<p>Hello.
I got in the five-yr program in Engineering still deciding~
But I suddenly felt that five year is so long that it takes twice the time for me to graduate from a school like UMTC or Purdue(I can transfer lots of credits from APs~~haha)
So I am thinking about telling the school to change the five yr program to a four year one.</p>
<p>The problem is that what would happen to my scholarship decision? Are they going to cut my scholarship if I try to switch to the four yr prog?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>grovestreet, whether you switch from 5 year 3 co-op to 4 year 1 co-op it will not affect the total amount of your scholarship. just so you know, you can switch from 5 year 3 co-op to 4 year 1 co-op any time you like or vice versa. </p>
<p>I will tell you however that your logic is dead wrong. that's how all incoming freshmen think until you realize the value of the 5 year co-op and getting a year and a half of professional work experience. Most freshmen on the 4 year 1 co-op cycle wisely switch freshman year and almost all who don't regret it. There are literally dozens of advantages from a 5 year 3 co-op over 4 year and I have posted many of them on this message board so please look at those posts. Also the 4 year 1 co-ops are usually the ones that end up hating Drexel since they have to take like 6 terms of classes in a row.</p>
<p>Instead of thinking of it after 4 years my high school friend will have his degree and I'll still be stuck in school and a year behind life, think about it like this. After 5 years, what will your resume look like compared to his? Who will be more appealing to companies? Who will most likely get a higher paid position? Who's had more time to experience and take advantage of college opportunities such as study abroad and minor/concentrate in other fields? Who will actually have more work experience at an engineering firm? Who would have had the chance to work at a variety of different engineering companies and engineering concentrations to see which type of engineering would be best suited for you? The answer 9 times out of 10 is the Drexel grad.</p>
<p>At the very least ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS start out 5 year 3 co-op. Its 10 times easier to switch down to 4 year 1 co-op than vice versa especially after freshman year.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions about the pluses or minuses of different co-op options that I didn't already go over on another post, feel free to ask! </p>
<p>One story: I had a friend in high school that took pretty much every AP Test and transferred a whole load of credits over to another college and maxed his credits out and took courses over the summer. He graduated in 3 years as he was planning to back in high school so he can start his "adventerous life" a year earlier and now he's stuck out in the world with no real work experiences, his job is more dull than he expected, and wishing he was back in college enjoying himself making the most of it. Even though he might have saved a term of tuition of school, he still has a crap load of loans to pay off.</p>
<p>BTW, I think its a good quality indicator to see how many AP exam scores they'll take. Its a good thing if schools won't take your 3's or 4's on AP exams. As far as I know at Drexel especially in the COE, they only accept 5's. It's because the value of the drexel engineering curriculum and they simply won't lower their standards. Besides, if you really know the material, you'll be able to take a full course load and you should be able to get that A to boost up your GPA, right?</p>
<p>If I choose the 5 year program, that means I won't go back to my country for 4 straight years?
I'm Int'l student.</p>
<p>Well check with the study abroad option, if you mean to stay permanently then it will be five years before you go back to your home country, if you mean just to go back then check with the study abroad to see if you can do some co-op there. Hope this helped.</p>
<p>I know some people who switch from 5 year to 4 year, and they said it was the best decision of their lives- they saved on tuition for a year, and they still had that 6 month work experience- just do whatever works for you.</p>
<p>I’m personally on a 4 year co-op, and I like it- 5 years is just way to much for me personally.</p>
<p>cutiepie- the tuition is higher for the 4 year co op vs. the 5 year co-op.</p>
<p>So if you began as a 5 year co op student and then switched toward the end, were you able to save the difference in tuition?</p>
<p>Also, if u don’t mind my asking, how have your co-ops paid? ANd what’s your major?</p>
<p>I’m trying to look at everything possible in order to attend, but the cost, even w/ an AJ Drexel award isn’t within my budget.</p>
<p>I know that co-op really helps in the real world but i am not sure is everybody’s co-op paid because if it is not it is really hard to pay tuition fees for the year. Please help out??</p>
<p>g fresh, yes you’ll be saving money. everyone should start out as a 5 year co-op even if you are considering going 4 year. trust me on this one. most co-ops are paid, and some are paid very very well. other co-ops are unpaid, most of these are westphal co-ops such as video/music industry/etc, however most unpaid co-ops lead to very good jobs down the road.</p>
<p>Hey Zack-</p>
<p>they have some co-op salary figures posted for the different co-op majors online.</p>
<p>by any chance, are you a biomed engineering major?</p>
<p>It looks like computer sci pays the best…</p>
<p>i’m not a biomed although biomeds get paid well. however, just remember its the average. I got paid a lot more than the average. some people go for a job that pays less because they like that job better. it all depends.</p>
<p>the co-op is available for internationals also, right?</p>
<p>yes co-op is available for all int’l students</p>