I totally understand the way you are thinking, but it seems to me you may have an inflated view of career services and are underestimating Northeastern who put co-op on the map.
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Students at northeastern are not required to do a coop.
CAreer services tends to be post graduation assistance, coops are during their student years.
More and more schools are starting to try to emulate what NU Had been doing for 100 years and why it is consistently named the #1 coop school in the country. More and more students are looking for meaningful ways to prepare for careers post graduation. Speaking from experience with my two children, NU does an amazing job preparing and supporting students through the process and while on their coops when issues might arise. And coop is just one aspect of the experiential learning NU offers students like research opps, international work and travel, experiential opps in classes, etc. it is not a ,earning style for everyone, but for those interested, it is beyond comparison IMO. I think @TomSrOfBoston ssid it, but experiential learning is I’m ended into the camous culture.
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Career Services at most schools starts on Day 2 of someone’s freshman year. The fact that many kids don’t bother wondering “what comes next?” is on the kid- not a reflection of the resources that exist.
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I also want to share that for many kids in humanities, co-op can actually be more meaningful post graduation, given the competition for jobs with many social science kids out there. My D Did volunteer on/for many campaigns for prominent Boston women political leaders her first and second years, but she also got to the do a meaningful coop in DC with a prominent senator from the region, working directly with her many days a week. She also had a great job in an embassy in a South American country when she thought she was interested in foreign service work. She also did regular internships for credit with the attorney general and other state offices. But NU opened all of these doors for her, through coop and the experiences they gave her. Not sure just volunteering on campaigns would have given her the direction she had like many students I know from other colleges. I also loved that this was support coming from the school… our family had nothing to do with it as many other internships are through family connections. So these opportunities are offered to all students who want them, not just the families with connections already.
NU also offers students in Humanities other experiential learning opps, like research and summer dialogues of civilization focused travel classes. My D did three of these, traveled the world, and her last one literally changed her career focused led her to a plus one masters, and eventually a successful career. Would she have managed all this on her own without this supportive environment, I am not convinced.
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I guess you either get it or you don’t. My family has been a huge fan of Cooperative Education since my father was a co-op student at Drexel in the 50s. It’s possible the Northeastern program was more distinct when it was a quarter system and most students chose to attend 5 years and do more than 3 co-ops. I maintain that the infrastructure surrounding co-op is robust, leads to a stronger career services program, and better prepares students for the workplace. This is not a situation where employers are passive and students are doing summer internships carrying a briefcase or getting coffee. Employers are accountable to the university to provide substantive experience. Students are accountable because their performance is formally reviewed.
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Well, I did not carry coffee at Boeing during summer internship…I also did not do any stupid projects or answered someone’s phone… I found internship and my first job through career center and was very pleased with both…
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I’m not suggesting you did. I am suggesting that the employer and student accountability is a valuable distinguishing factor. I also think two-three substantive internship/externship/clinical/co-op experiences before the first job is better than one.
Do you think all colleges have a strong career-orientation, or even most?
The thing about having a robust coop program built into the curriculum and culture is that it gives a lot of kids that support they may not ever get from their families or other personal support outside of school. Many first generation to college or kids from disadvantaged communities learn to find their way, find what interests them, gives them some professional experience while supported with advisors, professors etc. Having coops interspersed with classes also allows students the chance to apply their new knowledge into their coursework or revise their course plan as they gain in skills and interests they want to develop. Can a well connected, more affluent kid from a networked community get all that in summer internships, maybe? But for a lot of kids, they have no idea how to get started, don’t have family friends in tech or business or…. I think the coop program provides a lot of equity and support to better our whole society in the end.
And I have to say, I know lots of kids from our area that go to college and have no idea that career services programs exist on their campus…. That is not necessarily their fault as they are not necessarily advertised well (and I work at a large known public higher Ed uni.) Without a campus culture of developing yourself and thinking of your future, a lot of kids don’t even start thinking of this til many senior year.
Coop is one main reason why soooooo many kids (close to 100k) are all applying to NU these days…l guess it has value to many of them or they wouldn’t be applying. If it’s not for you or your kid, that is fine.
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Co-op is a main reason for sure… but I am sure it also helps that Northeastern waives a lot of students’ application fees, doesn’t require any supplemental essays, and there is also the possibility of getting a substantial merit scholarship (not super likely, but possible).
One student at my son’s school said that the Northeastern application with a fee waiver (sent to the student in email) was like a free lottery ticket.
Every school sends many free waivers, sure. NU too. But I’m sure the majority have some interest in the school and their programming.
Look if folks are not interested the coop program, they just shouldn’t go there if they are lucky enough to get in. One of my D’s had a friend who went and didn’t do a coop… couldn’t figure out why he was so interested in going there, but hey, it takes all kinds.
I can’t find their CDS. Just curious about yield. Chicago, WUSTL - many schools send waivers - definitely looking to pump up their s. If you showed no interest, they probably auto reject…but glad they got another app.
about 40% - not bad.
Like schools - in my mind - BU and CWRU - NEU is about 10% higher than BU and more than triple CWRU.
It’s on par with USC (slightly below).
So even with the alleged artificial excess of apps, they do extremely well.
Thanks for providing.
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A lot are admitted in ED, but I do not personally know how many.
Yield is also believed to be lower for the alternate entry programs, but those statistics are hard to come by.
It is an excellent school for the right student who appreciates the co-op emphasis and the programs that they offer. My son applied out of sincere interest (and he also attended the presentation at our school, etc.)
But we also definitely saw students at my son’s school treating it as a lottery ticket, and sending in a free app only because it was “a hot school” that other students were applying to. Some were admitted to alternate entry programs but we did not know anyone admitted to Boston.
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True - but I imagine BU and CWRU have big ED too.
BU shows 1791 of 3145 enrollees are ED - wow, so their outside of ED yield is very low.
CWRU is 236 of 1544.
I get that everyone LOVES CWRU - it’s always had a strong rep as far as I can remember.
But it’s admission stats are far behind other like schools.
When people say BU is a tough get outside of ED, they’re not kidding!!!
NU has filled about 50% of their Boston fall admits from ED rounds… so around 1400 seats.
At one point around 2018,NU had a huge overenrollment (higher than expected yield) that caused big issues with housing etc. That happened again in fall 2021 I think bc NU was one school that managed covid well and opened for hybrid classes etc in fall 2021. They’ve had to strictly manage their yield in response to those years… likely BU too, thus more ED acceptances.
Boston city has strict housing regulations for colleges to adhere to so they have less of an impact on local city housing. (This is for their permits to operate and if /when they can grow enrollment.)