Jack goes into a deep dive of Northeastern’s incredible co-op program that offers students the opportunity for real work experience before graduation and is the reason behind Northeastern’s high post-graduation employment rate.

Part 1 is here

Transcription

Kamila
Hey college kids. Welcome back to my podcast to cares about college. This is part two of my interview with Jack. So if you have not checked out part one, make sure you do that. Subscribe and check out my blog, a college kid calm for college related content and follow me on Instagram and underscore a college kid underscore. Well for this episode is it’s this episode’s really special because Northeastern this university that Jack attends has this very special Co Op program Cooperative Education Program that we dive into extensively, I hope you enjoy

so we’ve gone through college application, you’ve chosen Northeastern now let’s go into Northeastern as a school. And I will say Northeastern has really impressed me because I’ve only recently heard about it like specifics about it. And I mean, it sounds incredible. And it sounds a little bit different than most colleges at so I’ll let you elaborate on the Co Op program, which is the specific thing I’m talking about. So can we get into Northeastern so you coming into Northeastern immediately? What was it like? Was it like a normal college experience where you you know, pick out your classes and you just go to lectures and stuff? Or does Northeastern I guess I guess arrange it a different way, because they do have this Co Op program that I’m pretty sure the vast majority of students do participate in. So can you explain how Northeastern is different from university? Or do do they structure it the same way.

Jack
So I actually started my college first day of college in China, I was accepted to anywhere in China, I was accepted to the annual program. And if you’re not familiar with it, Northeastern has this program where you can either be accepted to the regular campus so you can be accepted to anywhere. And anyone essentially means that you spend your first semester in a foreign country. And you can choose from 14 different countries. So your application says congratulations, you’re accepted to Northeastern University and un program. And they give you a list of 14 countries Australia London checklist, Czechoslovakia, Canada, China, and a bunch of others. And I chose to go to China for my first semester. So I arrived in China, very jetlag a lot of culture shock. And the way it worked is I was basically I was I was told what courses I would take because there was only 40 of us that went to China. It was a very small program. And there weren’t a lot of courses offered but they did assign me courses that, you know, helped me advance with my my major wasn’t just going to be random things that wouldn’t count for specific credits. So that was that was unique, and I was different actually 1/3 of northeastern population does anyway in China. So about 1800 students, I believe, or 1200 students do anyway, and then they come back to Northeastern Main Campus for their spring semester.

Kamila
And I have a question about Northeastern. So again, it is different. Actually, can you elaborate on what the Co Op program at Northeastern is for people who aren’t familiar with it, because I don’t think most colleges don’t offer it. But I think it’s still an amazing program.

Jack
So the Co Op program, Co Op stands for cooperative education is a requirement. In northeastern you have to complete a co op. And basically what a co op means is you complete a six month paid, and they stress the paid part paid internship. So in your sophomore year, you have a chance to begin the co op process. And basically you it’s a job application, you apply to as many or as little companies as you find interesting if you’re interested in business, you can apply to banks or to startups or to financial services companies. If you’re interested in sciences, medicine, you can go into the pharmaceutical industry or you could do a co op at a hospital. If you’re interested in I don’t know drama or the arts, you can do a co op at a a drama production organization or music production agency. I don’t know. Anyway you want in my case, I was interested in the law. I was interested in social studies in social sciences. So that’s where I did my process. And basically you spent one semester you you get into a class call the core class and they basically explained to you how to write a resume, how to write a cover letter, how to conduct an interview, because you have to do interviews for all of these positions. And at the end of the day, you you do an interview you apply for these positions and at the end you hope that you get accepted to a paid job that you will do for six months and at that time, there’s no school, so you basically leave With a stone and you do six months at a job, and what’s really unique about that is it’s different from an internship because an internship is 123 months, this is six months. So you really get that experience. And there’s nothing else going on. You don’t have to study and off to worry about anything, but just to really get involved in, in that company. And it’s culture and learn as much as possible. And I would say, for anyone who is looking to get competitive once they leave university, Northeastern is really a good place for you, we have the number one job placement. And that’s because the employers love to see people that have previous experience. And at Northeastern, you can do as many as three co ops, you can do three, six month paid co ops at three different companies, or if you want at the same company, and by the time you’ve done your third or your second one, you also have a very good chance of staying with that company once you graduate. And they say, Well, we really like what you’ve offered us in this Co Op. Why don’t you come and work for us once you graduate, which is something that’s really valuable, and a lot of people see see as an important, important component of Northeast and it is the hallmark of Northeastern, it is what makes Northeastern who it is, and and yeah, if you’d like I can explain to you my specific process. And where where my coops where?

