Hello! I’m a newly admitted student, and I’m still deciding where to attend, and NU is certainly one of my top choices. Generally speaking, what draws many to NU is the co-op program, but what exactly are the benefits, since looking at the statistics, I’m not seeing a ton. I will be a business/finance student at every college I’ve been accepted to, and for business majors, NU’s outcomes don’t seem greatly superior. NU has a comparable, and in some cases lower, employment rate after graduation compared to other schools I’ve gotten into like UWM, UIUC, and IU. NU also had a much lower cost of living adjusted salary, trailing many of the other schools I’ve gotten into by $15-20k. Call me a hater, but what exactly are the benefits of NU’s main “attraction,” and what is the data/statistics not capturing?
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If you really hate this school, choose one of the others to which you have been accepted.
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Benefit…job experience. Actually working in your field and earning a salary. And getting some responsibility before you graduate from college.letters of reference or even job offers from your coop experiences. Many students view this as a positive. It might not be in your field of study, but it is for many.
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Look at what internship opportunities are available at your other acceptances. Perhaps you can get similar experiences in your field of study at one of the other colleges.
S24 will attend NU in the fall and I can only speak to why we chose NU, without any direct evidence that what they’re selling is real.
Many schools have co-op programs but we see it more as a strong emphasis on career preparation. You take a 1 credit class before your co-op cycle to learn how to land a real paying job. I believe you do resumes, Linkedin, mock interviews, and the like. Then it’s on you to apply, interview, the whole thing. They have a database and you get an advisor but nothing is handed to you. The parent page on FB is full of parents worrying about the current down cycle in a lot of fields and their kids getting no responses after sending out over 100 applications. It sounds rough, but we think it’s good preparation for the job market.
We watched a few Q&A videos for the CS college and a couple of times they pointed out how they take feedback from the co-op employers and adjust the curriculum to better align with what is happening in the real world. My husband was surprised by how up to date the presenters were on industry challenges.
As far as comparing statistics, every school is a set of “attactions”. So NU is popular and has a well developed co-op program but their popularity isn’t only tied to their co-op program. If this is your only metric, then your analysis says NU is not the right school for you.
For us, we liked that NU is in a great city. We liked that the school identity isn’t tied to the football team. We like that NU is very generous with accepting AP credits (up to 32 credits for scores of 4 or 5) so S24 can fit in 2 co-ops and still graduate in 4 years. We liked that NU offers so many combined majors where the program of study is trimmed down to the same load as a regular major, so it’s still 4 years to graduation. We liked that for CS, they teach concepts and structure before introducing programming languages, since languages come and go. We like NU’s Dialogues of Civilization, which are summer semester abroad programs that are faculty led small groups, with many options each year, covering a wide range of majors including math and STEM disciplines.
There are many more facets of NU, some we like and some we don’t. But we are really happy with our choice and hope S24 is able to take advantage of as many NU opportunities as possible.
The benefits of co-op range from significant to trivial. Depends on the student.
If you are the first person in your family to go to college, or are interested in a field that nobody in your family/extended friends/community has ever worked in, co-op can be very valuable. You don’t need to wonder “What’s the difference between a career in asset management vs. trading vs. corporate treasury”. You’ll be learning the same things as your friends at other colleges in the lecture hall and books- but co-op will provide opportunities and support for you to sample those things while you are an undergrad. It’s easy for folks to say “You need to network” but if your parents friends are all teachers and librarians and own small businesses… who are you going to network with? So for these kids- it’s valuable.
There are kids at NU who already know what direction they want to go in- and co-op can either confirm or deny. You hate your first co-op doing consumer marketing? Sure- companies are different- but if you don’t like it at company A you aren’t likely to love it at company B if its the actual field you dislike. So an easy way to rule things out.
There are hundreds of kids at NU who either don’t take full advantage of the co-op opportunities, or don’t see the value- and that’s fine too. There is nothing holy about a co-op. You can get a plain vanilla internship or job from anywhere else, and that provides terrific experience (even if you hate it).
So I don’t think anyone should go to NU for the coop program. Go if you love everything else- and maybe you’ll have a great co-op experience, or maybe it will terrible, or something in between. And if you don’t see the value- and don’t like Northeastern-- then just go somewhere else. It’s that simple!
Not every co-op is created equal. Some involve high value work, well supervised, lots of mentoring. Others are barely disguised “bring the coffee to the team room” experiences. And during and since covid- the quality varies tremendously. I know an NU student who says she got almost nothing out of one co-op experience. She was virtual- never really connected with her supervisors, the team was friendly but she was just a disembodied voice on calls and Zoom.
