Wellesley vs Northeastern?

Which to attend ? what if premed? is grade deflation still a problem at Wellesley? Is culture ultracompetitive or collaborative? Ive read there is slight grade inflation at NE.

are academics and quality of teaching at NE actually good? I know co-ops are strong.

which social life is better? Wellesley small, if you dont vibe, could be a nightmare? everyone knows everyone else’s business. And again, if everyone is a type A personality, is this healthy? what if you are chill?

NE, everyone coming in and out, doing coop, so no strong sense of community, hard to make strong friendships?

Where are you hearing this?? Both are most likely misnomers. Wellesley is a great opportunity! Congrats. IMO NE has not really earned the rise in desirability it has gotten. And the multiple campuses, unless your D has Boston for all 4 years, can be a challenge.

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Very very different institutions. Wellesley would be my choice – it is an exceptional LAC. Have you visited? What does the student prefer?

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Which to attend is where your student is most comfortable and excited to be, not which may or may not have grade deflation.

Kids complain about schools with grade deflation and yet said schools send kids to med school.

Wellessley is small but Babson isn’t too far.

Take out co op - in the end you have big vs. small - which does she prefer. And then you have co-ed vs. female.

These are so different - forget the academic part - where does she feel best. You will be somewhere four years, day after day. That matters more than anything.

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she is on the fence.

concerned W physically isolated, ne more urban. frankly i personally dont know how much most students actually leave their campus and local environs while at college. but then again i was not the most extroverted.

concerned about privacy at such a small school and everyone again knowing your business. knows a friend who had an issue like this after breaking up with significant other.

feels premed advising would be better at ne.

despite knowing grade deflation is no longer enshrined as policy, has heard that in practice it still exists.

wellesley has better name and prestige, she agrees, but she thinks it doesnt matter so much if she will be going to med school/grad school.

w so many kids coming and going all the time for coop, fears at ne u just dont form a strong sense of community.

What does the student think of the co-op focused curricula at Northeastern?

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i am thinking she will feel strongly one way or another after the upcoming Wellesley Admitted Student Day.

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She likes it and its connectedness to well known hospitals but also recognizes Wellesley can connect her with relevant internships.

She obviously applied to those schools for a reason. What did she like (not dislike) about each? She needs to let go of that “everyone is in everyone’s business” thing. It’s simply not so. Remember, every year 25% leave and there are 25% new students on campus. I went to a very small LAC. One of my kids went to a very small university. We not only didn’t have that experience, but had the other reaction— ie not knowing other members even of our own class! If she is good with a single sex school, she will have the opportunity to have cross registration with MIT, Olin, Babson or Brandeis, or take a semester or a year at one of several colleges in the 12 college exchange program Wellesley - Study Abroad and Exchange . Great opportunities! Congrats. It gets my vote

As others have said, Wellesley College and Northeastern University are quite different, but they are both very good schools. Both can be quite expensive unless the student qualifies for significant financial aid one way or another. Both are very well respected and have very good reputations.

When I hear “premed”, two things come to mind. The big one is that medical school is very expensive, and for admissions to medical school you really are not likely to gain much, if anything, attending an expensive and famous and highly ranked school versus a more affordable and maybe slightly lower ranked school for their bachelor’s degree. The other thing that comes to mind is that the majority of students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. Some cannot maintain a medical-school-worthy GPA in the tough premed classes. However, many students just decide that they want to do something else. A few for example might get into lab classes, find they love it, and just decide to do lab-based basic research.

One plus with this decision is that Wellesley College and Northeastern are both very good for a wide range of majors in case a student decides to do something other than try to go on to medical school.

At least in my experience, having years ago been on the other end of the MIT-Wellesley exchange bus (and having ridden the bus for a couple of classes), is that Wellesley students do get into Cambridge from time to time.

And I think that it is a really good idea to visit both schools. Finding a school that is a good fit is very important, and fit can be hard to judge until you are there and see it.

Finally, make sure that you are not going to be spending so much of your college funds on undergrad that you will be unable to help with the cost of medical school. Attending a different lower cost school might be a very good idea if medical school is going to work out, and if you need to do this to be able to afford to help a LOT with the cost of medical school.

We for example would not let our daughter attend NEU because it would have been too expensive for us, but then a few years later because of this were able to help her quite a bit with the cost of a DVM. At one point we had a frustrated high school senior. A few years later we had a happy and thankful DVM student (who is now a happy and thankful veterinarian).

One doctor I know said that other students in his MD program came from “all over the place”. Another said essentially the same thing. A daughter who is currently getting a biomedical PhD has found that the other students in her program came from a huge range of colleges and universities, including Harvard, NEU, a top New England LAC, U.Mass Amherst, U.Mass Lowell, schools all over the USA, schools outside the USA, and a very wide range of other schools many of which are lower ranked than anything that I just mentioned, and a few of whom I had never heard of. In terms of ranking the difference between Wellesley College and NEU will not matter for graduate school or medical school admissions, and frankly the difference between either of these schools and U.Mass (whether Amherst or Lowell or probably even Boston) will not matter either. What a student does as an undergraduate student will matter a lot. Where they do it really does not.

I would not worry at all about any perceived different in ranking or “prestige” between these two very good schools.

