NSCC has two campuses: Lynn and Danvers. This is a review for Lynn. The commuter rail is right across the street, so it's convenient for people who don't have cars-- or for people who have cars but don't want to drive in the snow. Since I live in Gloucester, the train schedule isn't ideal, but it's better than nothing. My first semester, I took a night class that ended around 9pm. Unfortunately, this meant I had to wait until 11pm to take the train home. The school is technically closed by then, but I got to wait inside until I had to leave. I actually wasn't worried about my safety, but the campus police were more than happy to walk me over and keep me company until I got on the train. It's kind of strange how different presentations/activities are done in the cafeteria, but I guess they just use the space they have. I saw someone talk about the Netherlands, which was kind of interesting, but most of the people hanging around the caf weren't there to listen to the guy talk. I love the library. I spend most of my time at school sitting there. There are a couple areas with fairly comfortable couches, little cubicles with lights/outlets to plug in a laptop, and desks where groups can study. I'm a big fan of the small class sizes. For the most part, I've loved my teachers. Most of them are more than willing to meet for extra help if you want it, and they really do want you to succeed. The quality of the class, of course, depends on the individual teacher. Some classes are, in my mind, high school level, but if you want a challenge, you can find it. Oh, and if you really want to step out of your comfort zone? You can cross-register with any one of ten NECCUM schools, which includes Gordon College, Endicott College, Salem State College and others. Doing this actually costs the same amount as registering for a class at NSCC. Neat, right? I sure thought so. I haven't done it yet, but I hope to register for an Italian class in the fall. (The downside is that many employees at NSCC have never heard of this, so you have to insist that it exists. Here's some information: http://www.northshore.edu/registrar/neccum.html) I didn't want to go to NSCC, but you know what? It's not so bad. I'm saving money by completing classes I would've needed at a four-year school anyway, I'm building confidence by earning good grades at a not-so-intimidating school, and it's somewhat close to home. I don't know if I'd recommend it to EVERYONE, but it's really the best thing for me at this point in time. read more

There is a big difference between NSCC in Danvers and Lynn. Danvers is a much newer facility with more resources than Lynn. Lynn's campus was built after the Great Lynn Fire in 1981. If I remember correctly it was built next to where one of the buildings burned down. The empty field next to the campus on Broad St couldn't be built on because it was contaminated. Anyways, the Lynn campus is obviously aged. The building itself is holding up alright and the campus has the less priviliaged students of the immediate area. Danver's campus has the students from more promenient cities such as Boxford, Georgetown, Hamilton-Wenham, Middleton, Danvers, etc. So Lynn's campus is much more diverse from experiencing both. The majority faculty of the facility teach at both locations and the college itself is pretty good. Now, education in Massachusetts is not cheap......but compared to Salem State and U-Mass Boston tuition prices........this place is a steal. Community college is like a disco with books: "Here's ten dollars; let me get my learn on!" -Chris Rock There are many unique clubs and organizations here to be apart of. The faculty seems to care about your success even if you don't. Tuition is $125 per credit, the books are expensive as always. If you want to be financially wise, don't go to a four year school right away. Hit up this place first and get the prerequisite classes finished......95% will transfer within the ctate college system agreement North Shore has. You'll save yourself some money and be able to see two schools instead of just one. -Almost done with NSCC, aiming for UNC: Chapel Hill! read more

It's a great school. The only problem is the Administration Staff member's. If you can learn how to deal with them properly, your experiences would be rather pleasant here. Be prepared to walk in the office and tell them how to do their job and be extremely blunt. Trust me, otherwise they will talk to you like you are a puppy. Every time I deal with a staff member here they talk to me like I am uneducated or I don't know what I want or I don't know what I'm doing. I can recall how much times I've had to tell a staff member how it is. Maybe it's the perception that all students that attend the school is "not smart". Do not begin with the advising, the special advisor told me he has no authority and no power to do anything, just doing what he's told. On the Brightside, the Professors here care a lot for the students and will go the extra mile to ensure you succeed. Minus a star for their Administration, but with such a Caring faculty I believe they will continue to grow and expand. read more

I am a North Shore Alumni and have attended 4 other schools in my college career. North Shore has been the best by far. The teachers actually care and want you to succeed at NSCC. Also, NSCC is affordable and offers classes online, on weekends and night. read more

I registered for the 11 week summer Anatomy & Physiology I course here because it was the only place that had classes after 5pm. The instructor is great, she really knows her stuff and I enjoy her lectures. She is on the faculty at Salem State, and I believe she is still a nurse as well? The parking lot is convenient and you can park for free at the MBTA garage if it's full, but it's never been full when I go. The lab facilities are nice too, we mostly use microscopes and they are in good condition along with the slides. The building is easy to navigate and color coded. I didn't get lost in there like I did at Bunker Hill or Brandeis. I knocked off a star for the crappy bookstore hours (they close at 4 or 3:30), the lack of a student copy machine, and the cafeteria. What kind of cafeteria has no water fountain, no utensils, and no napkins?? read more

My review may be severely outdated, but my guess is this place is plugging along like it did even back when I was a student. I attended NSCC as part of a dual-enrollment in High School. I took a few night classes at the Lynn campus, and was impressed with their overall dedication received from the professors. The small class sizes played a big part in that. I'd go back for a class if the occasion presented itself! read more

