<p>Hi, I was interesting in doing co-op at Georgia Tech if I go there and I know that you start in the second half of freshman year or in sophomore year usually but I had a few questions for anyone who has done co-oping. </p>
<p>1) Does co-oping make it significantly harder to take part in research? I'm asking as if I ever wanted to go to graduate school I hear research experience is necessary or at least desired. </p>
<p>2) In your experience, is it hard to switch back and forth between co-oping one semester and going back to learning the next semester? </p>
<p>3) What would you say the average pay range is for co-op jobs for an entire semester?</p>
<p>Thank you for helping. It's much appreciated.</p>
<p>Co-op as in where you study for a semester and work the other semester with an employer for 3 or 4 years.</p>
<p>1) Typically when a student co-ops, he or she, will alternate between co-oping and taking classes each semester (this includes summer semesters, not just fall and spring). It would be (very) difficult to find time to do research while co-oping. However, students that co-op typically do it for 4-5 semesters, so it is practical that you could co-op starting the summer after your second freshman semester, and finish 4 semesters of co-oping by the fall semester of your senior year. This would leave you your senior year, the summer between your 5th year and senior year, and your 5th year to find research work (most people that co-op tend to take 5 years to graduate).</p>
<p>2) It’s not that bad. When you co-op, you more or less deal with things pertaining to your major, so you have the opportunity to use what you learn in classes. People that co-op on average graduate with a higher GPA than students who choose not to. Also, you can learn things that you would have had to learn in future classes. For example, one person had co-oped at NASA and helped design a coolant system for space suits. A lot of this involved fluid mechanics, but he had not yet taken the class at Tech. Because of this, one of his advisers at NASA mentored him in the ways of fluid mechanics. Needless to say, he easily got an A in ME 3340 (fluid mechanics) when he had to take it at Tech.</p>
<p>3) The average salary is $13-$14. The work experience outweighs the pay in my opinion.</p>
<p>Oh so co-oping involves also summer terms (so I’m guessing you co-op about 10 weeks per semester then?). Does that mean that you will be taking classes during the summer semester too when your not co-oping during a summer term to do the five year plan? Or is just you will co-op during the summers?</p>
<p>GT has the best Co-op program in the country. My son hopes to be able to participate beginning next summer.
Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>You co-op every other semester, so your schedule on a semester basis would look something like this (though the cycle begins during whichever semester you choose to begin co-oping). </p>
<p>I’m going to base this off of what a couple people I know have done.</p>
<p>-------------------|
fall - school--------|
spring - school-----|— 1st year
| summer - school— |
| Fall - co-op-------- |
| spring - school----- |
| summer - co-op---- |
| ------------------- |
| fall - school-------- |
| spring - co-op----- |
| summer - school— |
| ------------------- |
| fall - co-op-------- |
| spring - school----- |
| summer - co-op---- |
| ------------------- |
| fall - school-------- |
| spring - school----- |
| GRADUATION!------ |
| ------------------- |
<p>This model of course has room for adjustment. For example, it assumes you do 5 semesters of co-oping when you can do a minimum of 4 (really can do 1 semester of co-oping, but anything below 4-5 is highly discouraged). Also, technically you can start co-oping the semester you are accepted, but two-three semesters of school is highly recommended.</p>
<p>Oh wow thanks farmergregor for that diagram. That is quite informative. I noticed that a lot of the summers are studying, my question is did the people you know who did this find it a challenge to take classes during the summer since it is a shorter time than regular semesters? Or did they try to schedule their easier classes during the summer (like electives or such)?</p>
<p>3 semesters of work is the new minimum for getting the designation, so you can co-op and not take any longer to graduate.</p>
<p>Plenty of people do research during their school terms. Also, your co-op job might be a research-ish position at an R&D company run by one of your professors…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>People take fewer classes in the summer. In Fall/Spring, the maximum load is 21 hours and a typical load is 15-17 hours. In the Summer, the maximum load is 16 hours and a typical load is 12-14.</p>
<p>Oh so the actual summer term period isn’t any shorter for classes?</p>
<p>The summer term is shorter. Roughly 13 weeks instead of 16 weeks. As a result, classes are longer in the summer, so people take less of them.</p>
<p>What is the (average) net cost of attendence to Georgia Tech if you participate in the co-op program? Also, does pretty much everyone who wants to participate in the program get in?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That depends on too many factors to give an answer. If you co-op in San Francisco, your cost of living is much higher than if you co-op in Des Moines, co-op salaries vary, and you you be a 3 semester co-op or 4 semester co-op. Also remember that everyone will have a different cost of attendance at Tech (not only in-state vs. OOS vs. international, but also grants, work/study, scholarships, loan structures, the Promise Program, etc). Then there’s major changes - if you start as a ChBE major, then switch to MGT, or even another engineering major like CE, your salary will decrease. 4 years or 5 years? Tax rate?</p>
<p>To get a rough estimate, I would estimate $14/hr as a freshman, increasing by $2/hr each year you’re in school, as a conservative estimate. 40 hours / week, 16 weeks for Fall/Spring, 13 weeks for summer, 25% tax rate. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Pretty much everyone. If you have a really bad GPA, are socially awkward, have a criminal history, or don’t have your resume looked over by a professional (which the Career Center offers), you will have some problems. But other than that, pretty much everyone gets a job. There are more jobs than there are applicants, usually.</p>
<p>In the past there were plenty of coop opportunities to go around. Not so true now. Many companies have suspended their coop program. When the economy picks up, I’m sure many companies will once again participate. It is a great program.</p>