<p>I got into both. Money is not a big factor for me, and I am just trying to find out which school is better! I would most likely be majoring in business, but that is not set in stone. Which has a better law school? Which is academically superior? Which is more prestigious? Thank you!</p>
<p>:(|) please?</p>
<p>If cost is no matter, then Northeastern.
NEU has a national reputation, the co-op program, is located in Boston, is very diverse, great dynamics. it’ll open more doors and take you farther.
Villanova is highly respected in the Philly area but it’s not a national brand and even around Philly it is kind of known as very homogeneous socially, economically, and ethnically, which makes it a sort of enclave apart from the ‘real world’. it’ll open a lot of doors along the Main Line so if that’s what you aim for, choose Villanova, but if your goal is to live/work outside of the Philadelphia area NEU is a much better choice.</p>
<p>Hmm. Everyone else that I have talked to considers Villanova to be superior. It seems to me that they are equal, so I’m really not sure what to do here. Anyone else have any suggestions? Thank you so far!</p>
<p>Let me guess: the people who you’ve talked to all live around Philly 
Ultimately though, it’s not a matter of what they think, but rather what is your best fit, where you’ll do your best work.</p>
<p>Another factor to consider really is whether you want to work in Philadelphia or in New England/the rest of the country.
Yet another factor to consider is the co-op program. I assume that since you applied you are interested in that, but it does create a different rhythm to your studies. (Furthermore, NEU coops can be anywhere in the country, not just Boston - may be a plus or a minus).</p>
<p>I am not being subjective when I say that the national brand of NEU is very high, and Villanova’s is regional - or, if you prefer, regionally very high, but nationally much less so.<br>
(I have no horse in this race. I know Villanova is highly respected and it has a strong Bschool. But just the fact Villanova is in the “regional” category and NEU is in the “national” category should tell you something 
)
Villanova is in the same category as Dayton, SJSU, Creighton, Butler, Rollins, Samford, Trinity TX, Santa Clara…How familiar are you with these universities? Because that’s how familiar people outside the greater region will be with Villanova.
in the end though you should choose based on what matters to you.
Have you attended Admitted Student Days at both? (if not, you really should - and come back to post on this website!)</p>
<p>If cost is a concern, choose the least expensive one, of course, regardless of which one it is - both are good.</p>
<p>Look at the other factors such as campus size, location, diversity etc… These are very different schools! I would probably choose NEU for the co-op program and for the location in the middle of a great city for students. But when I was 18 I probably would have preferred the quiet suburbs of Villanova.
What is it YOU are looking for in a college experience?</p>
<p>I’d go to Villanova in a heartbeat. Much higher ranked academically. The coop program is a strength of Northeastern but my S went to a college with no coop program and he got work experience through doing summer internships.</p>
<p>In USNWR Villanova is ranked #1 in Northeast Regional Schools. Northeastern is ranked #49 in National Universities.</p>
<p>Villanova is a big fish in a small pond. </p>
<p>wow, I’m surprised by these comments. I would have said MYOS was dead on, particularly about V’s homogeneity. I grew up in the area and my high school was the V feeder school. I couldn’t imagine going to V unless I wanted more of the same homogeneity and Augustinian Catholicism I had in high school. White skin, tan or olive khakis, button down oxford in white or light blue, docksiders or penny loafers, socks optional. Intellectually suffocating place. It was grades 13 thru 16 as far as I was concerned. I hung out with those students. I beat them at pool down at Kelly’s. And they were boringly similar to me. I went to college somewhere else. What the heck happened in the last 40 years. I dunno, OP, whom to believe. </p>
<p>Northeastern has it all over V as far as I’m concerned. I cannot imagine V has grown so much. The clerical leadership of the school just didn’t have it in them. </p>
<p>I am shocked…but in the other direction. I think Villanova is the superior school academically. And it has a beautiful campus as well as big time basketball (great for school spirit). Some people love it, but I personally don’t put a lot of stock in Northeastern’s coop program – I know people at Northeastern who have had trouble finding worthwhile coops. Plus if the OP wants law school I wouldn’t suggest stringing out the undergrad for five years to do a coop. As suggested above, one can get summer internships to get some work experience.</p>
<p>But, if the OP is not sure which school is the better fit, he/she should try to visit the two schools during accepted students day. Think about the differences between the schools (ex. Catholic, non-secterian; city, suburbs, value of coop program to you, diversity, importance of sports, Despite my opinion of the two schools, they are both fine universities and assuming money is not an issue, fit should be the most important factor. Don’t discount the importance of gut feelings about which school you feel most comfortable and most likely to succeed at.</p>
<p>Er, I would certainly not put Villanova in the same category as Dayton or SJSU. I definitely would not say that Villanova has a lower reputation, nationally, than Northeastern; in fact, I’m willing to bet that more people have heard of Villanova if for no other reason than the sports there. Northeastern appears marginally more diverse but if you look at the distribution, it’s because they have more international students and more students who refused to specify their ethnicity on the form. Their proportions of African American, Asian American, and Hispanic/Latino students are roughly the same as Villanova. Student competitiveness with regard to test scores and GPA are very similar, with students at both schools achieving in the above-average range of test scores and roughly two-thirds of students in the top 10% of their high school class (and 90% in the top quarter). Personally I agree with dlcor1026 - Villanova seems like one of those universities that has always been well-known and pretty well-respected, whereas I only ever heard of Northeastern once I started visiting CC.</p>
<p>One major difference is that Northeastern is large (17,000 undergrads) while Villanova is medium-sized (7,000). Villanova is also in a quiet suburban location with a more traditional campus feel, while Northeastern is in a large urban city. I’m also pretty sure that Villanova has bigger/better-attended sports, although I may be wrong. For me at 18, I would’ve much preferred Villanova to Northeastern on face. A traditional campus in a suburban location would’ve been much more attractive than a co-op, especially since any student can do a summer internship or a term-time internship (and really a co-op is just taking a year off to do a full-time internship - although Northeastern might have a formal program for that, any student who can find a full-time internship can choose to do that.)</p>
<p>Ok, for sports … or at least one sport… Villanova has NEU beat by a mile so if that matters to OP, it’s certainly a distinguishing factor.
