I got into both as engineering major but not sure which one to choose. One has Boston which has incredible social resources; meanwhile UW has Seattle which is headquartered by multiple tech leaders. NEU has strong co-op programs while UW offers ergonomic class, which I would DIE to take. Any advise, opinion, or impression in terms of their engineering program and internship would be great!
UW Seattle. Although the difference is marginal, it’s a better school than Northeastern.
Both have great engineering programs and academics - I think it comes down more to preference when there’s the case of marginal difference. A couple other things to consider/note
- UW will hold more weight on the west coast, NEU on the east coast - do you know where you want to be after graduation?
- Boston also has a ton of companies around Boston and has become quite the tech hub itself. UW also has Seattle socially which has some fun things to do. Both cities will do just fine in both categories, though have slightly different feels.
- How important are co-ops to you? While the program is amazing, you can do internships at UW and still get good experience. Co-op will make that a lot easier and get you a lot more experience and if that is important to you, NEU is your best bet. But, if you want the more traditional academics with internship experience versus the integrated co-op program, then UW would be preferrable.
- Have you visited both schools? Which campus and feel did you prefer?
Personally, I’m a NEU CS student who absolutely loves NEU and the co-op program - it really is everything and more. My engineering friends are working in places from iRobot near Boston to the JPL in California and loving it.
If you have any specific questions, I looked at both schools but I am obviously much more familiar with NEU. Ask away!
Thanks so much to bring that up. It’s also part of my question. I started off favoring NEU over UW Seattle until I was told UW is “better”. In what ways is UW considered better? Better quality of education?
By engineering rankings, UW generally tends to be slightly ahead of NEU. UW has historically had a very good reputation and that alone is probably the actually biggest difference.
NEU is a school that has increased its reputation, quality, and resources significantly over the past 10-15 years or so. In 1996, they were ranked 162nd on the National University list. Currently, they are in the Top 50. For comparison, US is #52 on the same list, so they are currently the same ballpark but have not been historically. This has been a combination of factors coming from a big effort made by the school, improved faculty, resources, student quality, a shift from its roots as a commuter school to a residential school, and a resonating of the co-op model from current students as getting a job and setting up your career becomes more and more a part of college education. The co-op program is something that NEU has had for over 100 years and has always been a big part of the school, but now is becoming more and more popular.
In terms of academics, they both are going to give you roughly the same thing. What matters the most in Engineering is ABET accreditation, something both programs have. That means that ABET has made sure that both schools are teaching what is needed for engineers.
Obviously, I haven’t taken Engineering classes as both - few people if any have - but both schools have good research and accessible faculty as far as I know. NEU actually has a higher research classification and activity than UW. Outside of engineering, NEU is usually ranked higher academically in most subjects - so the academic quality could even be argued to be better as a whole at NEU.
Again, I think in a case of comparing two great schools, the factors I originally listed become much more important than a slight difference in rank/perception of which is “better”. You’re going to be at one of these colleges for at least 4 years of your life and where you feel more at home and what types of programs you want / don’t want is an important factor.
Hope all of that helps!
Congratulations, @kmrjerryli . Here is some information to consider:
http://www.valuecolleges.com/rankings/best-value-engineering-programs/
http://m.university-list.net/us/rank/univ-0036.htm (says it contains the USNews undergraduate engineering rankings)
http://nturanking.lis.ntu.edu.tw/DataPage/countries.aspx?query=Engineering&country=USA&y=2015
http://www.shanghairanking.com/FieldENG2015.html
Contrary to the suggestion in the above post, the Carnegie Classification for both is “Doctoral Universities: Highest Research Activity.” However, you will get a sense of Washington’s research activity (in comparison to NE and other schools) by looking at:
http://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/herd/2014/html/HERD2014_DST_17.html
as well as from global rankings, which often emphasize research activity and influence, such as:
USNews:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings?page=2
THE:
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2016/world-ranking#!/page/1/length/25
ARWU:
http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2015.html
NTU: http://nturanking.lis.ntu.edu.tw/DataPage/OverallRanking.aspx?y=2015
URAP:
http://www.urapcenter.org/2015/world.php?q=MS0yNTA=
CWUR:
http://cwur.org/2015/usa.html
Washington is in the top 20 for combined US News department ranking in undergraduate business and engineering and graduate biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, earth sciences, economics, education, English, history, math, physics, political science, psychology and sociology
(http://publicuniversityhonors.com/rankings-academic-departments-private-elites-vs-publics/; for historical perspective, see also:
https://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html#TOP60).
Good luck!
OP, if you have decent grades, you’re going to graduate with a job offer no matter which of these two schools you pick. So pick by price/vibe/location.
NE can’t compete with Washingon on the research variable. If that’s important to you. UW is also very very strong in bio tech and life sciences. The campus is stunning and Seattle is a great city. If you are in-state for UW I could not see choosing NEastern.
If you look at specific area rankings, you’ll find that UW is top 20, and top 15, in many areas outside of engineering.
The facilities are great and there is $$ in this town and at UW. I’d lean UW unless Boston is the driving factor.
@MiddleburyDad2 You’re right lol. Seattle is quite attractive. Boston is heavy in history but Seattle attracts me more
@PengsPhils Thx man!!! Those you gave me was very decent. Someone joked with me about pressure from other colleges in Boston, like Tufts, MIT, which are awesome engineering schools that are better reputed than NEU. Do you feel the pressure coming from them when looking for an intern or a job?
Thank you guys! I decide to attend UW Seattle. Special thanks @PengsPhils ! It was really a struggle to let go NEU… I’ve even activated my google account lol. This application process has been a great pleasure!
It would be great if you posted your stats for others to come who are interested in these schools
@suzyQ7 Thx for reminding
My stats:
- highest single SAT: 1940 Reading 600, Math 720, Writing 620
- Highest combined SAT: 2050 Reading 600, Math 800, Writing 650
- SAT2: Math lvl2: 800, Chemistry: 730, US History: 690
- AP Scores: Calc AB: 5, Chemistry: 4, US History: 5
- TOEFL iBT: 106 Reading 28, Listening 29, Speaking 27, Writing 22
- GPA 4.1
GPA is kind of tricky since all schools have different scales. I use data from Naviance
Congratulations on making the right choice for yourself!! 
Go Husky! (They are both Husky anyway)