Kamila
Yeah, yeah, I definitely want to get into I just want to quickly get over go over one thing. So with North Eastern in order to do these coops, you need to know what you want to do. Like, right, it’s internships are focused on specific things. So coming into North Eastern, is there pressure to select something like a field of study or a major immediately so you can get, like experience or get a co op, sooner or a fastest possible? Or is it still more lenient? Where you can declare a major? I think most schools do it around the end of sophomore year. So does Northeastern have that? Or are you guys more pressure to like choose something

Jack
we were not pressured at all, I think the average student at Northeastern changes their major three times, so someone could come in wanting to study science and the transition to studying engineering and then they transition to business. You don’t have to declare major I’ve never even heard about there being like a timeline for when you have to submit a major, one thing that is that you have to do is you’re part of a college. So Northeastern has demand working School of Business, the College of Arts, Media Design, College of Engineering, College of Social Sciences, and humanities, College of Science. So you you kind of like go into a school. And also one thing to mention is that I got into Northeastern and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. And then I requested to transfer well not really transfer, but to do a dual degree in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities and the business school. That’s why my PhD, my degree is Business Administration and political science. So I’m part of to to, to different colleges within the university, which is something that’s also very unique. Because if you like two different disciplines, you can pursue both disciplines. At the same time, I think we have probably over 20 or 30, dual degrees. So there’s dual degrees between Arts and Business or engineering and business or arts and engineering, you can do all different combinations of of majors so that if you’re interested in two disciplines, you can pursue that. So I would say one thing that that that will help you kind of decide what kind of club you want to do is what college you’re in. If you’re in college of business, the business school, you’re probably not going to apply to drama coops you know what I mean? But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to declare, like, Okay, I’m going to be finance or I’m going to be industrial engineering, but you do know that you’re part of the engineering school or the business school.

Kamila
And I definitely want to get your co op experience itself. But let’s go back to the Mun spending your first semester, like first semester of northeastern in China. So you did say that you were told which classes to take, but can you just tell me about your experience in China for those? I guess that one semester? How did it differ from when you actually did go to the northeastern campus and you were on the northeastern campus as a student? So what were the kind of differences there?

Jack
So, my annual in China experience was probably the best semester I’ve had of college so far. It was everything and more than I wanted. The first month was extremely difficult for me. And it’s because of the culture shock. You’re surrounded by a bunch of people who look different to you. They don’t speak your language. There’s a different type of food. There’s a different culture, and it’s just culture shock and that happens to everyone no matter if you’ve traveled the world like I have If you’ve never left the United States, you’re going to feel different, you’re not at home anymore. It’s your first semester of college. So don’t be afraid to feel that way. Because you’re going to feel that way. It might be for one week, or it might be for two months doesn’t matter, you’re going to feel that way at some point. And my, I was lucky, because I was in a very small group of students, if you go to a large university, and you go to their main campus, on the first semester, you’re going to be one of 18,000 students, one of 20,000 students, or sometimes one or 50,000 students, I went into anywhere in China, and I was one of 40 students. So it’s like I was back in high school again, and I became very close with a small group of friends. And those people are still my friends, my closest friends today. So that’s one benefit that I’d say the program offers is you go into to anyone, you become very close with a small group of people. And you have those people to really support you throughout college. Whereas I have friends who, who were in my high school who also go to Northeastern, but they didn’t go to the annual program. And they said, their first semester was really difficult because they were one of 18,000 students, 14,000 students, and they couldn’t really connect, they didn’t have the opportunity to really bond. And you in China’s not so heavy on the academics. Yeah, we go to class every day, two or three classes a day. But we also have the opportunity to travel we traveled, I traveled to all the different major cities in China. And almost every weekend, there was an excursion where the people, our our chaperones, or whatever you would like to call it, they took us on tours around the country, we did visit different museums, different restaurants, different cultural sites, and we really got to experience the culture and China with the group of 40. So that was something that was really unique in my experience. And if you do get accepted to Northeastern, first of all you can apply to be part of the program. When you in the common app, they say, are you interested? I would say definitely put Yes, it does increase your chances of getting accepted, accepted. And and it’s really just a great opportunity to start your first semester of college.

