<p>I know this varies by institution, but generally, how does one become a TA? Do you become close with a professor and then bring it up? DO you even ask, or are YOU askED? </p>
<p>Also, to elaborate, I would be interested in being a TA for an English or writing class, which from my experience doesn't have too many TAs. However, my university also has a kind of class where you can get credits for being a TA, but I don't know who to approach or how to approach them. </p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and any experiences of asking or being asked to be a TA would be greatly appreciated! </p>
<p>Depends entirely on the school and the department. Some schools (and some departments) don’t let undergraduates TA at all. You have to look at what your school allows and what the process is. There’s really no “general” process. At my school, there was an online application for TAs where you could rank what classes you wanted to TA for and had to list qualifications and such, but I know in other departments in my school, you had to find a professor to TA for first. I had friends at other schools who were asked by professors of classes they did well in. There were some classes I was in that invited students with high grades in the course to apply to be a TA. Sometimes the positions pay and sometimes you get credit (at my school you had to get credit for TA-ing before you could be paid).</p>
<p>At my school, most of the small writing based classes were primarily led by graduate TAs–no undergraduates were allowed to be TAs. Classes that generally only have a few TAs, typically have graduate students rather than undergraduate students, but it depends on the class, department, and school. Look at the department’s website to see if they have any information about undergraduate TAs. You can also contact the department directly. If there’s a professor in particular that you’re interested in TA-ing for, you can ask if there’s a way to make that possible.</p>
<p>You need to get an A in the class that you want to TA for and also you need to stand out from the other students and have a personal relationship with the professor. It’s also good for when you need a recommendation letter later on down the road. </p>
<p>Also just because the professor knows your name doesn’t mean they know who you are. You have to stick out. </p>