NorthEastern University in Boston - weirded out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP
I did't grow up here and obviously did not go to college here but can someone please explain what is bad about a commuter college?
Does it just mean it used to be poor, having no options to board on campus?

There is nothing bad about commuter colleges but they are generally for locals students of different academic maturity and need that are very different from the students at more competitive schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Four pages and no one has mentioned it is a 5 year undergrad program.

Nope, I did:

I don't know how many times I have to reiterate this. For most students, 4 years of regular schooling + internships + 1 year of full-time work > 5 years of schooling + co-ops thrown in between. At the end of five years, the average college grad from a comparable or better university will have one full year of work experience over a NEU grad.

The system is great for some students, but it is overrated and speckled in marketing gizmo.

It's a highly dressed up scam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd rather do Northeastern than UVA or UMD.

Change my mind.

Either UVA or UMD would be significantly cheaper for in-state, and would be seen as more prestigious than Northeastern. I've just met way too many people who are put off by the NEU brand. People still strongly associate it with "gaming the rankings".

[Anonymous]

I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the whole story of how Northeastern played the ranking game successfully: https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2014/08/26/how-northeastern-gamed-the-college-rankings/

Wow! Every parent and student considering NU should read this.

It's a fascinating article...BUT, here's the thing...it now attracts top-notch students and professors. The facilities are excellent, it's in the heart of Boston, and its graduates do very, very well. The co-op program--if that is something that interests your student--is second to none. So, it is true that they gamed the rankings. But the rankings are stupid in the first place (as is evident by the fact that they can be gamed).

Here is the last part of the Article on the Value of its degree:

"Concerned about the skyrocketing costs of a college education, the White House is launching a federal rating system that, unlike U.S. News’s, will focus less on student inputs (e.g., SAT scores) and more on the resultant value of a degree—weighing a school’s tuition costs, graduation rates, and postgraduate salaries. The government hopes to implement the system this fall. Don’t expect to find NU at the top: In Money magazine’s 2014 “Best Colleges for Your Money,” which uses a similar methodology, Northeastern landed at the bottom of the third quartile, at number 433."

Well, this ROI ranking has Northeastern as #10 for best return on investment...https://www.bestvalueschools.com/rankings/up-and-coming-universities-best-roi/b

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

People on this listserve have a weird need to tear people/things down. You'll see all sorts of strange posts on here wear people rail against UVA, UMichigan, U Chicago..."lesser" Ivies, all SLACs, basically, every school except HYPSM. Northeastern is a fine school. What makes it a "house of cards"? It has strong (and by all indications very happy) students, great facilities, and a high caliber faculty. Their finances are in good shape and their graduate school and job placements are very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

People on this listserve have a weird need to tear people/things down. You'll see all sorts of strange posts on here wear people rail against UVA, UMichigan, U Chicago..."lesser" Ivies, all SLACs, basically, every school except HYPSM. Northeastern is a fine school. What makes it a "house of cards"? It has strong (and by all indications very happy) students, great facilities, and a high caliber faculty. Their finances are in good shape and their graduate school and job placements are very good.

Also it has a marketing department fielding negative posts on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

People on this listserve have a weird need to tear people/things down. You'll see all sorts of strange posts on here wear people rail against UVA, UMichigan, U Chicago..."lesser" Ivies, all SLACs, basically, every school except HYPSM. Northeastern is a fine school. What makes it a "house of cards"? It has strong (and by all indications very happy) students, great facilities, and a high caliber faculty. Their finances are in good shape and their graduate school and job placements are very good.

Seriously!

Northeastern University is a great school. DH had an amazing experience there. I don't want to give away why because it may identify him.

People on here talk up so many random privates here that frankly, I never heard of, and most people never heard of and could give 2 S--ts about. Like bobo brand schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

People on this listserve have a weird need to tear people/things down. You'll see all sorts of strange posts on here wear people rail against UVA, UMichigan, U Chicago..."lesser" Ivies, all SLACs, basically, every school except HYPSM. Northeastern is a fine school. What makes it a "house of cards"? It has strong (and by all indications very happy) students, great facilities, and a high caliber faculty. Their finances are in good shape and their graduate school and job placements are very good.

Seriously!

Northeastern University is a great school. DH had an amazing experience there. I don't want to give away why because it may identify him.

People on here talk up so many random privates here that frankly, I never heard of, and most people never heard of and could give 2 S--ts about. Like bobo brand schools.

Er... you could say the exact same thing about Northeastern. Excessively overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was basically a commuter school when I lived in Boston many years ago. They’ve admitted that they purposefully spent enormous resources to game the rankings and voila, it worked.

