<p>Waterloo was one of two schools that I was deciding between when I was entering university. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>^ 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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Banjo, can you share those 20 co-op programs? I’m looking to reach out to all of them. Thank you!</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The one around here that’s kinda famous for it is Kettering.</p>
<p>Cincinnati has to be in the running.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>-Insert message about not bumping old threads-</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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).</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE</p>
<p>Please start a new thread instead of resurrecting year-old ones. I am closing this thread.</p>