<p>I just got accepted to Northeastern's College of Criminal Justice yesterday. Originally I was going to choose the 5 year college plan because the co-ops sounded like a great experience. Now, I'm kind of hesitant on it because I'm planning to go to law school and it'll be an extra year. </p>
<p>What are the cons of choosing the 4 year program, where I co-op for only 3 months?
Do you think it would be possible to go to Northeastern's Law school my 5th year?</p>
<p>I would definitely suggest taking up the 5-year program. Don't forget that even though you won't graduate until 5 years, the amount of time you'll actually be spending in the classroom amounts to the traditional 4 years. </p>
<p>Co-op is Northeastern's greatest asset(they will drill it into your head! but it's true) and it only makes sense to take advantage of it. Also, all of co-ops you'll be doing could provide some significant padding to your resume when applying to law school.</p>
<p>I would definitely go with the 5 years..some of the coops are working for law firms and will give you a good idea of whether you really want to do that work before you invest the time and money in law school. Lots of adults I know become lawyers, work for a few years and decide it isn't for them.</p>
<p>I absolutely agree with taking advantage of the coops even if you're thinking of law school, just to get a better feel for what areas you like/dislike within both criminal justice and law, which might help you determine how committed you really are to law school before starting (speaking as a law school dropout myself). Also get in touch with the criminal justice department and talk to them some more about their co-ops and how they work. I'm not sure they do 3 month coops, it may be more like 2 (6-month) coops instead of 3 and classes in summer. And it may require a very structured and planned out class schedule in order to complete in 4 years. I believe this is typically how the 4-year programs work.</p>
<p>scansmom, right on all counts. Also, my son is a criminal justice major and the department is extremely helpful-talk with them. Additionally, you do not have to decide this before enrolling. Freshman year does not include any coop or coop preparation. You may want to wait until you are on campus and meet with your academic advisor..</p>
<p>Thank you, that's good to know. But I was wondering because I think that this would either make or break my decision to go to Northeastern. I kind of want to wait to see if I get into places where I was deferred and I kind of just want to send in my housing deposit.</p>