Awesome! I am too excited to find out!!!
@TFA2016LD Do you have any thoughts on how the final interview went for you? I remember 5 of the 10 interviewees were late which isn’t good. Some sample plans were better than others, but everyone did fine. I thought the group activity was fine. I volunteered to take notes and was able to voice my opinions a few times, but not too much. The part I am most unsure about is the one-on-one interview. My interviewer was typing everything down and there wasn’t really a personal connection established. I don’t remember her smiling at all, but I think she muttered “that’s great” once under her breath. All I know is that the next 3 weeks will be very long and anxiety filled. Thanks for your help!
Hello everyone! I had my interview the 25th in NYC, I am extremely nervous about decision. Does anyone know if location placement is given if accepted on that same day (in my case the 17th)
@anabero Yes! On the 17th we will find out if we have been accepted and also where we are placed and what grade level. 16 More days!!
Does anyone know who makes the final decision on our admittance or rejection? I’ve read in previous threads that our interviewer had the final say so, but my interviewers stated that they do not make the final decision. Who does it go to post interview to decide?
Hey everyone!! Thanks so much for the well-wishes, I think my final interview went great! I did get there about 4 minutes late because it took me forever to figure out how to get into the room but I was sure to apologize to my interviewer and think I compensated in the other activities. It was actually a fun experience and I was surprised to see the other interviewees from all walks of life. Now for the long waiting game! Best best best of luck to everyone I can’t wait to see how we all do!! <3
It’s interesting reading this… all I want to do right now is go back in time and stop my past self from accepting TFA and go straight to grad school. I’m in my first year, TFA is no joke. Think seriously about this. There’s a LOT audacity in the act of applying to TFA. You’re going to be sent straight into a school district that desperately needs GOOD teachers to mentor kids who even more desperately need good teachers. Admin knows its a crapshoot hiring TFA but often the decision isn’t in their control (and believe me they will get annoyed with how much of a failure you are quickly). Think hard about whether you can push yourself to the absolute emotional and mental limits day after day… after day… after day. For months. And months. Sure, you could get lucky and get into a school where admin is good and supports teachers and helps you deal with behavior… or you could be with the rest of us who stepped into a school that’s barely surviving. Then here comes little old you who will need months just to figure out wtf is going on all the while your classroom burns and your students lose precious, precious instructional time. Think hard about this. If you KNOW you can do this and really, really CARE then apply. If this is a resume padder, like it was for me, you need to realize that you may get a passion for this on the job like me or just find that teaching poor kids isn’t for you and burn out because you are the definition of misery day in and day out.
@93Polarbear About 3 candidates showed up late on final interview day for me as well. You never know the circumstances why so I did not want to be judgmental. 2 candidates decided not to show up at all. One of the girls I chatted with beforehand did not even go over the pre work. A lot of people asked questions where answers were readily available on the website had the slightest bit of research been done. (How does getting certified or a masters work?, When will we find out if we are accepted? 0_o) I feel like a crazy person now because I have been living and breathing TFA since I decided to apply, and almost everyone at my interview seemed incredibly nonchalant about it. I felt like a grade A Michael Scott- romanticizing everything haha. (The Office reference.)
@shellijax223 Glad your interview went well! 4 minutes late wasn’t bad and it’s good that you apologized. I had people show up way later during my interview & it was awkward because we had assigned seats so the interviewers would have to stop talking and ask them to get up and find their name and sit there. Awesome you felt confident in your other activities though!
@TFA2016AJ That’s funny you had that experience! Everyone in my room was extremely well-prepared and some had props in addition to handouts. All of the questions we asked during Q&A were specific and none could be found in any sort of detail on TFA or other websites. Guess it just depends on the day, or maybe the region. Some of the people in my room even seemed a bit competitive others like myself were more relaxed knowing we could all get in if they wanted us, we weren’t competing. I’ve also been living and breathing TFA since October lol can’t imagine being so calm about it!!
@kevinsorbo Thanks for that input; that’s what a majority of things I’ve read while going through the application process has said. Do you think it’s worth it if like you said someone really cares? I have a sincere passion for the mission of TFA and other organizations similar to it who want to delve into my community to help make a change. Have you encountered teachers at your school with similar beliefs or is everyone mostly burnt out already?
Thanks for all the help!! I am curious as well as to who gets the final say for your acceptance/rejection.
