Why is Northeastern (NEU) so popular with both parents and students these days?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think SO many kids these days (at least kids from around here and kids I know in major east and west coast cities) want a city school and NU is right in the middle of a great city AND it has an actual campus...that is a real draw for a lot of kids. Once it started attracting smart kids and getting harder to get into, it just snowballed....

NU is in Evanston

No here,
https://www.nu.edu

[Anonymous]

100%. They play musical chairs to increase yield (start freshman year abroad, or hey! start at our California campus, or go round and round for co-ops). They have a shortage of dorms for all accepted students. It some kind of smoke and mirrors going on - even for Boston campus students, a student from our neighborhood got placed in a HOTEL the school purchased, they claimed it was “on-campis” housing but all the kids there had a shuttle bus taking them to class, and said it was isolating and really not cool. It felt like they were at a conference shuttling back and forth, she transferred

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NEU feels sleazy to me. I can't put my finger on exactly why it feels that way. We got that feeling when we visited. The students were obsessed with the co-op and making money. That's not what college should be about.

Really? I don't spend anytime thinking about it. My kids aren't attending nor applying so doesn't really concern me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NEU feels sleazy to me. I can't put my finger on exactly why it feels that way. We got that feeling when we visited. The students were obsessed with the co-op and making money. That's not what college should be about.

Really? I don't spend anytime thinking about it. My kids aren't attending nor applying so doesn't really concern me.

Yeah right, you don’t think about it, which is why you’re on the NEU thread. Lol

[Anonymous]

It's a combination of many good things put together.

- Great urban location, there are ton of kids who prefer good urban location. Boson is also one of the most popular.
- Relatively cohesive nice modern looking campus for an urban location
Our family of 5 visited the four peer schools - Tufts, Boston College, Boston Univ, and Northeastern Univ, and Northeastern was top choice for all of us for the location + campus combination.

- Satisfaction based on retention rate. It's like top 5 among national universities.
- Good balance. The school pay much attention to CS, Engineering, Science and other STEM areas, but also very strong in Business, Art & Design, pre-med, and other areas. It's well rounded unlike other Engineering heavy schools
- Outcomes. Coop program contributes to this, but ultimately outcome is great.
- Quality of student body - smart, intelligent, independent, motivated, top notch, most of them have stats for T25 schools.
- Sports and Greek life is relatively weak, but it has very good D1 hockey team and have little bit of everything for everyone.
- etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC making a decision soon but I'm puzzled how this school seemed to come out of nowhere onto the top of most student lists here (one of the W schools). I get that their acceptance rate has dropped to 1 to 2% and that can drive a fomo feeding frenzy but what also is causing this?

One reason that they get so many applications is that it’s a very easy to apply to school with a simple check mark on the common app. Most better schools require additional essays.

This.

Yup! Pay the fee and hit submit. Easy to do for a school in Boston which is a great college town. NEU definately markets well to get the apps near 100K this year. It's a good school but has grown rapidly and is still catching up. If you don't start on the Boston Campus fall freshman year your kid is at a disadvantage for housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our child accepted ED to NEU, Boston campus. Living their best life and enjoys classes, friends, and of course the city of Boston. They are looking forward to co-ops, and trying new things.

There is a college foe every student. If your child likes NEU, go for it (our child has friends who were accepted to Oakland, Rome and Greece). And if not, don't apply. No need to bash someone else's choice

Just make certain you fully understand any program that is not Boston Start. Global scholars means your kid is at the bottom of the list for sophomore housing and may not have housing until July/Aug for the fall and it might not be with anyone they know (if they use the Paws system). Parents had been told "yes your kid will be eligible for housing all years once on Boston campus". What they were not told is that they are treated like 2nd class citizens and do not get to pick with all the other sophomores, but after them.
Sure your kid could get a place off campus, but how the heck do you do that if you are in London/Oakland and have never lived in Boston? Who do you live with, as you only know the people in the GS program.

See, that is not bashing. Just making sure people know details about the non-boston start programs. If that would bother you or your kid, then it might not be the place for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boston, USNWR, co-op and possibility of merit (not sure if that's the case anymore).

This plus the fact there are no supplemental essays. It is no work to throw in an app.

There are a number of schools that don't require supplemental essays.

Not many "elite/top schools" that do NOT have supplemental essays. Fact is NEU is one of only a few in the Top 60 that does not have at least one Supp essay. If they had 1-2 supplementals, I doubt there would be 96K+ applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easy App. Gamed the system and people have been easily duped. It’s working, they’re getting the applications and ED at that.

I understand the full picture (e.g., how they set out to climb in USNWR rankings), but I find these comments dumb. We've now visited 10 very competitive colleges and the co-op program at Northeastern is like no other. In fact I have a brother who works in Boston and he said that sometimes kids from other boston area colleges have trouble getting internships etc because folks take Northeastern kids.

So 2 things can be true... NE worked to game the system AND it's actually become a great school with rare opportunities and lots of smart kids.

What are these “Rare” opportunities that you claim for the school? Many others offer Co-ops. So what is it at NEU that is rare?

