<p>How hard is it to get into an international coop?
Are there disadvantages to this?
Does anyone do more than one international coop or do both an international coop and study abroad?</p>
<p>What major are you looking into? I just had my first co-op class so I’m all excited right now about international co-op haha I’m an International Affairs major so just about everyone in my class is wicked excited about going abroad.</p>
<p>I don’t know how hard it is to get an international co-op (it would really depend on what co-op it is). I think the biggest disadvantage of international co-op is that you’re potentially all alone in a city that you may be completely unfamiliar with. At least with a traditional study abroad, you’re probably at a school with other students studying abroad who are all looking to make friends. But with co-op, you’re basically on your own. But then again, this is a great chance to become independent.</p>
<p>You can really do as many international co-ops as you want. Right now, I’ll ideally do 2 international co-ops and a traditional study abroad (as well as three Dialogues of Civilization-- 4-5 week study abroads). </p>
<p>At least for IAF majors, most of the international co-ops are unpaid.</p>
<p>Thanks, that was really helpful.
For my major, I’m thinking bio (premed) or engineering.
I also really want to learn a foreign language.
I can converse in Spanish, understand written German, and I really want to learn Chinese. I hope this would help me in an international coop / study abroad program.</p>
<p>If international coops are generally unpaid, does this mean that they can be large financial burdens (must pay living expenses and receive nothing in return)?</p>
<p>International co-ops are a massive financial burden except for the very very rare lucky few (typically business majors) who get a stipend that pretty much covers housing and food only. Northeastern has started a few scholarships specifically for people who want to do int. coops because of their new push on global work. </p>
<p>They are a bit competitive, but it really depends on the area. London coops are very hard, because (duh) they speak english. Spanish ones are a bit easier but not strictly easy, but there are also a lot more spanish speaking countries. Generally even if the business is conducted in english, I’m pretty sure they’d all expect you to be very competent in the host language anyway. But don’t let the competition scare you- it is definitely very possible to do it, just make sure you do some things to make yourself more marketable (take language classes, have a good gpa, join some international club…).</p>
<p>Chinese minors are required to study or work in China at least once. I know it’s pretty hard to work in China (language is one, but also it’s sometimes harder to get visas to work there) but I know of at least one of my friends who has done it.</p>
<p>The only restriction on international co-ops is that you have to do one domestic one first. They don’t allow you to just go off on your very first one. There might be one or two expections (like if you’re foreign and want to go home) but I’ve never heard of it happening. Other than that, I believe its the same requirements as normal coop (in good standing, etc).</p>
<p>Oh, and also cost-wise international coop requires you to hold maintenance funds for most visas. UK for example requires like… 800 pounds per month you’ll be there? I can’t really remember the differences for fud requirements between student and temporary work visas, but I’m pretty sure that most countries require some amount of money to be in your account before you go- which means if you need 2k dollars and you don’t have that, that is 2k dollars more you’ll need to add to your loan. Just keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I wonder how strict they are with doing a domestic co-op first, because today in Intro to Co-op, my advisor was heavily pushing her Northern Ireland connections and said she was a very strong supporter of international co-op (she even passed around a list for us to add our e-mails if we were interested in going abroad for our first co-op). I have heard that they prefer you study abroad in the country before you co-op there. </p>
<p>Something I forgot to mention that you should look into (I really don’t know too too much about it yet) is the Presidential Global Scholars is focusing on giving scholarships to people who pursue international co-ops. President Auon is really trying to stress this now.</p>
<p>Really? That’s so odd (but obviously not bad haha). I just remember last year going to an info session on international co-op and they strictly said that you had to do a domestic one first. Maybe it’s different for IAF majors, since you guys like have to do a certain amount of time abroad?</p>
<p>My student is slated to start interviewing for co-op this semester and will be on the job starting in July. What is this “co-op class” you speak of? Is that something my student should be registered for? CS major if that matters. Thanks for any input. I’m worried he’s missed a step… : (</p>
<p>Don’t worry- CS is special. They have their “co-op class” as part of their full one-year intro to college class. You see, most people just take one semester for intro to college but since CS requires two (and calls it something different) they incorporate the co-op lectures into that class.</p>
<p>They should still be in close contact with their co-op advisor though, other than just saying “oh hey I want to go out on coop”. My friend was CS and it took him ages to finally getting around to re-contacting his advisor, but once he did it made the search much much easier. Because CS majors don’t have someone hounding them every week saying “this is what you should be doing right now” they can sometimes fall behind.</p>
<p>@neuchimie: yeah I’m not complaining haha we’re required to spend at least a semester abroad, but I would think they’d still want students to do domestic before international co-op. But she was pretty into pushing international co-op on us haha</p>
<p>THANKS neuchimie! You have a wealth of information that is appreciated by many, I’m sure! : )</p>
<p>I get bored at work and search the school’s website… and wikipedia.</p>
<p>uh oh…hope that’s not a boring co-op that you speak of!</p>
<p>Most co-ops have down-time, just like most jobs do. Students are highly encouraged by older friends, advisors, and employers to ask for more work. But sometimes I like to google things instead.</p>
<p>Plus I have like two other jobs where I just sit around for hours on my computer, so I google a lot.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how much the Presidential Global Scholars scholarship would cover / how competitive it is?
Also, do you know specifics of the financial burden of an engineering international coop?</p>
<p>Presidential Global Scholarship is worth up to $6,000. It does take financial need into consideration, but if you don’t get need-based aid, you can still get up to $2,000. I don’t think it’s competitive… I’m pretty sure pretty much everyone who applies for it gets it.</p>
<p>Thanks. And how much in all would one of these coops cost?</p>