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<p>I think that you have BU and BC mixed up.</p>
<p>Nope!
“Yet by the late 1960s, the universithy was again in dire straits, a commuter-school that was losing wealthier Catholics to more prestigious institutions. In 1973, BC had suffered five years of major deficits and was on the brink of bankruptcy, O’Connor’s history noted.”</p>
<p>““It was more than possible the place would simply fold,” O’Toole said.”</p>
<p>from this Boston Globe article;
<a href=“Boston College overcame obstacles en route to 150th anniversary - The Boston Globe”>Boston College overcame obstacles en route to 150th anniversary - The Boston Globe;
<p>You don’t recall the financial problems at Boston University that John Silber was hired to fix?</p>
<p>I have degrees from BU and BC and apparently the financial problems were before my time but I did hear about the problems at Boston University.</p>
<p>I was an Irish Catholic kid from Boston, it was a choice between NU and BC. I chose NU. BU was never on my radar.</p>
<p>I remember while at NU hearing about BC’s crisis and thinking that I was glad I didn’t go there. How things have changed at both schools.</p>
<p>The joys of being old, you don’t study history, you remember it! LOL!!</p>
<p>I recall that Peter Lynch (former Magellan Fund manager at Fidelity) took over the reigns to manage BC’s endowment and did a fantastic job in growing it. So he may have been the key to restoring their fiscal health. BC did an incredible amount of building and renovation in the 1990s and the place looks incredible today - but it really didn’t look all that bad before all of those renovations. I used to marvel at all of the restoration projects (which I didn’t think were necessary).</p>
<p>OP - A high stats student should definitely apply - there is very good shot at getting a decent merit scholarship. And co-op is a terrific advantage, especially in the tough economic times.</p>
<p>There are many factors involved in college ratings, so families should not obsess over them. But certainly Northeastern is ranked well, improving each year for good reason…especially for career center… I see in University ranking list NEU=56, so same range as BU=51. - <a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/northeastern-university-2199[/url]”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/northeastern-university-2199</a></p>
<p>My D is a freshman in honors and loves NEU! I was in serious grief when she turned down offers from 2 top 20 Universities last spring. While it too early to comment on the quality of the academics and professors, I can share that she has all honors classes and most class sizes are 10-20. Largest class is 60. She had to change her schedule over the summer and her advisor quickly responded. Anytime I contact the school, they immediately find someone to help me. </p>
<p>NEU gave her a fabulous merit scholarship that’s guaranteed as long as she doesn’t “screw up”. She attended a free week long math/science seminar that included a small stipend and she’s applying to an engineering summer abroad that is also funded. </p>
<p>I don’t know if the honors program makes a significant difference at NEU. For us, sending her across the country, no family/friends close, undecided major, large school, big city, cold & snowy–honors program was very important!</p>
<p>I just did the “Boston Tour” with my D13. In terms of full disclosure my D11 chose NU over many other highly regarded schools - her program in all schools has a 7-10% acceptance rate. She chose NU because everything NU said “made sense” in terms of how they prepare you for the real world as well as NU’s global focus. She had her choice out of 10 schools and turned down 4 out of the top 6 rated programs for her major to go to NU. In her initial choice of major, the global piece was critical, although she has changed her major and has already enjoyed one of their global programs even as a freshman (not typical in other schools). The business school offers a study abroad upon the completion of freshman year where the students take an Intro to International Business as well as a cultural immersion. She went to Spain and learned about the EU and Euro over the summer - what a fascinating time to be there. NU doesn’t offer the classic/theory education and it isn’t for everyone but for the right kid that is looking for a globally focused education that prepares them for the workforce, it is a great option. Back to the tour…I definitely think that it is important for you to visit each of these schools. All of these schools have changed significantly since I toured them even 3 years ago. BC has had its ups and downs (our family has deep connections at BC) over the years as well as BU and NU. Even so, I needed to give my D13 the formal intro/tour and let her decide where she was going to apply. Each of these schools (BU, BC, Brandeis, and NU) have changed their pitch even form 3 years ago. NU’s pitch, vision and focus emulates what is happening in the global world today. BU is starting to say many of the same things…there are significant infrastructure issues at Brandeis due to a plummeting endowment right now, and BC, well you will have make your own judgement when you hear their pitch and what you get for $60K per year as compared to other schools. BTW - D13 attends Catholic HS so I had expected that she would apply to BC but it is off the list. I don’t want ot start a war here but if you are interested in our current perceptions, PM me.</p>
