<p>Can someone give me a list of university that offer co-ops? Also, if you have participated in a co-op program, please tell me the name of the the university you attended, your major, describe you co-op experience and tell me how it has helped you further your career. Thanks!</p>
<p>That list would be very large if you counted all universities with co-op programs. Even in the absence of formalized co-op programs, a school may have lenient withdrawal and readmission policies that allow you to take a quarter or semester off to have a job for a summer plus quarter or semester instead of just a summer.</p>
<p>However, the list of universities where co-ops are emphasized or required and where nearly all students do them is much smaller. University of Cincinnati, Drexel University, and Northeastern University are such schools.</p>
<p>You can read about Co-op experience at Northeastern on these links here on CC,</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1579422-trading-typical-college-experience-co-ops.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1579422-trading-typical-college-experience-co-ops.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1081236-northeastern-co-op.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1081236-northeastern-co-op.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1136295-how-hard-get-good-co-op-job-northeastern.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/northeastern-university/1136295-how-hard-get-good-co-op-job-northeastern.html</a></p>
<p>I’m a Northeastern student currently on my second co-op, this time in Germany. I am a neuroscience major, and both of my co-ops have been in academic research labs, though there are also many positions available in industry and even in start ups.
I will be applying to graduate schools next year, and after my co-ops I will have a fantastic CV for my grad school application; there are not many students finishing their undergrad degree with a year and a half of full time research experience. Because I am also working closely with some really great professors in my field, I will also have really great letters of recommendation. Co-op has given me some really great research skills I would not have been able to learn without immersing myself in it, and I am also now much more confident about the path I want to pursue once I graduate.</p>
<p>OP, what are you looking at majoring in?</p>
<p>Thank you so much nanotechnology! That was incredibly helpful. I’m thinking about a Co op in culinary arts or psychology if one is offered.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve never heard of Northeastern. How do you like it there?</p>
<p>I had not heard of Northeastern before doing a college search online and narrowing down my choices, but I am definitely glad I found it. Coming from a small town in the midwest, I was a little uncertain at first how I would like Boston or how I would fit in, but my concerns were unfounded. I have great friends from all over the country and Boston is a great city. The university also has a really great campus feel that carves out a smaller world within the city.
Academically, I have found my classes to be challenging and engaging and I have gotten a chance to get close to professors and get very involved in research.</p>
<p>As for co-ops, I don’t know about culinary arts, but I have seen some of what is out there for psychology. (The neuroscience program is part of the biology and psychology departments.) There are co-ops for everything from research to working with children with Autism. You can also set up your own co-ops, too, if you find someone who is willing to take you on.</p>
<p>It turns out that Northeastern sent me an information packet a while back. I’m happy I stumbled across it. I’ll definitely look into Northeastern. Another question, I come from Southern California so I’m used to meeting people from all over. Everyone is pretty tolerant of each other here. What is it like in Boston as far as diversity is concerned? Also, what do you do in your time off?</p>
<p>My friends include an international student from Burma (Myanmar), a child of refugees from Sri Lanka, and the daughter of an oil exec who grew up in England. And my roommate freshman year was from Korea. It’s definitely more diverse than my small city in the Midwest! The conflicts I have seen arise from people being different people, not cultural insensitivity or anything like that. I have found it to be very tolerant and open. Northeastern is also trying to make a push toward being international and trying to become more diverse.</p>
<p>As for my time off, there is always a ton of stuff going on in Boston. Campus is right next to the Prudential Center, Boylston Street, and Newbury Street (big for shopping and food), plus the Boston Symphony Orchestra and many other universities. Places like downtown and Chinatown are just a short subway ride away. Plus, there is almost always something going on on campus, whether it’s improv comedy in the student center, a movie on the quad, or a hockey game. I am in both the Wind Ensemble and the Pep Band, so I keep pretty busy with music. But I also enjoy just hanging out with my friends at the dorm and watching terrible Christmas movies on Lifetime while sewing stockings for everybody. There’s something for everyone!</p>
<p>As a note, many universities do offer co-ops, but don’t necessarily publicize them or make them part of the core experience schools like Northeastern and Drexel do. I know my school (Carnegie Mellon) had a small co-op program that was open to any student interested in it. One of my classmates took part in it, and, as far as I know, enjoyed their experience.</p>
<p>I suppose one question you can ask yourself is if you want a school where the co-op is central to the experience or if it’s seen as a bonus sort of things students can engage in, similar to study abroad.</p>
<p>Thanks nanotechnology. Northeastern sounds really diverse and all of things around town sound amazing!</p>
<p>Thank you for your response RacinReaver. It doesn’t matter to me if the experience is central to the experience. I’m fine with either one.</p>
<p>In that case your options can probably open back up to most programs out there. Engineering departments tend to have a decent connection with industry, so I think they’re a fairly common thing offered. I don’t remember any of the schools I visited back when I was looking at colleges saying they didn’t have a co-op program (we asked, since I was interested at the time).</p>
<p>What you might see with somewhere like Northeastern or Drexel, where everyone co-ops is a lot more diversity in your choices of where you co-op. A question totally worth asking prospective departments is what employers their students go to, and if they tend to stay with those companies once they graduate. For example, one of my friends worked at GE a few times as part of the co-op program, and was able to rotate to a different position within the company each semester they spent. When they graduated, they took a job with them and were part of a management training rotation program.</p>
<p>I saw this article yesterday, which talks some about Northeastern’s program but also gives a bigger picture of the current co-op world:
[Co-op</a> Programs Becoming Popular for Real World Experience - Higher Education](<a href=“http://diverseeducation.com/article/57898/#]Co-op”>http://diverseeducation.com/article/57898/#)</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all of your help and recommendations.</p>