Webinar Transcript: Live Q&A with Northeastern University Assistant Director of Admissions

Elton Lin: Hey, excited to have everybody on. As everybody is filing in, what I’d love for you to do – and if you've been on our webinars before, I always ask this at the very outset, because it's always interesting to see who's attending and where they're calling in from. In previous webinars, we've had people calling in from all over the world. So if you would be so kind as to go into the chat, put your first name and where you're calling from – city or country, wherever it is. And so go ahead and keep posting on the chat – who you are and where you're calling in from. But we have, today, Katie Congdon from Northeastern University. She is, specifically, the Northern California admissions representative for Northeastern. So those of you who are from Northern California or the Bay Area, Katie is definitely who you want to speak to! But for those of you who are not from there, she is still a fantastic resource. I’m excited to have her on.

And there have been so many changes, and so many things happening. So why don't we go ahead and just get started, shall we? Why don't I give Katie an opportunity to introduce herself, and perhaps share a little bit about how she got into admissions? Why don't you just get us started?

Katie Congdon: Awesome. Thanks, Elton. Like Elton mentioned, my name is Katie Congdon. I am currently one of the assistant directors of undergraduate admission at Northeastern University. If you are not familiar with it, Northeastern is located in the heart of downtown Boston.

I’ve been here for almost six years now. The majority of those years I've spent working out of the northern California territory. I am based here in Boston, but I focus primarily on the recruitment and application review of students specifically coming from Northern California. I’m very familiar with the territory, with the schools, and everything that goes on in northern California!

I originally got into this field after being a first generation college student myself, meaning that neither one of my parents had previously gone to college. So when it came time for me to apply, it was teaching myself the process from A to Z. I remember thinking how behind I felt, how overwhelmed, and how daunting the process could feel. I just thought that I didn't want any other student to ever feel that way. And so, after graduating undergraduate, I decided to get my graduate program certificate – or master's program, I should say – a master's degree in higher education. And I've been here ever since.

Elton Lin: I absolutely love it. And I am so thrilled to be here talking with you tonight. Fantastic – thanks for that, Katie.

All right. Why don't we go ahead and get started. A lot of changes. And perhaps a large part of the past year was remote. I assume everything is transitioning back to in person this coming year. What are some major changes that are going to be happening for this coming year?

Katie Congdon: Ooh!

Elton Lin: Where to start?

Katie Congdon: Loaded question!

Thinking back to where we were last year, it's definitely been a whirlwind of really the last year and a half. We've had a few changes in the admissions process. Mostly being test-optional, which I'm sure we will talk loads about later on.

The physical differences around campus are pretty obvious as well for the coming fall, which is actually just in a few weeks, believe it or not! It’s coming very quickly. And it's looking a little more… shall I say, “normal”than it did about a year and a half ago.

The majority of our students will be returning to campus, and living on campus as well. We'll continue with the [COVID] testing cadences we have in place. We do have vaccinations that are taking place on campus, and are something that is required for students, faculty, and staff. Classes are back in person, which is really, really exciting, especially from the student affairs perspective. It's just good to have students learning from each other face-to-face.

I’m really excited, but also taking it one day at a time. Something I’ve said from the very beginning is if there is any point in time to live, work, and study at a tier-one research university, it's during a global pandemic! I am extremely happy and confident with how we've handled it so far, and the plans of how we're gonna handle it moving ahead into the future. I’m very happy and excited for what's to come.

Elton Lin: That's awesome. Well, let's jump right into test-optional – so eloquently inserted in there! There's certainly been a lot of conjecture about how the lack of testing has impacted the admissions process. There have certainly been a lot of things in the media that may imply that, even though submitting test scores is optional, there still seems like there's some benefit to submitting scores. And there are definitely schools out there, like Emory or the University of Pennsylvania, where there’s a larger percentage of the admitted freshman class that had test scores than that didn't.

So can you clear that up? Maybe question number one is, how did not having test scores change your guys’ internal process? And is there really a benefit to submitting test scores, even though they're optional?

Katie Kongdon: Yes! Let's just rip the band-aid right off! I love starting with this.

Elton Lin: Let's just do it.

Katie Congdon: We're all thinking it. So might as well talk about it. I don't think a day goes by when I don't open my inbox to a question from a counselor, a parent, or a student that says, “But are you really test-optional?” So I really am glad that you're bringing this up.

When we say test-optional, I do want to start by saying we truly are test-optional. If you are choosing not to submit a test, my first thought would never be, “This kid is lazy; he just didn't want to find a testing center.” That is not on top of mind at all. With that being said, if a school is test-optional, like Northeastern, and you are not a good test taker, this might be a really good year for you to spend your mental capacity doing something else!

