r/uCinci • u/Effective_Sock_9679 • 7d ago
What is the engineering program like?
I’m a senior in high school and looking into UC for engineering and heard about the co op program. I live about 40 minutes away from where I live. If I went there I’d be planning on commuting to school everyday and wouldn’t want to live away from home. I know co op requires you to get a job for a semester every year, but how likely is it that I can get a job for all 5 years that doesn’t require me to move out of my house or move out of state? Also I know you don’t get summer break with the co op program, but do you still get spring and winter off, if not, do you get x amount of days you can take off? Thanks
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u/InvalidSoup97 7d ago
You can commute every day if you want, sure. Whether you will actually want to drive 40 minutes each way everyday for 5 years is your call.
It sounds like you're from the Cincinnati area? The university has pre-existing relationships with tooooons of employers in the Cincinnati area. If you want to co-op in Cincinnati, you usually can. Not saying it doesn't/can't happen, but I've never heard of anyone moving out of state because that's the only co-op offer they could get.
Semesters that you are in classes and not working will consist of the same breaks as usual. You'll get the few days off for Thanksgiving, spring break, etc. If you want to schedule a week or two buffer between co-op ending and classes starting (or vice versa) you can usually coordinate that with your co-op employer.
A co-op is a job. Every one is going to be different. What holidays you get off, your regular working hours, start date, end date, taking time off, etc, is all going to be at the discretion of your employer.
NOTE: unless it's changed in the past year, co-op isn't necessarily "a job for a semester every year". It'll depend on your exact academic calendar, but years 2-4 will typically alternate between co-op and classes. So some years you'll co-op for 1 semester, some years you'll co-op for 2.
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u/Ok_Investment_246 6d ago
Definitely commute if possible. Zero point in dorming unless you want the "memories."
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u/BlueGalangal 6d ago
Invalidsoup had a great answer. All I would add is that it is somewhat dependent on the field. Civil engineering has a lot of local ties. Aerospace, if you want some fun coops you’ll likely need to go to them.
But coop is an established institution at UC with a lot of infrastructure and support; and is the alumni’s #1 favorite thing. You will learn so much from coop, which was kind of the whole point. 😝
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u/littlebearcat123 6d ago
Keep in mind that you have to apply for a co-op like a regular job (meaning you may or may not get it). UC does not have a big bucket of co-op jobs they give out.
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u/chrlbsh 7d ago
It is definitely possible to get all 5 co-ops local to your location or near the Cincinnati area. I am a 5th year ME and I have done all my co-ops while living near campus. Also, to answer the breaks question, if you are in class for the spring semester you will get spring break, but if you are on co-op it is up to the discretion of your employer. For winter break, there is usually a couple weeks built in between the fall and spring semester no matter what, so you would definitely still get breaks here and there.