So for ANY internship/summer job/co-op-- I think it’s really important for a young person just starting out to be physically in the office, lab, factory, worksite.
Good luck with your decision.
Many students gain valuable experience on co-ops and some also find out what they don’t want to do as a career. Many students, including mine, leave NU with a post-grad job offer from a co-op employer. Obviously, co-ops, like the world went more virtual/remote during the pandemic but I don’t really hear about remote co-ops now.
Keep in mind that many posters who comment about NU have no personal experience with the school. As an alum and parent, I think co-op is the number one reason to choose NU. Plus the numerous global opportunities to study or work abroad.
Our neighbor’s son went to NU. He loved the school but according to them, NU is not a target school for most of the major IB or consulting firms.
He did land a job at a top tier firm but it was mostly due to his relentless networking and not the school itself. He really enjoyed himself at NU and was very positive about his overall experience but the school didn’t really impact his job outcomes.
I went to Northeastern Undergrad and later attended Northeastern Law School. It was in the dark ages, but I expect little has changed in terms of the philosophy.
I was a physical therapy/psychology major undergrad. I met with a co-op advisor, developed a resume, reviewed available co-op jobs, applied, and attended interview. So there was substantial support for the job seeking. Job evaluations were also part of my academic record. There are many co-op employers in the Boston Area that are familiar with the process.
My first co-op as a PT major was at a large facility for elderly. After I switched to psychology, I worked at a community center in the city. My next co-op placement was difficult as many psychology positions were unpaid then and others were evening shift work and I was uncertain about a long bus ride back to school. After I lived in the city, I would not have felt that way, but I was 20.
Ultimately, I got an RA position, opted out of co-op and finished my undergraduate psych degree in 4 years.
When I returned for law school, it was the same deal: a huge network of co-op employers including employers well beyond New England as well as overseas. Supportive services for identifying goals, developing resume, refining application, practicing interview skills, etc. Many panels with lawyers with different positions to learn about different post-grad career options. By the end of law school, I had clerked with a judge and worked for a small firm and two public interest agencies. Most folks on the corporate track secured post-grad positions with one of their co-op employers.
I think it is an excellent model. I did not think it was ideally suited my psychology degree because there were fewer paid positions, but it was great for law school. If my kid did not know what they wanted to do or wanted to study a pure humanities degree, I might question whether it is worth it, but tons and tons of majors (business, engineering, health care, criminal justice, social work, sciences), it’s a great return on investment.
Benefits from NU, I can only go by the people I know with your major (verified on Linkedin)-
Family Friend 1
Co-op 1 - Bain Capital Private Equity
Co-op 2 - Morgan Stanley Prime Brokerage Research Analyst
Family Friend 2
Co-op 1 Mckinsey M&A Analyst
Co-op 2 Berkshire Partners Private Equity
If you want to compare this to sophomore and junior internships from UWM, UIUC, and IU - just the 2 people I know would be in the top 5% at from those schools, if not top 1%.
Sounds like we come from the same era at Northeastern.
I was a business major but knew a woman who was an art history major at Northeastern.
Not a common major there. Her first coop was at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She worked in what in reality was the “shipping and receiving” department. New acquisitions were processed, and the comings and goings of temporary exhibits went through that department. She wore a lot of cotton gloves and learned about the behind-the-scenes activities at a museum. She also got to see the museum collection that was in storage, not currently on display. It was a paid position but at minimum wage. She said it was an incredible learning experience.
Today, seems if you get a 3.8 or greater, you will be interviewed by top banks and consulting firms. I am starting to think that target schools may not hold the weight they once did. @Catcherinthetoast can chime in because he sees it from the other side. Banks and equivalent may just be holding spots for kids who perform at good schools. I think we may be seeing a trend.
This is false. Bain and BCG would have to stop serving clients and spend 100 percent of staff and consultants time interviewing if this were the case. What is your source that the only screen is a 3.8???
And there are plenty of new hires with less than a 3.8. They bring other things to the table besides grades.
Source for your statement?
That is not exactly what I said - so let me try again.
Banks have target schools. They also often offer a good number of interviews to high achievers who are not from their target school list. The easiest way to get that interview would be to have grades of a 3.8 or higher. That seems to be part of the resume screen for non-target schools. Some claim these screens are not even done by humans.
My source would be finance majors from top 100 schools, that are not target schools as well as the hiring managers I know. I have lots of relationships in the space and also had a daughter who received those interviews from a non-target school.
I understand how you might compare the co-op program to getting an internship, but the difficulty to be hired for comparable internships should not be underestimated.