And know that when we say test-optional, we truly mean we're test-optional. Looking back to last year – which was our first year being test-optional – it was different. But it wasn't too, too different. What I mean by that is that, although we did require testing for students coming from domestic high schools, it wasn't required for students coming from international high schools. So we already kind of had the taste of test-optional within our admissions process. It wasn't a huge, life-changing event like at, maybe, some other schools. But it definitely did take some getting used to.

What we ended up seeing last year was, when you look at the entire admitted class who chose to then enroll at Northeastern, it's a pretty clear 50-50 split on both students that submitted testing, and ones who chose not to submit testing. So I think that really speaks to the idea of truly being test-optional – and even if you choose not to submit it, you will still be reviewed for admission to Northeastern, admission to our honors program, and for all merit scholarships. Going into this next cycle, this will be our second year doing it at this point in time.

This is where we meet the end of the road. We haven't made any final decisions for next-next cycle. So if you are a junior, fingers crossed! We just don't know at this time right now.

But for you rising seniors, we have officially made the call to be test-optional. Same thing. You will still be reviewed for everything in the process. Nothing really changes – either on your end or our end.

The next follow-up question I always get is, “Should I submit?” And that's really up to you. I know that's probably not the answer that you want to hear from an admissions rep, but I think there are a few things to consider once you get your test score back, and you open that email to see your test score. If you go, “Oh, nice job, pat on the back,” it's probably a good idea to submit it. If you go, “Oh, okay, maybe I should have tried harder, maybe I should have done this or that,” probably a telltale sign that you shouldn't submit it.

I think if you look at your overall GPA, in whatever high school you're coming from – because we see students from all over the world – if you're looking at your GPA, and you are top of the class, but yet you take a test and you're not top percentile, it's probably good for us just to stick with that GPA, and not even see your test scores! Again, we truly, truly are test-optional! But if you can safely take a test, and you want to take a test, and you end up getting that score, think about how it makes you feel. Then decide if you want to send it in.

Elton Lin: So, perhaps, maybe as a follow-up to that – because I've heard this come up in other conversations, and certainly we've talked about it as well – there is an average SAT or ACT score that's out there on a national level. And some high schools have access to Naviance or some other kind of platform that helps them see the average entry test score for students from their high school. Is there any wisdom to, say, comparing your score to those numbers and making a decision based on what to submit by that?

Katie Congdon: Kind of. Again, probably not the answer students are looking for!

Elton Lin: Fair enough.

Katie Congdon: When I say “kind of,” there are a few things we have in mind. So the numbers that you're going to find on Naviance, Google, Reddit, or College Confidential – whatever you're finding out on the dark web – those numbers, keep in mind, are going to be from two years ago.

And I don’t think the numbers that we saw last year are really a good representation. You have to remember that only half of the population took the tests. And, for some reason, we had a lot of students submitting tests that were way under our averages. But I think last year it was just a whole lot of unknowns. “Even though I know I didn't do well on the test, I just want to show you that I took the test, so I'm going to submit it anyways!” Even if you find numbers, they may not be where we're looking.

So, again, I think using your GPA at your high school is probably going to be the best indicator. If you’re top 25% at your high school, and your SAT or ACT score is not top 25th percentile, it's probably not going to add up on our end. It might look a little funky. I promise you that we're only looking at really the best one here. So I would recommend sticking with that GPA. Put your mental capacity elsewhere. And take it from there.

If you do find numbers, though, because I'm sure a lot of you are feverishly Googling on the side right now, what I can tell you, again, this is two years ago. Stats from two years ago. For SAT, we saw anywhere from 1450 to the 1600's at the highest. So it's pretty high up there. And then ACT was falling anywhere between 34 and 35 out of 36 potential points!

A lot to think about. Take it with a grain of salt. But, really, stick with whatever feels comfortable for you.

Elton Lin: Got it. And you alluded to this, but let me make sure I heard it correctly – you said the admitted freshman class was 50-50? Or the applicant pool was 50-50?

Katie Condon: The admitted class. 

Elton Lin: Okay. I agree that is a testimony that having test scores doesn’t help, necessarily That's definitely a good statement.

With that being said, this is a question that seems to come up often as well: “If I don't submit test scores, are you spending more time looking at other things?” Whether it's résumé, grades, or perhaps course rigor. Are you shifting that attention somewhere else on the application?

Katie Congden: Ultimately, yes. I do have to say, even if your test scores were in front of me, I would look at them and then move on to something else. So we're not talking about a whole lot of time that I can now dedicate to your beautifully-written essay!

But maybe for you, being the students, it might help to know that we really are looking at all pieces of your application. This is what we call holistic review. I think it's a buzzword in higher ed these days. But we truly are looking at all of the pieces of your application.

Elton Lin: Got it. So you're just, perhaps, redistributing that attention to all the other parts and spending more time.

Katie Congdon: Yeah.

Elton Lin: Okay, got it. So let me back away from that. We'll probably address that more in the Q&A. But let's talk a little bit about Northeastern. What makes Northeastern unique?