Kamila
So this program anyone for you specifically, because I don’t know how the other countries do it. But it’s more like study abroad. It wasn’t it’s not part of the Co Op program. But it’s just a study abroad. As soon as you come into college, essentially,

Jack
study abroad your first semester with a group of northeastern students.

Kamila
Okay, so we’ve gotten Mun, we’ve kind of did a thorough analysis of anyone, let’s go on to core program. Again, tell me your process. Where did you start? I mean, how did you know you wanted to go into business while you were in humanities? And then how did you transition to do a dual degree in business as well? Can you take me through your Co Op program, and then your actual Co Op experience?

Jack
Okay, so, again, my experience was very different from traditional students. Were I, my first Co Op, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. And I kind of struggled because I didn’t really want to do a business Co Op, like work at a bank or anything like that. I am a business students, but I’m not really interested in finance and that type of stuff. So I said, Okay, I’m not going to go that route. And then the other option was to sort of work for like a nonprofit or a government agency in the US, and I wasn’t really feeling that vibe, either. I was like, I’m not really sure if I want to do that. So I decided, I’m going to try and get a co op in Trinidad and Tobago, where I’m from. And I said, I I know the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, which is basically like the, the second in command of the country. And I, I reached out to him, I got his email from a friend of mine, I emailed him and I basically wrote a cover letter and I sent my resume. I said, hi. You know, Mr. Attorney General, my name is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I’ve met you once or twice. But I’m really interested. I said, Northeastern has this Co Op program, and the Northeast that has this Co Op program. And I would like to do my first co op in the Ministry of the Attorney General and legal affairs. He basically responded and said, Hi, like very nice to meet you. I’ll read your your cover letter and your resume and I’ll get back to you. And he got back to me and he said, Okay, I’m going to pass you on to this contact, which was the Human Resources Manager for the Ministry of the Attorney General and I conducted some correspondence with them and they basically said like, can you please tell us more about it, etc, etc. And then they finally said, you know, we’d be happy to offer you a position in the in the ministry, and they asked If it was a paid position, if it needed to be paid, Murthy said has a requirement that it is paid. But if it’s an international Co Op, you don’t have to get paid. And I decided this is service to my country, and I won’t get paid. So I told them, No, I don’t want to be paid. But thank you so much. And I look forward to starting. So that was, that was my that was my experience. And it was different because a lot of my friends and my colleagues, they had to, you know, conduct interviews, I didn’t do an interview. And they had to, and they applied to many places I did not, I probably applied to like two or three other places before I reached out to the attorney general. But I didn’t apply to like 10 or 12 different and I didn’t go through that interview process, which in my opinion was a disadvantage, because I eventually had to do a second Co Op where I did have to do interviews, and I wasn’t as experienced as some of my of my friends were. So yeah, that was my experience in my first court that was in the Ministry of the Attorney General Legal Affairs. I worked there from January 2020, to May 2020. And I basically worked in the Secretariat of the Attorney General, which is the Attorney General’s Office, essentially, I worked on drafting legislation, I worked on doing conducting research for court cases, the Attorney General represents the government and the state and in legal matters. And I also got to participate in a lot of different lectures and that stuff from experts in different fields of legal study. So I got exposure, I met different judges, I met different parliamentarians, I met a lot of diplomats, and that sort of stuff. So it was really, really a, an A, one of the best experiences of my life. I learned a lot. And I finally, in that point in time, I learned that law school is something that I’m really interested in, I really love the concept of the law. I love the idea of writing legislation. I love the idea of using legislation to and laws to, you know, improve society and to benefit the common folk. So that was something that really, that put me that gave me a sense of what I really wanted to do. And it kind of like was the genesis of my of my hope and my aspiration to one day attend law school.

