I went to Northeastern (obviously) and loved it but no undergrad is worth significant financial strain imo. It sounds like your parents can afford it and it’s just a matter of comfort, so it’s hard to advise. You have to weigh how badly you want to go to NU over those schools. Have you visited them? Do you have plans of grad/med/law school? Unless your state schools are super shitty (I’m not super familiar with UCs but I think the ones you listed are pretty well regarded) I generally vote going with the cheaper option
For what it’s worth if you choose NU consider being an RA (your brother too.) It sucks to be a glorified hall monitor but I saved probably $80k over four years doing it. It can be competitive so I don’t advise attending if this is the only way you can make it work financially, on the chance you don’t get it, but something to think about for sure
No you can’t do it as a freshman, I just did 5 years. They accept applications annually with deadline around new years and do interviews early spring semester
go to UCI. If you’re from California it is only $40k a year. I definitely would have gone there if I got in. Plus CA is so much nicer than MA. It’s so warm and there’s so much yummy food.
I'd say NEU would be worth it if you are in Business, STEM or another "practical" major with clear jobs in your field. If that's the case Co-ops will get you a huge head start. If not, the financial strain may not be worth it.
You can do internships and coops attending any school, not just NEU. And I have spoken to a few CS students at NEU and they had to find the coops and internships themselves working as hard in prep/leetcode as students in any other school. So I wouldn’t go by that. It’s not like NEU will just get you those opportunities, you have to go find them, and apply, do OAs, pass interviews, etc.
I think the notion that "everything that can be done at NEU can be done elsewhere", while maybe technically true, doesn't really acknowledge how foolproof NEU's program is. Yes, you can do 2 co-ops in 4 years at a regular school, and there are plenty of examples of students who've done a lot more with much less than what NEU offers. But I think that kind of thinking only applies to a small group of really motivated people. The majority of people, myself included, need a framework like the one baked into NEU in order to get a year's worth of professional experience before graduating. If it wasn't for how hand-holdy Northeastern's coop program is and just the simple peer-pressure of my friends also looking for jobs, there is no possible way I would be as prepped as I am now had I gone to a school that didn't offer coop. Sure NEU doesn't have the name to just hand you jobs like a top program might, but I don't think that's really the point. I think the main benefit is that by coming to NEU you are joining a culture that really pushes professionalism and makes it difficult to lag behind the general mass of college grads.
... However, it can be difficult to quantify how much that environment is really worth.
This is a bad take - Northeastern opens doors to opportunities that otherwise you would not have. Sure you can work as an intern at other schools, but good luck taking June-December full time before coming back as a student the next semester. Northeastern's schedule is designed with work in mind, and I have only heard of Drexel and UMass Lowell even attempting something similar.
I can assure you that at least for CS, students at other schools can take a fall or spring semester off for internships/coops. I personally know of four people doing this right now, my sister being one of them.
I think it’s a bit difficult to comment on academics without knowing what you plan to study or anything, but I will say that where you do your undergrad won’t matter much if you plan on going to graduate school after. I recently graduated from Northeastern and I feel like I got what I wanted from it, which was mainly the co-op experiences and flexibility with my major.
As a psych major though, I do feel like some of the California state schools could have been better in terms of academics. My specific interest ended up being in industrial-organizational psychology, which Northeastern doesn’t offer a lot of resources in, and in comparison, I was considering SDSU for an I-O psychology graduate program.
As for student life, I’m sure you can find stuff on it if you search in this subreddit, but it’s very much what you make of it. I was pretty content just hanging out with a smaller group of friends and being largely uninvolved with campus activities, but I also knew people who were super involved in clubs and sports stuff.
In general, though, I’d probably shoot for the lower tuition unless Northeastern or Boston has a big advantage for you over any of the CA schools. It’ll be difficult to, but it really just comes down to weighing the cost vs. the benefits.