I agree with the prestige won’t matter for med school. I’m not 100% sure it has the better name and more prestige. That’s in the eye of the beholder. Most in society will know of Northeastern. They may not know it’s a co op school or much about it but they’ll know the name. I highly doubt Wellesley has that same recognition - but those who need to know will know it. That’s no different than a lot of schools - a Colby or Hamilton, etc.

- and why do you think NE has better advising? - and frankly, does a student truly need med school advising. There’s a list of classes to take. Don’t get me wrong - I know it’s nice to have a sounding board and I’m sure both do. But in the end, a kid can easily look up - these classes need to be taken for medical school so I find it odd that advising would be a primary interest. But I imagine both of these schools have it. And statistically, she’ll end up not wanting to go to med school as stats show a small percentage follow through o the path.

And again about grade deflation - Wellesley kids go to medical school. In fact, Wellesley will do well acceptance wise because they issue committee letters. This means, they are picking and choosing who they believe will be quality medical school applicants. I can’t tell if NEU does the same - it doesn’t appear so to me but heir wording on LORs makes me unsure.

I will tell you - kids find internships. Schools typically don’t just hand them. They are work - either applying for them or securing them (via alums, etc). Cornell took down the data - but they actually showed most kids found jobs on corporate sites and social media (think indeed, linkedin), etc. Kids have to hustle - and I’m not sure there’s any golden ticket. One NEU post recently noted many kids had to cancel their co-op term because they didn’t secure work - so they stayed in school.

I think it’s great you’re going to visit. You might stay another day - because admitted student days are sales days. There will be polished presentations and more kids on capus than normal. You want to see what school is like on a regular day - so you can track the flow. So go the day b4 or day after - to see how it really is. Stop students on campus and talk to them. Ask them about their social life, how they meet boys, etc.

These schools have such contrast. Personally, I wouldn’t think about the pre-med part - because she can easily look up on line - which classes do I need to take. Pre-med advising is the least necessary part of the college experience - IMHO.

Good luck - and yes, you should be proud…..too hard to get into schools.

@DadTwoGirls brought up budget. You need $400K + for med school on top of undergrad and fortunately, you now can only borrow $200K (through govt sources). So make sure you are budgeting not just for four years. That $200K includes undergrad. If she decides against med school but for a different grad school (like bio or something), then you can only borrow $100K - including undergrad. Not sure if this is your situation or you can afford full pay.

Good luck.

The Medical Professions Advisory Committee (MPAC) & Letter Process | Wellesley Career Education

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To be clear, Wellesley gives a committee ‘letter’ to every student who follows the advising team process…it’s just a process to follow, not a minimum required sGPA or MCAT score to attain.

Just because a school uses a committee letter, it does not mean the school/prehealth advising team necessarily limits who can apply. Only some schools do that, and Wellesley is not one of those schools.

The requirements to get a committee letter are at the link you posted, along with this statement:

All applicants who complete the requirements and meet the deadlines below will qualify to receive a letter of recommendation from the MPAC Committee.

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If after visiting and reflection she believes she would thrive overall more at one place or the other, I would support her picking that place and not looking back.

But I will note that by my standards, Wellesley is not an isolated LAC. Obviously Olin and Babson are very near, and Boston is something like a 30-minute T ride.

I don’t think that means Wellesley has no small-college vibe, which could be a pro or a con. Same with it being a women’s college, that could also be a real pro or con. But it isn’t like one of those LACs that is truly out on its own in a rural area.

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Staying another day is a good suggestion.

She loves Boston and so is happy with her choices. She is unfortunately WL for her FC, Barnard. Similar school, I think, with campus feel, more urban. So I figure she is not averse to smaller school or LAC, but it is sometimes difficult getting in the head of someone else to know what they are thinking and feeling.

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Great options! Congratulation to your D!

These schools have incredibly different vibes and I would bet your child will have a very strong preference for one over the other after visiting again.

Wellesley is not “isolated” in the least. It’s in a great little town and super easy and quick to get into Boston.

As far as co-ops impacting the sense of community, my D was a co-op student at another school and there were no issues with making and keeping friends. It’s just a different model and if everyone is doing it, it actually makes it easier. She will find herself in a cohort that will be rotating together so their time for classes will usually overlap.

No bad choices here but I have to say that my vote would go to Wellesley.

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That is very, very true.

Fortunately, she is considering options where she really can’t go wrong. So as the parent in this situation, my feeling is our role is to give them whatever support they need to go through the process they need to be as confident as they can be in their decision.

And then many kids after deciding will still have some buyer’s remorse, cold feet, second guessing, and so on. Just a very human thing when making a “commitment” this large (although of course if after starting they eventually conclude they really made a mistake in college choice, they can transfer). But if and when the nerves start acting up, we can give them emotional support.

And then in the vast majority of cases, kids who go through such a process will end up really loving their college and being happy with their choice. And they might well have been happy the other place too. But that doesn’t matter, as long as the path they did choose works out for them.

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Wellesley no brainer. Not even close.

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Didnt mention. NE is with the Honors Program. But it didnt sound like much of a hook. Dont know if anyone knows much about its value? Maybe better housing? Access to a few more extracurricular opportunities?

Parchment.com has 60% Wellesly 40% NE in the matchup.

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