Scathing Summary of Northeastern Admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is that Northeastern counts the total applicant count in the denominator but not the numerator, which is, at best, misleading and realistically, an outward lie.

All of the full-pay admits to their portfolio of campuses around the world are not calculated in their admission rate. In fact, they are misleadingly considered rejected in the calculation (and the GPA, test scores of the non-Boston admits aren't incorporated either).

Ugh how misleading. And it's included in all the rankings too. Then because it appears to be more selective than it is, gullible teens apply thinking it's a proxy for quality.

Sounds like your kid didn’t do his research so now you’re all butthurt about it.

Northeastern is very clear about the multiple locations. Anyone who is “duped” didn’t do basic research.

Kids who are looking at highly selective colleges figure it out.

Not everyone is obsessed with rankings and selectivity as you.

Actually when my kid applied, they stated "do not want anything other than Boston" for freshman year. Yet were offered "something other than Boston". Which indicates they don't actually care about/read your application.

[Anonymous]

Clueless hater is getting mad at AI and out of control 😆

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is that Northeastern counts the total applicant count in the denominator but not the numerator, which is, at best, misleading and realistically, an outward lie.

All of the full-pay admits to their portfolio of campuses around the world are not calculated in their admission rate. In fact, they are misleadingly considered rejected in the calculation (and the GPA, test scores of the non-Boston admits aren't incorporated either).

Ugh how misleading. And it's included in all the rankings too. Then because it appears to be more selective than it is, gullible teens apply thinking it's a proxy for quality.

Sounds like your kid didn’t do his research so now you’re all butthurt about it.

Northeastern is very clear about the multiple locations. Anyone who is “duped” didn’t do basic research.

Kids who are looking at highly selective colleges figure it out.

Not everyone is obsessed with rankings and selectivity as you.

Actually when my kid applied, they stated "do not want anything other than Boston" for freshman year. Yet were offered "something other than Boston". Which indicates they don't actually care about/read your application.

Your kid got rejected from Boston. They offered other choices. Just decline and move on. Being bitter isn't good for your or your child's health.

[Anonymous]

Northeastern is a good school and its gaming of rankings should not detract from the quality of the school. Sure, if they dont play the ratings game, they probably would be rated somewhere between T70 to T100 school which is still a very good ranking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern is a good school and its gaming of rankings should not detract from the quality of the school. Sure, if they dont play the ratings game, they probably would be rated somewhere between T70 to T100 school which is still a very good ranking.

What ratings?
Actual ratings that really matter such as retention, graduation, outcome, cohort quality are top 20 30 level.
People choose Northeastern because of those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea that somehow NEU has transformed itself into an elite university should raise a lot of eyebrows. It is a fine school, but let's not get carried away.

For a more accurate view of NEU, both of these rankings are more reputable than the USNWR.

Times Higher Education 2026 World Rankings
#2 MIT
#5 Harvard
#76 Boston University
#189 Tufts
#201-250 Northeastern

2026 QS World University Rankings
#1 MIT
#5 Harvard
#88 Boston University
#334 Tufts
#384 Northeastern

This.

Agree, it is an decent school but one that has simply gamed the USNWR ranking system and appeals to try hards who care too much about attending a "T50" on that list. It has no reputation internationally and it's domestic reputation is unlikely to be durable through the coming enrollment declines

I am really surprised how many NEU boosters are fighting for their life in the comments here. I thought it was universally known that NEU was a bit scammy and yet they were unapologetic about their scrappy sales tactics and "adapt or die" hustle.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea that somehow NEU has transformed itself into an elite university should raise a lot of eyebrows. It is a fine school, but let's not get carried away.

For a more accurate view of NEU, both of these rankings are more reputable than the USNWR.

Times Higher Education 2026 World Rankings
#2 MIT
#5 Harvard
#76 Boston University
#189 Tufts
#201-250 Northeastern

2026 QS World University Rankings
#1 MIT
#5 Harvard
#88 Boston University
#334 Tufts
#384 Northeastern

This.

Agree, it is an decent school but one that has simply gamed the USNWR ranking system and appeals to try hards who care too much about attending a "T50" on that list. It has no reputation internationally and it's domestic reputation is unlikely to be durable through the coming enrollment declines

+1

I am really surprised how many NEU boosters are fighting for their life in the comments here. I thought it was universally known that NEU was a bit scammy and yet they were unapologetic about their scrappy sales tactics and "adapt or die" hustle.

Funny - I'm really surprised how many adults are so insecure they need to correct the record on an independent ranking of a school with which they have nothing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The issue is that Northeastern counts the total applicant count in the denominator but not the numerator, which is, at best, misleading and realistically, an outward lie.

All of the full-pay admits to their portfolio of campuses around the world are not calculated in their admission rate. In fact, they are misleadingly considered rejected in the calculation (and the GPA, test scores of the non-Boston admits aren't incorporated either).

Ugh how misleading. And it's included in all the rankings too. Then because it appears to be more selective than it is, gullible teens apply thinking it's a proxy for quality.

Sounds like your kid didn’t do his research so now you’re all butthurt about it.

