Northeastern University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Caitlin

Class: Alum
Major: Mathematics
Gender: F

High School: North Country Union HS
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Northeastern will probably always be synonymous with co-op in the minds of most people. Althought I don't think this is a bad thing (our co-op program is amazing and 100% worth going to NU for alone) but NU is made up of so much more. Its sad that most people in boston hear Northeastern and picture a commuter school filled with lower income, working class students who are working to put themselves through college. This is no longer the story of NU. Northeastern is full of wonderful experiences in and out of the classroom. We have some of the most involved students and extracurricular activities available to us. What other school could you join student activities and be put in charge of a $300,000 concert? At other schools, their concerts are planned by clearchannel/live nation, not the students. At northeastern, programing is done by the students for the students. I love the fact that you can get both a big and little school feel with NU. You want big school feel? We're in the middle of boston, and have thousands of students. You want small school feel? We have a fairly enclosed campus, small class sizes, and very personalized majors with faculty who know your name. The biggest complaints at Northeastern have to do with the administration. "They don't listen to students", "They give you the run around" (NU Shuffle)... These can be true, but they can be true almost anywhere. As a student, I didn't concern myself with the administration so much, and spent time enjoying my time as a student, and other things the university had to offer.. because of this I was never bothered by the NU Shuffle that most people complain about. The one thing that I would change about NU is the amount of school spirit. You can find it if you want to (check out a hockey game in the dog house) but NU will never be notre dame. Students don't attend sporting events in huge numbers, and this carries over to the alumni who for the most part are not very connected to the school. There are many exceptions though, so if this is something that means a lot to you, you can find school spirit in small groups.

Academic Life

I was a mathematics major, and the department was amazing. Professors not only knew your name, but they knew who you were. The department was extreamly close, and hanging out together outside of class was not uncommon. Class sizes were not tiny, but not huge either. I would say I had an average of 30 people in my classes, but they were usually the same 30 people, so we became a close group. Different majors at northeastern have different levels of difficulty. A communications or criminal justice major may not be seen as acedemic as a physics or engineering major. Our business school is top ranked in the country. Our research labs are amazing. I believe NU students can be among the smartest students in the country (although we also have our share of low achieving students as well..) and depending on what you're looking for at NU, I believe you'll find it. Since our university is so large, there are groups of students who get together for intellectual conversations, and there are groups who never mention acedemics outside of the classroom. Group projects are popular as are students getting together at the library to work on homework. The best part of acedemics at NU is being able to apply them to real world experiences through co-op. NU is constantly answering the question of "when am I ever going to use this in real life" which to me makes learnign that much better.

Student Body

Again because our campus is so large, you will find a mixture of everything. Students will always complain there is a lack of diversity, but I think NU has a great mix. We have student group aimed at almost anything you'd like. NU Democrats, NU Republicans, NUBilaga (LGBT group), LASO (Latin students) are all very active groups on campus. I think there is a place for everyone on campus.