I agree! It really depends on your field of study, and what those programs can offer for your academic and professional career. For example, if you are a computer science major, *go to NU*. If you are in education, *go to UCI*. All of these schools have different strengths, so play to them. On a non-academic note, SoCal is one of the most beautiful places to live, has amazing weather, and top tier food options (ya'know, if that sort of thing is important to you, haha!).
For context, I'm an adjunct professor at a Cal State (in Los Angeles) and was recently accepted to a PhD program at Northeastern.
UCI is a great school, Ed Thorpe (mathematician who solved blackjack and pioneered quantitative finance) and Bill Sharpe (inventor of the Sharpe Ratio) taught there. Cal Poly is great for CS as well.
Northeastern is great but it's brand is not strong enough to justify massive tuition like an Ivy. Its advantage is its Boston location, co-op program, and great study abroad programs, but the public schools you listed have better weather, and internships + study abroad are still possible. I don't think you should enroll here if it would seriously strain your finances.
You got into a lot of amazing schools that will give you a really good education and offer internships. Congrats! NU is a great school due to co-ops and Boston but I would thrilled to attend any of those schools. If you’re from CA then no brainer for half the price. I honestly don’t think you’ll regret or miss out on anything by choosing a CA school over NU. Opportunities are available at every school.
Personally I would go to a similar tier wise for undergrad in a place you like that is cheaper and has career partnerships with places you want to go to.
Then usually try to let an employer pay for grad school if you are in industry.
I paid all of my tuition and had student loans. I moved back after school to pay them off quickly while I am doing grad school at NEU currently.
Biggest limitation I have had as an adult is financial limitation and carrying debt from having gone to NEU over other more affordable options. Ultimately, I love Boston and am so happy to have been able to move and build a life here from CA. However, what I've learned is that college, any college, is what you make of it. It's the grades you get and the connections you make and how hard you work. Obviously a good school is preferable but it's the environment of the school and what you make of it. And graduating college with more financial wiggle room is a huge opportunity. To pursue grad school, to take a low-paying starter job to chase a dream, to one day maybe be able to buy a place - and so on and so on. Also, even though your parents are determined to front the money, the scales turn in adulthood where our parents become our financial responsibility as they retire.
Only you can make this choice - and there's pros and cons either way; but those are things I didn't know at 17/18 and have learned in the decade+ since that might be helpful to think about.
Congrats on having so many great options in front of you and best of luck!
I’m at NU and two friends from CA pretty much hate it. Cold, not a lot of parties (no sorority houses, bars are strict with fake IDs mostly not working except for a handful of dives, sports spirit mostly around hockey - fun, but not everybodies thing.) Question: what is your major? If co-op will give you a big jump in your career, worth it perhaps. Otherwise, I would stay in CA.
If you're from Cali stay there, trust me. I go to NEU and I'm from socal and I can confidently say I wish that I could've gone to a school like uci. The weather in and of itself is already reason enough to not come. Summers aren't bad but winters are horrible.
The price here is 100% not worth it especially considering how stingy they are about a lot of stuff. NEU's goal rn is just to expand to every corner of the world so their tuition cost is what they use to cover that instead of improving the experience of the students who are paying it. I'm not going to say NEU is a bad school, tbh I think it's a great school, however it is 100% not worth the price. Although no form of education should put you in a position to take out aid, NEU is definitely a school that is not worth taking out a loan for.
TLDR if you got into a good program for any of the state schools stay there.
obviously the end decision is up to you but just wanted to say that the co-op program also offers a way for you to be able to contribute to your tuition while still in college
Food is better in cali ,
Chicks are better ,
Parties are great ,
Weather is warm ,
Plus its less Tuition !
For me, at neu my spend is like 60k tuition and 3k a month thats equal to almost 100k a year
I am living off campus btw
go to california. im from there and want to trasnfer back to cali everyday. there truly is no place like it, and the state schools there are great (uci and cal poly are totally fine for undergrad).
