If someone was in a coop program but got accepted into a professional school (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, etc) during the May-August coop term would it be possible for them to drop out of their next coop term before it begins?

I've heard stories of Waterloo students dropping out of their coop terms for this reason, not sure if it's possible at Mac. Thanks!

You can definitely leave, and it's happened before. I'm not sure if you would receive your degree though. You likely wouldn't if you haven't completed all your courses.

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

You can definitely leave, and it's happened before. I'm not sure if you would receive your degree though. You likely wouldn't if you haven't completed all your courses.

Thanks, so if you were already accepted for a position in September, but get accepted, you can forfeit that position in September as long as you give them due notice (like 2 months)?

Is it possible to leave 5 months into an 8 month work term if you received an acceptance to a professional school?

I'm just wondering because I'm unsure of whether to accept co-op or not, thanks

im in the same boat ^

Originally Posted by bradyr

Thanks, so if you were already accepted for a position in September, but get accepted, you can forfeit that position in September as long as you give them due notice (like 2 months)?

Is it possible to leave 5 months into an 8 month work term if you received an acceptance to a professional school?

I'm just wondering because I'm unsure of whether to accept co-op or not, thanks

What faculty are you in? Because I only know the information related to Science. You can definitely leave the position. No one is forcing you to stay in a program when your ultimate goal is right infront of you.

Regarding the second question, if there's a contract, it may be difficult/not possible to leave 5 months into an 8-month work term. The other way around that, is to let your employer know of your application and your ultimate goal and hope they understand. Also, depending on your program, can you not find 2 jobs that are each 4 months?

This may not be ideal, but speak to your co-op office. Better yet, if there's a professor you trust in your program, speak to them as well.

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

What faculty are you in? Because I only know the information related to Science. You can definitely leave the position. No one is forcing you to stay in a program when your ultimate goal is right infront of you.

Regarding the second question, if there's a contract, it may be difficult/not possible to leave 5 months into an 8-month work term. The other way around that, is to let your employer know of your application and your ultimate goal and hope they understand. Also, depending on your program, can you not find 2 jobs that are each 4 months?

This may not be ideal, but speak to your co-op office. Better yet, if there's a professor you trust in your program, speak to them as well.

Thanks for your help Sara

I'm in science, I was hoping that would be the case, and you're right, I'll try to find 2 jobs that are 4 months each instead of a huge 8 month term, but I was just thinking of the worst case scenario.

I'm just worried about what if I secured my 4th and final coop term, but I've also gotten accepted to professional school. I'm hoping that if I gave them a two month notice that even if I conditionally accepted to work for them in September, I would be able to back out and they'd have time to hopefully find a replacement, so long as I don't tell them two weeks before the start date of the job.

These are just all hypothetical situations I'm putting in my head about accepting co-op and what could go wrong.

I was in a very similar situation. I wouldn't find out acceptance until June after my fourth year, and in co-op you still have a fifth year to go. I knew this might happen though, so I planned accordingly to ensure all of my courses were finished by the end of my fourth year, and that summer I only went with a four-month co-op term. The co-op office told me that if there was a chance I couldn't commit to the full 8 months, then I was NOT to accept or pursue a position that is 8 months.
It makes the school look bad, takes a position away from another co-op student who could have completed the full thing, makes the employer less likely to take co-op students, and since you'd be on a contract there are potential issues there as well, especially if the employer doesn't want to let you go mid-project.

So I went with a four-month position in an academic lab. My supervisor knew my position, and knew that I may or may not extend to 8 months depending on the status of my application to the professional program. The key is that I only signed a contract for 4 months. When I was accepted, I dropped all of my courses (I was taking a term of electives for my last academic term, just for fun) and switched out of the co-op program to graduate, without completing my last 4-month co-op term. I did, however, have to complete my summer term, otherwise I would get a "not complete" notation on my transcript for that term. But it was like having a summer job anyways, so it didn't really matter

My diploma does not say co-op on it, but apparently it wouldn't say that anyways. My transcript says that I was enrolled in the co-op program until I graduated. It's really a very minor point that I didn't actually graduate in the co-op program.

Originally Posted by starfish

It makes the school look bad, takes a position away from another co-op student who could have completed the full thing, makes the employer less likely to take co-op students, and since you'd be on a contract there are potential issues there as well, especially if the employer doesn't want to let you go mid-project.

This.

Originally Posted by starfish

I was in a very similar situation. I wouldn't find out acceptance until June after my fourth year, and in co-op you still have a fifth year to go. I knew this might happen though, so I planned accordingly to ensure all of my courses were finished by the end of my fourth year, and that summer I only went with a four-month co-op term. The co-op office told me that if there was a chance I couldn't commit to the full 8 months, then I was NOT to accept or pursue a position that is 8 months.
It makes the school look bad, takes a position away from another co-op student who could have completed the full thing, makes the employer less likely to take co-op students, and since you'd be on a contract there are potential issues there as well, especially if the employer doesn't want to let you go mid-project.

So I went with a four-month position in an academic lab. My supervisor knew my position, and knew that I may or may not extend to 8 months depending on the status of my application to the professional program. The key is that I only signed a contract for 4 months. When I was accepted, I dropped all of my courses (I was taking a term of electives for my last academic term, just for fun) and switched out of the co-op program to graduate, without completing my last 4-month co-op term. I did, however, have to complete my summer term, otherwise I would get a "not complete" notation on my transcript for that term. But it was like having a summer job anyways, so it didn't really matter

My diploma does not say co-op on it, but apparently it wouldn't say that anyways. My transcript says that I was enrolled in the co-op program until I graduated. It's really a very minor point that I didn't actually graduate in the co-op program.

Ah I see, so you still wanted to complete your degree even though you got accepted. I guess you had to overload or take summer courses then? Most people that enter professional programs from 3rd or 2nd year usually don't complete their degree and just directly go into med or pharm, I think it's pretty neat you managed to finish your degree also, congrats!

Yes, the experience you got from co-op is probably more important than the notation on your transcript, especially if you already got accepted to a professional program.

Originally Posted by bradyr

Ah I see, so you still wanted to complete your degree even though you got accepted. I guess you had to overload or take summer courses then? Most people that enter professional programs from 3rd or 2nd year usually don't complete their degree and just directly go into med or pharm, I think it's pretty neat you managed to finish your degree also, congrats!

Yes, the experience you got from co-op is probably more important than the notation on your transcript, especially if you already got accepted to a professional program.

I completed four years of undergrad - I didn't apply to the professional program until my fourth year. I did one summer course after 1st year, two summer courses after 2nd year, one summer course after 3rd year (while I was on my co-op term), and then overloaded in fourth year (which I would not recommend when combined with thesis). So that's the five courses that I would have done in my fifth year. I only realized later that I could have done a course in the summer after my fourth year, since I wasn't graduating until November, and I wish I had done that instead of overloading. I was hoping to graduate in June, but since I didn't find out whether or not I was accepted into professional school until after the June graduation date, I didn't want to risk graduating and then having nowhere to go

Don't drop. Looks bad on school and yourself and companies will get abit pissed. But if you explain your scenario maybe they will accomodate