Interestingly, we had a student panel from Northeastern come on with us a couple weeks ago. And they just glowed about their student experience. They talked a lot about the co-ops, and about the international experience. Those seem like very unique opportunities for Northeastern.

So if you don't mind, share a little bit about what makes Northeastern different from everywhere else.

Katie Congdon: Sure. Another loaded question!

There are probably three aspects of Northeastern that make us really unique. The three I'm thinking of are location, academics, and experiential learning.

I'll start with location. Like I said, we are located in the heart of downtown Boston. But that's not where we end our reach. We truly are a global university. Meaning that we now have twelve regional campuses all over the world. These are not sister or partner schools. These are truly little Northeasterns dropped in the middle of somewhere else.

Somewhere that is familiar to all of you: we have some in San Jose, and San Francisco. We have one in Seattle. And we just recently acquired Mills College in Oakland. Those are the ones that are closest to all of you on the west coast.

But, like I said, all of them are sprinkled throughout the world. Two in other countries include one that we have recently acquired – a new college of the humanities in London, England. And then we have a few locations now – two – in Toronto and Vancouver.

Again, these are Northeastern University locations in other areas of the world. So for you as students, it allows you to study in another area if you wanted to.

The second aspect that I think is really unique is academics. And I say this because we offer now over 250 different majors, which you don't typically find at a lot of other universities of our size. This allows for a lot of flexibility. It allows you to maybe take a combined major – combining different areas, and taking courses across different colleges, really making a multi-dimensional graduate out of yourself. That’s really something to think about.

The third, definitely last but not least, opportunity here is going to be experiential learning. Which does include co-op, like Elton mentioned. The idea about co-op, if you aren't familiar, is that it's a six-month-long full-time work experience. Students are actually able to step away from their classes, take a pause or a break in their academics, and truly take what they're learning in the classroom to apply that to real world contexts.

So these are full-time job opportunities. We currently work with 3,400 co-op employers worldwide – including all seven continents. If you want to study or do something in Antarctica, this is probably the time to do it!

Elton Lin: You have a partner in Antarctica?

Katie Congdon: Yeah. I don't know when else you do it. So I always recommend students to do that co-op if you are interested. It's a research-focused co-op where you'll be living on a research ship for six months. Every co-op cycle they try to switch up the project they're working on. Right now they are working with robotic animals that they send down to the marine life, so that people like us don't have to go down there! It sounds pretty chilly. It’s such a cool way to learn and live down there. There are great opportunities.

Like I said, this is a full-time job experience. Definitely a lot different than the traditional internship. And students can do up to three of them while you're here. That's a total of 18 months of full-time work experience. I really don't know many other schools that allow you to do that many experiences before graduating college. It's pretty unique in my perspective.

Elton Lin: I think this is really the hallmark of Northeastern: the co-op program. And you're trying to delineate what makes it different from an internship. Certainly we have students in all sorts of different colleges, and over the summer they're vying for different internships. With Northeastern, you have partnerships with these 3,400 corporate entities. Are students basically pipelined into these internships? Or how does the process work for the co-op?

Katie Congdon: Yeah, absolutely. These are tried and true partnerships. It's almost like the company or organization has one full-time position – or multiple, if they want multiple – and every six months a new Northeastern student rotates in and out of that role.

So you're not competing against other college students. This is only offered at Northeastern. You're not competing with graduate students. This is an undergraduate Northeastern program. It’s a really cool opportunity there.

Many of our partners come back year after year – sometimes asking for more and more co-ops! So it's a wonderful way to not only network, but really get to know what types of jobs are out there, and what interests you, sometimes years before graduation.

I myself went to a school – and just being totally open and transparent: it was not Northeastern! But I went to a school that didn't offer these co-ops. And I actually went to school for accounting, because I thought that's what I wanted to do. Day two on the job, I absolutely hated it. That was a tough conversation to have with my parents for sure!

So I always like to stress and emphasize that this co-op allows you to really try out a career so far ahead of graduation that, by the time you graduate, not only [do you know if you like it, but you are] looking at jobs that are no longer entry-level. These are assistant director, managerial supervisor, whatever that's going to look like. But, chances are, the pay is higher because, again, these aren't entry-level jobs.

A great way to really culminate your undergraduate experience is to get a job. And many of our students do graduate with offers from our partners.

Elton Lin: Yeah. I think that's the key thing right there. Having a student go in and do a full-time internship for an entire semester or longer um sets up their résumé in a very strong way. And in most cases, if you're working with a particular employer, there's a good chance that you end up getting hired by that employer.

So you're building into the entire undergraduate process pre-professional training, and then helping to launch them into their career. I believe Northeastern's hire rate out of college is something like 98% or 99%, or something like that?

Kaite Congdon: That's correct, within the first six months after graduation.

Elton Lin: That's outstanding! And actually vastly different than a lot of other schools. So I think that's definitely, most certainly a hallmark.