Northeastern is very clear about the multiple locations. Anyone who is “duped” didn’t do basic research.

Kids who are looking at highly selective colleges figure it out.

Not everyone is obsessed with rankings and selectivity as you.

Actually when my kid applied, they stated "do not want anything other than Boston" for freshman year. Yet were offered "something other than Boston". Which indicates they don't actually care about/read your application.

Your kid got rejected from Boston. They offered other choices. Just decline and move on. Being bitter isn't good for your or your child's health.

The only bitterness is from those that paid a Harvard-level tuition for a T100-level education at NEU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea that somehow NEU has transformed itself into an elite university should raise a lot of eyebrows. It is a fine school, but let's not get carried away.

For a more accurate view of NEU, both of these rankings are more reputable than the USNWR.

Times Higher Education 2026 World Rankings
#2 MIT
#5 Harvard
#76 Boston University
#189 Tufts
#201-250 Northeastern

2026 QS World University Rankings
#1 MIT
#5 Harvard
#88 Boston University
#334 Tufts
#384 Northeastern

Right here.

[Anonymous]

This thread is becoming almost as entertaining as the rabid LAC-haters’ threads! Which begs the question: NEU vs top-15 LAC?

Discuss.

[Anonymous]

How does Northeastern compare to Williams, Wellesley and Amherst though?

I noticed they don't even qualify for global rankings.

[Anonymous]

NEU 6-year (due to common coop participation) graduation rate: 90.5%


T30 of 6-year grad-rates (probably a meaningless metric, but a fun list nevertheless)

Princeton University: 98%
Harvard University: 98%
University of Notre Dame: 97%
Yale University: 97%
Williams College: 97%
Amherst College: 96%
University of Pennsylvania: 96%
University of Chicago: 96%
Georgetown University: 96%
Dartmouth College: 96%
Duke University: 96%
Stanford University: 96%
Brown University: 96%
Columbia University: 95%
MIT: 95%
Northwestern University: 95%
University of Virginia: 95%
Vanderbilt University: 95%
Pomona College: 95%
Washington University in St. Louis: 94%
Davidson College: 94%
Cornell University: 94%
Johns Hopkins University: 94%
Boston College: 94%
Rice University: 94%
Tufts University: 94%
Bowdoin College: 94%
Colgate University: 94%
Vassar College: 93%
Middlebury College: 93%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NEU 6-year (due to common coop participation) graduation rate: 90.5%


T30 of 6-year grad-rates (probably a meaningless metric, but a fun list nevertheless)

Princeton University: 98%
Harvard University: 98%
University of Notre Dame: 97%
Yale University: 97%
Williams College: 97%
Amherst College: 96%
University of Pennsylvania: 96%
University of Chicago: 96%
Georgetown University: 96%
Dartmouth College: 96%
Duke University: 96%
Stanford University: 96%
Brown University: 96%
Columbia University: 95%
MIT: 95%
Northwestern University: 95%
University of Virginia: 95%
Vanderbilt University: 95%
Pomona College: 95%
Washington University in St. Louis: 94%
Davidson College: 94%
Cornell University: 94%
Johns Hopkins University: 94%
Boston College: 94%
Rice University: 94%
Tufts University: 94%
Bowdoin College: 94%
Colgate University: 94%
Vassar College: 93%
Middlebury College: 93%

this is interesting - thanks for compiling it!

[Anonymous]

Graduation rate is one of the important metrics. You can see correlation between the school quality and retention/graduation rate.
Here's the latest source - https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/GraduationRate6Year/

Following is for the national universities. Northeastern made top 30.
Northeastern is top 20 for retention rate and top 30 for graduation rate.

1 | Princeton University | 98%
2 | Harvard University | 97%
2 | Yale University | 97%
4 | Brown University | 96%
4 | Duke University | 96%
4 | MIT | 96%
4 | Stanford University | 96%
4 | University of Chicago | 96%
4 | University of Notre Dame | 96%
4 | University of Pennsylvania | 96%
11 | Columbia University | 95%
11 | Georgetown University | 95%
11 | Johns Hopkins University | 95%
11 | Northwestern University | 95%
15 | Cornell University | 94%
15 | Dartmouth College | 94%
15 | Tufts University | 94%
15 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor | 94%
15 | University of Virginia | 94%
20 | California Institute of Technology | 93%
20 | Carnegie Mellon University | 93%
20 | University of California - Berkeley | 93%
20 | Vanderbilt University | 93%
20 | Washington University in St. Louis | 93%
25 | Georgia Institute of Technology | 92%
25 | Rice University | 92%
25 | UCLA | 92%
25 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 92%
25 | University of Southern California (USC) | 92%
30 | Northeastern University | 91%
30 | Boston College | 91%
30 | University of Florida | 91%
30 | Villanova University | 91%
30 | William & Mary | 91%
35 | Emory University | 90%
35 | Wake Forest University | 90%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody seriously believes NEU should be in the T100, right? Do people not have any critical thinking skills anymore?

Granny, we don't live in the 1980s anymore. Wake the F up already.

You love the "granny, we don't live..." comment. Comess up about once week.