On Sept. 12,  Reddit user AgreeableReception22 posted on Northeastern’s main Reddit forum, “Is NUWorks only allowing 100 co-op applications this time?”

The post received over 20 replies from various Reddit users, who expressed confusion and disappointment about the change. 

“NUWorks? More like NoWork,” one user posted. 

“No more compsci co-ops,” another said.

Northeastern introduced the 100 application cap on NUWorks — the platform where most co-op opportunities are posted —  in fall 2024, Senior Vice Chancellor for Education Innovation at Northeastern Elizabeth Zulick told The News. 

“It’s not supposed to be a numbers game of ‘I’m going to apply as many as possible in order to get a co-op experience,’” Zulick said. “It’s more about how I am applying to jobs with intentionality that are aligned with the skills that I have, the courses I’ve taken and my goals.”

Now, if students wish to submit more than 100 applications, they have to withdraw past applications before doing so.

Grace Ward, a second-year health science and business administration combined major who is currently searching for her first co-op, said that she was scared when she initially found out about the limit.

“I thought that would be a bad thing because all of my friends who have gone through the co-op cycle have applied to over 100 co-ops, closer to 200, I think,” Ward said.

The change concerned computer science students the most, as jobs in the field are in high demand and often competitive.

As of Oct. 9, 601 available co-op positions on NUWorks appeared when using the search term “computer science” and selecting Khoury College of Computer Sciences for targeted academic majors. According to Northeastern’s facts and figures page on enrollment, Khoury had 2,644 students in classes and 854 students on co-op fall 2023. 

Zulick explained that the lack of availability of computer science positions is because “the economy, outside Northeastern, we’re seeing more layoffs in these areas.” Zulick said this is why Northeastern is trying to shift the mindset around co-op applications in general, especially for these majors, as well as working on job development and growth internally. 

Holly Zbierski, a third-year computer science and English combined major who applied for co-ops in spring 2024, said her co-op adviser encouraged her class to consistently apply to “around 20 a week.”

Ward said she found out about the limit through an investment and consulting club she’s a member of on campus, but has yet to hear any official communication about the limit from her co-op adviser. 

Andrew Lengyel, a second-year business administration and computer science combined major in the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, found out about the limit from his co-op adviser.

Lengyel said he “doesn’t think the limit will impact him much since he’s mostly applying for finance positions.” 

Zbierski said that if she was applying for co-ops in future cycles, an application limit would “probably discourage me from applying much on NUWorks. If there is that limit, I would have to be so specific about which ones I do apply to.”

Though some students are concerned the application cap may impede their job prospects, others said they see an upside to limiting the number of job applications students can send.

“It might make students more conscious about which co-ops they’re applying to and kind of streamline the process,” said Anna Benson, a second-year biology major.

Zbierski expressed similar sentiments, saying that a limit might ease pressures for companies and students, especially in fields like computer science.

“Computer science is so competitive, so maybe co-op companies were getting overwhelmed with applications, and maybe the kids didn’t even really want them, they just applied for the sake of it. I did that for a lot of applications,” Zbierski said.

Zulick emphasized that the limit is not meant to add stress or create confusion but rather to help students tailor the co-op search to their skills and desired outcomes. Zulick also said that the university administration wants students to utilize the co-op resources that already exist instead of blindly applying to hundreds of co-ops.

“We want to decrease anxiety and help students be successful in their searches and encourage the use of all the amazing resources we have,” Zulick said.

In response to the anxiety certain students in majors with historically high co-op application numbers have, Zulick said they analyzed whether the decision would disproportionately affect certain students.

“We did look across majors and colleges when we did our analysis to understand if the limit will disproportionately affect students within one college or another, and that was not the case,” she said.

After consideration, Zulick said, the school ultimately concluded the lack of jobs and co-ops in general within these majors is not due to constraints on NUWorks, but rather to the general state of the economy within those sectors.

Going forward, Zulick said she hopes the limit will reframe students’ mindsets regarding the co-op search and urge students to start with jobs they’re interested in and excited about. She also said the limit aims to encourage students to work together with advisers to figure out how to obtain those, instead of applying to hundreds of positions.

“I think it shocked me at first, and then now it’s like, wait, maybe this is a good thing,” Ward  said. “I feel like people will be more intentional with their applications and not just apply to everything.” 

Lengyel said he was not particularly scared or worried initially, but “that feeling might change depending on how the application process plays out.”

Benson echoed these sentiments, saying that, “most of the kids in my class just took it as it came, because it’s our first time applying, and we don’t know much about how it’s going to affect what co-op we end up getting.”