Thanks gwnorth for the Queen’s links! Both Queen’s and U Waterloo seem like possible options (with strengths in different areas). At first glance they didn’t seem like better choices than UBC or McGill, so we haven’t made plans to visit them at this point, but they are both worth considering.
I am not an expert on these, but of the schools I listed before the first ones I would delve into deeper are U. of Cincinnati and the Ohio State U. Both are in major towns, and I know I read about some good film stuff at UC though don’t recall if that was also for majors. UC also has a big focus on practical education and coops, if that appeals repels your son.I think it would be very hard to come up with a city amenity that Columbus could not provide.
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With his stats, why not U of Arizona - at less than $25K per year.
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I see him at USC. Sorry, but can’t add much to the list. It’s pretty good in my mind. Good luck. Enjoy this next step in your son’s life.
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Thanks teleia! We originally did not have USC on the list, because he would have to get a scholarship to make it affordable, and that seemed really unlikely. He only visited because it was so easy to visit other LA schools while visiting UCLA and UCI. He liked USC much more than he expected, so he will at least give it a try.
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Thanks! At this price he would have some college funds remaining, which could come in handy if he wanted to go to business school or grad school. He hoped to avoid hot places, but he does like Austin and I guess Tuscon is not significantly hotter… at least during the school year…? I have never been to Tuscon so I don’t know anything about this city.
Ok, will look into those more.
He is curious about schools that advertise these features, and likes the idea of practical education in principle. When we were looking into some other co-op schools, he was not sure how he felt about having a schedule that added summer school to make up for lost class time during the co-op periods (I think his interest level in this plan might also depend on the summer weather at the school’s location). We probably need to learn more about the way these schedules work. Thanks!
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Tucson is mid size - if over a million people is mid size - but that’ the feel. It’s no Phoenix. Like Austin, it’s liberal. The campus is gorgeous and the Honors dorm is awesome with an adjacent gym.
If you want cheap-ish and less warm - Miami of Ohio might work - if OSU is too big, etc. It’s more rural.
A co-op typically extends time to graduation by a semester, although it does not increase the number of tuition-paying semesters in school. For example, a student doing a co-op job one semester may graduate after 9 semesters (with 8 semesters in school and 1 semester at a co-op job).
A student who enters with substantial credit from AP scores, college courses taken while in high school, etc. that is applicable to course requirements for the degree may be able to plan a schedule for 7 semesters in school, which could allow a co-op in there while still graduating after 8 semesters by time (with 7 semesters in school and 1 semester at a co-op job).
Some colleges build their curricula around co-ops (Cincinnati, Drexel, and Northeastern are the usually known ones), but optional co-ops are fairly common at other colleges.
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All ENGLISH universities require him to specialise. Pick a subject and study it for 3 years.
SCOTTISH universities are much more Liberal Art based. You still have to pick a subject and enter that ‘school’: maths, humanities, etc. but movement is allowed within that department. You are expected to take ‘other’ subjects in that department and it takes four years. Very difficult to change from science to humanities.
All BRITISH universities are heavily endowed with foreign students though from my experience they do tend to ‘stick together’. And of the foreign student contingent a high percentage is Oriental Asian. Being an American I am guessing that he would end up gravitating in to the English/Scottish crowd and not necessarily have anything to do with the foreign students.
My S went to the US because he didn’t want to specialise as he didn’t know what he wanted to do. He only hang out with the US contingent.
Go figure.
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What about University of Minnesota? Large university in a big city with lots of film, theater and music opportunities. Successful race car team. International contingent. Strong math/applied math, business, and economics majors. Lots of study abroad opportunities, as well as domestic exchanges (belongs to NSE, National Student Exchange.) Plenty cold.
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Utah would be an obvious colder version of Arizona as a cheap safety (Formula U Racing Team Works Toward New Goals and Competitions - The Daily Utah Chronicle). Great campus, 5 mins from downtown Salt Lake City, and comparable to UC costs with WUE, or cheaper with their higher level scholarships. It’s particularly good for kids who like the outdoors, the skiing (30 mins from campus) is incredible. D18 just graduated and S23 is interested in attending.
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For Canadian schools co-op programs typically add an additional full year (2 semesters) to the degree and so take 5 years to complete instead of 4. They are often structured to incorporate placements totalling 12-24 months of work but there is great variability on how work periods are scheduled. With the exception of Waterloo, it’s most common for placements to occur during 3rd and/or 4th years with spring/summer semesters being incorporated for work placements rather than for class (but not always). Here are examples for Waterloo Economics and for UBC Arts. McGill doesn’t offer anything quite as extensive.
BTW they are becoming quite ubiquitous here with most schools offering them at least in STEM and quite frequently in the Social Sciences as well. One of the factors in Waterloo’s popularity is the strength of their co-op program. These programs are in high demand by students and universities here are responding to the demand.
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I was going to respond to this as well. Generally speaking, engineering co-ops are 3 or 5 semesters long depending on the school or program. 8 semesters of school but typically spread out over 5 or 6 years time because students are working at least for a year’s worth of time.
And employers like to hire their co-op students!
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Do you mean 3 to 5 semesters (1.5 to 2.5 years) for each co-op, or do you mean that it is common for students to do multiple co-ops adding up to 3 to 5 semesters of co-ops?
At Northeastern, sample plans show each co-op as a semester plus a summer, but the plans may include more than one co-op.
Our experience with co-ops is students have one co-op company and contract with them for either 3 semesters or 5. A three semester co-op is one full year - Fall, Spring, and Summer but alternates between a semester at work and a semester at school.
A 5 term co-op typically has two summer sessions and then either 2 Falls/1 Spring or vice versa.
My D did a 3 term co-op. This was the schedule (and timing varies depending on a student’s major):
1st year she was on campus Fall and Spring. Summer after first year she went abroad and then worked at the university when she returned.
Second year she was on campus Fall/Spring. Summer after 2nd year was her first co-op rotation.
Third year she was back on campus for the Fall, on co-op rotation in the Spring.
At another company summer after third year for a different experience. (If she had done a 5 term co-op, she would have been back with her co-op company).
Fourth year - Last co-op rotation in the Fall, back to campus in the Spring. Non rotation summer internship (by choice) at her co-op company. If she had done a 5 term coop, she would have had her last rotation that summer.
Year 5 - both semesters back on campus and then graduation 
Note: She had no option to do courses over the summer for her major because of course sequencing constraints.
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From your description, it looks like students commonly sign up for multiple co-ops with the same co-op employer, but each one is no longer than a semester (or maybe semester + summer).
Also, a summer at a semester system college is typically shorter than a regular fall or spring semester, and using a summer for co-op does not extend time to graduation if the student otherwise would not have taken courses during the summer.
It’s not considered “multiple” co ops. One co-op is three terms or five. The whole point of a co op is going back to the same company and obtaining more and more responsibilities. Otherwise it’s just an internship.
That terminology is apparently different from what is common at some other colleges.
For example, Northeastern has sample schedules that list each period off school as a separate co-op: Mathematics, BS < Northeastern University
Another example, UCR refers to a co-op as being “employed full-time by a company for up to five months, including summer and one academic quarter”: Co-ops and Internships | Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering
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Theres a video on the St. Olaf study abroad page of a student talking about their 3 different semesters in 3 different countries.
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