Just got accepted to BU and Northeastern. BU gave me a much better financial package than Northeastern so it looks like I will be leaning toward going to BU. Without the option of Co op at BU will finding a job post grad be tough? Computer Engineer Major.
Thanks
Most schools don’t have co-ops but do have internships, great alumni’s and companies that recruit from these schools… Boston U would have a great career services team to help you. I doubt you’d have an advantage at NEU because of the co-op program
Almost every school supports co-ops. Most don’t require it.
BU does support Co-ops, like most other engineering programs. It’s not required at BU, like it is at NE, but it’s an option.
https://www.bu.edu/eng/careers/job-seekers/cooperative-education-program/
You don’t need a co-op to find a job after graduation. Internships, undergraduate research, etc, are a few of your options for building up your resume.
I’m a Northeastern fan, but if BU is significantly less expensive you should lean that way.
Go with BU. There are advantages to the size and depth of the co-op program at Northeastern but you can still set up an engineering co-op at BU or use internships as needed. Co-op will in no way make up for a massive cost difference in this case.
They could cost the same and a co-op program wouldn’t, in general, be something that makes one universally better than the other. Doing a co-op is not inherently better than not doing on, and there’s something to be said for having the option to do one instead of being mandated to do one. In other words, it’s personal preference.
Personally, I value scheduling and academic freedom over mandatory co-ops, so in my book, schools who require them get dinged a few points. It’s perfectly reasonable for someone to have the opposite opinion. I just want to push back against the idea that a mandatory co-op is a universally good or beneficial thing.
In this case neither school requires a co-op, but most who attend Northeastern do 2-3 and it’s very ingrained in the culture to the point that I wouldn’t generally recommend it to someone that doesn’t want co-op’s. I 100% agree that it’s a personal preference on if you prefer a co-op model that comes with various pros and cons. If someone does prefer co-op though, the size of the program and the resources the school offers in finding a co-op and prepping for various parts of it is important. All co-op programs are not equal. Of course though co-op’s are not required in the least to have good career prospects.
Northeastern requires “Experiential Learning”, but I think most engineers do co-ops. It can be cool to be at a place where everybody does rotations, campus housing (and friends and clubs) available during co-op gigs. However, unless the student finds a co-op in home town don’t count on any co-op financial boost. The pay is good, but Boston housing (on campus or off) is pricey. It’s all about getting job experience.
Contact career services and the Computer engineering dept and ask them about what companies regularly offer internships to Computer Engineering students at BU and specifically how they will help you find internships. Are the internships mostly in Boston area or other places.
My son went to Univ of Rochester and similarly, UR students sort of competed with RIT students for learning opportunities (RIT is a co-op school)
I would also ask them directly, how they work to get internships for BU students since Northeastern is also competing for opportunities for their engineering students.
Ask how many students at BU ENG actually take advantage of the coop option there. My guess is that it is a small minority of students.
As a BU alum, I can say that very few of my ENG friends did coops. However, many got internships at firms from Accenture to Goldman Sachs. BU engineering grads rank #8 in the U.S. for mid-career salary.
Here is some additional info. on BU ENG outcomes - https://www.bu.edu/eng/careers/job-seekers/undergraduate-outcomes/