i’m in ID at the University of Cincinnati. we begin co-oping our third year on a three month rotation. this meaning that i’ll be co-oping during either a spring/fall combination or a winter/summer rotation. anyone out there have a preference one way or another from experience?
thanks for any input.
-noelleon
I’m not sure what’s the co-op situation at your school, but at mine it was almost entirely up to the student to find co-op placement since our co-op office didn’t have any regular ‘openings’ for industrial design students.
If this is s similar situation for you, I would consider job availability as a factor. Spring/fall might be a better choice since you will not be up against as many students looking for summer jobs. ?
I guess it could also matter if some of your courses are only available at certain times of the year. it would suck to have to sit around for three months waiting for a course to start again.
yeah, our program is massively coordinated with the ID class being split into two groups to supply a steady stream. thanks for your input though, it was the side i was wavering on.
I’m currently on co-op(from UC). I’d recommend spring/fall UNLESS you want to do anything with cars. Those jobs are almost alway summer.
Both sections usually have no problem finding jobs. The biggest benefit to working spring/fall is being somewhere besides cincinnati for the best seasons of the year.
I’m also from UC.
I’d like to point out the benefits of a winter/summer co-op. Someone pointed out that spring and fall are the best times to be somewhere else. I would tend to disagree - the best time to be in school is fall, when everyone is fresh from summer break and there are parties, activities, and lots of things to do. Also spring is great because Cincinnati has pretty nice spring weather and there is DAAPworks, graduations, etc.
The winter is crappy in Cincinnati - an inch of snow closes down roads because of all the hills. You can go to California or Florida in the winter if you want…And its dead in the summer. The weather might be nice but there isn’t as much to do. If you’re going to a public school instead of an art school, you might as well take advantage of the fall and spring activities!
Oh yeah, and just to let you know - you will begin co-oping after your second year in school, not your third. Just in case you were misinformed…