UNSW Coop Program-need advice! (1 Viewer)

[Flixter]

HEY everyone. I am doing my HSC this year and am considering going to UNSW for business OR engineering, and teacher has recommended the Coop program. Very rough ATAR estimate would be around 99...So what are my chances of getting into Coop, both business/engineering? Are there anyone out on this forum who actually succeeded in gaining this scholarship or know anything about it? How good is it really? How did you get in- what did you do that made you stand out? What's the competition like?
Please share your experiences!

 

[x.Exhaust.x]

HEY everyone. I am doing my HSC this year and am considering going to UNSW for business OR engineering, and teacher has recommended the Coop program. Very rough ATAR estimate would be around 99...So what are my chances of getting into Coop, both business/engineering? Are there anyone out on this forum who actually succeeded in gaining this scholarship or know anything about it? How good is it really? How did you get in- what did you do that made you stand out? What's the competition like?
Please share your experiences!

UNSW Co-op Program

 

[Rothbard]

The people I know doing the co-op program really don't like it though, for the record.

 

[ianc]

by all means apply for the co-op program, but don't think it's the be all and end all.

my advice is that if co-op is what you really want to do, then that's great -- but if you're not sure, hold off -- because heaps of better opportunities come up when you're at uni. if you're good enough to get offered a co-op, then chances are that you'll be good enough to get offered heaps of other stuff as well, later on.

i know quite a few people who accepted co-op just because they were offered, but then ended up dropping out because it wasn't what they'd really wanted to do in the first place.

 

[untouchablecuz]

HEY everyone. I am doing my HSC this year and am considering going to UNSW for business OR engineering, and teacher has recommended the Coop program. Very rough ATAR estimate would be around 99...So what are my chances of getting into Coop, both business/engineering? Are there anyone out on this forum who actually succeeded in gaining this scholarship or know anything about it? How good is it really? How did you get in- what did you do that made you stand out? What's the competition like?
Please share your experiences!

apply! you won't regret it

i got an atar of 98.4 and i was accepted for electrical engineering if you think about it, its really not that bad. 75k for 15 months of work ~ 60k/year (tax-free might i add) which is higher than most grad engineering salaries

talking to the other elec coops, my extra circular activites were nothing compared to them. in saying this howeverrrr, i had a part time job for the past 3 years, was vice captain of a soccer team, involved in my local ethnic community and i think i did pretty damn well at the interview. they want confidence, leadership and a smart, adaptive thinker

competition isnt too bad. there were around 35 people at my interviews and in the end only 4 were chosen

 

[irvine]

Just a question- what is the general calibre of extracurriculars required?
Are they the most important factor? (provided you get above the ATAR cutoff)

 

[Winn]

Just a question- what is the general calibre of extracurriculars required?
Are they the most important factor? (provided you get above the ATAR cutoff)

It depends on the course. Having said that though, I think they are mainly looking for students who are academically capable, willing to accept challenges, and have clearly demonstrated their ability to manage time while having a wide range of interests.

As for the interview, in both commerce and engineering interviews they ask pretty general and similar questions...except for the act/acc ones, where I think they ask more specific questions.
Competition- according to the stats, I think in 2010 there were 2000+ applications, 400+ interviews, and ~70 scholarships offered across both faculties.
The selection is made before ATAR results are released.
=) Good luck!

 

[z600]

First of all, make sure the stream you pick is actually what you want to do. Because coop is not very flexible especially if you are on stream like finance. Don't do coop because of the money and the name. You will regrett it and drop out and it will be a big waste of time.

As for the application, you don't need 99 but a higher atar would be good. Also make sure you are prepare for the interview like questions and know how to suit up if you are getting interview for business. As for extra activity, you don't need slot but make sure you have some and can talk about it!

 

[random-1006]

The people I know doing the co-op program really don't like it though, for the record.

lol, yeh i dont think they like getting $15 000 a year for doing pretty much jack shit. Yes, ok, they have to do a fair bit of work experience in the uni breaks but still, they dont have it so bad

 

[irvine]

Everyone seems to know these bad things about co-op...
Why are you restricted in what you can do with your scholarship money? :S

 

[irvine]

Everyone seems to know these bad things about co-op...
Why are you restricted in what you can do with your scholarship money? :S

 

[o.bi.sess]

Everyone seems to know these bad things about co-op...
Why are you restricted in what you can do with your scholarship money? :S

You're not restricted to how you spend your money - ie you could blow it all at some casino and no one would blink twice.