Kamila
It was my first Yeah, well, before we get to your other coops, I want to ask about how the co op fits with, I guess, curriculum at Northeastern because it is different. You’re not due to as you said yourself, you’re not like you’re not required to learn, you know, go to lectures, go to classes, it’s like a full on internship job. So, in terms of credits, and how that works for college, if you do a co op for, as you said, it’s about six months, for six months, does it count as some credit for you to graduate?

Jack
No. So that’s, if you look at Northeastern, it’s different because 80% of the students don’t graduate in four years, they graduated five years. And that’s because you do the Co Op program. That’s because you take one semester away from studying when you could be studying inside you’re working. So you do get credit in the sense that you get a check to say that you’ve completed a co op, it does go on your transcript that says okay, you’ve been this time, it will say like, okay, spring, fall semester, you did these classes, spring semester, you did these classes, and then this semester, you did Co Op, and then it continues going down, so it shows on your resume. And it’s not like okay, well what are you doing this semester, it’s highlighted there, and it’s it’s documented. But most students, because they do want two or three co ops, they oftentimes graduate later, or in my case, what I decided to do was take summer classes, so I won’t have to graduate in more than four years. And also, I probably didn’t mention this, but I also had a lot of transfer credits from high school. If you do IB and you do AP courses, and you do well enough on the test, you get transfer credit. So I had like 17 transfer credits, that’s basically more than one semester. So I saved having to do one semester of courses, I saved all that money, the $35,000 and I save the time of having to take courses that I kind of already took in high school. So that’s that’s related to college credits and Co Op.

Kamila
And just north because in a general rule of thumb, most private schools don’t accept credits like most they don’t accept high school credits, even if you do well on the AP or IB, but Northeastern do they take a good amount of credits from high school?

Jack
I would say it depends on it because as you take so I took The courses that transferred were similar courses that my high school offered on my and my Northeastern offer. So because it was kind of like English courses, I didn’t have to take certain English courses because it was political science courses, I didn’t have to take those. But it’s different for every school, Northeastern you have to receive like a certain grades on higher level courses for IB you have to get like a five or above. And I think for AP US to get a four or above in order to to have those those credits transferred.

Kamila
Alright. Okay, so now let’s go to your other Co Op program. So again, walk me through the second one that you did. And the process of that because you said it was a little bit more difficult than your friends because you didn’t have a traditional Co Op experience where you were applying to a bunch of places.

Jack
So for my second Co Op, it’s, it’s actually a part time Co Op. Most coops are full time. So you work eight hours a day, and you get paid, you know, an hourly rate, a second Co Op is part time. So I actually am doing my second Co Op right now. And I work four to five hours a day at a law firm in Washington DC remotely. So I’m in London right now. And I work for this law firm in Washington, DC. And I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do this semester, because I knew I wanted to study for the LSAT, which is the Law School Entrance Exam, which I’m currently studying right now. I also wanted to take one course so I could continue with my coursework. So I’m also doing that. And then I had to decide if I was just going to do those two things. Or if I was also going to try and pursue a second Co Op. And I decided it’s best if I could pursue a second core. So I I decided I wanted to work for a smaller law firm, and I wanted to work for either nonprofit or like a boutique law firm that specializes in like a specific area. So what I did was I went on to like LinkedIn jobs. Indeed, Northeastern also has like its own portal for Co Op searches. So you go through that portal and you see what companies are offering. And that’s how you apply. Northeastern has a very good relationship with a lot of companies and organizations. So they send in like applications, they send in like positions that they’re offering. And then students can apply through the it’s called any works. And then you you get connected with a company and then you can do an interview. So I also looked there. And then the end, I applied to I would say four or five different different nonprofits and small law firms. And it was very difficult because it was during the height of the pandemic. And a lot of places were not hiring. Actually, one time I got offered an interview and the same day that I was supposed to have an interview, the company got back to me and said, Hi, I’m sorry, we can’t interview you because you know, the pandemic is not improving at this point in time. And we don’t really think that we’ll be able to hire a co op, this cycle. So i In the end, I kind of lost hope. But then I applied to a law firm called the pons law firm, which was in Washington, DC. And I did an interview, I had never done an interview before, it was extremely difficult. And they asked me a lot of difficult questions. But they got back to me, and they told me that they would be happy to hire me. And that’s where I’m currently working. I’ve been working there since January. And basically, I do a lot of research for them for a lot of different cases, criminal cases, family cases, immigration cases that I do, they give me assignments, I do research for them, you know, researching case law writing memorandum, and that sort of stuff. And so far, it’s been it’s been a really, really good experience. And I’ve learned a lot. And it’s, it’s something that came with a challenge, because I didn’t really have a lot of experience with the type of work that they had assigned me. But throughout the past couple of weeks, I’ve been learning a lot. And I think he’ll definitely, you know, help me as I move forward.

