Waterloo Co-op?

[JKT]

Hey guys, 

So I got admitted to the co-op health studies program at UW (I was originally in the regular study plan), but I'm having second thoughts about if it will be worth it. Co-op will allow me to gain valuable experience including health-related experience, but my degree will be five years instead of four and I will not have any summers off. Also, I will be alternating between work terms and study terms (there are a total of five work terms). Let me know what you think!

Thanks 

[CardiacArrhythmia]

Coop was one of the many reasons why most of my friends got valuable experiences in research and clinical settings. Opportunities allowed them develop and grow into great individuals today. Co-op will also allow for backup plans and also strong reference letters when you need them later down in the future. Coming back to the whole experience thing, I personally (others may disagree with me) find it hard to discover extracurriculars/volunteer work that I enjoyed because of the lack of advertising/connections to where to approach to these experiences outside of the university. So coop definitely allows you some more opportunities 

I should also mention that the one of the only thing I don't like about coop at Waterloo is that there's a consistent moving around every 4 months and housing problems.

Others can chime in on the pros and cons about coop at Waterloo. 

[frenchpress]

Agree that co-op can provide a lot of really great experience. I don't know anyone in my field that ever regretted it, and everyone seems to get value out of it one way or another.

In terms of your concerns about the workload and timeline: I did work and study terms back to back for several years, and it was fine. I found that co-op work terms were a lot more laid back than study terms, and felt like a break in a different way. I usually got a bit of paid vacation, and making money gave me more flexibility to do things like travel or go out in the evenings. I was also less stressed about money during the school year.

Also, outside of school and working in k-12 education, no one gets summers off -- no harm getting used to that sooner rather than later!

[itsmemario]

Definitely take co-op. I did co-op at Waterloo as well and it was a great experience that tremendously helped my application. Through co-op you may have opportunities that other non co-op students may not find. For instance, there are research opportunities at hospitals in Toronto that hire all year round. In the summer months, you are competing with students from many other schools but as a co-op student you may potentially start in the fall or winter months when it's much less competitive. Secondly, you also get a 8-month work term that is great for pursuing more long-term projects (4 months just in the summer is usually not enough especially in research). Finally, like the poster above said, co-op allows you to get experiences in different areas and this is great for developing a back-up plan or discovering new fields in case you change your mind about medicine. 

In terms of not having summers off, I imagine if you want to be a competitive applicant you would be doing something during these months anyways. If you are concerned about vacations and time-off to relax, Waterloo work-terms usually end a couple of weeks before the next term starts. You can always negotiate these dates with your employer as well. 

Overall, I highly highly recommend you consider taking the co-op option. If you have any more questions about Waterloo co-op specifically, let me know! 

[OldManLogan]

I think co-op is great. I went to another school and did not do co-op but felt that through co-op, I would have had the opportunity to gain valuable research experience which would help my application, and would also give me strong reference letters and the opportunity to network.