mom2collegekids

As of right now, i am most interested in northeastern. With the scholarship i am only left to pay the room/board which is 13,000 (expensive bc its in boston). But this is the least money i would have to pay so far. I also love boston and could see myself going to northeastern.


My brother and sister are not applying to any of the same schools as me, they are looking at many state schools (in NY)


and at this point cannot apply to any other schools.
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there's not only room and board.....there are other costs, too. There are books, and maybe also "course fees" or other fees ...these can really add up.

How will you pay for the room, board, books, and any fees?

It doesn't sound like you have a real "financial safety."

How much will your parents contribute towards YOUR costs each year?

Your siblings may not really be saving your family any money if they go to NY schools. If their EFCs aren't low enough, your family may be paying full freight for those schools....when you have 3 in school and little aid...it can be very expensive.


Why can't you apply to more schools??? You don't have a financial safety unless you know for sure how you'd pay for the uncovered costs at NEU.

ucbalumnus

If the OP does not have an actual safety, then the default safety is to go to community college and then transfer to a state university like Buffalo or Stony Brook after two years in order to complete the bachelor's degree in two more years.

tomofboston

@Alexandre: Northeastern now offers a 4 year option with 2 coop periods in addition to the traditional 5 year option with 3 coop periods.

@ucbalumnus: Boston University does not have a chemical engineering department, hence its lack of ABET accreditation.

juliaann

my family and i are applying for financial aid and are waiting to hear back from individual schools
yes, most students at Northeastern go for 5 yrs but i would only pay room and board each year, (which is 13,000 but i will probably get at least some of that covered by financial aid), my parents do not know yet exactly what they will contribute to each of us, but we are okay taking out small loans (ie to help with room and board), additionally, if i attended northeastern, i could potentially share an appartment with other students and save money (we spoke to some upperclassmen who told us approximate costs)
i have not applied to state schools, nor minnesota, and will NOT apply to any more schools, as it is i am waiting on many and have to make a decision within two months
i will not be attending community college to save money, i already have a full tuition scholarship (which no, does not include books, but yes includes all classes)

juliaann

what i really wanted in this thread was opinions on which school i should be considering, taking everything into account, not just finances
i really like northeastern, but worry it does not have a good enough name for career purposes although the coop programs seems quite helpful
it really was one of my safety schools but i fell in love with it and got a great scholarship
so i wanted some opinions-- also, i THINK i want to major in engineering, (perhaps biomedical), but not 100% sure so if the school only has biomed or chem it is okay with me
**the schools i listed at the beginning are the only schools i am considering

xraymancs

If you like Northeastern and you can afford it, then it will work well for you. Make sure that the engineering programs that you want are ABET accredited and you should be OK. In my experience, you can get an excellent education at many different universities, the major contribution is for YOU to put a lot of effort into it and be ready to take advantage of the opportunities available to you. By choosing a university that you like and can afford, you will be more likely to be happy and successful.

There is a temptation to think that another school might be "better" but, particularly in engineering, the accredited degree provides some guarantee that the curriculum is good. If you go to a "better" school and you are unhappy or the financial strain on your family makes it harder for you to do well, then it is not a good choice for you.

Looking at NEU objectively, it is a private research university whose rank in engineering is about the same as it is overall. I have colleagues ans research collaborators there whom I have quite a bit of respect for. Comparing it to my university, it ranks higher and I know that our engineering students do very well after graduation.

Bottom line: if you like NEU be comfortable in your choice and go for it.

Good Luck!

tomofboston

I agree with xraymancs.

If you are admitted to Yale, Prnceton or Columbia and receive a financial aid package that makes them affordable, that may be a different story. Otherwise, a full tuition scholarship at Northeastern is hard to turn down.

Also, when you ask for advice on CC you have to expect the thread to go off in directions you never imagined!

Erin's Dad

Let's see. You're asking if a school which is probably among the top 200 overall in the US and the top 100 engineering schools is good enough?

KaneGooden

Hey OP, I too am a triplet, and all three of us are going to college next year! I am looking at engineering too and we did not get a whole lot from fafsa, but most private schools will meet almost all of our need.

scansmom

re career purposes, NEU engineering students do not compete for co-op positions solely against other NEU students; they frequently compete against students from other schools as well; many of NEU's top engineering co-op employers recruit for both co-op and internship positions at many other schools besides NEU. So, many of the same opportunities are available to NEU students as are available to students at "higher ranked" schools.

One of the main differences, is, as already noted, that at NEU the curriculum is more integrated and built around the co-op model.

My S graduated from NEU last spring in Chem E; he did the 5 yr/3 co-op program and was able to pay for all of his room/board, books and personal costs during his last 3 yrs with his co-op earnings.

juliaann

I have heard back from all my schools and have narrowed my choice down to these four based on my acceptances/financial aid packages.

