When I first started at Northeastern, I assumed I’d graduate “on time.” I was so certain I’d be the person who checked every box right on schedule. But somewhere between exploring my major, co-ops and just life in general, I found myself on the full five-year track. 

And honestly? I’m glad that I did.

A big reason I chose this path was to pursue a third co-op. Personally, I wanted more time to explore different industries, and having that additional work experience has made me feel more confident in post-grad life. If you didn’t love your first two co-ops, a third is a real gift; you get another chance to try something different, build new skills and have a little more negotiating leverage when you’re looking for full-time roles.

Another perk of the five-year path: I didn’t have to do summer semesters! The five year track definitely has more flexibility with summer sessions — since you aren’t squeezing all of your classes and co-op semesters into four years, you naturally have more breathing room. That means you often don’t have to take classes over the summer — giving you time to work, travel or just exist without juggling school. Doing five years also gives you more flexibility to extend co-ops or start them early, something I was able to do myself, and something that is much harder to do if you’re locked into summer classes.

Many students take summer classes anyway — especially through going on a Dialogue of Civilization. I genuinely recommend a dialogue because they’re such cool, compressed experiences abroad. The difference with a fifth-year schedule is that you’re choosing those programs out of excitement, not because you need to cram in requirements to graduate. 

It’s hard to write this without acknowledging that Northeastern is trying to phase out the five-year model by requiring fifth-years to petition their departments to do a third co-op. Even though I didn’t initially picture myself on the five-year track, Northeastern still presented it as a common, flexible path for students who wanted more time for co-ops and exploration. The university has since gotten rid of a lot of that advertisement. If you look at the “plan of study” section for many majors (for example, my major: history and economics combined), you’ll now see a sample layout for four years and two co-ops instead of the five-year model advertised a couple of years ago.

With the push to move students through college more quickly, fewer people are staying the extra year. Campus definitely feels a little different now, with most people wrapping up sooner and fewer students overlapping across co-op cycles. But I think if you’ve got a good crew and still know people in the Boston area, being a fifth-year student doesn’t really change much about the social scene.

So, would I recommend staying for a fifth year?

It depends. I think it’s a great option if you want extra time to explore your interests, gain more work experience or simply move at a pace that feels sustainable. There’s real value in not sprinting through college. You can take a class just because you are curious or try a co-op you didn’t originally plan for.

But it can work the other way, too: If you loved your first two co-ops, there’s less incentive to stay longer. In that case, it can make more sense to skip the third co-op and try to pursue one of those for a full-time offer sooner.

But you absolutely don’t need that fifth year to get the most out of Northeastern. Plenty of students do two co-ops and graduate in four years with incredible experience and clarity about what’s next. A fifth year isn’t a magic key — it’s just one version of the Northeastern journey. And much like everything here, it is what you make of it.

For me, it was all worth it. But it doesn’t have to be for everyone. 

Honor Seares is a fifth-year history and economics combined major. She can be reached at [email protected]

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