Kamila
And in terms of North Eastern itself, because, again, a lot of people do co ops and I’m sure they’re really big and noticed like known companies out there that do recruit from North Eastern, like allow students to come in and do a co op. So would you say the competition is really fierce in northeastern for these coops, like, more competitive than cooperative? I guess those are the two words people use.

Jack
Yes, it is very competitive because there’s only a limited number of spaces and there’s a lot of students apply. But I would say that most people get a co op. Now it’s different because of the pandemic but and there’s not a lot of co op offerings are there not that there’s a lot there’s less than there normally is. But in general, most people when they apply, they they do get they finally get a co op and most people apply I don’t know anywhere between 1015 20 Different coops and they They probably get accepted to one or two. So it is competitive, the most competitive ones like Goldman Sachs, or some of the financial companies. They’re the ones that a lot of students are striving for, and many students don’t get. But at the end of the day, I firmly believe everybody gets where they’re, where they’re meant to go. And all experiences good experience, no matter what company what company, it’s, it’s at.

Kamila
And I have a question, like, in terms because for you specifically, you said you wanted to go into law school and you’re studying for the LSAT. So for graduate school, or someone who wants to pursue a PhD, having these coops having this actual sort of experience in the field that you are applying for, does that help you in any way when applying to graduate school?

Jack
I haven’t lived through the process. So when I, when I’m out of the of this process, I’ll let you know if it was beneficial or not, I hope it will be from what I’ve heard it is, I mean, who wouldn’t want a student who has you know, experience within a specific industry, a lot of graduate programs and look for students who have work experience. So most students, they don’t go right away from undergrad to grad, they did they complete their undergraduate degree, and they work for three, four or five years, and they get some experience. And then they decide, oh, maybe I want to go to grad school. And that’s something that really gives them a leg up as compared to undergraduates, you just go right away. So the unique thing about Northeastern is that you’re an undergraduate student, but you also have some work experience, which, which kind of equates you, in a sense to those students who have already grabbed, graduated, and are in the workforce and have that work experience?

Kamila
And are I’m just asking, out of curiosity, Are you perhaps doing another Co Op? Because you are in your junior year, you said are you doing perhaps another Co Op? Senior year?

Jack
As of right now, I don’t think I will, there is a possibility that I’ll do a short Co Op or an internship of sorts in this upcoming summer. But I don’t think I’ll be able to do a third Co Op, like a third complete one, within a full semester,

Kamila
see anything because the northeastern Co Op is what I really wanted to focus on. It’s one of the oldest coops and it’s really, really good as well. Are there any other special programs that Northeastern offers that you think are worth mentioning?