I have never attended class at the Danvers campus so this reveiw is of the Lynn Campus. Overalll its not bad for its age. The staff is very kind and helpful. Overall the campus is kept very clean especially considering we are in Lynn. It seems to me like a high school,with the student having more freedom of course. I have enjoyed the last few years at NSCC and i am still trying to figure out what i want to do with my life. I have liked 95% of the teachers i have had. They do seem to care about your understanding of the material and overall success. They are building an expansion currently. Its been under construction i think over a year now since its been a few semesters. Anyways excited to see that when its ready that is assuming im still going to school. read more

I've really enjoyed my classes and teachers. Security is super nice and student financial services are always helpful when I deal with them .... read more

They don't seem to have a lot of concern for their students. I am an older student so I pay attention to how the younger students are treated and I found that was not very good. When they ask questions they don.t get the proper answers and when I went into financial aid one day to ask a question the girl acted like I wasn.t even standing there. I asked for some paperwork and she told me to go online. I said I am right here could you look for me and she rolled her eye's and then said o.k. This behavior is unacceptable. How are our children to learn if the staff doesn't properly help them. I have seen this behavior in a few cases. I was trying convince my son to study there, but I decided against it. When I come across students they are not that bright I say if it is any indication from the faculty's teaching habits I totally understand why. read more

Many people like to think of Community College as an alternative to a four year school, great education for a fraction of the price. Not so much. At the very least, NSCC has more in common with for-profit schools like DeVry, ITT Tech or University of Phoenix than what it claims to stand for. Much of how NSCC promotes itself feels very artificial, especially after you make it on the campus. The best example I can offer is how an entire class, I was paying for mind you, was completely taken over by NSCC's PR team. Who wanted the class to immediately sign release forms and consent to the constant, and distracting picture taking going on. Apparently the PR people found the material a little dry and proceeded to continue to interrupt the class for "photo ops". They wanted pictures of people holding and looking into the camera... not into the computer mind you the thing they're there to learn how to do, but at the camera. They settled on two people to do this, a young woman in the class because she was a woman and the most "ethnic" person they could find. This picture was actually used in NSCC promotional material. The irony in showing it to colleagues, they found it to be more of a "What's wrong with this picture" more than a positive picture promoting people to a technology course or field. To top it all off, the person they selected was also the poorest performing student in the class who usually slowed everyone else down. I realized that day I had payed money to be in a room while they shot a commercial for NSCC instead of learning anything. To be fair, I might not have learned anything at all to begin with. Upon getting to core classes in my program I found that a great deal of the material was grossly out of date. One class was working out of a book from 2002, this was obvious when reading it as it referenced 9/11 as a "recent event". We had been studying software from 2003 and had been out of service from it's developers since 2010. This was all in 2013-2014. Some people I know who were either still in college or graduated a few years back looked at my course work and couldn't help but notice how out of date everything was, and how poorly conveyed it was. In some classes, I would bring in physical examples from home to show students because the hardware examples were so far out of date they did not account for newer and more common technology. This would have been wonderful if the classes were held between 2003 and 2008 but they weren't... this was 2013-2014 and I walked in knowing more than what was being taught. And quite honestly, employers and recruiters get wind of this kind of info. It makes you quite unemployable because you don't have up to date skills. And make no mistake about it, you might be learning from new books, but expect to be learning old skills. Administratively, NSCC is the most unhelpful and in some ways rude institutions I have ever been in contact with. I was never able to simply sign up for classes normally, I always required "overrides" which took time out of my day to go to an office and deal with a student worker who didn't have any idea how to make that happen and had to call over one of the actual workers who then gave me a death glare for taking time out of their busy schedule. How about making your system work so that I can actually attend the classes I want rather than wasting my time and yours? This coupled with the constant flow of misinformation I was constantly fed was amazing. One other instance that I found fairly insulting was going in to get a student ID. You need one of these if you want to use any library services. After everything was all said and done, the lady who handed me the ID went above and beyond to point out the gym services to me and even hand me a pamphlet. Honestly, that's the only thing you can say about the ID is that I can go to the gym. Seriously, I'm not the most in shape person but I'm not in the kinda shape that people constantly and derogatorily say "Hey fatty, hit the gym." I found the whole experience demeaning. Of the few good things, the faculty is very good, they're very understanding and come off as experts in their fields. The only problem is they're forced to teach an outdated curriculum to students. The locations are fairly centralized, the Lynn campus is steps from public transit, and the Danvers campus is easily available from the highway. Plus there is bus shuttle service between them. But by far it is not enough to want to bring you anywhere near here. Save your money, try Norther Essex Community or Bunker Hill Community and see if you have better luck but if you want to sink your money into a for-profit like community college go for it. To be honest, you would be better off going to the Community College from the show Community. At least then you'd be able to hang out with a cool study group of semi-educated people. read more

I attended North Shore when I first graduated high school I took a few classes and then dropped out, well I returned years later and they allowed me to use my previous credits towards my program of study. I think the reason North Shore gets a bad rap is because it has an open door policy, meaning they accept everyone. North Shore believes in giving people a second chance at a college education. Some of the professors not only teach at North Shore they teach at other colleges like Emerson,Salem State etc...., North Shore has an excellent online program. Students at North Shore are allowed to take classes at other colleges if the class is unavailable at North Shore. Students can take classes at the Lynn or Danvers campus there is a shuttle that runs between the two campuses. My only complaint with the Lynn Campus is the parking, the spaces are narrow and you have to go early to get a space. read more