With this emphasis on providing job experience, and really training students and helping them understand which careers are the best, that would make it seem like Northeastern may not be as research-oriented. Certainly there are students here who are wanting to go pre-med, engineering, or computer science, and wanting to get involved in research as a high priority. How is that being done at Northeastern?

Katie Kongdon: It's hard with such robust opportunities, both in co-op and research. We usually find ourselves talking about one and not the other. But luckily I have the opportunity now to talk about both!

Research is huge here. And it's actually really big for students – believe it or not – who aren't in the STEM fields as well. So if you're looking at humanities, business, or even in the arts, we have lots of research opportunities. We are a tier-one research university, which is really just a fancy term for saying that we have some of the highest levels of research currently taking place on our campus. Again, not just in the STEM fields, but all over.

We have a brand new building that just went up on campus two years ago. Right before COVID, it opened and then had to shut down again! But it’s a wonderful building that incorporates all interdisciplinary research. If you walk around this building, the plaques on the doors of all of the labs have a blurb about what they're working on in the lab. I just love walking around and reading them, because there are a lot of things that you would never think of combining. Like political science and statistics. Cyber-security and business. Interdisciplinary in nature is what we cater to!

A second part of research that I really love here is that, in our labs, we have spaces for both our undergraduate students and additional spaces for graduate and postgrad students. I think this is a pretty unique factor in the sense that you're not competing with students who have six-plus years of experience and research ahead of you. There are always opportunities for students in undergraduate positions to take places in labs.

I know you mentioned pre-med. I do want to talk about pre-med advising real quick. We have a pretty extensive program for pre-med advising. The same goes for pre-dental, pre-vet, and pre-law. You don't need to apply into these programs.

Once you're admitted and choose to enroll at Northeastern, you then partner with both your academic advisor, in whichever major you choose, in addition to a pre-“X” advisor – again, law, dental, vet, or medical. And they're all going to help you through the entire process, throughout your next four or five years, through an undergraduate career to help you then get to that next step.

In the pre-med advising, specifically, many of these advisors – if not all of them; I need to go back and check – have had experience in the medical school application process. They’ve been in that admissions committee. And so they truly know what they're looking for. There's no better resource out there to really help you get to medical school if it's something you want to do.

And studying in Boston, we are truly the hub of healthcare. You have some of the nation's top hospitals within walking distance of our campus. This is the place to be if pre-med is something you're even considering!

Elton Lin: That's certainly a hearty endorsement – definitely for pre-med students. And I'm sure there are some in the audience. So, fantastic.

Let me come back and talk a little bit about international programs – because that's also pretty unique for Northeastern. And let me also remind you, if you have questions that you want to ask Katie, we're going to get to questions pretty soon. So go ahead and post them in the Q&A box, and Anthony will come back and we'll tackle them. Go ahead and keep posting.

But I want to ask this question in part because I feel like we're going to get this question six months from now, and I'm going to direct somebody to watch this webinar and hear what you're saying! But Northeastern has offered a lot of incoming students an initial international experience. Basically, as a summary, studying abroad for a term before you actually come and study at Northeastern!

And there are a lot of families who feel a bit unnerved by that. Like, “What's Northeastern doing? Are they pushing off my student to somewhere else?” Can you tell us a little bit about the international program, and how that fits into the admissions process? And what are some of the benefits for having it that way?

Katie Congdon: Yes, absolutely. The international experience that you’re talking about primarily is called N.U.in, which stands for Northeastern University International. It's an opportunity that, if students are selected through our admissions process, they are invited to start at [a campus abroad]. In pre-COVID years, we originally had seven to nine locations. In our post-COVID years, it's closer to four to five locations. So I do have to watch it there sometimes. But they do get an array of locations to choose from. And, just like you mentioned, these students would start overseas for their first semester.

Typically we have about a third of our entire entering class that starts overseas. And this program was founded over ten years ago, as a way for us to admit more admissible students just because we don't have the bed space at Northeastern. We didn't want to limit ourselves here, so [we went with] opening up different campuses.

Again, these are all partnerships. And most of them have been with us since we opened this program. There’s the American College in Thessaloniki, in Greece. We have UCD in Dublin, Ireland. We have a program now at our newly acquired campus in London. In Rome we usually have a program as well. Those are the four go-to locations that have been with us since the beginning – and I don't see them going away anytime soon!

Like I mentioned, students would be abroad for that first semester. So anywhere between three to three and a half months. Once that is complete, they'll then return back to campus in Boston, and join the rest of their peers here.

I totally resonate with the thought of, “Why was I selected? How am I gonna fit in when I come back?” There are a lot of hesitations that typically do come up, quite naturally for students if they're getting this type of admissions decision. And I'm quite a data statistics nerd myself, so I always like to go back and look at students who started both in Boston and overseas, and how they're faring now. And it's really, really interesting to see that, according to the stats, not only are they more involved outside of the classroom, but they're more academically prepared for when they do return here to Boston!

