The Drexel co-op system

Co-op is the colloquial name used at Drexel University for a six-month internship that is usually paid. It is short for "cooperative education" and alludes to the fact that the university sets up the program, which allows the students participating to have the internships incorporated directly into their academic schedule with limited academic interruptions.
During the co-op period of a student's academic schedule, the student attends a full-time job. While some students whose co-op jobs are close to campus may choose to take evening classes, this is not the norm. Most students stay close to campus, but some choose to live in another city and some even live internationally during their co-op experiences. Of the students who choose to take a co-op job away from campus, a large portion take a job near their home so they can save money on rent by living with their parents.
History
Drexel's co-op system was one of the first systems of its kind and is one of Drexel University's major draws for students.
Co-op Requirements
The intention of co-op is for a student to try out his or her major in the real world and see if it is a good fit for him or her. Most students use the opportunity to find somewhere they want to work after graduation and many are offered jobs from the companies they co-oped with. However, the actual requirements for the co-op job are quite relaxed. There is only a small amount of paperwork required and there are no requirements that say the job must be in your major or that it must be paid. There also aren't requirements about whether the job is full-time or whether the job lasts the full six months. Some students take an unpaid part-time co-op job that they really love and then find unrelated paid work part-time on the side to keep them afloat. This is common with students who are in very competitive majors and wouldn't be able to find paid full-time work within their major. Other students take a job teaching English in another country and use the co-op job as an opportunity to travel.
There is no requirement that students co-op at the same place more than once, in fact it is suggested that students try out several different employers while they have the opportunity to do so, although some students do choose to stay with the same employer.
Academic Schedule
Drexel students of almost all majors can add the co-op option to their academic schedules. Exceptions to this include students of the Thomas R. Kline School of Law which is the only Drexel school to operate on a semester schedule, and BS/MD students, a highly selective program that assures undergraduate students acceptance to the Drexel University College of Medicine provided they complete basic requirements during their three undergraduate years. BS/MS students, a program that allows you to graduate with a Masters Degree, can do co-op with the five year/three co-op schedule, although many students find that they are unable to do their third co-op due to class conflicts.
There are two typical co-op schedules. Early in a Drexel student's career they will choose to either be a four year/one co-op or five year/three co-op student. This dictates when they graduate and how many co-ops they do. Students who are transfer students, or who have switched from other programs may work with their academic advisor to find out if an abbreviated version of one of these two plans can be worked in their academic schedule.
Each year at Drexel is divided up into four quarters, starting in September and ending in September of the next year. The quarters are named after the seasons. Fall quarter is from the beginning of the school year, roughly the second week of September, to Winter Break, mid-way through December. Winter quarter is from the beginning of January to Spring Break, which is usually the week before Easter. Spring quarter lasts until the end of May. Summer quarter lasts from the beginning of June until the end of August.
First Year: Freshman Year
All co-op students, regardless of which schedule they choose, will be at school during their first year for Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters and then have Summer quarter off for summer break. This gives students a more typical Freshman Experience.
The Middle Years: Four Year/One Co-op
A four year/one co-op student plans to graduate within four years, and will do one six-month co-op during their middle two years at Drexel. Near the end of the student's first year, they will be told during which two quarters in the next two years their six-month co-op will take place. During the rest of the quarters of those two years they will be at school. For students who have their co-op placed during Fall and Winter quarters of their second year or Spring and Summer quarters of their third year, this means they will be doing a full year and a half of school without any sort of break besides the one or two week break between quarters.
The Middle Years: Five Year/Three Co-op
A five year/three co-op student plans to graduate within five years, and will do three six-month co-ops during their middle three years at Drexel. This means that these students will be planning to graduate a year after most of their high school peers are planning to graduate. Near the end of the student's first year, the student will be told whether they will on the fall-winter or spring-summer co-op cycle. A student with a fall-winter co-op cycle will be attending their co-op job during the Fall and Winter quarters of their middle three years and will be attending classes during the Spring and Summer quarters. The reverse is true for spring-summer co-op students.