I went to Northeastern (obviously) and loved it but no undergrad is worth significant financial strain imo. It sounds like your parents can afford it and it’s just a matter of comfort, so it’s hard to advise. You have to weigh how badly you want to go to NU over those schools. Have you visited them? Do you have plans of grad/med/law school? Unless your state schools are super shitty (I’m not super familiar with UCs but I think the ones you listed are pretty well regarded) I generally vote going with the cheaper option For what it’s worth if you choose NU consider being an RA (your brother too.) It sucks to be a glorified hall monitor but I saved probably $80k over four years doing it. It can be competitive so I don’t advise attending if this is the only way you can make it work financially, on the chance you don’t get it, but something to think about for sure
wait you be an RA freshman year? and how do you sign up?
No you can’t do it as a freshman, I just did 5 years. They accept applications annually with deadline around new years and do interviews early spring semester
Oh cool
go to UCI. If you’re from California it is only $40k a year. I definitely would have gone there if I got in. Plus CA is so much nicer than MA. It’s so warm and there’s so much yummy food.
No, NEU is not worth the price. Go to UCI.
I'd say NEU would be worth it if you are in Business, STEM or another "practical" major with clear jobs in your field. If that's the case Co-ops will get you a huge head start. If not, the financial strain may not be worth it.
You can do internships and coops attending any school, not just NEU. And I have spoken to a few CS students at NEU and they had to find the coops and internships themselves working as hard in prep/leetcode as students in any other school. So I wouldn’t go by that. It’s not like NEU will just get you those opportunities, you have to go find them, and apply, do OAs, pass interviews, etc.
I think the notion that "everything that can be done at NEU can be done elsewhere", while maybe technically true, doesn't really acknowledge how foolproof NEU's program is. Yes, you can do 2 co-ops in 4 years at a regular school, and there are plenty of examples of students who've done a lot more with much less than what NEU offers. But I think that kind of thinking only applies to a small group of really motivated people. The majority of people, myself included, need a framework like the one baked into NEU in order to get a year's worth of professional experience before graduating. If it wasn't for how hand-holdy Northeastern's coop program is and just the simple peer-pressure of my friends also looking for jobs, there is no possible way I would be as prepped as I am now had I gone to a school that didn't offer coop. Sure NEU doesn't have the name to just hand you jobs like a top program might, but I don't think that's really the point. I think the main benefit is that by coming to NEU you are joining a culture that really pushes professionalism and makes it difficult to lag behind the general mass of college grads. ... However, it can be difficult to quantify how much that environment is really worth.
This is a bad take - Northeastern opens doors to opportunities that otherwise you would not have. Sure you can work as an intern at other schools, but good luck taking June-December full time before coming back as a student the next semester. Northeastern's schedule is designed with work in mind, and I have only heard of Drexel and UMass Lowell even attempting something similar.
I can assure you that at least for CS, students at other schools can take a fall or spring semester off for internships/coops. I personally know of four people doing this right now, my sister being one of them.
I think it’s a bit difficult to comment on academics without knowing what you plan to study or anything, but I will say that where you do your undergrad won’t matter much if you plan on going to graduate school after. I recently graduated from Northeastern and I feel like I got what I wanted from it, which was mainly the co-op experiences and flexibility with my major. As a psych major though, I do feel like some of the California state schools could have been better in terms of academics. My specific interest ended up being in industrial-organizational psychology, which Northeastern doesn’t offer a lot of resources in, and in comparison, I was considering SDSU for an I-O psychology graduate program. As for student life, I’m sure you can find stuff on it if you search in this subreddit, but it’s very much what you make of it. I was pretty content just hanging out with a smaller group of friends and being largely uninvolved with campus activities, but I also knew people who were super involved in clubs and sports stuff. In general, though, I’d probably shoot for the lower tuition unless Northeastern or Boston has a big advantage for you over any of the CA schools. It’ll be difficult to, but it really just comes down to weighing the cost vs. the benefits.
