Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts · Founded 1898
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Test-optional
Northeastern is test optional and says so without an end date - its own words are "test-optional for the foreseeable future" - and it states that applying without scores will not penalise or disadvantage you. About a quarter of the enrolled class sent an SAT and under a tenth an ACT. Read one thing carefully though: Northeastern's own Common Data Set still rates standardized test scores as VERY IMPORTANT, the same weight it gives GPA. That is not a contradiction - it means scores are optional to send, but they count heavily once you send them. Northeastern superscores across SAT sittings and across ACT sittings and takes your better result of the two. The policy covers transfer applicants too. Applicants whose first language is not English must still send TOEFL, IELTS, PTE, Duolingo or an equivalent. Source: Northeastern Common Data Set 2024-2025 sections C7 and C8, and admissions.northeastern.edu (verified September 2026).
About
Northeastern is organised around co-op. These are six-month full-time work placements that belong to the degree itself, not summer internships you go and find on your own, and students alternate between classrooms and jobs. The university keeps standing relationships with employers for this - 3,587 of them hosted co-op students in 2023. The campus sits in the middle of Boston, and some students do not start there at all: Northeastern runs residential campuses in Oakland and London and a first-semester programme abroad.
History
Northeastern was founded in 1898, growing out of evening classes run by the Boston YMCA; many of its early business classes were held in the YMCA building. The cooperative education programme that now defines the place began in 1909.
What stands out
- Co-op is part of the degree: six-month full-time work placements rather than internships you arrange yourself
- Business, engineering and computing are the three biggest fields by degrees awarded
- 3,587 employers hosted Northeastern co-op students in 2023
- You can begin in Oakland or London, or spend the first semester abroad through the N.U.in programme
- Boston, Oakland and London are all residential campuses
Popular majors
Campus life
Nearly every first-year student lives on campus (99 percent), but only about 57 percent of undergraduates do overall - once co-op starts, students scatter into the city and into other cities. Greek life is small: 5 percent of undergraduate men join a fraternity and 9 percent of undergraduate women join a sorority.