<p>A favor for anyone who has paid access to the US News website...</p>
<p>I have come across the claim that Northeastern University in Boston is ranked #1 in the country for "Best Internships/Co-ops." No such ranking appears in the printed edition and I'm wondering if the US News website includes such a ranking or if this is simply misinformation.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>I don't have the online edition but there is a list, not a ranking, of co-op programs that appears on page 50. Northeastern is in that short list.</p>
<p>As you say, this is not a ranking. I'm just curious how the co-op experience at Northeastern compares with similar programs. Since I live in the Boston area, this is the only one I hear about. So I'm trying to gauge if that's because it really is the best in the country or because it's just hyped-up as such.</p>
<p>I think your question is more easily answered if you mention some specific interests.....ie engineering for example.</p>
<p>My daughter is unsure about a major but really wants to be in New York City. I'd like to keep her a bit closer to home, but imagine the best co-op programs are probably in big cities, so I'd imagine our options are limited.</p>
<p>The schools w/ coop programs are all over.....small towns too. The coop assignment may be in a large or small city.....it is quite a diverse experience. I know kids from Terre Haute IN who coop in Indianapolis and Chicago. I think the assignment locations are relative to the industries that provide them....look to the current assignments from any particular program. Many coop participants are offered jobs w/ their assignment company and thus if she wants NYC you would not be interested in any coop program that doesn't have placement in that city.</p>
<p>These are very good points. We have just begun looking into this so I assumed that co-op opportunities will be located near the schools, which may very well not be the case.</p>
<p>We may be talking apples/oranges here. The coop programs that I am familiar with are entire semesters in the work force.....at a specific company. Many times the company will have multiple coop students who live in common housing or perhaps not. The student is paid for their work. In almost all of the coop students cases that I know the job was not near the college. You may be speaking of a different type of program.</p>
<p>coop.<a href="http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/Coop/General/employers%5B/url%5D">www.ecn.purdue.edu/Coop/General/employers</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.carleton.ca/co-op/%5B/url%5D">www.carleton.ca/co-op/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.umaine.edu/career/coop.html%5B/url%5D">www.umaine.edu/career/coop.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.uc.edu/profiles/kkboiano.htm%5B/url%5D">www.uc.edu/profiles/kkboiano.htm</a></p>
<p>In some co-ops we have started looking into students work during the day and attend classes at night (the Boston Architectural Centre is such an exmple), but it seems the semester model is far more common. My assumption was just that the school would have built relationships with companies in its host city, but the programs you listed certainly present a whole world of opportunities. Thanks a lot for these links.</p>
<p>I am not sure it really matters what your daughter gets started in.....truthfully. Many kids are not that amped up on academics following high school....want to get out and earn money, pretend to be an adult, have independence and go to the big city. The students I know that have done this had amazing opportunities and several have done stints in NYC and overseas as well. The kids loved the work and in fact it got them great jobs when they finished. Mostly it gave them confidence and motivation to keep returning to school for studying. I hope this works out well for you......I think you will find many options and it just takes investigating the corporates sponsors. You seem at this point to be more worried about the schools but remember that you want your daughter in a company that develops, mentors and teaches.....you will want her in a good work circumstance not a poor one. The college will not control this....ask around and check that part out.</p>
<p>Sounds like you're describing a "gap year?" We actually talked about such a thing over the weekend and I'm wondering if there are any more formal programs out there. My primary concern with just letting her move out and get a job, is that she will never return to school at all. i.e. the gap will become the rest of her life.</p>
<p>I am saying that she may try one interest in a coop and then decide that is not "it". I'd say look at some schools she is interested in and then hope she gets in.........see what happens. She may feel very differently about college once she is there.....afterall she is on the end of HS and that does affect the attitude of many students....some just cannot wait to get out of the small minded thinking and the same group of friends. Is is hard to reinvent ones self when the group has no tolerance for change.</p>