@ OP: Co-op, for me, is a worthwhile experience. Although people did mention that you only apply for it if you know what you want to do, you must remember that you can drop out at any time. Which means that if you go through it for a year, realise it's not what you want to do, you can just drop the scholarship; no harm, no foul. Just be careful - if you drop it before you do your industrial placement, you have to pay the money for the year you didn't work back. So if you're going to drop, do it AFTER you've done an IT placement. Moral: make sure you know YOUR responsibilities to the sponsors before dropping the scholarship so that you're not stuck with a massive bill at the end of it.

I'm not sure about the business coop cause I know they run it significantly differently from engineering, but with engineering:

- study full time for three years and work during the two summer breaks (no summer holidays D: )

- take what would be your fourth year off to work a full year

- come back 'fifth' year to finish the fourth year of engineering degree

At least, this is how it is in the chem sci faculty. Just call up/email coop office for specifics - they're more than willing to help (especially Bridget).

The money DOES NOT hurt at all.

You are not boxed into working for a specific company. If they like your work (especially during your later years), they often offer you a position, but you are no obligated to take it.

Basically - if you're thinking of doing engineering/business I sincerely encourage you to think hard about apply for the coop scholarship. Experience does help a lot in both fields (which counts towards work experience in eng degree) and if you enjoy your degree, you should actually enjoy the placements.

 

[decadentDee]

Just another question -

I'm filling in the application for the 2011 Coop Program right now and it says I have to fill in my year 11 results.

Problem is, my year 11 results were pretty bad hahah, compared to what they are now (most of my subjects are in the 90s for HSC)

So, are they going to take year 11 into account as much as they're going to value my HSC results?

I'm also a prefect at my school, have done a lot of leadership courses, did volunteer work in the community and some other stuff... I hope that contributes to the whole 'leadership' experience thing

And - I play music as an extracurricular activity, with very high marks, including theory and I've been involved in other music competitions through NSW.

I'm aiming for an ATAR of over 95, I go to a decent comprehensive high school.

What expectations do these Coop People have?

And if you're currently a Coop Scholar, what sort of academic/leadership/etc. qualities did you guys have?

 

[decadentDee]

Bump

 

[jst.KP]

Hey so im currently filling in my application right now and im not sure how reliant it is on your academic results/ranking because my rankings look pretty bad but my schools a selective school so how would my rankings compare to another person whoose at a normal comprehensive school? Even though my rankings dont look great my expected atar is between 95-99 anyways ( careers advisor had to fill in the range for uts coop so yeh) I've also participated in a range of extra curricular activities such as basketball team, Prefect leader, charity fundraisers , few committees in school and much more. What do you guys think?

 

[seremify007]

Hey so im currently filling in my application right now and im not sure how reliant it is on your academic results/ranking because my rankings look pretty bad but my schools a selective school so how would my rankings compare to another person whoose at a normal comprehensive school? Even though my rankings dont look great my expected atar is between 95-99 anyways ( careers advisor had to fill in the range for uts coop so yeh) I've also participated in a range of extra curricular activities such as basketball team, Prefect leader, charity fundraisers , few committees in school and much more. What do you guys think?

The guys reading over your applications know the selective schools so don't worry about it. Honestly if your expected ATAR is already above 95, I doubt it makes much difference between an estimate of 95 and 98 relative to other factors on your application. Furthermore ATAR is not a definitive indicator of how well you cope under pressure of balancing work/uni, or how you'll even perform in uni (oddly enough there are people who got <95 UAI's who did BComm @ UNSW with me but smashed me in WAM).

 

[seremify007]

Not sure what you're trying to get at about ATAR...

Yes, obviously your ranks are the only academic data they really have about you. As long as you have decent ec's, and you're doing reasonably well (sounds like you are), you'll probably get an interview. I know people who had ranks in the middle of the cohort at a non-selective school, but with solid ec's who got interviews.

As in, once you're in the 95+ category, the more differentiating factors would likely be the EC's and whatnot. Having a 95 ATAR vs. a 98 ATAR doesn't mean you are going to be that much different or better for having it.

The other key point to keep in mind is that an application gets you an interview. From there on in it's how well you impress your interviewers which makes the difference.