i think the interview would be really important. looking at the current coops, these are people who speak and present themselves well and have a personality. so you could be doing heaps of extra ciricular actrivites, but not doing well in that interview could cost you the coop.
thats not entirely corect. i know of many co ops, and co ops offered to ppl that they rejected later on, and they are not exactly well spoken. ie: not much personality and a bit of a dud.
what are they looking for? top marks and an ability to speak up
in an interview. it doesnt matter how good you extra-curricular-ly if you dont have good marks, they wont want you
how do i know this? i had a whole bunch of extra curricular activities (prefect, sports - school and club level, and coached younger teams, peer tutoring, duke of ed, part time work and a few other stuff), but marks not-so-great and didnt get the actuary co op.
call me a bitter old man