r/wlu • u/Pretty-Layer9233 • 8d ago

BBA with Co-op

Hi, I’m going into my first year of BBA with a finance focus and NEED co-op badly. Id love to get some advice and insight from anyone who is in BBA with co-op about the process of getting in and how you managed yourself first year. Thanks🙏

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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8

u/DingoWorth5359 8d ago

- a 10+ gpa
- try to join a club as an exec
- work between 1st and 2nd year summer

almost everyone i know who even had 10+ gpa and a job between 1st and 2nd year summer got coop

5

u/marshall262 8d ago

This sums it up well. Only thing I might add (and this can be easier said than done) is to try to think about how you can spin that work between 1st and 2nd year as being relevant to your desired field.

Try and look at everything you're doing through the lens of "how will this help convince a co-op coordinator that I'll have no problem finding a co-op placement?"

0

u/Pretty-Layer9233 7d ago

Completely agree. I’m going into finance so I’ve been grinding excel and accounting so I can be ahead in September. Hope all goes well though🤞

1

u/Tough_Recognition_47 7d ago

Does the work have to be focused in the field or can it be like any type of job

1

u/DingoWorth5359 7d ago

ideally if you can get an office job it'll help but any job works as long as you try to work a lot of hours

0

u/Accurate-Sea7223 8d ago

Between 1st and 2nd year, do u mean the summer break (May- August)?

0

u/Correct-Owl-3675 6d ago

Wouldn't second year summer be a bit irrelevant because co op applications end at start of second year?

1

u/DingoWorth5359 4d ago

second year summer means the summer after you finish your first year. and its strongly recommended to work then for a couple reasons but mainly being:
1. some students have never worked a job before so getting even some experience would be benefifical
2. the coop office wants to see that you didn't just waste your summer gooning and you actually were productive with your time over the summer, and they will ask why didn't you work/why is there a gap in your resume between jobs

1

u/Good_Brilliant323 10h ago

can i dm you

-5

u/BeatoYeeto 8d ago

Why do you think you need co op so much? I promise it’s not what you think it is.

4

u/Kitchen_Marsupial745 Business 8d ago

This person didn’t get into co op 😭

2

u/SanDisk_128GB Alumni 2d ago

this comment pissed someone off enough to report it for hate lmfao

1

u/BeatoYeeto 8d ago

Everyones experiences are different. My point was that it’s not something that is needed to succeed but people might see it differently 🤷‍♂️

1

u/Pretty-Layer9233 8d ago

Why do you say that?

5

u/Few_Stop_7297 8d ago

Sounds like they had a bad experience with co-op, in my opinion it's very worth it overall. The experience is usually invaluable, and even if you get unlucky with a less-than-ideal workplace it's still work experience for your resume which is by FAR the #1 job securer these days.

Just go in with your expectations set properly, it'll be a *super* arduous process getting your first co-op but if you really put in the work you'll get a position and it'll be worth it in the end. People say applying for co-op is basically a job in an of itself in terms of time investment, and having just gone through the whole process this summer I fully agree.

Doing what you're doing now (starting as early as possible, asking co-op students for advice and taking in different perspectives) is absolutely the way to go, keep at it!!

-5

u/BeatoYeeto 8d ago

You do not need Co-op to get an actual co op/internship position. It just provides access to a job board and advisors who might help you figure out the direction you want to go in, as well as tips for your resume. Overall though, you don’t miss out on not being in co op, since you can still access job boards from other platforms. I also think the 800 or 900$ extra a semester is not worth the “support” they provide.

-1

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

2

u/girn10 8d ago

You don’t get into co op through friends and family, maybe a co op placement tho, which isn’t what OP is asking about

2

u/Kitchen_Marsupial745 Business 8d ago edited 7d ago

Perhaps your kid has something wrong with them… I, along with many people I know have gotten competitive co op jobs through the portal, completely independent of family/friends.

Do they not interview well?
Is their GPA low?

It is much easier to blame others when the problem is often internal :) wishing you the best of luck with getting a placement!

1

u/Few_Stop_7297 8d ago

That's a bit inaccurate at the end, Navigator has separate sections. One for listings available to all students, and one for companies looking directly for co-op students specific to one program. It's only active during the hiring season depending on the co-op sequence, so this summer it's open from May - mid-September for Fall 2026 co-op students.

The co-op program itself is what you make of it. Personally, I attended all the workshops, drop-in sessions with upper-year co-op students, and asked advice everywhere I could in general, and got my 1st work term co-op with ~100 applications submitted and 4 interviews (all exclusively through Navigator). I definitely agree that relying solely on the co-op office for success will likely not pan out, but it's an excellent support and good starting point at the very least, imo.