@93Polarbear My interview experience actually sounds just like yours! We didn’t have anyone join late, the lessons were Ok, some were defiantly more engaging then others, but it did seem like everyone put some planning time into it. For the group activity I also volunteered to do the note taking and said a few things, but that time went by pretty fast! I feel good about my amount of participation, but a little ify about my “answer” if its what they were “looking for” or not. I had a similar experience with the one-on-one, I really don’t think we had he connection that some people have written about. My interviewer was very friendly but it was kept pretty professional and packed with questions. I just keep thinking to myself what I could have answered better or elaborated more on! Overall I think it was a pretty good day, but I feel like I maybe should have slipped in a few more TFA-related things…and I understand the “anxiety filled” feeling! Haha I’m just so ready to know if this is happening or not!
@TFA2016AJ I cant believe how many people came “unprepared” to your session! I feel like even the most basic questions you should probably know if you are applying to a job! My session was more like @shellijax223 -we didn’t discuss much about the pre-work, but everyone seemed prepared, and no one asked any questions at all!
@shellijax223 I think almost everyone I know does have a desire to help out communities in need (though I now argue that isn’t what we do. What we do is work with kids - caring and mentoring individual kids must actually be your goal, not some vague sense of wanting to do good). I think it’s worth it if you really, really want to do this. But you will go through some of the darkest times of your life. I’ve felt physically sick at the thought of school, I was depressed for months, I felt like I was going crazy at times. It does get better but those first few months of school are just awful. To your 2nd question, if you’re referring to TFA I would say we all burned out a long time ago but just keep pushing through. Personally I’ve recently felt a re-invigoration in how I teach and my general approach but many are just burning out worse and worse. If you’re referring to teachers overall in my school I’d say most of even the veteran teachers are burnt out, only a core of them really have a talent for teaching these kids. Now, I will provide a caveat to all the negative. That is that TFA teachers are much sharper content-wise than a lot of even the best veteran teachers at my school. We have great potential but we have no experience - but in that lack of experience lies enormous problems. I don’t want to stop you from joining TFA just understand that TFA really does a great job of whitewashing the enormous difficulties and no matter what people say the “support” and “training” they provide is next to useless. You learn on the job, from other TFA members, and from veteran teachers. TFA and its requirements will only hinder you and waste your precious time. One more thing I’ve noticed. If you’re one of those who doesn’t procrastinate and does everything thoroughly and doesn’t need a lot of free time then you will be much better off initially than people who are more laid back with how they tackle work and problems. But those people burn out. I take a slower approach to things and it was very hard at first but I’m not as burned out and now I see my craft improving while other TFA members are stalling. Just an anecdote, take it was you will.
@kevinsorbo thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! It has been so important for me during this application process to really grasp the harsh reality of this program and not the cleaned up marketing side. If you do not mind sharing, do you think your regional placement & perhaps maybe moving away from your support system has aided in your experience being more difficult? (If that applies to you).
@TFA2016AJ Yeah my placement had some impact. I was placed in the Mississippi Delta and I’m not a fan of this place. I think this region is pretty tough (as far as schools go) but I think there are some tougher ones, too. Being apart from family support structures hasn’t been an issue I’ve always been pretty independent. But for some, I know, having that taken away from them has been tough.
Thanks for all the great info, everyone!! For those of us applying, do you mind sharing what your preferred regions and subjects to teach are? I put DC, Nashville, Boston, Philadelphia, and Charlotte as my top regions. As for subjects I prefer to teach, I put all elementary, early childhood, middle school generalist, social studies, and ESL (I’m really hoping for ESL as i have experience with ESL classrooms and I love it). Hopefully not having preferred anything STEM related won’t be a strike against me. I feel like i’m fairly flexible on everything. Oklahoma and Memphis are my bottom two region choices, and I’d be fine going to either one. I know TFA is pushing for people to consider Oklahoma right now.
My highly preferred regions are; Memphis, Nashville, DFW, Houston and Atl.
My preferred subjects are Early childhood, Elementary, English and History
I’m hoping and praying for Charlotte, my other options are NC Piedmont Triad, Houston, Atlanta, South Carolina. My preferred subjects are Early Childhood, Elementary School or High School English, History, or Generalist. I also wish I could have put something STEM related but I don’t want the kids to be at a disadvantage due to my terrible math AND science skills :-<
Yesterday I attended a spotlight on DFW online event and the host said that we could change our preferences and regions. Just an FYI
My highly preferred regions are Memphis, San Antonio, Houston, Cahrlotte and Dallas-Fort Worth. My preferred subjects are HS Math, HS general science and HS Biology. I would be happy with middle school science and also with Early Childhood Education. I’ve been praying that if I do get in I will be able to teach high school math in Memphis or San Antonio.( I am very STEM oriented.I am majoring in math 
).