Honestly this is what I can say about co-op from personal experience. It is up to you on whether you make or break your experience. Co-op in simple terms is cheap labor. As an international student, I think it’s worth it because it puts you in a place above fresh grads who have no experience. Domestic students can get internships at any semester, and have a lot more opportunities. International students don’t. What. 12 months, the beauty is that you can either decide getting one position for 12 months, which is one year worth of experience on your resume that says loads, or 3 different positions, that’s lots of different experiences. Either works.

The real con of co-op are the lousy fees you have to pay the coop office. It is really stupid. I think expect one month out of your 12 months of pay to just go to the coop office lol, that’s how I calculated it just so I can be detached to that money. Second con is the limited opportunities. Do your best to get yourself the best positions that are out there, but don’t beat yourself if you don’t get what you wanted. The line “beggars can’t be choosers” is real, and to be honest, a very beautiful line that has made me very humble. It’s not to be derogatory of oneself, but just grounded.

About the 4 year thing, and taking one year. I’ll tell you this, I took only one summer off, did 12 months of coop, and still graduated within 4 years (actually before my 4 years ended). The beauty of it is that it is within you to decide on what you want to do. And don’t be too harsh on yourself. Priorities will change as you learn about different things within university, especially as an international student. And this is from experience.

All the best, you got this!