I didn't go to Waterloo, but I was a 5 session co-op student at Purdue. What this guy says is pretty much true, but I don't think we highlighted some of the benefits.
I basically lived out of car for 5 years. If it didn't fit in the car, I couldn't take it with me. So it forced me to choose what actually mattered. It also forces you to make friends quickly because you'll be leaving again in a few months. I'm pretty introverted, so this was good experience.
It does prevent you from establishing long term relationships with students not on a co-op rotation. I'd come back to school from working, and I'd always have to catch up on inside jokes, who's dating who, and other silly things that glue groups of people together.
The biggest benefit was the opportunity to work on actual engineering projects with a team of professional engineers and to be mentored. practically one on one. And, of course, I was able to get my foot in the door at a good company and have my career accelerated.
At school, the biggest benefit was that I had a better context for what we were learning in class. I was able to ask really good questions because I had a better understanding of how each topic fit into a larger picture.
Co-oping doesn't give you the typical, Hollywood version of what college is supposed to be like. But who cares? It gives you something much more practical.
I basically lived out of car for 5 years. If it didn't fit in the car, I couldn't take it with me. So it forced me to choose what actually mattered. It also forces you to make friends quickly because you'll be leaving again in a few months. I'm pretty introverted, so this was good experience.
It does prevent you from establishing long term relationships with students not on a co-op rotation. I'd come back to school from working, and I'd always have to catch up on inside jokes, who's dating who, and other silly things that glue groups of people together.
The biggest benefit was the opportunity to work on actual engineering projects with a team of professional engineers and to be mentored. practically one on one. And, of course, I was able to get my foot in the door at a good company and have my career accelerated.
At school, the biggest benefit was that I had a better context for what we were learning in class. I was able to ask really good questions because I had a better understanding of how each topic fit into a larger picture.
Co-oping doesn't give you the typical, Hollywood version of what college is supposed to be like. But who cares? It gives you something much more practical.