coop in undergrad

[inquirer007]

did anyone who did coop in their undergrad find that it hindered their marks, or was there no difference to their GPA? I was wondering because Im considering going coop.

[azn_baller12]

I'm on coop right now. I find that it's a refreshing break from school. The only thing you might worry about is the fact that you get used to the working lifestyle and may not be able to adapt back to school.

[fugacity]

How much co-op affects your marks depends on many things, such as your specific co-op schedule, number of jobs in your field (i.e. how many resumes/cover letters you have to write). Generally, the amount of work you have to do during school is minimal. It does become a bit more challenging if you have to take courses without prerequisites as a result. Of course a major downside is adding another year.

 

There are of course many good things about co-op. First, co-op allows you to experience different career choices first hand. Hearing about a career and living and seeing potential careers are completely different. Second, co-op is a great place to network and build professional relationships. Lastly, if you are thinking about applying to medicine, work experiences are generally part of the application package. Furthermore, many students conduct research and publish on co-op terms, both of which helpful in building your CV.

 

My personal opinion is that if you are very confident in applying to med, both in your intent and ability, do not do co-op. On the other hand, if you want to explore a few options, or build your application option, I would recommend co-op.

 

Sorry for the long paragraphs, hope it was helpful.

[McMarauder]

Being in co-op can be a lot more stressful than being in traditional programs. Not only are you studying, you're writing resumes, cover letters, applying for jobs, preparing and interviewing for jobs. Also, depending on the specific program you're in, it may affect how easy/hard it is to get co-op placements. During my undergrad, it seemed that biochem co-op had a much easier time getting jobs than pharmacology co-op and genetics co-op, even though we all had the same fundamental knowledge (These programs are at McMaster).

 

I found co-op useful as it exposed me to working world. It also confirmed that I didn't want to spend anymore of my life working in a lab. For others, co-op lead them to getting their names on scientific papers, scholarships for MSc and PhD programs.

 

With that said, if you already know that you have a specific goal in mind, focus on that as co-op may not be an added benefit.

[inquirer007]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experienced opinions

[nauru]

I have a strong impression that the Canadian labour market is structured such that even getting a shot (ie interview) at a desirable firm/position coming out of school is, in many 'preferred' (by university graduates) industries, dependent largely on whether you came through a favoured co-op channel/program.

 

In other developed countries, particularly in the US and UK, getting into the most desirable fields as a new graduate is something nearly everyone from a decent school has a shot at, by getting good grades, being active in extracurricular/leadership/research activities, and applying for the plum summer internships each winter. One's program of study is not necessarily relevant either; art history majors are considered on their merits alongside more mathematical majors.

 

Canada's entry to these positions seems to be far more path-dependent, to the point where not only do you need to be in the right program, but even co-op increasingly appears to be a necessity to have a chance at a leadership-track position at the leading firms/organisations in certain industries, rather than an optional hands-on learning experience.

 

So it's worth taking into account that your opportunities in some of the most desirable firms & industries may be substantially curtailed by not doing co-op. Of course if you are not that ambitious or do not aim to get a leadership-track position at a leading firm this may not be relevant to you.

[thehockeykid]

I'm on coop right now. I find that it's a refreshing break from school. The only thing you might worry about is the fact that you get used to the working lifestyle and may not be able to adapt back to school.

 

question were u still considered a full time student, under you parents health insurance during ur co-op term

[Dark Light]

I'm at Waterloo the biggest coop school in the world and blah blah blah blah blah. I'm sure if you're considering coop you know all that. I personally am not in coop because it's not offered for my program but I know a bunch of people in it and they all say the same thing. It doesn't matter if you're in engineering, science or computer science/math, they accept more people into the coop program then there are spots for jobs. In science especially it's terrible. About a half of all coop students can't find a job. This means that if you don't happen to have an uncle working for a pharmaceutical company that you can use as a backup option or something, you might be forced to drop out of coop and just do a regular 4 year degree.

 

Be also warned that you won't be getting some awesome job, getting an amazing pay in your first 2 years. You will just be thankful that someone hired you to do grunt work.

 

This is just what seems to be the consensus from everyone I talked about coop. Take from it what you will.

[thehockeykid]

^ i wish i went to waterloo, i seen some of the co-op placements, ppl are working at amazing jobs (google cali, fb, microsoft, cpp ib, td securities, rbc global asset management etc)