Scathing Summary of Northeastern Admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yes they have. That is what this entire thread is about. Please read it again.

[Anonymous]

Okay, ignore the global rankings but what about Forbes, a far higher quality journalistic organization, which looks at ROI and not self reported data, ranks Northeastern at 113 with BU at 45, BC at 54 and Tufts at 58. USNWR is the People magazine of rankings, your mother in law is far more likely to see their list but it isn't a primary source for anyone wanting quality analysis . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do sports teams work at Northeastern with kids going away on coops? I’m guessing they take extra students on teams so they can shuffle the roster if some of the team is away. The coop program must affect school spirit. Is the school low on school spirit?

NU has 19 NCAA DI sports teams, and ice hockey is big.
Also aren't there seasons for each sport?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVnpEQMuSFk

Speaking of Sports, Northeastern recently demolished an old arena to build a new state-of-the-art facility for basketball and ice hockey. The school is getting better and better in every aspect. There are several active NHL players who are Northeastern alumni.

https://dreamcollaborative.com/portfolio/multipurpose-athletic-facility-2/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, ignore the global rankings but what about Forbes, a far higher quality journalistic organization, which looks at ROI and not self reported data, ranks Northeastern at 113 with BU at 45, BC at 54 and Tufts at 58. USNWR is the People magazine of rankings, your mother in law is far more likely to see their list but it isn't a primary source for anyone wanting quality analysis . . .

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, ignore the global rankings but what about Forbes, a far higher quality journalistic organization, which looks at ROI and not self reported data, ranks Northeastern at 113 with BU at 45, BC at 54 and Tufts at 58. USNWR is the People magazine of rankings, your mother in law is far more likely to see their list but it isn't a primary source for anyone wanting quality analysis . . .

Forbes is a magazine trying to take money from you. What data do they use?

For ROI, I would go with the official data from the U.S. Department of Education.
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

Northeastern: $102k
Tufts: $97k
Boston College: $96k
Boston Uiniv: $84k

In terms of career outcomes, Northeastern is on par with many T20 T30 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, ignore the global rankings but what about Forbes, a far higher quality journalistic organization, which looks at ROI and not self reported data, ranks Northeastern at 113 with BU at 45, BC at 54 and Tufts at 58. USNWR is the People magazine of rankings, your mother in law is far more likely to see their list but it isn't a primary source for anyone wanting quality analysis . . .

Forbes is a magazine trying to take money from you. What data do they use?

For ROI, I would go with the official data from the U.S. Department of Education.
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

Northeastern: $102k
Tufts: $97k
Boston College: $96k
Boston Uiniv: $84k

In terms of career outcomes, Northeastern is on par with many T20 T30 schools.

+1000

[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

Wacky rankings.

Times Higher Education
#88 Minnesota
#105 Michigan State
#166 UVA
#180 Dartmouth
#201-250 Georgetown
#251-300 Boston College
#401-500 Wake Forest
#801-1000 William and Mary

QS World Rankings
#82 Penn State
#161 Michigan State
#173 ASU
#182 Emory
#247 Dartmouth
#275 UVA
#285 Georgetown
#294 Notre Dame
#526 Boston College
#1001-1200 William and Mary

[Anonymous]

If Northeastern is the new Harvard of Boston, does that make Harvard the new Northeastern? Discuss.

[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

Wacky rankings.

Times Higher Education
#88 Minnesota
#105 Michigan State
#166 UVA
#180 Dartmouth
#201-250 Georgetown
#251-300 Boston College
#401-500 Wake Forest
#801-1000 William and Mary

QS World Rankings
#82 Penn State
#161 Michigan State
#173 ASU
#182 Emory
#247 Dartmouth
#275 UVA
#285 Georgetown
#294 Notre Dame
#526 Boston College
#1001-1200 William and Mary

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, ignore the global rankings but what about Forbes, a far higher quality journalistic organization, which looks at ROI and not self reported data, ranks Northeastern at 113 with BU at 45, BC at 54 and Tufts at 58. USNWR is the People magazine of rankings, your mother in law is far more likely to see their list but it isn't a primary source for anyone wanting quality analysis . . .

Forbes is a magazine trying to take money from you. What data do they use?

For ROI, I would go with the official data from the U.S. Department of Education.
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

Northeastern: $102k
Tufts: $97k
Boston College: $96k
Boston Uiniv: $84k

In terms of career outcomes, Northeastern is on par with many T20 T30 schools.

I’m not discounting NEU’s outcomes. I think it produces strong results for capable students.

However, the comparison above isn’t very accurate, as it only compares each school’s median without accounting for differences in majors or fields of study.

[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.

This.

Yup, no supplemental essays and being in a good location (kids love Boston) means many submit just because. It's easy and cheap and requires no additional work. The at is what neu wants--to drive down acceptance rates.

All schools play the game, neu plays it intensely, and as a moneymaker as they run their own "fall and spring not on main campus" programs. Four years ago a year abroad was $85k and no meals were included---only the rich can handle that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Yup and don't forget that Claremont Mckenna (CMC) also was caught blatantly falsifying their students' SAT scores so they'd rise up the USNWR rankings. Literally the AOs were reporting fake scores to the Common Data Set. Now that's "responsible leadership" lol.

But yeah, I guess Northeastern played by the rules and didn't outright scam like CMC or Columbia (that falsified class sizes to climb up the rankings).

[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

Wacky rankings.

Times Higher Education
#88 Minnesota
#105 Michigan State
#166 UVA
#180 Dartmouth
#201-250 Georgetown
#251-300 Boston College
#401-500 Wake Forest
#801-1000 William and Mary

QS World Rankings
#82 Penn State
#161 Michigan State
#173 ASU
#182 Emory
#247 Dartmouth
#275 UVA
#285 Georgetown
#294 Notre Dame
#526 Boston College
#1001-1200 William and Mary

+1000

Those allegedly accurate rankings really hating William and Mary

[Anonymous]

What is so surprising is all the Northeastern haters. You don't like how they process applicants, don't let your kid apply. Others get in and like the program, why piss in their cheerios?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is so surprising is all the Northeastern haters. You don't like how they process applicants, don't let your kid apply. Others get in and like the program, why piss in their cheerios?

If your kids go there and like it, great. But many parents and students are misled by how Northeastern has represented their desirability/admission rate, class size, etc. as it has worked for a decade to gamify the criteria used for various rankings. It's a top 100-125 school with a likely 30+-ish% admission rate masquerading as a top 50-60-ish school with a 5% admission rate. We just want the truth to get out. Their practices are deceptive only if no one calls it out. Parents/students deserve more transparency. If they know this, and still want to go, go for it.