Final Year: Graduation
The co-op student's final year (either their fourth, or fifth, depending on the co-op schedule the student has chosen) will look similar to their first year. The student will take classes during Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters, and then graduate.
Applying For Co-ops
Many co-ops that students apply to are in Drexel's own co-op system. Hundreds of employers, the majority of which are in the Greater Philadelphia Area but some of which are elsewhere, submit job openings to the system and Drexel allows students to view and apply to them.
Rounds
The applications taken for these jobs are divided into three "rounds", which are named A, B, and C rounds. A round starts immediately after the Drexel co-op is opened to students for the first time before a co-op cycle. This generally happens about three to six months before a co-op cycle will start. For example, for students starting a co-op in March 2016 (this would be a spring-summer cycle co-op), the A round applications were opened to students in November 2016. The A round is the most competitive round, which have many jobs that restrict applications to those who have high GPAs. After A round, students who were not matched with a job can continue to B round, which contains employers who did not find students they liked during A round or employers who didn't get their job information in by the deadline for A round. B round is identical to A round, but in a later time. C round has no end and continues until all students find jobs. Many C round students end up applying to jobs outside the Drexel system. There are options for students who do not find a job before their co-op cycle starts, but these cases are rarely used because the university will help those students personally find jobs.
One round consists of four segments. First the applications being opened to students and there is a period of time where students view and apply to those jobs. Next the applications are closed to students and employers review those applications and then send out interview requests to students who they like. Students are required by the university to honor all interview requests from employers. The third segment is the month long process of scheduling and attending any interviews that a student is granted. The last segment is when the employers rank the students and the students rank the employers and they are matched up.
==== The "Rankings Process" ====
The "rankings process" is very complication. It is necessary because during one round, a student might interview with ten different companies and any number of those companies might offer the student the job. In the real world interviewing for several jobs at once is taboo, but during the co-op process it is necessary because of the constrained time frame.
On the company's end, the company will rank five students from their number one choice to their number five choice and submit that list to the university. After all the company's rankings are submitted, the university will allow the students to see whether they were listed as choices by any of the companies. If a student was listed as number one by a company, next to the job it will say the position was "offered." If a student is listed anywhere from number two to number five by a company the position will say the student is a "qualified alternate." The student will not know whether they were number two or number five, they only know they are not number one. The students will be asked to rank any or all of the positions they were either "offered" or offered as a "qualified alternate" with the understanding that any job they rank, they would be willing to accept if matched up with.
After the students have submitted their rankings, the university's computer system calculates which job goes to which student. Here is an example to illustrate how it chooses. Let's say that you are "offered" a job. This means you are the company's number one choice. If you rank this job as number one on your ranking, the computer system adds your ranking (number 1) to the company's ranking (number 1) and gets the number 2. This match is the lowest number it could possibly have for that job, so you get the job. Now, let's say for example, the company didn't rank you number one but instead ranked you as their number two candidate. You only see you're a "qualified alternate". If you then rank this job as your number one, the total for the job is 2 (the company's ranking) plus 1 (your ranking) which is 3. Since the computer is going to go with the lowest number for the job, you will likely get this job unless the number 1 candidate also ranks this job as their number 1, because then their total will be 2, which is lower than 3. Can you see how this would be confusing?
The computer system is mystifying to most Drexel students and is not clear about what happens when there are ties for a job (for example a student is a company's number 4 and ranks it number 2 but the company's number 3 choice ranks it number 3). Most students end up ranking a position they were "offered" as number 1, because they know that is the only way to guarantee they will receive a job.
Interviews
Once interview requests are released, students can view information about their interviews. Most interview requests will include a name and phone number or email address to connect with to schedule the interview. Some job interviews will require the applicant to submit information to an external application that they company uses, for documentation purposes. While some students try to schedule interviews during school, it is important to remember that even if the scheduler asks "how does tomorrow work for you?" there is no harm in suggesting a date that is more convenient for you, such as during a school break or holiday.
It is important to note when applying for interviews if the job requires a car. Most jobs that require a car, also require a car to get to the interview.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu