Teach For America - A good alternative after college? Any TFA graduates here?

This is a loaded question, but I was thinking of perhaps doing Teach for America after I graduate college to help pay for my loans. Is TFA truly beneficial in general?

If any of you happen to be TFA graduates, what was your experience like? How much work does it entail? What location did you go to? Did you go back to school after the two years and if so, did you find that it helped in any way?

I intend to go to law school at some point, but I have so many loans that I feel that I should do something before I take on even more debt. Would TFA be a right choice?

Teach For America - A good alternative after college? Any TFA graduates here?

I just had a final interview with TFA, and yes, the program is full of financial incentives and I think that it could be a great way for you to get on your feet and pay down some of your loan debt. But at the same time, TFA is a very serious undertaking. From everyone that I%26#039;ve spoken with during my interview process, it has been made very clear that although rewarding, it%26#039;s everyting but easy. TFA is committed to closing the achievement gap in the schools it serves and unless this is your true passion as well, I wouldn%26#039;t recommend that you seek admission because whatever financial benefits you gain may not outweigh the reality of working in under-resourced schools and with children who need a lot of your time and devotion and who may have behavioral/learning challenges, and who come from diverse backgrounds.

I have heard a lot of people who came out of the program with many positive things to say about it. They talk about the child that they were able to teach to read when no one else could, they talk about the student who was motivated to go to college because of the positive impact they had on them, and they talk about how much they were able to learn about themselves as a result of the experience, and these are all wonderful things.

However they also talk about the fact that it was a two-year comitment and they didn%26#039;t have a lot of free time between teaching, being involved with school related activities and taking graduate classes ( which is requried in many states to obtain certification).

I also know of people who quit the program before thier obligation was over because they coudn%26#039;t deal with it or because they really didn%26#039;t want to teach in the first place.

Alot of people seek admision in TFA to help pay loans, or because they want to %26quot;find themselves%26quot; after college. I%26#039;m not suggesting that these are your motives, but I would suggest that if you want to do it for any other reason than helping a child learn then I wouldn%26#039;t even apply. The application process is a little legnthy. You will have to write essays, possibly have a phone interview, and a final day-long interview. During all phases of the interview you will be measured against the TFA %26quot;what we%26#039;re looking for%26quot; criteria. And you will be asked to answer questions or complete activities that will measure how well you meed the criteria. I applied in late December and I%26#039;m just finishing up, so it involves a lot.

Considering the %26quot;good, bad, and ugly%26quot; of the TFA program, I still sought admission and hopefully I will be accepted. If you choose to do the same, I would encourage you to visit the site frequently to learn as much as possible about it. Consider the cities you may be interested in teaching in and find out about what thier certification requirements are as well as what the quality of life may be like there. Also, if you know people from your university that are TFA alum, try and arrange meetings with them to discuss it. I did, and it was very helpful. Another thing I did, which was kind of random, was I went on Facebook and just looked up people who were current TFA corps members to get their advice, what I heard wasn%26#039;t always pretty, but it helped me to make the most informed chioce I possibly could.

Hope this helps!!!