Jack
off of the top of my head? No, I would say Northeastern is like an international university in the sense that we have campuses all around in Canada, London, California, different parts of the United States. So if you’re really looking for an international experience, and you want to not just spend four years in the same campus doing the same thing, Northeastern is a really good place to look into because you have the opportunity of studying all over the world. And the annual program and study abroad programs, we have something called dialogues, where students spend like one or two months during a summer in a specific country, and they take two or three courses while they’re there. And it’s led by students at North professors at Northeastern to travel with the students. So that’s something that’s also interested. So I’ve been at Northeastern for six full semesters at Northeastern University. But I’ve only spent three semesters in Boston. I spent one semester in China, one and Co Op in Trinidad, and now I’m in co op in London. So although I go to Northeastern University, I’ve only been there for one and a half years.

Kamila
And who would you recommend Northeastern for like the kind of culture on campus there is the fact that you guys are constantly, it just completely different parts of the world, you’re not always necessarily on the Boston campus. Who would you recommend Northeastern for what kind of student

Jack
I would recommend that you send to any type of student if you never want to leave Boston, you can stay in Boston and do a co op in Boston. If you don’t even want to do a co op. I think there’s opportunities for you not to do a co op, but you have to fulfill some type of requirement that’s Castle related the core. And then if you’re that student that wants to spend every semester in a different country or a different city, Northeastern is definitely the place for you. We offer as much or as little as you’d like to take from the experience. And if there’s space in your comment up and you just want to apply to a great university that’s highly ranked and has a great, you know, Co Op program and an international student body and experience unlike most universities, then I’d say just why not? I don’t think they require a supplemental essay. Like Like, like the same situation was when I applied, so why not just give it a try.

Kamila
And another question I wanted to ask is because coops make it competitive, especially in more fields than others. And you are constantly I mean, if you choose to do a co op in another city within the United States, or perhaps a different country, you’re constantly moving around, you are not always in one place. So do you think that some students miss out on the college experience in North Eastern? Or like, do you feel like you missed out on the traditional college experience? Or are you fine with I do you think what you got from Northeastern is far better than what you could have gotten from any regular university or college,

Jack
you do miss out on the traditional college experience. If you decide you want to spend co op in many different places, or you want to do and you win, and you want to do study abroad, and you want to be all over the place, in four years, if you want to stay at Northeastern, and in Boston for off, what is it eight semesters, that’s totally up to you. So if you if you know, you want to do Co Op and you want to move around, then it’s definitely not going to be a traditional college experience. And for me, that’s something that I was willing to willing to live with, because I think I got so many other opportunities that I wouldn’t have gotten if I went to traditional university that, you know, students spend all eight semesters in the same in the same campus.

Kamila
I mean, when I heard of Northwest Easterns, Co Op program, I was amazed like it, it requires a lot of maturity from a student to be able to do but it’s an incredible opportunity for so many people. In terms of Boston campus itself Northeastern campus in Boston, what are you involved in within the school.

Jack
So at Northeastern, I am part of Student Government Association. I’m a senator and I represent the business school. So I we attend Senate like once a week, and we propose debate and work through different legislation, basically, to improve, you know, Northeastern students experience. And then I was also the Vice President of the the Student Affairs Committee on in SGA. So we worked to, you know, all things Student Affairs, and we worked on different projects specifically at you know, enhancing the experience and improving the situation for for the life of college students. I am also the vice president of a club called international students in business. And our primary goal is to sort of foster community for international students, as well as aid them in navigating the employment situation post graduation, as you may be aware, for most international students, it’s very difficult to get employment because of the different laws and the way the structure is set up. So we work to you know, provide students with the resources, the tools and the insights needed to successfully navigate the job, the job process once they graduate, then, in terms of other stuff, I’m a presidential ambassador. So basically, I represent Northeastern University, at different events for donors, and people who are interested in learning more of the, the of the school and I also, you know, would meet with the President, from time to time to give him like the view of what students are feeling on campus to kind of explain like, what what they feeling on the ground is ways that we can improve or things that they’re doing well. So I would say those two, three main areas that I’m mostly involved in, and like I said, it’s similar to high school get involved early and two or three different organizations or clubs, and really, you know, make make the most of being part of those organizations, no matter what it is, Northeastern has, I think it’s like 500 different student clubs and organizations that you can be part of. So really, you know, take advantage of that opportunity, find things that interest you, and, you know, stick with them throughout the process. So you can grow and potentially be have a leadership role as you progress through through the years

