<p>Hi,
I'm an international student, and I've been in a private international school all my life. I have been accepted by both, University of Miami and Northeastern University, and now i am having a really hard time deciding between the two. I do enjoy partying, but academics also plays a big role for me. At Northeastern I am undeclared, and at Umiami I've been accepted for undeclared business. If anyone can give any advice it would be great.</p>
<p>NB: My cousin attended Northeastern (many, many years ago) and my son graduated from Miami 18 months ago. So my information on Northeastern is certainly “less fresh”.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What do you want to study? I know you list business but what kind of business? Miami is very international with a strong bent to Latin and South America. Northeastern while having an international component is more oriented toward Europe.</p></li>
<li><p>At Northeastern a part of your degree is participation in the co-op program. This is a very organized program of placing students into companies that will give them real-world experience in their chosen areas of study. Students often get job offers from their co-op companies, but note that this does add a year to your degree track. At Miami the university does have internship relationships, but it’s not as organized and entrenched as Northeastern. </p></li>
<li><p>Diversity. Miami is a very internationally diverse campus and city. As you might expect, the primary ethnic/cultural influences are Caribbean, Cuban and Latin and South American. Northeastern is less diverse though there is a wide variety of ethnic groups in the student body. </p></li>
<li><p>Cities. Both Boston and Miami are vibrant interesting cities. With the huge number of colleges in and around the city, Boston also has a very young feel (certainly younger than it’s 380+ years of age) - in many ways it is the quintessential college city. Miami has the sun, beaches and glitz that it is rightfully know for. You can party in both towns.</p></li>
<li><p>Weather. A cold night in Miami is around 35 degrees (2 C) and it’s so short-lived that it makes the news. Boston has the full range of seasons; this year the winter was especially snowy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The big reason to go to Northeastern is their co-op program. If you like hands-on learning and if you are looking forward to working in a particular area long before you graduate, the co-op program will be perfect for you. Yes, it will help you enormously with getting a good job right after graduation. However, co-ops do affect the atmosphere at Northeastern. At any given point during the school year a large percentage of your friends will be off-campus (or in a different city or even country) working on their co-op. Northeastern students are completely OK with this, that’s why they went there. But it may not be the ideal atmosphere for a student looking for a very traditional college experience.</p>
<p>They are very different locations. Do you like the sun and rain? That’s Miami. Do you like the sun, beautiful fall leaves, the snow, and the spring? Then Boston. Both are nice places, but, being a biased New Englander, I’d say Northeastern.</p>
<p>Hi,
Thanks for your response. I intend on studying Business management, but I’m not entirely sure. I also want to know if there is a difference in the reputation between the two schools. I don’t like to go by rankings, but because i don’t know what else to go by, usnews shows that UMiami is considerably ahead. Do the rankings really mean anything?</p>
<p>Rankings do mean something but they are not everything of course. Both Northeastern and Miami have risen considerably in the rankings in the past 20 years: Miami used to be known as Suntan U; Northeastern was primarily a commuter school. Both have become somewhat nationally recognized. </p>
<p>You really need to visit both schools before deciding, if at all possible. Very different schools but either one would give you an excellent education.</p>
<p>Most of Northeastern’s job opportunities will be in the New England area especially around Boston. Miami will obviously be strongest around southern Florida. As has been mentioned, the co-op program at Northeastern is a great leg up in finding jobs for students, but they are predominantly (not exclusively) local.</p>
<p>All this is important for your first job, but after that it’s going to be about how you perform at your job and less and less where you went to school.</p>