Outside of RIT/Drexel, there are not many schools where ALL majors do co-ops. Most schools that have coops are for the engineering/stem programs otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easy App. Gamed the system and people have been easily duped. It’s working, they’re getting the applications and ED at that.

I understand the full picture (e.g., how they set out to climb in USNWR rankings), but I find these comments dumb. We've now visited 10 very competitive colleges and the co-op program at Northeastern is like no other. In fact I have a brother who works in Boston and he said that sometimes kids from other boston area colleges have trouble getting internships etc because folks take Northeastern kids.

So 2 things can be true... NE worked to game the system AND it's actually become a great school with rare opportunities and lots of smart kids.

What are these “Rare” opportunities that you claim for the school? Many others offer Co-ops. So what is it at NEU that is rare?

Co-op opportunities at a coveted school in a great college city.

why is co-op popular? don't we work our whole lives- i would've hated to miss one semester of college to go work (and there's nothing for an undergrad besides research to do in my field so would've been a waste or just a desolate campus if all my friends left). also what's up with the start college abroad? is that to some how game the system- like they don't count in the stats if they don't start in main campus the way some schools do january freshmen to evade the stats?

Interesting and probably accurate.

The stats for "non Boston start" programs are not lower (may have been 10 years ago but not now). However, majority of the "non Boston start" are full pay/rich kids. It's Jan start or sophomore start except NEU has found a way to capitalize on it by requiring you to start freshman fall at one of their many "off campus locations".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC making a decision soon but I'm puzzled how this school seemed to come out of nowhere onto the top of most student lists here (one of the W schools). I get that their acceptance rate has dropped to 1 to 2% and that can drive a fomo feeding frenzy but what also is causing this?

It ought to rank far below most of the other Boston schools: Harvard, MIT, BU, BC, Wellesley, Tufts etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easy App. Gamed the system and people have been easily duped. It’s working, they’re getting the applications and ED at that.

I understand the full picture (e.g., how they set out to climb in USNWR rankings), but I find these comments dumb. We've now visited 10 very competitive colleges and the co-op program at Northeastern is like no other. In fact I have a brother who works in Boston and he said that sometimes kids from other boston area colleges have trouble getting internships etc because folks take Northeastern kids.

So 2 things can be true... NE worked to game the system AND it's actually become a great school with rare opportunities and lots of smart kids.

What are these “Rare” opportunities that you claim for the school? Many others offer Co-ops. So what is it at NEU that is rare?

Co-op opportunities at a coveted school in a great college city.

why is co-op popular? don't we work our whole lives- i would've hated to miss one semester of college to go work (and there's nothing for an undergrad besides research to do in my field so would've been a waste or just a desolate campus if all my friends left). also what's up with the start college abroad? is that to some how game the system- like they don't count in the stats if they don't start in main campus the way some schools do january freshmen to evade the stats?

Interesting and probably accurate.

The stats for "non Boston start" programs are not lower (may have been 10 years ago but not now). However, majority of the "non Boston start" are full pay/rich kids. It's Jan start or sophomore start except NEU has found a way to capitalize on it by requiring you to start freshman fall at one of their many "off campus locations".

Proof? Don't think there is any since NEU not reporting any stats on non-Boston start kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC making a decision soon but I'm puzzled how this school seemed to come out of nowhere onto the top of most student lists here (one of the W schools). I get that their acceptance rate has dropped to 1 to 2% and that can drive a fomo feeding frenzy but what also is causing this?

It ought to rank far below most of the other Boston schools: Harvard, MIT, BU, BC, Wellesley, Tufts etc.

It's below Harvard and MIT, but considered peers to BU, BC, Tufts, Wellsley.

[Anonymous]

Northeastern receives go-ahead to build 1,370-bed residence hall on Columbus Avenue
https://huntnewsnu.com/76391/campus/administration/northeastern-receives-go-ahead-to-build-1370-bed-residence-hall-on-columbus-avenue/

Housing condition is also improving nicely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easy App. Gamed the system and people have been easily duped. It’s working, they’re getting the applications and ED at that.

I understand the full picture (e.g., how they set out to climb in USNWR rankings), but I find these comments dumb. We've now visited 10 very competitive colleges and the co-op program at Northeastern is like no other. In fact I have a brother who works in Boston and he said that sometimes kids from other boston area colleges have trouble getting internships etc because folks take Northeastern kids.

So 2 things can be true... NE worked to game the system AND it's actually become a great school with rare opportunities and lots of smart kids.

What are these “Rare” opportunities that you claim for the school? Many others offer Co-ops. So what is it at NEU that is rare?

Co-op opportunities at a coveted school in a great college city.

why is co-op popular? don't we work our whole lives- i would've hated to miss one semester of college to go work (and there's nothing for an undergrad besides research to do in my field so would've been a waste or just a desolate campus if all my friends left). also what's up with the start college abroad? is that to some how game the system- like they don't count in the stats if they don't start in main campus the way some schools do january freshmen to evade the stats?

While college isn't necessarily a vocational school, most college students get a degree (and some obtain loans to fund it) to hopefully have gainful employment at a middle class or higher level. Co-ops can help with that.

Trust funds babies can major in Art History and such. Most need a job.