The Ultimate Internship

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A billboard advertising "The Ultimate Internship"
A billboard advertising "The Ultimate Internship"

The Ultimate Internship is the trademarked name for Drexel University's cooperative education program, usually referred to as "co-op". Drexel's internship program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation, having thousands of students out on co-op at any one time. It began in 1915 as the Controlled summer program. In 1919 it debuted as an official cooperative educational program. It was recently branded as The Ultimate Internship in 1996 when Drexel University filed for a trademark on the term.[1] A student graduating with a 5-year degree from Drexel will have spent 18 months working at up to three different co-op employers.

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[edit] Job-search process

The co-op search process centers around the Steinbright Career Development Center, where students are assigned co-op advisors, in addition to their normal academic advisers, to assist in their co-op searches. Advisers assist with resume preparation and interview practice, as well as career advice and networking. Students are able to search a database of over a thousand employers and over five thousand internship positions, and submit their resumes online. They are then invited to interview with interested employers, who can either offer the job or rank the student. After viewing positions for which they have been accepted or ranked, students may accept a job offer or rank offers according to their preferences. Students who do not get a position in the first round go on to later rounds. Students are also encouraged to search for jobs outside of the SCDC database, but independent job searching is not required.

[edit] Scheduling

An example of Spring/Summer co-op cycle schedules
An example of Spring/Summer co-op cycle schedules

Drexel's academic calendar has shaped itself around the co-op program, with quarters similar to the quarters used in the business world. Students choose different degree programs based on their majors and the length of the programs they intend to take. Students interested in co-op are randomly assigned a "cycle," defining what part of the year they will be on co-op; the two possible cycles are "Fall-Winter" and "Spring-Summer". All of the degree programs offer the same amount of class experience, but they differ in their involvement with the internship program.

  • For students not interested in co-op, Drexel offers a typical 4-year curriculum, with Fall, Winter, and Spring terms devoted to class, and Summer as vacation.
  • Drexel also has an option for a 4-year degree with co-op, in which the Summer breaks of the Sophomore and Junior year are replaced with class, and either the Fall and Winter or Spring and Summer of the junior year is spent on co-op, depending on the student's cycle.
  • For those interested in even more co-op experience, Drexel's 5-year program offers the equivalent of a 4-year degree plus 18 months of internship experience. In the 5-year program the middle three years (called the Sophomore, Pre-Junior, and Junior years) are spent alternating between co-op and college classes, depending on the student's assigned cycle.

A more detailed description of the co-op scheduling system, with charts, is available at Drexel's co-op website.

[edit] Major co-op employers

Students accept internship positions largely within the Philadelphia area, with over two thirds of students opting for positions within Pennsylvania, but students can search for jobs anywhere in the United States, as well as positions in foreign countries.

[edit] References

  1. ^ United States Patent and Trademark Office retrieved December 12, 2006 Patent #75071468
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