<p>I'm going to a scholarship interview tomorrow, and I have to prove to them how Northeastern University is a good choice for engineering (Chemical). They are very rank oriented, and believe that if a school is not in the top 35 list, then its not worth it. I REALLY like NEU and wouldn't wanna go anywhere else! How will I prove to them that it is worth it?</p>
<p>Im sorry if this sounds stupid, but i'm quite worried about this!!</p>
<p>Tell them about the co-op program. That is a big draw for NEU. I would also mention that the Engineering school there has a large retention rate, as in the many of the students remain an engineer major. I dono what else to add, but good luck.</p>
<p>A comment re NEU’s rankings: graduation rates are often an important factor in rankings and NEU rarely does well because of its 5-yr co-op program, since their graduation rates are lower than the 4-yr schools they are compared to. In addition, NEU began to seriously attempt to increase its national reputation and rankings during this past decade; prior to 2000 it was very much a regional lower tier school, but since 2000 the average Math/Verbal combined SATs have increased by over 150 pts (below 1100 in 2000 to above 1250 this past fall, and engineering students average rankings are even higher!) and it has become quite competitive. I think in 2006 it finally broke into USNews top 100 universities (it jumped about 17 slots that year, despite the problem of lower grad rates due to its 5-yr programs). This is a school that has worked very hard to improve quality of education without giving up a belief in experiential learning.</p>
<p>Re co-ops: they pay off for many engineering students at NEU - a large number of engineering students are offered permanent employment by co-op employers before they graduate!</p>