So I think it's a big learning opportunity. It's great for students who really want to step outside their comfort zone, or step outside those boundaries. A lot of maturity takes place in that first semester. And, again, I just want to re-emphasize – it's just one semester. They return in the spring and join the rest of their peers then.

Elton Lin: Got it. And for those of you who have been following our webinars, we interviewed a group of Northeastern students, and all three of them were admitted through N.U.in and did the first semester abroad. All three of them did it in Greece at the American School. And they found it to be one of the most enriching experiences. It really bonded that group of students together as they came onto the campus. And they were glowing about the experience.

I think this is where, as we see more of our students go into the program, we're able to come back and feel way more confident about saying, “Hey, NU has really done a good job with this international program that's really been a benefit to students.” So that's great to hear.

All right. Last thing before we get to questions. Go ahead and post your questions. And if you're asking questions about essays and stuff like that, you can ask on the Q&A – or you can watch last year's webinar, which I think Katie answered really well!

But with regards to the admissions process, what kind of applicant are you looking for? Who is the student that really thrives at Northeastern?

Katie Congdon: The million dollar question!

We've talked a lot tonight about the unique factors of Northeastern. I think the student that's going to thrive the most is aware of those unique factors, and open to trying new things. This is probably not the college for you if you're looking to, at orientation, meet your BFF and spend every waking hour with them for the next four years. It doesn't really work like that. The students here – because of co-op, because of travel abroad – they're always coming and going. You might have your friends leave for a semester, then come back, then you'll leave, then come back.

The students here really adapt to that pretty quickly – in the sense that you're going to find a lot more mature students that are here. Students that are more open to meeting new friends and sharing ideas at dinner time around the cafeteria. You're going to find students on Monday nights sitting together, and then Tuesday nights they could be sitting with someone else. It just depends on where students are at.

So really just understanding how we're different, why we're different, and embracing that. The best way to convey that in the application, if you're looking for ways to show that, is looking at past experiential learning opportunities. Have you held a job? Have you had an internship? Have you really enjoyed that hands-on experience? Things like research. Community service. Those are really big aspects of our experiential learning program here. So if you've done that in the past, we assume that you would be open and willing to continue that in the future here.

We’re really looking for students who are trying to think outside of the box and do something a little more creative during their undergraduate experience.

Elton Lin: I lied. I have one more question before we go on the Q&A.

Katie Congdon: Okay.

Elton Lin: Tell me a little bit about early decision. If I remember correctly, I saw some stats, maybe four or five years ago, where the ED admit rate into Northeastern was not much different than the regular decision admit rate. But my sense is that that may have changed. Is there genuine benefit to applying early decision?

Katie Congdon: You’re a very smart man. Yes, that has changed a little bit. You are spot on with that.

I'll start with the benefits first. As of last year, we made it pretty known that we were trying to admit a bigger majority of our class through the early decision process. And if you aren't familiar, just very quickly, this is binding – a little different than early action, or regular. Meaning students who apply to ED are saying, “I really want to go to Northeastern. I'm already bleeding black and gold. I really just need to get here!” So thinking about that is important.

But last year, as we all know, was a very unknown year. And we used early decision as a way to fill our class earlier on in the cycle than we had in years past. Some of the benefits – as of last year – was that mainly in financial aid, we were allowing students to submit their documents earlier than before. We were then having a turnaround time faster than before, meaning that we were going to review your financial aid documents earlier to tell you right away if this is a good financial fit.

We had some academic benefits, meaning that we were able to open some of our summer programming that's now taking place during this summer for last year's class. This is an opportunity for students to bulk up on courses on the front end, so that they can allow for more co-ops, travel abroad, research, or whatever it may be later on in their undergraduate career.

And then we also had some scholarships available as well. Those primarily went towards those summer classes. assuming that students successfully completed them, enrolled on time, and all those matriculation stuff. As long as they were doing that, we were able to waive that fee and give them that scholarship.

So there were some benefits. It's hard to say if those are gonna last next year, or any future years. But I think just applying ED in general – if this truly is a good fit: a social fit, an academic fit, and a financial fit – I think it's a really kind of viable option for you. I think that in a world of test-optional as well, it's really important for students who maybe feel that they are just under the threshold of where we would normally admit students in a non-binding application. Again, being early action or regular decision. Really showing that commitment for ED likely will have an impact on your admissions decision.

We did see about 40% of our class this year enrolling through either ED1 or ED2.

Elton Lin: Got it. So what you're saying is that there was a commitment by the university to increase, to a degree, the freshman class on ED. And in large part, in response to pandemic. Would you say that that's also going to happen this coming year as well?

Katie Congdon: I wouldn't be shocked if it was any different. Again, it's just a year of unknowns. And I could talk all night about enrollment management and the tools and tips and tricks and everything that goes on, but I think, for us, we are ultimately trying to build that next entering class. Having a small group of students that say, “Pick me, I'm really committed,” makes it easy for us. So I do definitely see us using this model again in the future.

