I disagree with you about how “Most CC’ers” “seem to love” NU. Every family that I know who has done the NUIn program (first semester abroad) has loved it and raved about the experience. I see many CC posts from people with no personal experience speculating it may be difficult to transition to campus, get credits, make friends, etc. And there are always tons of posts about how the program is some kind of shifty admissions practice, notwithstanding the fact that many colleges offer similar programs. And posters still with some frequency trot out the old “gaming the system” article, even though it is very old at this point.
As for “shouting down” the downsides of co-op, again, the negative posts about co-op seem to come from posters without personal experience and say things like “It’s not that different from other schools” when in fact it is extremely different from other schools. There is also one person whose advice is to always choose a cheaper school. That may be good advice if a student would have to take on a lot of debt or who plans on graduate school, but if not, I don’t think that advice is good. Also, I know several honors graduates of fine colleges who are unemployed/underemployed one or more years after graduation while the NU graduates I know tend to have good jobs in their chosen fields, which I think is directly attributable to their co-op experience.
My advice to any parent of an accepted student whose child is considering NU is to join the Northeastern Parents Facebook group where you can interact with thousands of parents who have firsthand knowledge of the benefits and requirements of the co-op program, academic experience and global opportunities. For a student, my strong advice is to speak to NU students who have been in your major and location for the best advice.
No one college is right for everyone. Good luck to all deciding where their best fit is.
I know several parents (in real life, actual parents of Northeastern seniors) who are somewhere between melting down and just having a quiet crisis because it’s late April and their kid still doesn’t have a job post-graduation.
This is not a Northeastern thing- this is an everywhere thing and reflects the economy, political uncertainty, reduced hiring targets, and tariffs. None of which have anything to do with Northeastern. But these are people who stretched to afford Northeastern specifically to AVOID this- as if paying more for college somehow insulates you from the overall economy? Clearly it doesn’t.
But tell that to the parents who assumed “coop equals financial security” or to the kids who assumed "going to Northeastern means I won’t have to hit the pavement like my friends at U Conn or U Mass or UVM ". So it will be interesting to see how quickly these families understand the new reality- there are no guarantees. Even if your CS kid had three prestigious coops at Northeastern- a coop is not a guarantee of a full time offer, and if tech pulls back (as it has) your kid is going to need to flex- just like every other new grad.
Don’t want to move to Dayton OH to work on systems upgrades for a manufacturer of industrial elevators? Hey, don’t say no too quickly. Your finance major doesn’t want to live in Wabash as a FP&A analyst for a dairy cooperative? Maybe it will teach her things that the big shot job at State Street or Fidelity wouldn’t have taught her.
Everyone is going to learn new skills in the new reality!
Your speculation and projections are not accurate. Again, my strong advice for anyone considering NU is to join NU forums.
From the posts of the NU parents I have read in this forum, I think they have a firm understanding that personal initiative is required for any type of job and there are no guarantees. The co-ops themselves are not guaranteed and just like in any type of job, the offer may be rescinded if the employer needs to cut back, and students need to pivot. It’s a very real-world situation. I can’t say I know any NU parent who thinks their child did not need to “hit the pavement,” including me. My NU graduate did “hit the pavement” to find a job after graduation, however having the co-op experience was instrumental in assisting with the process. There seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding here, and frankly incorrect projections, about NU students and families. Many times, co-ops do lead to job offers. It is never guaranteed, but it is also not uncommon.
This is a field where graduate study is helpful to specialize in one of the sub areas of EE to stand out.
If you are likely to study further pick UW-Madison as it is a top program with excellent research opportunities. If you like to directly go to the industry then pick NEU as the co-ops can provide a leg up in the job market.