For Northeastern, I had the opportunity to interview Sophia! She is so sweet and worked extremely hard to provide amazing responses to help you if you're interested in Northeastern! She also provided some common app assistance, so I would definitely recommend you to check out the common app page for Northeastern as well! Thank you so much Sophia for offering to help and writing these beautiful responses!
Is there a co-op program at Northeastern? If yes how would you describe it?
​"Yes, there is a co-op program at Northeastern - and it’s one of the best and biggest in the world! The co-op program is one of the things that the university is most well known for and it is a key part of its curricular focus on experiential learning. While you don’t necessarily have to do a co-op (as there’s a small percentage of students who opt to only study abroad or do on-campus research instead), most students complete one, two, or three co-ops during their time at Northeastern (depending on how many years they stay) and they usually start in the spring of the second year or fall of their third year. While on co-op students don’t pay tuition and those not living on campus do not pay room and board. One of the biggest perks is that you get to work a real job that’s one of your top choices! It’s most likely going to be a 6-month long, regular 9-to-5 job that you get paid for pretty well - plus there’s no homework to stress over when you get home. Students also get placed in the most amazing jobs you could imagine: the United States Congress, the White House, United Nations, NASA, Google, Facebook, Boston Children’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital are just a few of the many. No matter where you decide to go Northeastern will help you find a place to live because the school has connections everywhere, including nearly every country! The best thing is, at the end of your co-op you finally know whether the type of job you just had is the perfect fit for you, or if you should look in a new direction and pursue something different. A good statistic to know is that 50% of Northeastern students receive a job offer from a previous co-op employer, and 92% were either employed or enrolled in graduate school 9 months after graduation. With that said, by the time you graduate you have a much clearer idea of what you’re really passionate about and want to do, as well as a long list of connections and past employers to help you along the way."
Was Northeastern your dream college? What made you work so hard to achieve your goals?
"Growing up, Northeastern University was definitely my dream school. My dad attended when he went to college so as a kid it was one of the first colleges I had ever heard and learned about. Just the co-op program and Boston location alone made it an amazing place that I was willing to work super hard to get into. I knew that based on my goals and what I wanted for my future (to go to medical school and become a doctor), Northeastern would be the perfect place to build my knowledge with rigorous academics, gain hands-on experience, and surrounded myself with amazing people that truly represent the diversity of the real world. Apart from wanting to make my parents proud (because they are both immigrants to this country who worked super hard so that I could have a better life than they did), I worked as hard as I could in high school because I knew what I wanted the next step in my journey to be, and I was willing to put in the time and effort to make it happen. No matter what college you want to go to after high school, even if it is a “reach school”, that’s really the best thing you can do for yourself. Try to set goals as early as possible and be flexible, but never forget what you’re working towards and know that with some grit and effort you can get yourself to where you want to be."
How would you describe the environment at Northeastern?
"Out of all the colleges I have ever visited, Northeastern honestly has one of the most friendly, welcoming, and inclusive environments. From the moment you walk on campus, you are immediately made to feel right at home. Everyone is super nice, helpful, and has so much school pride! Northeastern is a pretty academic and research-focused school, so you can definitely feel the big-brain energy from everyone you meet. But instead of making the atmosphere tense with competition, everyone being so smart, hard-working, and passionate just makes it that much easier and more exciting to make friends and learn about people’s vastly different talents and interests. Northeastern is also one of the most diverse campuses you’ll find. With 48 states and 126 countries being represented in the student body, you will find people from all over. Also, international students make up about 18% of all students. With that being said, the university is constantly holding cultural events of every kind that will make you feel like you automatically belong, no matter where you’ve come from or what you identify with. The same can be said for the school’s countless advocacy, creative, and religious (or non-religious) student organizations."