Specific Information
Books
Consult your immediate seniors in your respective departments to find out what books to bring. If no one from your department has replied to you then go to your department website and try and get the course webpage. You will find out which book was used the last time the course was offered. In all probability, the same will be used this time around. If you know the professor's name, it will make it easier to search the department webpage. Else, you can click on the "Employee Directory" link on the university website www.neu.edu. Please explore most of the links on this site as it contains some valuable information. You can also E -mail a faculty member teaching the course for the current academic year and ask them as to what book(s) they are going to refer to.
Note that your seniors might give you a list of books but that might be old and professors here keep updating and revising what books they refer to for their courses. More-so, it might happen that a different professor is taking the course which was offered by another professor last time that course was offered and your seniors took it. The books that the two professors refer to might be different.
Financial Aid
No one can tell you if you will or will not get it. It is possible as much as it is not possible. You will hear this a lot for aid scene here "Be at the right place at the right time". I'll add that you got to be the "right person" for that position too. Every one who comes here is all pumped up and try and hit in all directions for aid. So be aware that u r facing a very good competition when it comes to financial aid. Give a lot of introspection as to what u think r your SPECIAL ABILITIES and market yourself on those. - As quoted by Nitish Gupta.
There are different types to aid in NU. The basic one is a NUTA. It stands for Northeastern University Tuition Assistance. It pays your tuition in return for 10 hours of work per week. You can work 10 hours per week off - campus to support your living expenses. 10 Hours will not give you a lot of money but you get your tuition paid!!!
A Teaching/ Research assistantship is a higher level. They are really difficult to get, unless you are a PhD candidate.
You can also pay for up to two semesters of tuition money with your co-op. So that is also a good option.
Co-op
Northeastern is ranked no. 1 in co-op in the entire USA. Though this pertains mainly to undergraduates, most graduate students manage to find a position easily. After 2 semesters of your masters, you can work full time for a company for 6 to 8 months.
This comes under your I-20 as cpt or curricular practical training. So it does not affect your OPT after your masters.
A co-op extends your masters degree by 6-8 months but then it gives you a hands-on experience in the industry and it's easier to find jobs in the U.S.A. after a co-op.
There are co-op seminars held throught the campus during the first few weeks of each semester. Make it a point to attend them. They are usually conducted by the department of career services.
If you are in the department of Computer science then they have a special training where they help you with resumes, cover letters, interview you and also try to get you an on- campus placement.
Depending on the company you work in, a coop can pay enough to cover your tuition for around one or two semesters, which is the added silver lining.
To learn more about co-op look at the co-op tab in you're MY-NEU account. Also look at Northeastern's co-op website