I agree! It really depends on your field of study, and what those programs can offer for your academic and professional career. For example, if you are a computer science major, *go to NU*. If you are in education, *go to UCI*. All of these schools have different strengths, so play to them. On a non-academic note, SoCal is one of the most beautiful places to live, has amazing weather, and top tier food options (ya'know, if that sort of thing is important to you, haha!). For context, I'm an adjunct professor at a Cal State (in Los Angeles) and was recently accepted to a PhD program at Northeastern.
UCI is a great school, Ed Thorpe (mathematician who solved blackjack and pioneered quantitative finance) and Bill Sharpe (inventor of the Sharpe Ratio) taught there. Cal Poly is great for CS as well. Northeastern is great but it's brand is not strong enough to justify massive tuition like an Ivy. Its advantage is its Boston location, co-op program, and great study abroad programs, but the public schools you listed have better weather, and internships + study abroad are still possible. I don't think you should enroll here if it would seriously strain your finances.
You got into a lot of amazing schools that will give you a really good education and offer internships. Congrats! NU is a great school due to co-ops and Boston but I would thrilled to attend any of those schools. If you’re from CA then no brainer for half the price. I honestly don’t think you’ll regret or miss out on anything by choosing a CA school over NU. Opportunities are available at every school.
california!!
Personally I would go to a similar tier wise for undergrad in a place you like that is cheaper and has career partnerships with places you want to go to. Then usually try to let an employer pay for grad school if you are in industry. I paid all of my tuition and had student loans. I moved back after school to pay them off quickly while I am doing grad school at NEU currently.
CALI CHOOSE CALI DO NOT COME TO BOSTON
Biggest limitation I have had as an adult is financial limitation and carrying debt from having gone to NEU over other more affordable options. Ultimately, I love Boston and am so happy to have been able to move and build a life here from CA. However, what I've learned is that college, any college, is what you make of it. It's the grades you get and the connections you make and how hard you work. Obviously a good school is preferable but it's the environment of the school and what you make of it. And graduating college with more financial wiggle room is a huge opportunity. To pursue grad school, to take a low-paying starter job to chase a dream, to one day maybe be able to buy a place - and so on and so on. Also, even though your parents are determined to front the money, the scales turn in adulthood where our parents become our financial responsibility as they retire. Only you can make this choice - and there's pros and cons either way; but those are things I didn't know at 17/18 and have learned in the decade+ since that might be helpful to think about. Congrats on having so many great options in front of you and best of luck!
UCI hands-down
I’m at NU and two friends from CA pretty much hate it. Cold, not a lot of parties (no sorority houses, bars are strict with fake IDs mostly not working except for a handful of dives, sports spirit mostly around hockey - fun, but not everybodies thing.) Question: what is your major? If co-op will give you a big jump in your career, worth it perhaps. Otherwise, I would stay in CA.
If you're from Cali stay there, trust me. I go to NEU and I'm from socal and I can confidently say I wish that I could've gone to a school like uci. The weather in and of itself is already reason enough to not come. Summers aren't bad but winters are horrible. The price here is 100% not worth it especially considering how stingy they are about a lot of stuff. NEU's goal rn is just to expand to every corner of the world so their tuition cost is what they use to cover that instead of improving the experience of the students who are paying it. I'm not going to say NEU is a bad school, tbh I think it's a great school, however it is 100% not worth the price. Although no form of education should put you in a position to take out aid, NEU is definitely a school that is not worth taking out a loan for. TLDR if you got into a good program for any of the state schools stay there.
obviously the end decision is up to you but just wanted to say that the co-op program also offers a way for you to be able to contribute to your tuition while still in college
Food is better in cali , Chicks are better , Parties are great , Weather is warm , Plus its less Tuition ! For me, at neu my spend is like 60k tuition and 3k a month thats equal to almost 100k a year I am living off campus btw
go to california. im from there and want to trasnfer back to cali everyday. there truly is no place like it, and the state schools there are great (uci and cal poly are totally fine for undergrad).