<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I think parents maybe able to answer this question a bit better than the high schoolers!</p>
<p>I just applied to Teachers College (at Columbia) for Higher Education (MA). Now, all I have to do is wait.</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about this program or about the Teachers College in general? There is tons of info out there for the undergrad program, but nothing about TC!</p>
<p>Anything to calm my jitters!</p>
<p>TC is one of the great schools of education in the country; it has a long tradition of educating educators and is highly respected in its field. I am not sure why you would feel jitters about it; if you already have an undergraduate degree you must have some reason to know that TC is very good of its kind, though of course it meets very specific needs. It does not provide a general education experience but rather a largely professional one. (I worked there in a non-teaching capacity for several years many years ago and have no reason to believe it has changed.)</p>
<p>A lot of the students at TC are teachers in the NYC school system. There are two educational master's programs, MA and M.Ed. My understanding--which you should double-check--is that the MA is taken mostly by people coming from college and other careers and the MEd by working teachers.</p>
<p>In any event, a lot of courses are offered in the evening between 5 and 9 pm so there are always lots of people out and walking around the campus during those hours,which makes if feel very safe. The subway stops right next to the school. </p>
<p>Tuition is much lower than at Columbia and one of the advantages is that you can take a limited number of regular classes for about one-third of the tuition rate Columbia students pay. (At least that was the case about 3 years ago; I haven't checked since.)</p>
<p>On-campus housing is very limited, especially for married students. </p>
<p>I don't know what level of teaching you're interested in, but there are at least two schools on campus. One is a highly regarded program for gifted pre-schoolers. The other is a new program which enrolls a certain percentage of faculty kids plus a number from the neighborhood. I know very little about it, but there have been a lot of articles in the press about it. </p>
<p>Hope that's some help. Here's its website if you haven't already checked it out:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tc.columbia.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.tc.columbia.edu/</a></p>
<p>I obtained my MA from TC - I'd be happy to answer more specific questions. I agree with the previous posters, that it is a well-regarded, focused educational experience for professionals.</p>
<p>My mom went there and she loved it. She's actually a nutritionist and got an MS but somehow that ended up being through teachers college.</p>
<p>mattmom and al. Thank you,</p>
<p>I suppose I should clarify-- the jitters I feel are from the waiting process, seeing if I will be accepted or not!</p>
<p>I haven't actually heard that much about Teachers College: in Canada, there is only one program that is similar to the program I am applying to, Higher Ed.</p>
<p>Your comments have been most helpful so far, and I look forward to hearing more. I suppose what I'm interested in hearing is just general impressions, etc.</p>
<p>Thank you once again!</p>
<p>The MA is a 32-34 credit masters and the ED.M is approximately 60 credits. You only need a MA as part of the certification process for NYC teacher. Howerver there is a bump in salary with 30 credits over the masters.</p>
<p>OP is looking into higher ed which ususally prepares educators and leaders for administrative and academic positions in a broad range of postsecondary educational institutions.</p>
<p>jonri, I'd be surprised if it were, indeed, teachers in that specific program. I attended a higher ed MA program (different institution) and at conferences I met many other students from Higher Ed programs all over the country. Frankly, I can't recall meeting any with a K-12 background, or who were current K-12 teachers. Teachers may populate the other programs at Teacher's College, but the career path to Higher Ed programs don't usually include elementary or secondary teaching. Maybe that's changed, but I'd be awfully surprised.</p>
<p>littlecanuck, I applied to Columbia's program in the early 90s but through some glitch, I didn't hear about my acceptance until I'd already heard from (and been sold on) some other Higher Ed programs. Can't help you much.</p>
<p>The OP's original post didn't say she was interested in the Higher Ed program. I didn't know that when I responded. You're probably correct--I freely admit that I know zilch about the Higher Ed program.</p>
<p>Oh. I got to the thread after that first post was edited, I guess. It leapt out at me because I was in her shoes at one point! :-)</p>
<p>hoedown,</p>
<p>I'd be interested in hearing about your experience in the higher ed field in any case, even if it doesn't pertain to Columbia. As I mentioned before, the field is relatively unknown in Canada and when I first (randomly) stumbled across it, I was just struck on how perfect it was for me!</p>
<p>And yes, I did mention that I had applied to Higher Ed program right away (no edits even! I'm not a saint enough to try to teach); however, I do find the comments about teaching extremely interesting, and hopefully, other people who stumble across this post will find it useful as well!</p>
<p>littlecanuck,</p>
<p>this conversation isn't going to be as interesting to other people--would you like to take it offline? You can email me at <a href="mailto:sixpackmomma@yahoo.com">sixpackmomma@yahoo.com</a> and I'd be happy to talk to you about the field. I didn't know it existed, either!</p>