The co-op program sold incoming freshman Linda Wiinberg on Northeastern University.

“I had not even thought about going to school in Boston until my college counselor told me about co-op,” Wiinberg says. “I looked at other universities, but I didn’t think I could get this kind of opportunity anywhere else.”

In the fall, Wiinberg will enroll in the six-year Doctor of Physical Therapy program. Talk about making lemonade from lemons: A sports-related hip injury was her catalyst for developing these career plans.

“I never really considered physical therapy as a profession until I got hurt,” Wiinberg says. “But there’s so much you can do in the field. It can really change people’s lives, and there’s so much you get back from helping people.”

The 19-year-old grew up in Basking Ridge, N.J., and Surrey, England. Three years ago, she moved to Malmö, Sweden, her parents’ homeland.

Wiinberg, who dressed up in a Harry Potter rugby shirt for the premiere of the final installment of the popular movie franchise, plans to bring her European fashion sense to Boston — a city that, she says, “seems really alive.”

“What’s nice about Boston is that there are so many other students who don’t go to the same school or study in the same program,” says Wiinberg, who visited Haymarket and Newbury Street as part of a visit to Northeastern last year. “It’s nice to know there are so many ways to meet new people.”

Wiinberg won’t be shy about making friends on what she calls “a big campus in the middle of the city.” In high school, she served as vice president of a student-run organization that raised money for Star for Life, an HIV/AIDS prevention program for children in southern Africa.

She’s considering starting a similar club at Northeastern. “These programs have been known to decrease HIV/AIDS risk in children,” the young humanitarian says. “It’s great to be part of a cause.”

Wiinberg also jokes about founding a Potter-inspired quidditch club on campus. “Everyone,” she says, “should fall in love with Harry Potter.”