UT, UNC, UVA are all reaches for you.
^ I agree - each of those has a limit on how many Oos students they admit. Thy automatically become reaches because you’re OOS.
Illinois is a good safety academically Peking, especially if you want to teach in Illinois. Keep in mind the budget cuts have hurt it so look for 1-2 more.
Also apply to the Honors college at all.
In addition, you should add a few private universities that will give you better learning conditions and will have contacts with private schools (preppy colleges work - ConnCollege, St Lawrence, Buxknell, Dickinson, F&M, Colgate, Davidson, Sewanee… No idea if they have education but it’s worth checking out.)
Thanks! I think I’m gravitating more towards public schools because they seem more like the type of college experience I want- big name schools, large student body, etc. but I’ll look at private schools too. I’ll make sure to apply to the honors colleges when I apply.
Doesn’t look like anyone has mentioned Michigan State yet…they are supposed to have one of the top ranked elementary ed programs in the country, and they definitely have the big University vibe you seek.
Elementary teaching is one job that does not require a prestige degree at all. Some states will require that you earn your masters within a certain time frame after initial employment so I would aim higher for that. I would definitely decide where you want to live as teaching conditions (salary, work requirements) are awful in some states (look at recent teacher protests) yet pretty good in others (CA, MA).
I’d rather not have to get my masters, but I’ll obviously do it if it’s a job requirement, and I still want to go to a decently (at least) prestigious school.
It’s really hard to narrow down exactly where I want to live when I’m this young. Anywhere in the south, or anywhere else in the US if there are no good college options for me in the south.
If state flagships aren’t an option, directional or state colleges can be a good option, especially for teaching. There’s a reason those places used to be called, say…Frostburg/Towson/etc. State Teacher’s College.
I have a feeling I’d really enjoy the experience of a state flagship. I don’t know much about directional colleges. Are they similar?
If you are looking for a combination of strong academics in your chosen major, great campus life, school spirit and athletic tradition, Michigan State University (safety) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (target) are both excellent, as are the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (reach) and Vanderbilt University (reach).
https://admissions.msu.edu/academics/majors-degrees-programs/Education-Elementary.aspx
http://www.soe.umich.edu/academics/bachelors/elementary-teacher-education/
http://guide.wisc.edu/undergraduate/education/curriculum-instruction/elementary-education-bse/
https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/major/factsheet/1008
State and directional colleges aren’t always similar to the huge state flagships. They’re often considered by some to be less “prestigious”, are smaller (but not always “small”), Greek and sports can be a big deal, but often aren’t. A lot depends on the particular college. What they do provide is a perfectly adequate education in a number of fields of study that’ll get you employed for a fairly reasonable cost if you don’t qualify for much aid.
I’d have to think long and hard about paying full price for UM or Vandy for a teaching degree.
Michigan State, Penn State, U Wisconsin, and if you want the South UGeorgia, UVA, would all work but the latter would be tough to get into. So, you can look into Creighton, Boston College…
Note that a lots of the “worst states to teach” are in the South. My guess is that you’re not looking forward to earning 35K a year and if you choose a public university its best contacts are in that state.
Some school districts are better within the state (Charotte-Mecklenburg in NC, Parkland in Florida…) but they may prefer top private college, strong private university from the area, or flagship credentials (ie. UNC CH or Davidson for Charlotte-Mecklenburg…) Basically, school districts where there’s a strong university will have a stronger than average school system and attending the university there creates a pipeline. And stronger than average in a terrible state can still be pretty bad.
Don’t see this as a teaching degree. See this as a liberal arts degree of excellence that allows you to teach. I don’t think having a teacher who’s excellent in his subject as well as teaching and knows the ins and outs of the system is wasted on children or teenagers. In addition, attending a good college keeps more doors open.
Generally speaking, having some quantitative skills/knowledge and getting certified as a math specialist would help you get a job as those are rare.
You may want to look up “ants, termites, outdated or no textbooks: it’s about more than a paycheck for teachers in North Carolina”, for instance. (NC is one the terrible states in which to teach and go to K’12 school due to budget cuts).
So what I really want (sorry for being so repetitive) is a prestigious, well known u in the south, but what you’re all saying is that if I want to be a teacher I should to go to a small, unknown school not in the south. I don’t want to be stuck with a really low paying job, but I also don’t really want to be stuck living in the north my whole life and I can’t picture myself with any other job in the future or at a small college. So which do I have to compromise on?
If you don’t want to be stuck with a low paying job, being an elementary school teacher in the South is probably not the career for you.
People do graduate from big, semi-famous public universities in the south, and then get teaching jobs there, and end up making their entire careers there. So yes this is possible to do.
If you are at all interested in the state of public education in the US, you should have seen news reports about the state-wide teachers strikes in the past few months, starting with West Virginia, and continuing through Kentucky, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Arizona. Some of these lasted for weeks. Other state teacher organizations are also considering walkouts - almost all in the south. Teachers are the very last to strike, and only do that when the situation is absolutely dire. They are striking because the funding situation for these school systems is seriously lacking.
Yes. The students do deserve excellent, dedicated teachers even if the state won’t pay what is needed for books and classroom facilities. You may very well have the potential to be a life-changing educator, and you may be happy to put up with a lot of stuff just to escape the cold and snow in the north. However, you need to know what you are getting into.
Have you spoken with your parents about how they will help you pay for your education? Do you have a dollar figure from them? If not, sit down with them and a box of very soft tissues (and maybe some adult beverages), and help them run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of several big state Us in the south and a few of the other places mentioned here.
I’m willing to have a low paying job, I just want one hopefully that’ll give me at least a living wage.
I’ve seen the strikes. They make me nervous about becoming a teacher since the state of the school systems are so bad, but it’s what I want to do.
I haven’t gotten a dollar figure from my parents yet. I’ll ask them soon.
Your solution is to attend a prestigious school, major and minor in what interests you, apply to TFA (Teach for America) and ask to be placed in the South. TFA has become anathema to many public school teachers because often the southern states will kick out a teacher to take a tfa-er, but they’re less likely to do that now and so TFA can return to their initial goal, which was help staff schools that can’t find qualified teachers. (You can read the book Relentless pursuit).
Another solution is to double major in something and a foreign language then become a language assistant abroad for one or two years, or go teach English in Korea, China, or Japan. Then you return to the US with experience and you can also be a bilingual education teacher.
Another solution is to start in a charter school and move to public schools later.
Have you read the article I referenced above? You can also read an article titled something like “I’m a republican yet I’ll strike”.
I don’t know how it happened because teaching used to be a middle class job, like nursing. Nurses make 60-90k a year nowadays yet teachers earn poverty wages in the 30s and 40s in several states. Several posters have casually mentioned a second job on this thread, as if teaching were the same as working for a fast food place. That is so shocking to me - how did we get there? How did people with a college degree end up being treated like this?
That’s something you can look into. You can also inquire about teacher salaries in your own district or about school funding across your state, then if the situation wouldn’t be acceptable to you as an adult, something about it. If you see a problem, learn, research, get others together and do something about it. That’s what being a good citizen means. If for you it’s policy and school funding in your state then later, in the south, that’s perfectly respectable. It’ll certainly get more respect than kids whose cause is refusing sushi at the cafeteria because it’s cultural appropriation.
Thanks! Are you saying that if I double major in education and a language I could go teach in another country?
I just read the article that you referenced. That’s really sad and shocking. I didn’t realize it was that bad.
In my district the average teacher salary is around $63k.