Kamila
and have a question. So Northeastern is unique in the fact that it has a lot of campuses, not just within Boston within the United States, and then out of the United States. So for student government work do you guys focus specifically on the Boston campus? Or? Or perhaps do you guys like look at all campuses across the United States? Or, like within San Francisco, for example, I’m sure they do like cops there there’s like a campus there maybe, or they’re like separate sort of little organization. So how does it work considering Northeastern is all over the world? I would say

Jack
that it’s it’s, it’s very centralized. So most of these student organizations and clubs and our government is in the Student Government is in Boston. But I’m not really sure if there’s other organizations and clubs on different campuses, but I would say like in general, you can go to another, another campus or somewhere else to study for a semester and remain part of that club or organization, it’s not to say that you have to kind of like leave. For example, I remain a part of Senate even though I haven’t been in Boston this semester. So it is pretty centralized in the sense that everything is kind of like run on the Boston campus in terms of student organizations and clubs. But you have the the ability and the freedom to move around those campuses and remain part of those organizations on the Boston campus.

Kamila
So it’s pretty flexible for people most because most people do do Co Op.

Jack
Yeah, I would say so. So you can remain part of that club while you’re on Co Op. And for most people, for example, I can the Student Government Association, some people have been like, vice president and president and they’ve actually been on Co Op. And what they do is, if they’re in Boston for that Co Op, they just, you know, after their job, they come for like the meetings after after their work hours or whatever.

Kamila
That’s very interesting there. So we’re coming to an end here, Jack. And there’s one thing I do with everyone, and that’s advice. So what advice would you give for high school students who are perhaps going through the college application process? Or they’re entering in? What advice would you give for them? This could be anything you want, it could be related to college apps, or just relate to life in general? And then same thing? What would you say for college students in general? Perhaps they’re coming in and they’re struggling? Or they can’t really find their place? What advice would you give for those two groups, high school students and college students.

Jack
So for high school students, I would say focus on a high GPA, focus on focus on preparing for the LSAT or the AC T, well in advance so that it’s not something you’re cramming for at the end. And that you really give you a time enough, you give yourself enough time to really practice the test and to feel comfortable with it so you can get the best score possible. I’d also say the community service and extracurriculars be a very important part in the application process for college. So do dedicate yourself to one two or three different things that really interest you, and that you think will be impactful to not only yourself, but to your community at large. And you know, get involved and show that you’re not just you’re not just an LSAT score, or GPA, you are more than that, and that you would add value to university. In terms of advice for college students, well, I’m still learning it for myself, I’m not all there yet. But I would say that it’s okay to be confused with what you’re studying or what you’re interested in, you don’t need to decide what you’re going to pursue for the rest of your life at day one. As I said, in Northeastern, for example, most students change their major three times some people change it five times, you can even join Northeastern and be undeclared for two, three years and not know where you not know what specifically you want to do. But I’d say definitely commit yourself to getting involved on campus to finding something that you’re interested in. So you can find friends that align with your values and who you are. And then also try to take courses that kind of are applicable to all the different majors. So if you don’t really know what you want to do, don’t be aware of the fact that at some point, you’re going to have to accumulate a certain amount of credits to fulfill a major requirement and that you don’t really want to spread yourself too thin because at the end, you might not have enough specific credits for a specific class to actually graduate on time. And then I’d also say just, you know, like I said, get involved and just really enjoy the experience because it feels like just yesterday I was in un China and now looking at, you know, graduating and in less than almost in less than a year so really make the most of the experience because time really, really flies.

Kamila
Well, thank you very much for coming. I’m sure it’s pretty late for you. So have a good night.

Jack
Thank you. Bye bye.

Kamila
Bye bye. That’s it for my interview with Jack I hope you enjoyed and I hope you subscribe, check out my blog, a college kid.com And follow me on Instagram at underscore a college kid underscore next week I’ll be releasing my interview with Linda from Pomona College. I hope to see you then.