<p>The Honors Program definitely has perks like living in one of the nicest dorms on campus and being surrounded by very intelligent students. One of the best advantages though is that the class size tends to be smaller in Honors classes allowing for more discussion. The academics at Northeastern are very good, IMO. The professors, for the most part, are very good about answering questions but moving through the material quickly and efficiently. Classes can be rigorous but going to office hours is always helpful as the faculty does care how students are faring in their classes. The quality of the academics here are high, I would say, but definitely this school is more geared toward professional development as opposed to “learning for the sake of learning”. That being said, there are many different classes that students can take to explore their intellectual interests while still being able to take classes to prepare them for a career.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who posted – very helpful!</p>
<p>We visited NEU twice; one is before DS senior year, another one is Admitted Student Day. We did sell NEU very hard because it offered free tuition and its famous co-op program which almost guarantee a job after grad. Unfortunately, DS didn’t get the FEELING. He likes IV dorm and food tho.</p>
<p>You have to like the city to go to Northeastern. We were visiting another school and daughter mentioned that she was seriously considering Northeastern and the college student said OMG, that is in the city that is scary, you have to take the T to get places. My urban loving daughter thought that was very funny.</p>
<p>I had a work colleague that attended Northeastern. He said it was one of the best schools for internships out there if not the best at the time he attended, so I’ve only heard good things about the school in general.</p>
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<p>My S is currently at student at Northeastern and is majoring in Music Industry. It’s been a very good match for him. He turned down UT Austin, George Washington and Brandeis to attend Northeastern on a very generous scholarship due to being a NMF. </p>
<p>If you have any specific questions, or if you’d like your S to talk with my S, please feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>Pretty good “vocational” type of school of a higher tier, if you know what I mean. NU grads always seem to find work or have a job when other people don’t.</p>
<p>My D is a current Neu student. She is a freshman nursing student. She was accepted to all the schools she applied to and chose Neu. She said it made the most sense financially and academically. She was admitted to BC as well. BC does not give much in the way of merit. She lives in the honors dorm, it is really nice. She says that it is hard to find the happy medium with some kids wanting to party all the time and some kids wanting to stay in all the time. She likes her suite mates. her friends at other colleges report the same thing however, so it must be more of a culteral/generational thing. I work near Neu, if anyone needs anything, I am happy to help. Kiddie, our d’s are in the same dorm.</p>
<p>My son is also a current student in the honors program and is having a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure about coop when first looking at the school but has come to embrace it and is very excited about going off on his first one next semester.</p>
<p>I understand your concerns about the quality of the academics and the overall experience-I had the same misgivings and I doubt I would have even looked at the school if not for the strong recommendations I received from many people both in “real life” and here on CC. </p>
<p>My son both wants to learn and wants to get out of school with good job prospects-I don’t think they are mutually exclusive and in fact I think this school is giving him the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Good luck with your search!</p>
<p>downtoearth My daughter is delighted to have found a pretty large group of freshman in IV who enjoy playing silly card games and hanging out - they seem to all be in engineering or computer and are probably fairly “nerdy.” Don’t know if your daughter would consider them in the stay in group or not -they are definitely not just studying all day (although not going out to clubs or concert or parties at night.)
I am hearing almost universally from all of my daughter’s former HS classmates that the partying/binge drinking on their campuses is crazy. The ones who are not interested are having a hard time finding like-minded friends.</p>
<p>Check out the Princeton Review career services rankings there are student comments on them that may help.</p>
<p>When my son was in IV last year they seemed to be doing all the things I hear other college students doing-he made a lot of friends but I have also seen posts where other students find it very hard to connect over there.</p>
<p>He isn’t in those majors kiddie so I guess he isn’t too nerdy! ;)</p>
<p>His first night there was a group ofkids up until 3 AM discussing some Math concept that is way over my head-he just wanted to play cards-in fact he wondered if this would be too challenging a place!</p>