Co-op Information for IT Majors
The Information Technology program recommends strongly that each undergraduate participate in the co-op program. This program not only gives students invaluable experience but also improves markedly the student's chances of obtaining the job of his or her choosing upon graduation.
For Information Technology students, it is usually most convenient to co-op during the junior year. This ensures that the student has completed the majority of courses in the IT Core and has taken at least a few courses from the chosen concentration.
The student will need to make up the courses that would normally have been taken during the semester that is devoted to co-op. In most cases, this will be one IT Core course (either Managing IT Resources or a statistics course), one or more concentration courses, and one or more elective courses.
The courses that need to be made up can be taken in an extra semester or spread out over many semesters with one extra course in each of these semesters. One or more of the courses can be taken over a summer to reduce the number of semesters with an extra course. Advanced placement credits can also reduce this number. In general, the missed IT Core course can be taken during the senior year as can the missed concentration course(s). Missed elective courses can often be taken prior to the co-op semester.
It is usually wise to complete at least the first two years of required IT Core courses prior to the co-op semester. They should prepare a student well for the co-op experience. It is also a good idea to complete several concentration courses before the co-op semester.
Updated: September 2005 |