Elton Lin: Exciting stuff. Okay, I'm gonna invite Anthony to come back on, and we'll go through some of the questions. Go ahead and keep posting questions in the Q&A if there's anything that Katie mentioned during our talk. Feel free. Everything is fair game. Or if there's something that she didn't mention, but you wanted her to mention, then go ahead and post it up there too.

So, Anthony?

Anthony Su: I'll go back, and I'm gonna try to group these together if I can, but there are just questions about everything. Let's start with test-optional, since there are a lot of questions regarding that. There’s “Is test-optional really test-optional?” They're also asking, are there any other supplemental things that they can apply with that would be helpful? Whether it's AP scores or other additional information. Does any of that help, in consideration that it's already test-optional to begin with?

Katie Congdon: Sure. We try to keep this as easy as possible for you. And mostly for us. We don't have a supplemental essay; however, that has never stopped students before!

If you have something in addition that you want us to read or consider, you're always welcome to submit that – within reason. We've had thirteen extra recommendation letters. We've had twenty other essays. That's not worth it. But if there's something really that you think is missing from your application, please feel free to submit that.

About AP scores – these actually don't impact your admissions decision. However, if you do choose to enroll after being admitted, they can help supplement you for course credits. If you score a four or five, you can test out of some classes here.

Elton Lin: I want to make that clear, because I think there's been some confusion – in part because there are no longer SAT subject tests. Some universities were considering those, and perhaps saying that they were going to shift some of that attention to AP scores. But are you saying that AP scores are not a part of admissions?

Katie Congdon: Correct. Not for this year, and moving forward.

Anthony Su: Questions about co-ops. I think there's just some confusion here. People are asking, “Does a co-op program lengthen my graduation time?” How does that affect the timing of everything, since it's integrated within the school year?

Katie Congdon: That's a really great question – and a very common question as well. Like I said, these are six months in duration. One of these co-ops is already integrated into your coursework. So if you do one co-op, you can still graduate in four years. When you do two co-ops, you're looking at between four four and a half years. With three co-ops, that's when you start looking at five years. So if you ever hear someone say, “I'm on the four- or five-year plan,” it's really just based on their co-ops.

Something I really want to mention here is that, even though it might take you five years to graduate, you are never paying for five years’ worth of tuition. You only pay for the time that you're in the classroom. Which, for every student, is going to be eight in-class semesters, or four years.

Anthony Su: And then, of course, in co-op you're probably making some money as well, right?

Katie Congdon: You sure are. And, oh my gosh, some of these hourly rates are maybe a little more than I make! So these students are not at any disadvantage whatsoever.

Elton Lin: [Everyone listening is] gonna be applying for a co-op.

Katie Congdon: Yeah, probably.

Anthony Su: Also, someone saying they know what computer science or engineering co-ops would look like, but they were asking what psychology majors can go into. Or these other programs as well – since you're emphasizing, “We've also got something in Antarctica,” so I guess they also want to hear a couple other examples or what that looks like for students.

Katie Congdon: Yeah. So you probably wouldn't do a psychology co-op in Antarctica, unfortunately. However, we work with government agencies, schools, hospitals, healthcare clinics, nonprofits, startups, you name it. Anything.

A lot in the Boston area. If you're looking at psychology, criminal justice, or anything in the humanities, really, we work a lot with the local city governments – or city agencies, I should say. We work at the Boston police department. The Boston fire department. A lot of the local sports teams. We have some sports analytical students working with the NHL, or the Boston Bruins. So you name it. Really there's just a little bit of everything here.

Elton Lin: Do you need to be that particular major in order to do the co-op in that area? If you're a psych major, can you do a CS co-op?

Katie Congdon: For your first co-op, it is requested that it’s done in your major of choice. After that you get a pretty good idea of, “Is this a good major for me still, or should I change academic paths? Where am I headed next?” By that point, if students decide, they can choose to stay in that same path. A lot of times students will stay at the same companies too – just maybe work their way up the ladder through these co-op experiences.

On the other hand, there are students who completely hate their first co-op – and that's fine too. Thinking back to my college days, I probably would have done my first co-op in accounting, found out right then and there that it wasn't for me, and I still would have had two years to change paths.

So I think it's a great way, ultimately, to try out a career. There's lots of room for flexibility afterwards.

Anthony Su: I think the other thing to highlight is the combined programs at Northeastern. There are questions about business and computer science. What's the flexibility with the combined programs?

Katie Congdon: Yeah. Some of these interest me so much too. Especially the biology and political science one. You think, “How in the world are they connected? What are those classes like?” I think it's so interesting.

So there are 175 combined majors. They've all been previously selected by students themselves. Students have found something we're missing in the classroom – a connection that we're not making. So they work closely with their advisors to create that combined major program.

