What's unique about Northeastern's Co-op Program?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Northeastern University
1

I’m fairly clueless about the whole co-op program so some clarification would be appreciated.

  1. What exactly is co-op? - From what I know, its a process where students get hooked with job offers from companies to get experience, but can’t that be done at any college? What makes Northeastern’s co-op unique ( and consistently ranked #1)?

  2. I typically hear students choose Northeastern because they were attracted to the strong co-op program, but can’t I get the same opportunities if I went to a school without a famous co-op program? It’s not like they will refuse to hook me up with internships/co-ops or anything right?

Any other info to help clarify things would be appreciated!

2

The normal pattern of coop is a six month period of full time employment. You are not in class while taking coop. in fact you may not be anywhere near Boston. An internship is usually short term, summers or part time during the school year. You will be expected to be productive for your coop employer. Coops are not shadowing.

Many colleges offer optional coop programs. They are usually limited to engineering students. A common question on CC about these optional coop programs is “How do I make up what I miss while on coop.” At Northeastern you do not have to “make up” anything as the school is structured around the coop model. Also you are not the “odd person out” because most everyone is doing some form of experiential education.

Here are two short videos that explain the differences:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV3nijraEsQ&t=12s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQo6kqP_sqU

Here are three of the coolest coop competition videos;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOP10qYb2Xg&t=45s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G37FaNoSduc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSXWRgb2dOA&t=17s

3

Good answer by @TomSrOfBoston - I’ll add a few more things:

Because of the time being double or triple an internships time, you get to do a lot more meaningful work, as the company is investing a lot more resources into you. As a result, co-op pay is often higher than internships, and 50% of students at Northeastern get full-time job offers from a former co-op employer.

Internships are also a lot more competitive to get when you’re competing with hundreds or more students from around the area. With co-op, many employers consistently take a certain number of co-ops from Northeastern every cycle. Those connections are a direct pipeline for students and the company to get consistent talent.

When you go to a school and look for internships, often you’re on your own, looking through online applications and the resources of the career center. Some companies may post there, but many will post generally online due to convenience. Why get into the career center system at 20 colleges when posting online gets you plenty of applications? At Northeastern you have an entire co-op prep class, a co-op advisor, and the whole database of companies specifically fielding applications for Northeastern co-op students for that cycle. Of course, if you find a company not in the database, you’re welcome to set up a co-op there as well.

In a traditional model, you will likely get 4-6 months experience at two internships. At Northeastern, you’ll get 18 months experience at 3 jobs if you do 3 co-ops and 5 years (most common pattern here). That gives you a chance to try out different types of jobs in your field or switch your field entirely if you find you don’t enjoy it professionally.