I transferred to Northeastern: AMA + My experience

Colleges & Universities Northeastern University
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For context, I got into Northeastern out of high school as an Oakland Scholar (I think thats what its called), which was a brand new program and and my parents did not want me going across the country for what they called a “subpar education”. I originally planned on taking the full ride Brandeis gave me, but I ended up going to community college. My experience in community college warrants a separate post, but to sum it up, although I made some amazing connections and friends, the educational experience was quite lackluster and I was excited to attend a four year school. I ended up in the honors program and Phi Theta Kappa, but I had very little involvement in my cc besides my job and PTK. Besides NEU, I applied to Boston University, Boston College, UMass Amherst, MIT, Tufts, Columbia, Barnard, Fordham, Claremont Schools except Harvey Mudd, USC, UMich, UMaryland, Tulane. Because of my AP credit, I was able to finish my associates in 1 year, giving me a guaranteed spot at UMA so I wish I applied to fewer schools. Got into NEU, Fordham, USC (spring), Maryland, UMA, waitlisted at Ponoma, Tufts, Columbia, rejected everywhere else. Northeastern was not my #1 pick, I was going to attend UMA to save money but co-op + urban setting drew me in and I got enough financial aid to cover the costs of going.

Credits: NEU accepted the majority of my CC courses and most of my AP credits, giving me junior standing. I didn’t have to worry about appealing credits but it did take a while for all my courses to be evaluated, and I went to a MA CC.

Housing: I entered in the Spring and was offered housing. If you apply for the fall, theres a less likely chance there will be housing offered but I do know fall transfers in on campus housing. It’s usually suite or apartment style (sophomore) and you can get accommodations as needed but be proactive with the housing office. Because I had accommodations, I was guaranteed housing but a lot of upperclassmen live off campus because it’s (usually) cheaper anyway but I wanted to live on campus for the experience, which I highly recommended.

Academics: My professors actually care about me and are available as needed. In CC a lot of my professors didn’t hold office hours and weren’t dedicated to their students but the profs here love their jobs. I wish I went to office hours more often my first semester! I will say NEU is pouring all their money into Khoury (CS) and AI with all the fancy lounges + free Claude, while neglecting the other colleges and especially the humanities with the 85%(!!) budget cut to CSSH. I’m in COS (Sciences), but I have a minor in CSSH and the devaluing of the humanities is one of my biggest drawbacks to coming here.

Transition: Where NEU falls short is the lack of resources for transfer students specifically. I transferred in the spring so it might be different for fall but orientation was one day long and it was difficult to connect with incoming transfer students until orientation. A lot of the welcome week events were filled with mostly NUin students, but they had some transfer-only events.

The transition to NEU was not an easy one, even with dating a current NEU student and having a lot of friends here but I am so happy I chose Northeastern at the end of the day because it has given me so many opportunities that I can’t find elsewhere. I’m currently on my first co-op, have done research on campus here, and I might have given you a tour if you went to admitted students day or toured in the past few months! I’m not super active on here so it will take me some time to answer but let me know if you have any questions about the transfer process or NEU!

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Thanks for posting your note and glad you liked Northeastern. My son is thinking about enrolling there and I’m kind of concerned he might not be able to graduate in 4 years due to coop. He has done more than 10 APs and gotten 4-5. The college board says he can transfer about 40 AP credits to NEU, however, NEU seems to cap it at 32. How is your experience about transferring AP credits, did they deny any?

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NEU took all my AP credits which got me out of most of their gen ed requirements and some of my major requirements, its honestly the only reason why I don’t need summer classes. I’m not sure what your son’s major, but most people graduate in four years with 2 co-ops by doing summer classes or AP/IB/DE credit. Unless he’s engineering or maybe planning on doing a combined major, he should be able to graduate in four.

IMO it’s pretty common to do a 5th year so don’t let that discourage him (especially if he’s engineering), and you would pay the same tuition wise because of co-op. I hope this helps!

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Until recently, nearly all northeastern students took 5 years, it was the default. I am not sure why this is a huge concern. it is really only very recently (last 10 years?) that 4 years was even feasible for most kids. Coops were truly 2x 6 months. True co-op schools (RIT, e.g.) are usually still 5-year programs for many majors.

I used to work at several orgs that had very established partnerships with Northeastern and a whole cohort of coops at all times.

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NEU is emphasizing graduating in four because it makes their graduation rate look better, even though around 40-50% of students graduate in four years in general. Northeastern is a fairly untraditional school (one of the reasons why I chose to go here, I had to take a gap year between CC and NEU) so I don’t understand why people complain that it’s not the traditional college experience (i.e. no school spirit, why we use the terms “1st year” “2nd year” etc, greek life).

Maybe it’s because I went to cc and there’s no social culture but I see people wearing Northeastern merch all the time, i guess since we don’t have football anymore but hockey is pretty huge up in Boston anyway. Sororities don’t have houses but the only school I’m aware of with greek housing in MA is UMass Amherst and (I think) MIT.

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I think less than it used to be, especially as they move to getting people to graduate in 4 years:) The true co-op model (two distinct, long co-ops, which is very distinct from summer internships) was a differentiator. (We had summer interns, too at my old employer). Our co-ops worked as real staff, not like the interns, many co-ops came back for a second if they were good. When those students graduated, they had REAL, true work experience.

Anyway, I like Northeastern, know lots of grads who loved it. I have a kid likely applying next year, but I am not sure I like their admin’s turn away from that part of their long-held model myself. The worry about the graduation rate is part of their obsession with metrics and rankings - when the metric becomes the goal like that, it is ruining their brand and actual outcomes IMO.

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I’m not a big fan of the admin here for a multitude of reasons (not even just manipulating metrics, see the recent City of Boston hearing) as well. We have no shortage of people applying here because we over 100k first year applicants for ~5k spots. Your reasoning is why I chose to came here, I wanted to have meaningful work experience before graduation. I got a lot of hate online/irl for choosing to come to northeastern cuz of the “fake prestige” but the admin at my other options weren’t much better (ahem, UMass Amherst) and at career fairs employers really love northeastern grads because they have practical work experience.

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The 5-year option is still available in virtually all majors. (I believe some CAMD majors only offer the 4 year model.)

There were a few things that seem to turn off prospective students, such as the need to have that fifth year. Another is likely having to do a summer session. For those who enroll, those concerns soon disappear after the student gets in the swing of the campus culture.

Northeastern does not want to turn off prospective students.

I have never read a complaint here on CC or other forums from graduating students lamenting that fifth year or having to do one or two summer sessions.

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Agreed, I don’t know a single person here who complains about having to do a 5th year or a summer session. Employers usually don’t care if it took 5 years for you to finish your degree, and summer term is quite long. For reference, a friend of mine transferred this spring and she is taking a summer class for the first part of summer, and that summer class starts in early may and ends up finishing in mid-June. This means that part of June, all of July and August and a little bit of September is free to do whatever you please (or co-op). Said friend and I elected to do 5 years total, and I’m considering an accelerated masters because we can and I love this school.

For any prospective students/parents, a 5th year or summer classes isn’t that big of a deal and will be fine in the grand scheme of things (i.e. tuition). I’m on co-op right now and elected to do a DOC (summer study abroad) once co-op ends since I can’t really fit a traditional study abroad into my plan. You can also take summer/semester courses across their other campuses (i.e. Oakland or London).

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My son will graduate next week. Based on what I know, you don’t have to take 5 years. He did two internships, one co-op and one study abroad in a summer semester. He could have even graduated a semester earlier but he chose not to. I remember Northeastern accepted all his AP credits.

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