tight back on campus.
But one thing I heard and don’t quote me on this, is the first semester is perhaps 100 percent full pay except for school grants or at least more expensive. It may be Financial aid or just your federal loans/subsidies that do not apply to the overseas semester. You get it when you come back of course, but it can make Q1 expensive. You’ll see when you get your package.
And there is co op versus none. Some people love it. Some don’t. It creates a different flow.
And the weather advantage of California imho over winter until about now.
because of what privatebanker wrote AND because you want to go to Law School, which is VERY expensive, I highly recommend you attend UCSB, unless your parents have hundreds of thousands of $$ set aside for you UG and G school education.
Northeastern student here - just wanted to add that while Northeastern would probably be a great fit I think given the context UCSB makes sense. Go there and shine!
http://schools.lawschoolnumbers.com/ has plenty of information about GPA and LSAT targets and undergraduate preparation for law school.
https://www.lstreports.com/schools/ has information about post-graduation outcomes of various law schools.
Note that post-graduation outcomes are strongly related to the rank of the law school, and that rank is strongly related to its admission selectivity.
Just as an update: committed to UCSB! Thanks for all the help everyone 
@cab2300 . . . great choice!
Besides, maybe when L-school comes around, maybe you’ll have a choice of attending in Boston again, errr, make that Cambridge.
Or if you’re really lucky chestnut hill.