<p>Do you get somewhat of a choice of what you'll be doing/where you'll be doing it/who you'll be doing it for? What if I wanted to work for a certain company or in a certain city? How often do students get their first choice/get to choose at all? Also, if I wanted to co-op outside of Boston, say in LA for example, how much support would I be getting? Would I just be thrusted into the city alone with no one I know?</p>
<p>Its more or less like applying for any job with the exception that you have access to a co-op database Northeastern maintains (many of which are only available to Northeastern students), and that your co-op advisor will screen where you can actually apply (So unqualified candidates don’t send resumes to a bunch of employers in hopes of getting hired, and other reasons besides).</p>
<p>If you want to do a co-op outside of Boston, they do have support for helping you find housing and stuff like that. What there might be in terms of co-ops available in, say LA, depends on your major. But if there isn’t one set up, if you can find a company that’s willing to take you, Northeastern can help you get it set up as a co-op relatively easily. I managed to create my own co-op internationally and it was fairly straightforward, so I imagine it would be even easier to do within the states.</p>
<p>If you’re looking outside of the greater Boston area, it will probably be more difficult, depending on your major. There are good amount of jobs in New York, but again, that depends on your major. I’m not sure about LA.</p>
<p>Basically how it works is the semester before you go on co-op you get access to a big database of employers who are looking for Northeastern co-ops. This includes major companies throughout the city (and some in other areas of the country/world). Check the website for the department of your major and you can probably see some sample companies. You can then apply to a certain number of jobs depending on your major. My major wasn’t strict and I could pretty much apply to as many as I wanted. I think some other majors have a limit to how many jobs you can apply for. You don’t have to apply for any job you don’t want, although you might want to make sure you have some backups in case your favorites don’t work out.</p>
<p>After that, you’re basically competing for jobs against other Northeastern students. The best jobs go to the students who are good interviewers, have good GPAs, etc. You’re not guaranteed a job with your favorite employer, nor are you guaranteed to even land a job. The better your resume is, the better your chances.</p>
<p>However, the fact that you’re primarily competing against other Northeastern students looking for co-ops is a HUGE plus. If you were applying for a regular internship over the summer, you’d be applying against people from all over the place. Since Northeastern is more-or-less the only major school with a co-op program in the area, you’re mostly competing against just Northeastern students, which is a way smaller pool of applicants.</p>
<p>There is also the possibility to “create your own co-op” if you have a really specific employer in mind who’s not in the Northeastern database. However, you would have to apply to the company on your own and convince them to let you work full-time for six months.</p>
<p>If you do end up going somewhere besides Boston, if it’s a company in the Northeastern database that is hiring several co-ops, then you would probably be in contact with them, they might help you set up living arrangements, etc. If you find the job totally on your own, you’d probably have less support. Someone else can probably answer this better though, since I did my co-op in Boston.</p>