Northeastern University

[CHRIST]

They have an interesting concept in their school program. They have this co-op thing where they hook you up with a job in the field that you want to go into and it takes place over two semesters. You don't need to pay tuition while you are working, you only need to pay for housing because they have buildings for students to live in. The three main places where they get you jobs are in Boston, D.C., and I think New York. You make money while working which basically pays for the housing and they said that by your third you you can be making up to $20-30 dollars an hour. As a result of this essentially to get your degree there it takes 5 years instead of the normal 4. Also, they said usually the people you co-op'ed with while in school basically have a job ready for you when you graduate. The only thing is, I'm assuming I'll be pursuing my grad degree and won't work right away once I get my undergrad.

One of the main pluses to me is that you know whether or not you enjoy the typical job you will end up having and if not you can switch it up early.

did anyone here go there or consider it?

I don't know, I guess I'm asking your opinion on this. What you guys think of it. I'm not too high on the five year thing, but this is one of the schools I'm considering along with BC and Michigan as of this moment.

[THeDRiZZLe]

What kind of jobs/fields are they offering in this program?

Don't sweat the five years...that's just one more year to scam on college girls!

[CHRIST]

I'm pretty sure it applies to most fields. I'm considering going into business which is their strongest area which seems common among the Boston schools due to the location.

[Zabka]

Christ,

Northeastern's program is very innovative--I have come across people who were involved in it. It provides a very practical approach to career planning. However, Ithink you should take a look and see if the types of jobs that first year grads are doing are consistent with the type of work you would want to do. I always got the sense that Northeastern was very good at getting people into the back office of companies. However, it was not good at front office jobs. The difference between the two is that back office is more like support staff (accounting, risk management, etc.) and front office is usualy more client facing or more strategic in nature.

Dartmouth has a similar concept (I think Northwestern does too) where they have trimesters instead of semesters, so one trimester off is often during the non summer months so people get internships during that time. It's not as structured as Northeastern, but the jobs tend to be better that people get.

Again, I don't know what your ultimate career aspirations may be--but BC and Michigan will gear you more towards front office jobs than Northeastern. I know Wall Street isn't for everybody, but I have come across lots of Michigan and BC alums, but no Northeastern alums. The extra year shouldn't be your driver of decision making. Where you will most enjoy your time, learn the most, and position yourself for the future is themost important thing.

So it all goes back to what you want to do. You say you want graduate studies right after college. Then that must mean you aren't interested in business since it is both rare and shortsighted to get a top MBA right out of college. But what do you think you want to do? By the way---when I went to college, I went expecting to become a doctor---even had recommendations on file, all the pre-med classes, and my MCATs done. But I decided I didn't want to be a doctor. So also be aware that your choices may change drastically when you go to school.

edit--just saw you said you were interested in business. then I would tell you that in most cases an MBA without work experience beforehand will do you almost no good from a practical standpoint and can often result in making it harder for you to get the jobs you want.

[CHRIST]

But I decided I didn't want to be a doctor. So also be aware that your choices may change drastically when you go to school.

That's one of the things that I like about Michigan is how it's strong in a lot of areas like how well rounded it is. Actually, I didn't know that's how it works with getting an MBA so thanks for clearing that up. I asked my brother about it, so is this true what he said: people will typically get a job after undergrad and then work for awhile and sometimes the company or whoever you work for will offer to pay for you to go back to school and get your MBA? He also said that one of his friends dad who's involved in business doesn't even have his MBA yet, but is still pretty well off and doesn't see it as really necessary any more.

What is your profession by the way Zab? is it med?

[Zabka]

Christ,

I work in investment management. I manage equity funds--Wall Street basically, but now that I live in Boston, it can be confusing to people. I have experience in a few different fields, however.

Couple points:

1. MBA is absolutely not necessary for most careers, but some employers may require it. In addition, the quality of your MBA will sometimes determine if some employers will even be willing to talk to you.

2. Many employers do pay for you to get your MBA. But then you are often required to go back and work for 2-3 years for them. In most cases, that just isn't worth it since MBA time is the best time to do a career switch and probably when you are most marketable as a new hire.

3. Most MBA programs will want you to have at least 2-5 years work experience before going to get your MBA so that you have some context around which to consider what you are learning, but also to contribute to the classroom with perspectives from your experience.

4. Functionally, MBA's can be useful for people who haven't had exposure to certain disciplines, like finance, accounting, marketing, etc. For people who have (either through undergrad or through work), MBAs tend to be less useful from a subject matter perspective. So they matter more for credentialling as well as alumni networks. But the other point I should make is that the term "business" has a wide range of implications and can mean many things. To some it means being an entrepreneur, to others it is working for a big company, and to others it is working for a professional service (consulting, investment banking), and it can also mean investing. All of which require nearly completely different personalities and skillsets.

[CHRIST]

Well yeah, I know saying business is pretty broad, but I'm not to sure about what I really want to do yet specifically.

Thanks a lot for all that info though Zabka, I appreciate it.

[Zabka]

If you or anybody have any other questions, I'm happy to try my best to answer. In most cases, I can only offer my opinion which is skewed to my experiences. But I have gone through a lot of this stuff and have experienced a fair amount of stuff in business.