Hi, I got into both NEU and Tufts for mechanical engineering. I’ve spent all month trying to decide between the two but I still feel lost.
I got accepted into Northeastern’s honors college and also got a scholarship from them. Even with that, the two schools will still be around the same price per year. Toured and liked both of them despite their different vibes—I liked the city aspect of NEU, but I also liked the fact that Tufts has a real campus.
My main concerns are job placement after graduation, including salary, (though I may consider doing grad school) and having a lively(but not too excessive) social/campus life.
I am very attracted to the co-op program offered by northeastern and the opportunities that come with being directly in Boston, but idk if it’s really that much better than tufts when tufts also helps with internships and offers co-op for mech Eng students. And how do the two engineering programs compare? Ik that Northeastern’s is ranked higher, but idk how much weight rankings hold. I like the fact that the class sizes at tufts are more intimate, but idk how worth it that would be if Northeastern’s program is in fact better.
Sorry for the word vomit, I’m writing this in the middle of the night😭 Any advice would be very, very much appreciated, thank you!
Make no mistake - neither provides a job (co op or intern) - but they’ll have tools to help you.
Rankings don’t matter - what matters is ABET accreditation and both have it.
According to data Northeastern provides - Northeastern in 2024 - 77% are employed, 16% in grad school, and 6% seeking employment - this was 9 months after graduation. NU doesn’t provide an average salary but they show 36.6% earned $70-79K and 29.3% earned $80-89K. 7% were under $70K and the other quarter or saw report over $89K.
Tufts shows the actual jobs people have by the major but I don’t see salaries. But they show job title, company, location. So you’d need to ask them about salaries.
They are likely not much different - companies pay engineers by location moreso than school - so whether you go to Texas Tech or Tufts, the pay is going to pay the same - assuming the company and location are the same. In other words, my Bama son makes the same as the Michigan grads at his company, at the same location…all do.
So while Tufts doesn’t provide as detailed data (% employed, salary), that would not be a concern. You, and not the school, will be responsible for finding the job.
I think you hit the nail on the head - traditional vs. a different model - both fine schools. Where would you prefer to be - removing the employment issue - that’s where to choose.
I can see that this could be a difficult decision.
I just checked and both are ABET accredited for ME. I toured NEU with a daughter years ago, and used to know someone who lived very close to the Tufts campus. Thus I am at least somewhat familiar with both campuses and find both to be attractive. I would personally be surprised if there was much if any difference in terms of the jobs that would be available after graduation. I also like the coop options at NEU, but agree that coops and/or internships will be available at Tufts also. Rankings really do not matter much for an engineering major, both are ranked relatively highly for ME, and I can see value in smaller classes. It also sounds like you got very good financial aid offers from both schools.
Any salary differences for the same major at two different universities are usually a function of where graduates tend to get jobs. Basically a university that is in a more expensive area tends to have more graduates get a job in an expensive area, which is an area where salaries tend to be higher. However, these two schools are physically close enough that I would expect graduates to have a rather large overlap in terms of where they get jobs.
I think that these are both very good choices and you can do well at either. Expect that engineering classes will be challenging at either school and plan to make a strong effort to stay ahead in your work regardless of which of these very good schools you end up attending.
You might want to look at the required courses to graduate from each of these schools. Look at both the general requirements and the major-specific requirements.
You really can’t go wrong at either of these schools, as long as you make a strong effort to keep ahead in your class work.
Do you have any preference? Do you live close enough to visit both again?
If faced with the same choice I might end up needing to flip a coin.
Have you looked at the four year plan of study at both? Electives? Concentrations/minors/certifications? What are the lab/shops/maker spaces like at each institution? Is there a difference in the depth and breadth of mech e classes?
If coops are important to you, how many students participate in them at Tufts? Do they seamlessly handle the transition back and forth between work and school not just for registration but also housing?
Imagine having made the decision. How does it feel to let the other school go?
For engineering, I’m a huge fan of well support co op programs so I’d personally pick Northeastern, but the good news is you can’t make a wrong choice here. Both great schools in their own ways.
Honestly, I would go with your gut on this, not on numbers (as the salary, job placement, ranks, etc are not meaningfully different IMO).
My gut, which isn’t yours, would be Tufts as I like the smaller community campus vibe, and less pre-professional flavor. However, that isn’t “better” just my preference!
Or, I would dig in deeply into ease of study-abroad as engineer (if at all of interest) or ease of “back-up plans” if you decide engineering isn’t actually for you.
Please pay little attention to hyperbolic, inaccurate exaggerations. Outcome data is not “useless”, but as MANY here have explained, supported by highly respected organizations like the Georgetown center for education in the workforce and the Hechinger report, amongst others, use great care in reading between the lines with these sometimes limited “self reports“ as explained in this thread: Problems and limitations with College career outcome reports: reading between the lines
Best to do your due diligence and make your decision on your multiple personal choices. Many students pick their colleges based on fit, comfort, major, peers, quality of education, access to faculty, location, etc. ,and not just on a hypothetical potential starting salary. There is more to college than money.
One of my s’s (who is a mech E) really liked Tufts, the feel he got when he visited with the engineering faculty/department, and he liked the fun, 3 week winter classes. He didn’t like the big hill to have to walk, LOL. He didn’t look at NEU (he wanted a smaller school) and he ultimately applied ED elsewhere. As an aside , @A_G ,are you guaranteed to be able to remain on the Boston campus all 4 years?
Go to the school where you want to spend the next four years. Your post-graduation success will be dependent on what YOU accomplish during college rather than which one of these fine schools you choose to attend.
Are you referring to NEU? In that case, I believe so? I was admitted to the Boston campus so I don’t think they’ll be switching me around or anything like that (hopefully lol). But if you mean in terms of housing, I live in the area and plan on commuting in my junior and senior years anyway(no matter which school), so that won’t be a problem. Thank you for the response!
There are long threads here arguing about Northeastern: it’s meteor-like rise in ratings, marketing efforts, and the like. I am an Alum of the Law School and a psychology undergrad (long story how I ended up there for psychology). I went there (long before) it was cool and it always had a lot to offer. I am glad it is getting a chance to shine.
I think the co-op is a huge asset, especially for engineering, healthcare and business. Friend’s son just completed the Bachelors in ME with several strong coop placements in the area. I believe he is going onto graduate school, but could have worked in industry. There are so many coop employers in Boston area and the fact that Northeastern students co-op year round means more opportunities.
I would ask a lot of questions about course availability at Tufts. The only engineering student I know who attended Tufts recently was put off by how difficult it was to get into certain classes. This is a problem in engineering given the rigid progression of coursework.
I wasn’t aware that course availability was a problem at tufts, thanks for bringing that to my attention. I’ve actually heard that Northeastern was the one with that problem because of the overcrowding. Just makes it harder to choose between the two schools😭 thank you for your opinion, i appreciate it!
My son is a current engineering student at Tufts (ChemE, not ME). He has had no problem at all getting his required engineering classes. Tufts did recently change the way engineers register for classes which makes getting electives more difficult than before, but still allows engineering students first pick at the required classes. Engineers used to have first pick for all classes, and perhaps that’s where the complaint comes from current students.
For an urban university, Northeastern has a mostly defined campus and it is a designated arboretum.
One major difference between Northeastern and Tufts is that Northeastern has a very professional/career-oriented vibe while a majority of Tufts undergrads are liberal arts majors.
Also, in terms of coops, I am not familiar with what portion of Tufts engineering students participate in coop. How do they handle the transitions from class time to coop and back to class time? Would you feel out of sync with the majority of students? At Northeastern the entire curriculum is built around coop, so no one is ever “out of sync”.