BanjoHitter

I haven't look recently, but the last time I did I remember those USNWR co-op rankings were heavily weighted on the number of students that participated, so you can see that all of the mandatory schools made it.

kitenyos

Is the engineering co-op program at Lehigh good? Someone please give me info because I am wondering about applying early decision binding to Lehigh. I am interested in co-op engineering.

BanjoHitter

Start a new thread. Don't bump old ones.

starbright

You might consider Waterloo. Sure its not in USNWR because its Canadian but that's not a good reason to ignore it.

Fantastic international reputation, a great co-op program, and they have a great hiring track record. Apparently 98% employment after graduation. I know Microsoft hires more from Waterloo than elsewhere. One hiring manager I know in Seattle does all of his recruiting of engineers there. 100% of their engineering students are in co-op and you end up with up to 6 co-ops before you finish your degree.

University of Waterloo

Prospective Students | Faculty of Engineering | University of Waterloo

Boondocks

I visited RIT recently, and met with the person who takes care of co-ops for engineering technology, which is the department my son is interested in. It appears that they aggressively try to find co-ops for the students, although they can absolutely guarantee a co-op to anyone, because a company has to hire the student, ultimately. I was impressed with their work at finding co-ops for the kids. RIT requires co-ops for most majors.

Wentworth Institute of Technology also requires co-ops for most majors, I believe.

Regardless of whether or not the school has a co-op program, a student can create their own co-op program at most schools. You can find a co-op job yourself, and take a semester off, as long as it doesn't prohibit you from taking the courses you need to take. Many schools that do not have formal co-op programs will help a student find a summer job or co-op. Career services can help, as can professors and alumni.

TheDude2491

Waterloo was one of two schools that I was deciding between when I was entering university.

It has 100% co-op placement for engineering students because all students are forced to do co-op if they want to continue to the next term.

There's also two streams for co-op: one that starts after you completed 1 semester of school (winter term), and the other starts in the summer. At this time (especially the one that starts in winter term), you probably know very little about engineering, and not many employers would want to hire you.

I've heard stories from friends who said that they had to choose a job that had nothing to do with engineering or even had to do some unpaid co-op just so they can continue their education at Waterloo. So don't be so quick to trust the 100% placement rate.

starbright

^ Valid point, especially in this economic time (especially if as a newbie, you really aren't qualified to do 'engineering' anyways after a term or two). But getting any work experience is still very valuable.

What ultimately matters is what you learn during your degree, and the employment, income, and grad school options are available upon graduation. In that regard, graduates from Waterloo do extremely well.

laurenhayes

Banjo, can you share those 20 co-op programs? I'm looking to reach out to all of them. Thank you!

colorado_mom

You can't go wrong with the Northeastern engineering co-op program. The program takes 5 years, with three six month long co-ops. All students rotate in and out of co-op, often living on campus while they do so.

I did 2 summers of engineering co-op with a major corporation (2 different locations). I've heard longer co-op sessions work better, and I can see why. It takes a while to ramp up with learning etc.

Vladenschlutte

The one around here that's kinda famous for it is Kettering.

noimagination

Cincinnati has to be in the running.

ChrisTKD

This is an old thread. Most State U's will have a solid co-op program. How would you ever define "best"? Not every student will want to go co-op. Some will prefer internships. Anyone who is interested in internships or co-ops can look at a prospective university's engineering career fair and see the companies that interview for these types of positions.

TaciturnType

-Insert message about not bumping old threads-

colorado mom is right about Northeastern. They have 3 co-ops built into their 5-year degree program, meaning you take 7 semesters of classes and work for 18 months before graduating. This can get you even without personal connections as you can bypass the 1-2 year work requirement, and you'll sometimes even earn 5-10K more in yearly salary.

They consistently have 100% co-op placement for students in the college of engineering, and their employment services are often ranked in the top 3 by Princeton Review (I don't believe USNews ranks in this category).

That being said, it is quite expensive (~40k/semester for 7 semesters, 15-20k/year living in Boston for 5 years), and the co-op generally covers only living expenses and perhaps a little more depending upon who employs you.

MaineLonghorn

MODERATOR'S NOTE

Please start a new thread instead of resurrecting year-old ones. I am closing this thread.