If you're looking online, you're gonna notice that a lot of them are interdisciplinary in nature. Meaning that they're not all in one college. They're going to be across colleges. Computer science and X seems to be really, really popular these days. As you can imagine, you can combine that with just about anything. Think about any job you can have today. There's always some type of tech component in that.

I think getting started early on that is going to lead to that multidimensional graduate that I talked about earlier.

Anthony Su: A question regarding the co-op program again. Just to reiterate, every student is doing one co-op at least. And then they can do a second or third based on their choosing, right? Effectively, the question was, what percentage of STEM students enter a co-op program? The answer is effectively all of them, right?

Katie Congdon: Just about. Believe it or not, we have 98% of students who will do at least one of them. In every academic program that you choose, there's always room for at least one co-op. Things like pharmacy, for example, might not have more than that – just because that program is already so structured as it is. But no matter. All programs do allow for at least one of them.

Anthony Su: And then a question about, when they're applying to Northeastern, do you apply for a particular college? Do you apply for a particular campus, or for the N.U.in option as well? What does that look like from an applicant's perspective?

Katie Congdon: Sure. So from a student's perspective, one of the final questions on the application is going to ask you to indicate your major of interest. And that's all we ask. We'll do the rest of that background work to see exactly where you're going to fit best – whether it's at a different location through the N.U.in program, or whatever it may be.

At this time, we do only allow students to select one major. Assuming you're admitted, you would be admitted directly into that major. But please know that it can change at any point in time. And about 90% of students will change their major at least once on campus. So it’s very popular, very easy, and very flexible to change.

Anthony Su: Also a question about how many students do end up going into that N.U.in program? I think it's just a question of how large that program is, in comparison to students that choose to just start their college experience in Boston?

Katie Congdon: It's about a third of our class. In total, it's anywhere between 1,300 and 1,500 students, depending on the class size of that year.

Anthony Su: Let's see. A question about sports at Northeastern. I think it's also about student involvement in athletics, or perhaps also school spirit. Could you emphasize a little bit of that?

Katie Congdon: Yeah – we are a huge sports school. Just because we're based in Boston. I think it's just huge on sports regardless.

If you want to follow Northeastern, or just Boston sports in general, hockey is definitely going to be our biggest sport. We do not have football. It's kind of a fun fact. We're not one of those schools with football. But hockey is like our football. Everyone comes out and starts to really cheer on the teams – both men's and women's. Basketball and rowing follow that.

But if you're interested in playing D1 (division one) we do have that on campus. We also have club and intramural sports as well.

Anthony Su: The questions keep coming in, so I'm always looking at the new ones. But I want to ask about entrepreneurship. The question was, “What entrepreneurship experiences are you looking for in your applicants?” But I also want to give you the chance to emphasize any of the business programs on campus as well, and what's available to students.

Katie Congdon: Sure. So I'll start with that first one. I don't think there's really anything that we're specifically looking at in an application, and if they don't have it we just skip it and move on to the next one. I'm not expecting anyone to have any entrepreneurial background. If you do have it, that's great, and more the merrier; we'd love to read all about it. Could be in the activity sheet. Could be an additional résumé. Feel free to submit that.

I can talk a little bit more about what we offer here. The biggest-option is called IDEA – and it's our own, student-led venture capital. So a way for students to create businesses. And many of them have been created, that are now local businesses or being sold elsewhere. They started right on our campus.

Handlebar, one of the cycling places in Boston, was started on our campus. There’s a small breakfast bar – the name of it is actually slipping my mind – but it's a breakfast bar that you can grab and eat on the go, and it's supposed to include both your daily breakfast and your daily caffeine intake. I haven't tried it yet; I still can't get over the fact of drinking a coffee in a bar. I just don't get that! But still really cool – currently sold in places like Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Trader Joe's. Started right on our campus.

What I think is so unique is that it's completely student-led. It is funded by external funders that come in every year. And so a great way to be involved in that, whether if you're in a leadership role, or if you really just want to get started and help out in any way possible, it's a wonderful opportunity to get involved.

Anthony Su: Some generous donors that just put a pile of money for the students to say, “Hey you guys, go figure out what to do with it!”

Katie Congdon: Yes.

Elton Lin: Are you familiar with the AB104, Katie? In California, there's a bill that was passed called AB104, that allows students to change their grades to pass/no pass as a reflection of that it's been a difficult season with the pandemic and remote school. Students have the option to change a D or an F to either a pass or a no pass. I think there's a question on what sort of impact that might have. You might see a transcript that has a bunch of grades, and then there's a pass. How might you interpret that, and what might be the impact on the review?

Katie Congdon: Sure. This follows the test-optional route, in the sense that, if I were to see that, my first assumption is not going straight to, “Wow, this kid must have failed; they’re just trying to hide something!” I don't think it would really impact it much at all.