Northeastern has invested significantly to offer career opportunities for its students. I would strongly disagree with the statement you made. Northeastern would not be Northeastern without the program.
I agree wholeheartedly especially where the negative experience cited by @blossom was a virtual one. I expect a decent number of co-ops and internships during early Covid were virtual. I think that was an unfortunate consequence of the pandemic (and not limited to NU Co-op students!).
Perhaps a more recent student can confirm, as I cannot recall my undergrad experience selecting co-ops, but at the law school, co-op employer information accessible to students included previous student reviews, which was a good way to ensure high quality placements. I can’t stress this enough. Cooperative Education is more than a list of open internships. NU has a whole infrastructure around this idea.
I do think @blossom has a good point in that Co-op should not be a reason to attend. I take that to mean Co-op should not be the only reason to attend. The fact remains that it can easily tip the scales for many, and participation will provide a ROI (experience and/or discernment and/or $ and/or expanding a professional network).
A kid who is interested in the ACADEMICS at NU can or cannot consider coop a plus.
A degree from Northeastern is not an apprenticeship certificate for whichever career the kid is preparing for. And the kids I know who are disappointed in their experiences at NU don’t understand the fundamental difference.
Coop is terrific for some fields (CS, Bio). somewhat useful in others (education, finance) and of marginal value for SOME KIDS in the humanities. A kid studying Poli Sci will not have the difficulty you are describing finding an internship on a political campaign, working on a legislative sub-committee, etc. So if the ACADEMICS of a poli sci degree from NU aren’t of interest to a kid, the fact that there are coops-- so what? It will not guarantee a successful career after graduation which is what many parents who are breaking the bank for NU believe.
You are also underestimating the amount of support that many colleges provide for internships and fellowships. There are professionals in the Career Services office who specialize in these… no, they aren’t “coops”, but they are summer jobs, internships, etc. And special endowed funds exist to make sure that kids whose aid package requires a significant self-help component can “make up” the difference between what they are earning at an internship vs. what they need to fund their bill for the next year. So a kid is not facing a gap.
Caveat emptor. Don’t assume that NU guarantees your kid won’t have trouble launching (because kids struggle with their launch from every single college, and none of us control the economy, labor market, recessionary trends, etc.) If the university has what a kid is looking for- terrific. Coop can help. If it doesn’t, coop comes with zero guarantees.
agree that co-op would not be my first choice if I were a liberal arts major, but I do believe the OP is talking about business . no dog in the fight.
I’ve been back and forth about adding to this conversation because I don’t have any experience with NU and my kid was an engineer, but we are big proponents of co-op learning across majors.
First off, typically co-op companies are willing to hire earlier in the process and freshman can land those positions. It gives a head start in building resume experience.
Our D’s experience during covid was that the co-op companies were the ones that didn’t rescind offers. While her friends with internships were getting them cancelled, she was on site working in person outside of Atlanta the summer of '20 when lots was still locked down because the company was deemed “essential”. She had a regular summer internship the next summer when she was off from co-op, after she was vaccinated, that went hybrid 3 weeks before she was supposed to start. All of her co-op rotations were fully in person.
I 100% agree that it’s important to do ones homework in choosing a co-op company and that it takes work to get a good fit. It won’t be handed to you. Talk to students who have been in their program, understand what kind of responsibilities, training, and mentoring they provide. See how many co-op students get full time job offers.
IMO, it’s such a great way to be exposed to your intended industry and really understand if you can see yourself in that field long term. Sometimes classroom learning isn’t enough.
Not mentioned is the fact that Northeastern requires “experiential learning”, not coop. Experiential learning is not a renaming of coop but rather an umbrella term, of which the most common form is coop. Students can also satisfy the experimental learning requirement through doing research, global experience and service learning. That would be of interest in particular to humanities and some social science majors.
Experiential Learning | Undergraduate Admissions (northeastern.edu)
One of the reasons for NU In and the other alternative entry options is that Northeastern is seeking students who do not mind getting out of their comfort zone.
my son is a current college student - engineering - and chose a different school over Northeastern. He viewed the co-op as a negative and thought it was a scam to pay (high) college prices and basically work for a semester. He thought more time in the classroom learning what he wanted to learn would be more valuable in the wrong run.
After finishing his summer internship at a company last year, he said “man that was fun!” and that he loved working. He expressed regret that he hadn’t considered NE more seriously and admitted he’d underestimated the appeal of an internship program.
Not sure if that’s helpful or not but that’s my only experience!! 
Aren’t students paid (and paid fairly well…) when they are on co-op? Do they have any expenses at NEU during those terms? I was under the impression that co-op terms helped to pay for the other terms when they are studying.