Northeastern:
Pro- full tuition scholarship (w/o room and board), Boston, less stressful (as Cornell), Co-op, Global Scholars stipend for $6,000 to study abroad, honors program
Con- not as well known (or ranked as highly, not that this is personally important), not too diverse in engineering majors, crime in the city?

Cornell:
Pro- prestige and name, great academics, big school many majors, GREAT financial aid (comparable to full tuition), great breath of engineering studies, good networking
Con- weather, location, competitive atmosphere, lack of social scene, stress, "hardest ivy to graduate from"

UMD college park: - still waiting for financial aid, but i do have a scholarship
Pro- great engineering, honors program, near DC, warmer weather, fun big university,
Con- ? not in city ? big greek life (not too sure)

University of Rochester:
Pro- my dad went there, good engineering, GREAT scholarship/financial aid (comparable to Cornell an NeU), not as stressful as Cornell,
Con- location, weather, small school (is that a con for me? not even sure)

I would appreciate any input! I have to make a decision by May 1! I am sort of leaning toward Cornell and Northeastern. I am so in love with boston and NeU but how could i pass up the opportunity to study at cornell?

Disclaimer* my "pros and cons" are based on things i have read and heard, just trying to describe my feelings

oodadoo

Rice University (Houston, TX) is a Need Blind institution with a HUGE endowment...they are rated as the 'Happiest University; and depending on the family income will leave you with Zero, $10k in student loans - I do not know how they will address the siblings issue but I imagine favorably...
This is known as the Ivy of the south and is an Excellent Engineering school - too bad our son did not get in...good luck with your family's decision/opportunities...

juliaann

yeah, i had been thinking about Rice earlier in the year, but i decided not to apply because i live in new york and didn't want to go to school so far away and have to pay such costly travel expenses. Although its a great school, i could not apply at this point anyway.

TheBaron19

I was scrolling through this thread and saw your "Not too sure" regarding College Park, and I thought I could clear some things up. I should start by saying that I don't actually go to UMDCP, but I live less than an hour away and roughly 20% out of each graduating class from my high school goes there (seriously), so you could say I'm familiar with the school.

I'm not sure if you were referring to any city in particular or just that it's generally not in a city. In any case, the fact that UMDCP's not in DC is a good thing, trust me. As for College Park itself, it's a pretty typical college town and has all the features one would expect. Walking up Rt. 1, you can find all the college bars/pizzerias/Chinese take-out places/etc. that you would anywhere else. It not being in a city also makes it easier to find off-campus housing (I have several friends that live in converted houses), although I should also say that CP has great housing options (read: not dorms) for upperclassmen. Finally, its proximity to DC gives you access to all the big-city amenities of arts and culture and sports (although some would question whether DC sports teams legitimately count as "professional").

As for greek life, it certainly does have a presence on campus, as it will on any large college campus. That said, a large majority of my friends are not involved with the greeks at College Park and still manage to have an excellent social life. The student body is large enough that no one social clique/group/system dominates the university's life.

Hopefully that helps to clarify some things. Good luck in your decision!

zephyr15

My two cents for what it's worth.

Among those four schools -- not considering finances (much.

Cornell is far and away the best school (full disclosure -- I'm a Cornell Alum). It is what I would strongly recommend. With regard to your negatives:

Weather -- if that's a consideration, I guess you go to Maryland. The other three are comparable.

Competitive atmosphere/graduation rate -- If Cornell has accepted you, I am fully confident that you will be able to do the work there. The graduation rate for engineering is in the 92-93% range. Rochester reports 85% graduation rate. Though the Rochester/Cornell data may not be an apples to apples comparison, Cornell's rate is certainly comparable or better. Lack of social scene -- in a word -- untrue. Cornell is not as big a party school as some, but there are parties and social life. To be honest I'm not sure engineering and party school is a good idea anywhere. However your social life will be what you make f it anyway.

http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000454.pdf#zoom=100

I also think that Cornell has incredible academic diversity with its seven colleges. This, I think is a major plus.

Rochester -- This is an excellent school, especially for engineering. Though I don't think it is in the same caliber or in the same league (either figuratively or literally) as Cornell, I don't have a bad thing to say about it. It is a smaller school. Bottom line, if the money were much better or you absolutely loved the school, you should go there. Otherwise, I Cornell is a better choice.

Maryland -- Well ranked engineering school. But the University in General is less prestigious than either Cornell or Rochester, and by a pretty wide margin. Unless weather is the deciding factor, I wouldn't recommend this school over the other two academically. Financial factors always can make a difference.

Northeastern -- What this school has going for it is the cost and the fact that it may have the best co-op program in the nation. It's engineering school is not on the caliber of the other three. I also think that diversity in engineering programs is very important. Speaking from family experience, My D enterred her school as a Chem-E major and will likely change to Computer Sciences. Changing one's mind is common at your age, and if possible, I would recommend keeping your options opened. FWIW -- I had a few friends who were choosing between Northeastern and Maryland engineering (with similar packages) all chose Maryland. However, YMMV.