Hi my questions are still related to teen’s college list.Trying to figure out how college life will be for teen if teen is accepted into and attends a “co-op” school like Drexel or Northeastern. On one hand I love the idea of students coming out of school with grown up work experience. On the other hand I worry about how being in a co-op school might affect teen’s college experience. Will it limit the potential to form bonds with classmates? Does it affect school spirit? Do kids who attend co-op schools look back on their college years fondly? If anyone has a child who is either attending or who went to a co-op heavy school (or if you attended one yourself) please let me know about the experience.
I’m a big believer in co-op programs. S20 graduated from Georgia Tech. I’m fairly certain his co-op helped him getting FT offers. It also helped him mature and improve his interpersonal skills. He’s working in the same industry as his co-op.
As for impacting his college experience he was lucky that his co-op was in Atlanta. He didn’t miss a beat. If the co-op is in the summer it really wouldn’t impact their experience.
Drexel and Northeastern were also on his list. If you visit be sure to talk to a few of the students who co-op. The common theme was they were “work ready” according to employers. Good luck.
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My D was a co-op student at Purdue where about 1/3 of students co-op. She had a fabulous experience. There were enough students coming and going that if anything, it helped expand her circle of friends. Definitely great school spirit and she has very very fond memories of school. It also didn’t impact her ability to be involved in campus clubs.
The work experience was incredible, she had her full time job offer before she started her senior year, and she graduated from undergrad with a sizable bank account.
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I am a graduate of a school that required co-op for all students. I absolutely loved it. I gained fabulous experience, my confidence grew, and I still enjoyed my college experience. I highly recommend it to any student who is interested.
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Are they interested in engineering? There are a number of schools that either offer or require a coop for engineering. My oldest D was also a Purdue Chem E grad and co-op student (5 terms). She loved her co-op. It didn’t seem to affect her campus relationships too much but her best friends ultimately came from her co-op. She met her husband because of her co-op as one of her roommates was HS friends with him. He is an engineer as well and they are both working at the company he co oped with. During her job interviews they were more interested in her work history than her degree. I guess that was kind of given.
She still had friends at Purdue. She still was active in organizations and did a lot with the Society of Women Engineers and was a counselor for Purdue’s STEP camp. She also really liked the opportunity to work in the field she was studying and appreciated the break she got from the interesting but arduous work that is engineering. It gave her an opportunity to meet engineering students from other schools and learn to interact due to her profession not just as a student. On the whole most students who I know who have co-oped very much liked their experience. However, every student is different so one person’s experience may not be the same as another’s. Good luck.
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Yes. Teen is interested in Chemical Engineering. I notice Purdue comes up a lot, in a positive way, in relationship to engineering schools. Teen tentatively put Purdue on teen’s college list. The only concern is distance from NY. Teen wanted to stay within a certain driving distance unless the state is NC where we have family. But we are seriously considering taking a trip there to see if the distance is really a problem or not.
I know a lot of stduents who attended NEU, and they loved college. That said, many of them do not like that friends might disappear for months or even years while they all have different coop schedules.
Neither NEU nor Drexel are going to provide a “classic” college experience, but that doesn’t mean kids don’t have a great time at those colleges. They make great friends and have a lot of fun. I know a Drexel grad who was president of her sorority and just married her college sweetheart. She has a job she loves. I don’t think she’d trade her experience.
That said, students who attend more traditionally structured colleges also do internships and have work experience before launching themselves. Is it you, or your child, who is interested in a coop experience? I’d let your child lead that.
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It’s an excellent school for engineering (and other majors). They offer either 3 or 5 term coops. My D made enough money in her coops to pay for the OOS differential in cost. One thing I observed is that while Purdue is a great school, the students from University of Louisville, Cincinnati, Toledo etc. who did coops were getting the same types of job offers. It’s the student not the school that makes the difference.
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My D was also a Purdue chem E.
If your child is interested in a co-op optional school a bit closer to NY, take a look at Pittsburgh. Bonus with Pitt is they have rolling admission so it can act as a safety for a high stats student if they apply early when the common app opens.
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Teen has suggested that they want a traditional college experience but teen has put a few schools on their preliminary college list that are known for their co-ops.
Even at a “traditional” school, there will be instances of friends being gone for study-abroad, semester-in-DC, etc… plus more and more schools have actual co-ops as an option.
And even at a co-op school, nobody is going anywhere for the first three semesters. So there’s a good chunk of time to form bonds, even if co-ops disrupt things a bit once they start. (And as momofboiler pointed out, sometimes shaking things up a little isn’t all bad - it gets kids out of their friend-group rut.)
Another variable to look at is the availability of local co-ops. At Northeastern, for example, there are quite a few students who are on co-op but are still in Boston and socializing with their friends who are in classes. I’d guess this is probably true at Drexel too. Whereas at a school like Purdue, I would guess that a larger share of co-ops would be far away from campus.
I think many people would be surprised at how many big companies have locations near or even on the Purdue campus. There are Biotech, Pharma, Aerospace, Automotive, and Manufacturing companies that are in the greater Lafayette area and have partnerships with the university. My D had quite a number of friends that stayed local to campus for their co-ops (and also internships).
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Interesting, thank you!!
Yes. U of Pittsburgh is on the list, but I didn’t realize they had a co-op program so thanks for that info.
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I’d highly recommend taking a tour/info session at one of these schools and let your student see if it appeals when they explain what it’s like. Even better, an Open House.
I took my student to Drexel last year among our college tour week, and this was the school that got student to sit up and pay attention at the info session. It just clicked with my student and student has now committed to go there.
I would definitely say co-op schools may not appeal to all students, and can’t help with what it’s like since mine hasn’t started yet, but mine was very focused on “how am I going to get a job after college” during the search versus “am I going to have fun here,” and the co-op concept which translated to work experience before graduation, was a powerful motivator. Though student is excited to go to school in the city, too. 
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Here is a short article by a Boston University business student who did a coop. Apparently coops are not common at BU, at least not in the business school.
My Experience Taking a Semester off to Pursue a Co-op Opportunity at Wayfair | Hey BU Blog
At coop heavy colleges, a student does not have to take a leave of absence or worry about missing out and catching up.
I wonder if “BU MOM” who doxed me based on my initial comment there will read this thread? 
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That was the biggest difference that we saw when our D was looking at schools - schools with well supported co-op programs really helped with the logistics of course scheduling and housing, so students were seamlessly able go back and forth between school and work. The housing piece was especially helpful for the dorms.
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Yikes! 
That was rough. (The actual comment by BU mom I mean not your statement here.) Maybe they were just having a bad day? 
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This is an interesting perspective. I like the idea of having support with the logistics.
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Thank you for the article. Will check it out.
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