Northeastern University Does It Different

Introduction
Anyone less than 100% sure of exactly what degree they want and what
they want to do with it should seriously consider NU. With the convenience of the co-op cycles, a student gets real life experience in their intended major by the end of their second year, allowing a student the chance to change their major. Otherwise, they are in serious risk of disliking their line of work. Two years in the wrong major may seem like a waste, but how much worse would it be if you received a four-year degree first then realized you disliked your field? Northeastern allows you to get a taste of all majors within the college by incorporating 101s for each concentration into the core curriculum of freshman/sophomore years. Essentially, between the co-op and the set-up of class structure, NU makes it difficult for a student to end up in a field that they are not interested in (before they are even halfway into their college career), a guarantee most other universities cannot make.

Campus Life and Social Life
Greek life is very small, so if that is the lifestyle you'd like to get into,
NU is not the choice for you. Sports, with the exception of hockey, are not big here either. Because of the diverse offerings of the university, and the vast difference between schedules in each college, universal school spirit is rarely present. Although that information may be disconcerting, attending school in the city is a once in a lifetime opportunity. With Fenway Park in our backyard, you can hear concerts from your dorms. Museums and aquariums are a short distance away, and of course there are a plethora of bars in every direction from campus. Weekend life at NU is huge, with local college students from other schools joining Northeastern for the festivities of the night. Academics
As I'm sure is typical with any other college, if you breezed by highschool with minor amounts of studying and easy As, you are in for a rough first semester. Classes vary in difficulty by what year you are in and what level you are at. Beware of math classes. Most (in the business school at least) are taught by foreign-born teachers who have thick accents. Class difficulty also depends highly on the teacher. There are those classes where all you need to do is read the book and only go to class on test days to ace it. Others, if you miss one class you've missed vital notes that will be on the test. Ratemyprofessor.com can usually steer you away from those classes if you use it to check your scheduling. TAs and graduate students tend to teach a lot of classes, but they tend to be a lot more lenient with assignments and are generally more relaxed about having class all the time because they've been in your shoes recently.

Student Body
There is no "typical" student at Northeastern. Student backgrounds vary from international, urban inner city, laid-back west coasters and everything in between. People coming from similar backgrounds tend to group together, but all backgrounds end up intermixing once they get used to the Boston and NU lifestyle.

In Closing...
Intramural sports are great; NU also has intramural dodgeball.