A Visit To Northeastern University

I recently visited Northeastern University which is comprised of eight different colleges while the majority of majors lean towards STEM and research, liberal arts majors are also offered. The College of Arts, Media and Design houses many of their creative majors including School of Architecture and Art + Design whereas the Studio Arts BFA students take their studio classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Otherwise, the art program is more digital and design based, similar to the overall technical focus of the school; Communication Studies, Journalism, Music, and Theatre. Each of these departments offers numerous combined majors such as Environmental Science and Landscape Architecture, Design and Behavioral Neuroscience, Media and Screen Studies and Journalism, Journalism and Criminal Justice, Music and Psychology, and Theatre and American Sign Language, just to name a very few of these interesting combinations. In short, if you can imagine what you want to study, you can create that path at Northeastern, in fact, every student I spoke with was studying a combined major.

Northeastern’s Campus: Boston, MA

It is a beautiful campus setting in Boston - with all the urban city life you'd want together with the benefits of a campus quad and grounds separated from the city - a bubble of sorts, but not really. It is within an easy walk to the Museum of Fine Arts, Fenway Park, and many nearby colleges including Wentworth Institute of Technology, MassArt, and Boston University. Hop on the T that runs along Huntington Avenue with your free student pass and you can be anywhere in Boston.

Boston is a college town with 78(!) academic institutions - so lots of young people in the city, and lots of city life activities (ball games, bars, museums, parks, etc) to explore. In fact, the average age of the city goes down every fall with the influx of new students coming to Boston. Make sure you tour in Fall or Winter if you’ve never experienced New England weather which can be quite cold, the tour guide mentioned tunnels as a perk during winter months.

Experiential Learning Opportunities

Northeastern also has a strongly encouraged but not required experiential learning component which includes a wide array of mostly paid co-op opportunities as well as global experiential programs. Almost every student I spoke with intended to complete two if not three experiential programs. These programs can be as short as a week or as long as a semester, some are solely work-based where you don't take classes, or pay tuition while you are in your co-op, and others include academic components.

Many students participate in summer school (why not- activities in the city last year-round!) to take accelerated classes thereby allowing them to participate in some form of experiential learning while still graduating within four years.

There is no separate application required for merit scholarship consideration and everyone is considered eligible for merit aid through the regular application process.

If you visit, give the Husky statue's nose a rub for luck.