As Northeastern students returned to the campus for the spring semester, first-year students who spent the fall semester around the world as part of the university’s N.U.in program arrived in Boston for the first time.

Northeastern’s N.U.in program, originally introduced in 2007, is advertised by the university as providing students with “a holistic academic experience while earning credit toward their Northeastern undergraduate degree.” Applicants who were not admitted to the Boston campus are provided with the option to complete their first semester at one of 10 partner universities including University College Dublin, Saint Louis University Madrid and John Cabot University in Rome.

Once arriving in Boston, however, N.U.in students join the rest of the student body in classes. To some N.U.in students, adjusting to life on the Boston campus after arriving a semester later can be a difficult task. 

“It’s definitely intimidating to make friends with people from Northeastern in Boston because these people already have their own friend group,” said Cordelia Ames, a first-year biological and mechanical engineering combined major who spent her first semester in Dublin. 

GT Heming, a first-year computer science major who spent his first semester in Madrid, detailed the social difficulties some N.U.in students face when arriving at the Boston campus. 

“Because it’s the second semester, we’re coming at a weird time. It’s not really a point in the year where you’re trying to meet new people,” Heming said. “We already know a lot of people here who were in Madrid with us. But at the same time, a lot of the people here are really closed off, which is partially because they’ve already formed their own circles.”

Northeastern holds events at the beginning of the spring semester to introduce new and returning students to clubs and organizations on campus, such as the Winter Involvement Fair, which acts as an alternative to Fall Fest. However, Heming said he has benefited most from conversations with upperclassmen.  

“Since my roommates are upperclassmen, I learned so much from them just in one night talking to them casually, so I feel like having something like that would be kind of huge,” Heming said, suggesting that Northeastern offer more opportunities for N.U.in students to connect with upperclassmen. 

“Northeastern did a great job showing us clubs, but aside from that … we were kind of going in blind,” he said. “I had no idea where any of the buildings were, stuff like that.”

Many N.U.in students report feeling a sense of anonymity upon their arrival to Boston and struggle to feel welcome in many campus spaces.

“I started hearing people yelling ‘abolish N.U.in’ in the dining hall, and it just became a joke,” Ames said. 

Ames added that she was aware in advance of the treatment N.U.in students face upon their arrival to the Boston campus. “I kind of knew that the N.U.in thing was a joke and people would joke about it when I got back,” she said. “I was a little worried that I was gonna stick out like a sore thumb, but it hasn’t been that bad. It’s not a big deal if you don’t take it personally.”

Julian Bernetich, a first-year international business major who spent his first semester in Madrid, described a similar experience but described it as unexpected. 

“My friend overheard one kid saying all the N.U.in kids need to get NU out, so there’s a lot of things like that,” Bernetich said. “It was … a shock to come here and be like, ‘Oh, damn. Everyone hates us personally.’ I was fully unaware.”

If someone hasn’t heard anything negative about the N.U.in program, all they need to do is log into one of the countless anonymous social media message boards used by Northeastern students. However, Heming said that despite a slew of posts criticizing or mocking N.U.in students on platforms including Reddit, Sidechat and TikTok, he has never experienced negative reactions in person. 

Maya Tjia, a first-year bioengineering major who was on the Boston campus in the fall, said the issue for Boston admits isn’t the N.U.in students themselves, but rather a general frustration with overcrowding.

“Don’t take the insults personally. It’s not a you issue, it’s a space issue with the school,” Tjia said. “[Stetson East] would get so crazy. Snell [Library] too, and Marino [Recreation Center]. It was already overcrowded and now it’s just so much worse.”

In 2024, 1,554 students participated in N.U.in across nine university partner locations worldwide in countries including Portugal, Ireland and the Czech Republic. 

“It’s a generalized stigma, but it’s not really personal,” Heming said. “And I think a lot of it’s because we’re just crowding the dining halls and stuff.”

Many students like Heming chose Northeastern not in spite of, but because of N.U.in program. In the 2022-23 school year, 3,780 undergraduate students had a global experience, which includes N.U.in, Dialogues of Civilization and semesters abroad across 66 countries. 

“It can be an eye-opening experience,” Heming said. “And I think that’s super valuable for really anyone to have. And I think that’s something everyone should experience in some way, shape or form.”