Scathing Summary of Northeastern Admissions

[Anonymous]

Good lord, we all know Northeastern’s self reported statistics are complete garbage. Inflated with deceptive practices to make the school look better than it is.

Please stop posting bogus statistics and look at the international rankings.

[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.

+1

The vast majority of kids get rejected from Boston. Nothing to feel bad about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good lord, we all know Northeastern’s self reported statistics are complete garbage. Inflated with deceptive practices to make the school look better than it is.

Please stop posting bogus statistics and look at the international rankings.

“Ignore actual data and look at some arbitrary ranking”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good lord, we all know Northeastern’s self reported statistics are complete garbage. Inflated with deceptive practices to make the school look better than it is.

Please stop posting bogus statistics and look at the international rankings.

“Ignore actual data and look at some arbitrary ranking”

Ignore self reported statistics and any rankings that rely on them, such as USNWR.

The international rankings ignore the self reported statistics.

[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

An accurate analysis here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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%

BostonU and NYU didn't make 90% and Emory is relatively low for its supposed prestige.

[Anonymous]

Of the top selective private colleges, Northeastern is the newest on the block to break into its ranks so there will be shade thrown at it from these old blood colleges. What matters is what the college is today, not what it was 50 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of the top selective private colleges, Northeastern is the newest on the block to break into its ranks so there will be shade thrown at it from these old blood colleges. What matters is what the college is today, not what it was 50 years ago.

No, you don’t get it. It is actually not selective. The statistics they provide about being selective are manipulated to be deceiving. It is a con. Plain and simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of the top selective private colleges, Northeastern is the newest on the block to break into its ranks so there will be shade thrown at it from these old blood colleges. What matters is what the college is today, not what it was 50 years ago.

No, you don’t get it. It is actually not selective. The statistics they provide about being selective are manipulated to be deceiving. It is a con. Plain and simple.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of the top selective private colleges, Northeastern is the newest on the block to break into its ranks so there will be shade thrown at it from these old blood colleges. What matters is what the college is today, not what it was 50 years ago.

No, you don’t get it. It is actually not selective. The statistics they provide about being selective are manipulated to be deceiving. It is a con. Plain and simple.

Time to take your medicine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of the top selective private colleges, Northeastern is the newest on the block to break into its ranks so there will be shade thrown at it from these old blood colleges. What matters is what the college is today, not what it was 50 years ago.

No, you don’t get it. It is actually not selective. The statistics they provide about being selective are manipulated to be deceiving. It is a con. Plain and simple.

Time to take your medicine.

This.

[Anonymous]

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

An accurate analysis here.

So you're arguing BU is a top international school? Good for them!

Isn't it pretty clear these different rankings are just reflective of different methodologies? Constantly searching for a ranking that substantiates your opinion is pretty foolish.

*No kid at or applying to Northeastern here - just someone amazed at people's vehemence.

[Anonymous]

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

An accurate analysis here.

So you're arguing BU is a top international school? Good for them!

Isn't it pretty clear these different rankings are just reflective of different methodologies? Constantly searching for a ranking that substantiates your opinion is pretty foolish.

*No kid at or applying to Northeastern here - just someone amazed at people's vehemence.

The point is that when you rank based on a methodology that doesn’t rely on self reported statistics, Northeastern is much lower than in the USNWR rankings, which is an outlier for where Northeastern falls.


Northeastern is well below Tufts, and Boston University. A close peer to Northeastern would be ASU.

[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

An accurate analysis here.

So you're arguing BU is a top international school? Good for them!

Isn't it pretty clear these different rankings are just reflective of different methodologies? Constantly searching for a ranking that substantiates your opinion is pretty foolish.

*No kid at or applying to Northeastern here - just someone amazed at people's vehemence.

The point is that when you rank based on a methodology that doesn’t rely on self reported statistics, Northeastern is much lower than in the USNWR rankings, which is an outlier for where Northeastern falls.


Northeastern is well below Tufts, and Boston University. A close peer to Northeastern would be ASU.

Actually with these more accurate methodologies, Northeastern falls behind ASU.

QS World University Rankings 2026
#173 ASU
#384 Northeastern

[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

An accurate analysis here.

So you're arguing BU is a top international school? Good for them!

Isn't it pretty clear these different rankings are just reflective of different methodologies? Constantly searching for a ranking that substantiates your opinion is pretty foolish.

*No kid at or applying to Northeastern here - just someone amazed at people's vehemence.

The point is that when you rank based on a methodology that doesn’t rely on self reported statistics, Northeastern is much lower than in the USNWR rankings, which is an outlier for where Northeastern falls.


Northeastern is well below Tufts, and Boston University. A close peer to Northeastern would be ASU.

As I pointed out, The hard fact is that many schools have been caught reporting false data (a.k.a. cheating), including high profile schools such as Columbia, Emory, UCBerkeley, etc.

Never Northeastern.