<p>Is it optional? I am getting frustrated with my NEU son's co-op search. No great opportunities are coming his way, and I don't want him to take just anything for the sake of saying he's doing co-op.</p>
<p>It depends on what your son's major is.....</p>
<p>I think for many majors students often only 1-2 co-ops and not all 3 (but probably want to check with co-op advisor). I understand your frustration. S finally got his first interview last week and fortunately they offered him a position (and he took it because it was the last week of school and nothing else had come up so far and we live 1500 miles away but was it really the best he could get? It was not even one of the dozen he applied for but instead was one his advisor referred him to very late in the semester when he wasn't getting any calls). He is in engineering which boasts 100% placement and they had over 100 positions posted for his specific major but not all were convenient to school and many required more experience (S is from out of state with no transportation at school so location was very important). From the online job board, it appeared that he was not specifically rejected anywhere he applied to, but it also looked like none of the employers had even opened his application (or else they just weren't bothering to followup and post the status on the board). Needless to say S was quite stressed out by the whole process...and not overly excited about his upcoming co-op at all.</p>
<p>Thank you, scansmom, this is the side of co-op no one told me about...on top of the frustration of finding a co-op job, we are paying a hefty sum for an off-campus apartment for our son, which we really never budgeted for. I'm keeping our fingers crossed....</p>