(When I spoke of reputation, it’s true I didn’t think of sports fans, rather, employers/grad schools. Nevertheless you’re right, some employers will know of the school through sports and it will matter to them. For the grad schools, it’ll really depend.)</p>
<p>Villanova wouldn’t be ranked like SJSU or Dayton, but it’s in the same broad category, regional universities, where Villanova is on top are SJSU or Dayton are in the middle. Creighton or Butler or Santa Clara or Rollins or Samford are more Villanova’s equals, and I would even grant that Villanova can be better than those.</p>
<p>Note to OP: You probably won’t attend Law School where you went to college. In addition, there’s currently a vast oversupply of law school graduates, so that only a third of them are actually employed in law right now. Go ask questions about a pre-law strategy to the Law School forum but overall it’ll be recommended you attend a Top 30 Law School or find something else. As for Villanova’s and Northeastern’s Law Schools, they’re both perfectly even, if you are to believe USNWR, at #93.</p>
<p>A co-op is actually a term or a semester spent working full time, not a full year. </p>
<p>I don’t know which one I would have preferred. I would have preferred Boston, but I wouldn’t have liked the co-op. I wouldn’t have liked Villanova’s vibe, which is kinda like Pepperdine (not just ethnically but also socially/economically homogeneous with a certain flair for display of wealth and faith), if that makes sense, but I really wasn’t preprofessional oriented so I wouldn’t have liked NEU either. Obviously I’m not OP. 
And fortunately I’m not trying to give personal preferences (Juillet isn’t, either, BTW - she’s using data from the CDS I think)</p>
<p>If you know you want to do business, VIllanova would probs be better. Northeastern is a bit science oriented. That being said, I would personally pick Northeastern. Being in a city often ameliorates the effect of the “stuffy homogeneity” that some people have expressed about Nova. But one of my teachers went to NEU and said that co-op is not as nice as they paint it. In the end., it’s your choice. Check them out for yourself and see what the acceptance rate into law school is for both schools and the academic help you would get for law school. </p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies! I’m still waiting on a few schools. I’m so surprised. I was almost sure Villanova was better academically and reputation-wise. Thanks for the input!</p>
<p>Bummmmmmmmp</p>
<p>Forbes magazine ranks Villanova #79 nationally but Northeastern at #236. Forbes measure outputs such as graduate school admissions and career earnings. Not reputation, like USNWR.
<a href=“Forbes America’s Top Colleges List 2022”>Forbes America’s Top Colleges List 2022;
<p>I have lived all over the country. Most people have at least heard of Villanova, but Northeastern is NOT well known outside the… um… Northeast. Sorry, but I disagree that NEU has that edge over Villanova.</p>
<p>More people have heard of the University of Oklahoma than Emory. The question is, why have they heard of the school? I’m willing to bet that outside of the Northeast and Catholic prep school circles, Villanova is only known for its basketball (this is certainly the case here in the Southwest). Whatever, that’s better than most schools, but I wouldn’t let vague familiarity with a place based only on its athletics sway the decision between two schools whose communities, academic strengths, and stated missions differ so dramatically. </p>
<p>I agree that Northeastern is the better school, but you also have to consider that it might be much more expensive than Villanova. If you can get into Northeastern, then you can probably get some money out of Villanova. I would see which school is cheaper to get into before making a decision. My default would be to go with Northeastern unless I could go to Nova for much cheaper, in which case I’d take the deal.</p>
<p>my son was admitted to Northeastern and waitlisted at Villanova, for engineering. No merit offered at Northeastern.</p>
<p>We live in NJ, but I am from the midwest originally… I have always recognized the name Villanova, but back in my day I went to NorthWESTern and Northeastern was barely a blip on the radar. There may be a little name confusion on the part of some posters above? No doubt that Northeastern has raised its profile, and I was impressed with their presentation and co op program. But if son ends up getting into Villanova, for roughly the same price, I would point him that direction. </p>
<p>Good luck to you OP they are both great schools!!</p>
<p>Nope, most veteran posters here don’t confuse Northeastern and Northwestern. :)</p>