<p>just wondering how much do engineers doing co-op usually make in the 28 week co-op period? </p>
<p>I'm seriously considering Cornell, but I'm going to be probably around 50k in debt after I attend. I'm thinking that if I make money in co-op, a majority of it can be used to pay off debt. Is this viable?</p>
<p>From other engineering student intern discussions I have seen it's around $20-$24 hr.</p>
<p>so thats about 20k to 30k for the 28 week period? how much of that do people usually keep after paying for housing/food during the 28 weeks? I really want to make at LEAST 15k in profit to pay off some of the debt while im in college</p>
<p>Well, it depends on how lavish you want to live. I lived in Boston last year for $17k with an income of over $55k. Others probably went into debt living off the same income.</p>
<p>$20 an hr. for 40 hrs week =$800. $800 x28 weeeks = $16,000. $16,000 - 25 % taxes= $12,000. 4 months housing cost (totally depends on where you live...lets say low end $250 a month or $1750) and Food ( spartan $50 wk x 28 weeks= $1400.) Now you have $8850. Add in transportation costs (public, car or ride your bike?), clothes for work, cable or internet fees etc.</p>
<p>Elec, some companies will actually hire some engineering interns and pay for the rest of their college costs while they work like 20 hrs a week. The problem is Cornell is not really situated for this kind of deal.</p>
<p>Along with the earnings at the co-op,in addition you will be saving on atleast a semesters worth of tuition and living expense at your college.</p>
<p>Well, for co-op, you have to make up your fall semester over the summer, so living expenses may be cheaper (sublets can be cheap!), but you basically have you pay your tuition you'd pay in fall semester for the summer.</p>
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$20 an hr. for 40 hrs week =$800. $800 x28 weeeks = $16,000. $16,000 - 25 % taxes= $12,000. 4 months housing cost (totally depends on where you live...lets say low end $250 a month or $1750) and Food ( spartan $50 wk x 28 weeks= $1400.) Now you have $8850. Add in transportation costs (public, car or ride your bike?), clothes for work, cable or internet fees etc.
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<p>Your math is really wrong...but I think what you're saying is the worst case scenario. The people I talked to at Cornell said that they are usually paid a starting engineer's salary, which I think is more than $20 an hour.</p>
<p>And in terms of paying for college, as CornellECEGirl said, the Fall semester transfers to the Summer semester, so the overall cost is the same. </p>
<p>So do people actually make profit off of the co-ops, or does it all depend on which one you get? I definitely won't do it if I lose money in the process, because I want to get rid of my Cornell debt, not get more of it.</p>
<p>how is my math wrong? Gave you minimum pay, high tax bracket, low housing, low food bill .....</p>
<p>800 x 28 is 22400, not 16,000. And $250 per month for 4 months is 1,000, even though thats pretty low. After taxes its 1680, and cut out 1500 lets say for housing and thats 180 left. Thats the worst case scenario, and for that I wouldn't take the co-op. </p>
<p>I'm sure there will be some that have some profit, I'm just wondering if its likely and viable to expect one.</p>
<p>For a single male, there's no reason why you can't save up money from a co-op. I'm living in DC right now and my living expenses are approx. ~$1300 per month for public transportation, rent, food (I eat out practically every night), occasional movie/bar/ballgame. I only make $25,000 before taxes but I've been able to pay off both of my Cornell loans on that salary.</p>
<p>wow,i'm an idiot :)</p>
<p>I never said you are an idiot, I said your multiplication was wrong, which it was.</p>
<p>Anyways, the figures make sense, but I think that if i plan well and get a little lucky I can save maybe $10,000 from a co-op (based on norcalguy's numbers, hes saving about 13,000, which isnt bad at all).</p>
<p>One of my reasons for considering Cornell over my other school, Columbia, is because of the co-op and career service program. Columbia's interns rarely get paid, and any money I can make in a co-op will help me pay off the debt.</p>
<p>Well, I didn't say I was saving $13,000. </p>
<p>First of all, there's taxes. No, you won't be paying 25% taxes but you will be paying some taxes. Taking standard deductions, my fed. taxes were 10% and 5% for state/local taxes. My loans come out to around $350 per month (I have 32k in loans from Cornell). So, my monthly $2000 salary-$300 in taxes-$1300 in expenses - $350 in loans=$50! $50'll get me a nice dinner or a night on the town.</p>
<p>You'll be making much more than me (probably double what I make) so you should be able to save some money. I, on the other hand, am eagerly awaiting my tax refund.</p>
<p>Ohh, I thought you meant you made $25,000 in the total 28 week co-op period.</p>
<p>So I guess I can't really expect to pay off a portion of the loans I'd be taking out through co-op. Oh well, I still think Cornell's engineering is a better choice for me than Columbia's, still a hard decision.</p>
<p>If you plan to place out of some classes (APs) etc, you can further plan to distribute your credits over the one/two summers before the start of the co-op session. That is- fewer classes in the summer mean you can devote more number of hours to research/work experience (translates into earnings too).</p>