I would say, with pass/fail classes, they are not calculated into your GPA when we recalculate it on our end. So it is something to think about. If you were getting an A, and for whatever reason you want to change it to a pass, know that it wouldn't be calculated.

I think that if you were not favorably passing the class, it might not be a bad idea to do pass/fail. But I would like to know a little bit more about why you chose it. I always like to hear about students’ academic experiences. Even if you didn't pass the class with flying colors, what happened? What did you learn? How are you going to do it differently in the future?

That's always important to include in your application, because if we don't get that from you, there are a lot of questions that we may have in our head as we're reading the applications. And with 75,000 plus of them, there's possibly not enough time in the day to reach out to every student to ask for further clarification. I always like to say, provide us more information rather than not enough information.

Anthony Su: Let's see – a question asking about how large the cohorts are in the N.U.in programs. They're saying, “Hey, is it possible that I end up being the only Northeastern student at this particular campus or at this particular location?”

Katie Congdon: Fair question. If that were the case, then we really messed up! No students would ever be alone.

The smallest cohort is usually around 75 students. The largest being around 300. So another plus side to this is that you now have the chance to build stronger relationships with a smaller number of students versus if you were to come to campus in Boston for your first semester, you're going to make more loose relationships with more students. You're not really finding the connections as easily as you would at something like N.U.in.

I love all the interest in this, though! I really appreciate the questions coming in. I’m happy to answer more about this, either tonight or offline, but I really love all the interest in N.U.in.

Anthony Su: Basically final call for questions. I've got three left that we can cover. But, of course, anyone else want to quickly try to slip one in? Definitely submit it.

Question about any programs about women leadership, or something like that, that are available on campus. Could you tell us a little bit about that?

Katie Congdon: We have two minors right now. One in leadership, one in women and gender studies. It's never stopped anyone before to do two minors. So if you're interested, you can always do that.

Outside of the classroom as well, we have a few student affinity groups that focus on helping students who identify with female genders to then make their way up. Whether it's leadership in different organizations or networking opportunities with local companies. I highly recommend you to get involved in those.

Anthony Su: And then I think you've mentioned that international applicants, prior, did not have to submit test scores. There’s the question of how else is the process different for international applicants, compared to domestic applicants?

Katie Congdon: Sure. Two other major differences. One is around English language learning. For students who have selected English not being their first language, and they have less than four years consecutive time in an English-speaking classroom, we are going to require them to submit English proficiency. This typically comes out in a TOEFL or an IELTS test. So that would be required.

The second biggest difference is in regards to financial aid. Right now, I know it's not a favorable answer, but right now we can't award federal funding to students who don't have a social security card or green card in their possession. If this changes, you can always apply for federal financial aid afterwards. But beforehand we can't award that.

However I always like to mention that all students, regardless of their citizenship, are reviewed for merit-based scholarships. So don't think that there's no chance that you're getting financial help. You can always get that in a merit-based scholarship.

Anthony Su: And then last question – I think from when you mentioned the GPA recalculation. They're wondering, how are APs and honors classes calculated? How do you weigh those?

Katie Congdon: Yeah, that was something, as soon as I said it, I knew I'd probably opened up a can of worms with that! It's actually a computer that does it for us. So I don't have an exact calculation of how everything's done. But I can tell you, generally speaking, the more honors and AP/IB courses, if they’re offered at your high school, the more of those courses you're taking, the higher your GPA is going to be.

So for AP and IB courses, you are awarded one full GPA point. For honors, that's half a point. So typically this is going to be looking on a 5.0 scale. Students coming in with GPAs of 4.5 might look a little shocking to you, but really that's pretty average on our end. So know that they're going to be a little higher than what they probably are right now at your high school.

Anthony Su: One more question. What's the best way to reach you for further discussion?

Katie Congdon: Let me see if I can put that in the chat box. I’ll just throw in my email there. Like we mentioned in the beginning, I am the representative for the northern California territory. But I'm more than happy to help answer any questions otherwise. And then I can forward your email along to another colleague and make that introduction for you, if there is someone in our office that deals more specifically with the high school that you're coming from.

Elton in: Katie, thank you so much. It's great to do this conversation again – and also to see how Northeastern has navigated the last year. And it's exciting that everybody is going to be back on campus this coming fall. I’m so excited for you. And I also want to say congratulations; I know that you are expecting. I’m excited for that as well.

Again, thank you so much. I appreciate your time. You've been a wealth of information and a great resource. So thank you.

And Katie's email is at the bottom, so go ahead and please reach out to her if necessary. And thanks, everyone, again. When's our next webinar anthony?

Anthony Su: I have to check the schedule. I honestly do not know; I'll have to check the schedule.

Elton Lin: I'll keep you all updated. Look out for the emails; there's something coming up next. I think Johns Hopkins student panel perhaps. There are some things coming – so look out for it!

But thank you so much, Katie. I really appreciate having you on again. And have a good fall.

Katie Congdon: Thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your evening, everyone.