This. Our kid is not applying because we don't think the quality of the education is remotely in line with the rankings (dual academic family here.) The co-op approach is great for some kids/majors/professions, but it's a VERY mixed bag. And everyone we know who has sent a kid there has wound up spending freshman year in Europe. It's a con game - much better to aim for any of the other highly ranked Boston schools (not just Harvard/MIT but Tufts, BC, BU or Brandeis are all far superior to Northeastern.)

I’m sorry, but your comment just reeks of snobbery. In what high-falutin’ manner does your “dual-academic family” expect STEM subjects to be imparted? I could see balking at Northeastern if you want your child to major in the humanities. But in our increasingly competitive world, I’ve come to value universities for what they can offer vocationally. Northeastern fits the bill. If you want your trust-fund kid to major in interpretive dance, try Bennington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was basically a commuter school when I lived in Boston many years ago. They’ve admitted that they purposefully spent enormous resources to game the rankings and voila, it worked.

This. Our kid is not applying because we don't think the quality of the education is remotely in line with the rankings (dual academic family here.) The co-op approach is great for some kids/majors/professions, but it's a VERY mixed bag. And everyone we know who has sent a kid there has wound up spending freshman year in Europe. It's a con game - much better to aim for any of the other highly ranked Boston schools (not just Harvard/MIT but Tufts, BC, BU or Brandeis are all far superior to Northeastern.)

I’m sorry, but your comment just reeks of snobbery. In what high-falutin’ manner does your “dual-academic family” expect STEM subjects to be imparted? I could see balking at Northeastern if you want your child to major in the humanities. But in our increasingly competitive world, I’ve come to value universities for what they can offer vocationally. Northeastern fits the bill. If you want your trust-fund kid to major in interpretive dance, try Bennington.

DP... you rail against snobbery and then proceed to write out the most snobby, pretentious, condescending comment. What do you have against Bennington? The lack of self-awareness is no doubt a trademark of a Northeastern education. Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

People on this listserve have a weird need to tear people/things down. You'll see all sorts of strange posts on here wear people rail against UVA, UMichigan, U Chicago..."lesser" Ivies, all SLACs, basically, every school except HYPSM. Northeastern is a fine school. What makes it a "house of cards"? It has strong (and by all indications very happy) students, great facilities, and a high caliber faculty. Their finances are in good shape and their graduate school and job placements are very good.

Seriously!

Northeastern University is a great school. DH had an amazing experience there. I don't want to give away why because it may identify him.

People on here talk up so many random privates here that frankly, I never heard of, and most people never heard of and could give 2 S--ts about. Like bobo brand schools.

Er... you could say the exact same thing about Northeastern. Excessively overrated.

It's a national university. Everybody has heard of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

People on this listserve have a weird need to tear people/things down. You'll see all sorts of strange posts on here wear people rail against UVA, UMichigan, U Chicago..."lesser" Ivies, all SLACs, basically, every school except HYPSM. Northeastern is a fine school. What makes it a "house of cards"? It has strong (and by all indications very happy) students, great facilities, and a high caliber faculty. Their finances are in good shape and their graduate school and job placements are very good.

Seriously!

Northeastern University is a great school. DH had an amazing experience there. I don't want to give away why because it may identify him.

People on here talk up so many random privates here that frankly, I never heard of, and most people never heard of and could give 2 S--ts about. Like bobo brand schools.

Er... you could say the exact same thing about Northeastern. Excessively overrated.

It's a national university. Everybody has heard of it.

And what are these other “random privates” that you’re railing against and that are supposedly sooo inferior to Northeastern, the 8th best school in greater Boston?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think top 20 is well out of Reach for Northeastern but it's a good school regardless and has made strides.

Seems more like a house of cards.

People on this listserve have a weird need to tear people/things down. You'll see all sorts of strange posts on here wear people rail against UVA, UMichigan, U Chicago..."lesser" Ivies, all SLACs, basically, every school except HYPSM. Northeastern is a fine school. What makes it a "house of cards"? It has strong (and by all indications very happy) students, great facilities, and a high caliber faculty. Their finances are in good shape and their graduate school and job placements are very good.

Seriously!

Northeastern University is a great school. DH had an amazing experience there. I don't want to give away why because it may identify him.

People on here talk up so many random privates here that frankly, I never heard of, and most people never heard of and could give 2 S--ts about. Like bobo brand schools.

Er... you could say the exact same thing about Northeastern. Excessively overrated.

It's a national university. Everybody has heard of it.

And what are these other “random privates” that you’re railing against and that are supposedly sooo inferior to Northeastern, the 8th best school in greater Boston?

I never judged a university by it's neighbors. Does that mean that, based on Georgetown's ranking, George Washington University, American University, and University of Maryland are all dung? I guess by DCUM methodology they are. Who knew.