<p>Co-op is BETTER than internships for the following reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s easier to get a co-op position. With internship, you would be one of the many applicants from different schools for the same positions during the same summer term. The applicant pool is a lot larger. With co-op, the companies have a special relationship with NU and are willing to take you “during” the school year.</p></li>
<li><p>Depending on the internship, some may not give you the kind of work that their entry-level engineers actually do. But with co-op, they give you increasing responsibility as outlined by the co-op agreement. </p></li>
<li><p>Unless you make a wrong choice to begin with, you will likely return to the same company. You can be with the same company for as long as six quarters interspersed with academic terms. I can’t imagine a company that has invested in someone for six quarters wouldn’t give him/her a permanent job offer. At the same time, the person is free to apply for other jobs and with that many quarters of work experience, the person is going to be more marketable than many of his/her peers, which can lead to more ideal opportunities with better companies.</p></li>
<li><p>Because co-ops alternate with school terms, they give you more opportunities to apply what you learn in schools to jobs and vice versa. The experience and extra time can also let you figure out what you do and DON’T want to do more easily before you graduate.</p></li>
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