Northeastern v. William & Mary

krnBoston
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 14:49:03 +0000

Parent of a NEU student here. I think both schools are excellent academically, but very different. The question shouldn’t be which is a better school, but which is better for this student. One advantage of 3 coops is it gives the student 3 different (if they choose) work environments - a chance to learn about what they might like to do and what they don’t like. NEU also has tremendous international experience opportunities. My daughter is an engineering major, which is often a difficult major to fit in international study. She has done a summer study abroad, a full semester abroad, and is now on an international coop.

I did find with coop my daughter was employed in the summer when often her friends at other schools were having trouble finding relevant internship programs - especially early, such as after sophomore year. There are also research opportunities at NEU - she worked in a lab as a freshman and it turned into summer (paid) work.

Other differences - the locations - Boston is a big city - that’s not for everyone, but many kids really love it. Coop puts a lot of change into their schedules - often they are alternating a semester of classes with a semester of work. Many kids say they like this change - you get tired of classes, time for coop. Tired of work - time for classes. For others it may not be a good fit.

W&M is definitely a prettier, more traditional campus. If that’s what she wants, she may not be as happy at NEU.

They are very different experiences. Both are great - which is right for your daughter?