<p>S who is a freshman told me today that he has been selected to be an "RA" next year! Actually at his school, they seem to have not exactly the typical RA situation. They call them CE's - "community educator" - basically they function the same as an RA, but there is more support - another step or two of people in the same building or two. </p>
<p>He has to let them know by Wednesday. He was not totally 100% sure but went through the process to learn more. Well, apparently he did a good job because many applied and he now has this offer in front of him. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed in the payback. He says it is $2800. Really? Room and board is close to $9000 I believe at his school. I thought it would at least be "room". Hmm. He is going to try and verify a few things.</p>
<p>Anyway, we are trying to discuss pros/cons. He does play a D3 sport - tennis - this year it had a fall committment mostly Sept and Oct. and then nothing until later in January. Spring of course is pretty busy. He is not too involved otherwise on campus except doing some private tutoring two hours a week. To be honest, his CE appears to do not a thing except check people in and out, have the few required floor meetings and that's about it. </p>
<p>Since he doesn't have the best roommate now and isn't sure who he will room with in the fall, he doesn't object to the single room w/no roommate. He has learned with people all around you in the hallway, being able to have privacy and close your door is nice. He would have to report to school earlier in the fall, but he seemed to not be too concerned about that. </p>
<p>I'd like to hear some feedback from others whose children have RA'd. S's school is small, dorms/floors not too large. I think there is a fair amount of drinking, but also LOTS of kids involved in sports that occupies their time. Honestly, S would probably do a great job. He is the kind of kid that is well respected, generally mature, and is the one who tends to rescue others from awkward situations. He seems to read people pretty well and communicates well and isn't afraid to speak his mind.</p>
<p>My daughter is an RA this year and has little to no privacy. There are always people coming to her with roommate issues, breaking up with boyfriend issues, academic frustration, etc. Might be different for male students. She’s on duty one night a week and must stay awake and patroling the dorm on and off until 2 a.m. She has to make door decorations and a bulletin board every other month. A floor meeting every month, a staff meeting every other week, and a floor activity every month. Fortunately for her, most of the girls on her floor are her friends, so they decide what they want to do and declare it a floor activity (“let’s go to wing night”, “let’s go to the school play”).</p>
<p>I called her Saturday afternoon and woke her up. She’d been in the ER all night with one of the girls on her floor who’d had alcohol on top of her psychiatric meds. My kid hadn’t been on duty that night, but it was one of her girls, and of course on on-duty RA couldn’t go, so my kid figured someone should be with the girl at the hospital.</p>
<p>She gets free room and board. It sounds like your son could be doing an awful lot of work for little pay - does he at least get the single for the price of a double in addition to the pay, or does the cost of the single bring down that salary even more?</p>
<p>He’s will check into the $$ incentive today. But what I think it is is this: at his school there are 3 or 4 “levels” of student led positions in a dorm. The “lowest” one being the CE who is the contact on the floor. There are other positions w/different titles that are responsible for floor activities, events, etc. Again, his current CE does very little (as it appears anyway). S I think, who has been disappointed in the lack of floor “bonding” among residents would likely want to do a little more.</p>
<p>D2 was an RA this year for fr. She received room and part of board; worth about $7,400 of a total R&B charge of $11,500. I think schools also ‘pay’ students in different ways. D1s came as a credit against her account and it did not show up in her W2 that had income from WS and other misc jobs at school. </p>
<p>She has not complained about privacy and seemed to only take a lot of time at the beginning of the school year when there were orientations, etc. to attend. She was lucky and had a good group of kids that she had primary responsibility for, she said that others were not as fortunate and have more ‘problem’ kids to deal with.</p>
<p>My D is an RA–although it’s not called that at her LAC. She gets a small stipend and her own room. So far, she’s enjoyed it. She’s has had lots of experience as a camp counselor and is used to helping kids deal with some of the issues one faces at college–although her campers were much younger. Being a good RA takes up a great deal of time. My D is in a dorm that’s nearly all seniors, so she doesn’t have a lot of younger students who are figuring out how to handle college life. Her biggest issue so far hasn’t really been related to alcohol/other substances but pets! One girl has a pet rabbit (definitely not allowed). Girl says it relieves her stress and she has to have it nearby . . . .</p>
<p>My son looked into being an RA. At the school he attends one gets a 2,000 reduction on R&B for a room with one roommate (I would think that 2k does not matter if one is getting FA grants in that amount or greater bc need would decrease), and a stipend of somewhere between 300-350 per month. If one wanted a single one could get one of those, but then one pays the full R&B costs and just gets the stipend (as far as I know, stipend remains the same).</p>
<p>Additionally, one needs to go to camus by August 1 (or very close to that date), so one loses about 3 weeks of summer earning potential. That is something one might check into as well.</p>
<p>Also, if you have a senior working as an RA, did this effect the summer internship time between junior and senior year?</p>
<p>I used to be an RA back in the day. It was one of the best memories I have of college. In the short term, the pay is room and meals. In the long run, they’re experiences and lessons in dealing with complex group dynamics and working with an organization.</p>
<p>Going into the experience, I tell first-time RA’s to try to strike a balance between being an authority and mentor to students. It’s not a fun job if one is always being the cop…nor is it rosy if one is trying to please everyone.</p>
<p>Talked to S who talked with his current RA/CE about this opportunity. I think he is leaning (and I think I support this) towards not moving ahead with it. </p>
<p>The main “PROS”:
Pay of about $280/month. </p>
<p>CONS:
Would likely have to have a position in a freshman dorm - away from his friends. This is significant because S had a TERRIBLE first semester socially and has just recently started to enjoy a few guys on his floor and there is talk of them all teaming up on a floor together elsewhere.<br>
Would have to report at least 2 weeks early in August. Which means 2 weeks less of summer to be available for a job at home.
Would be limited to only 4 weekends per semester to be away from the dorm - a problem for S who has a girlfriend at home and who would like a little more freedom.<br>
The pay really doesn’t seem that much - we were expecting something closer to full “room” at least.
Have to be the first coming back after breaks and the last to leave.
Things can be great if you have easy residents. Not so great if you don’t.</p>
<p>He and I think he would be better off at this point, having the full summer home to work, moving to a sophomore dorm with his new found “nice guy” friends (one new possibility to be a roommate as well), freedom for other school activities including tennis practice and freedom to move back and forth between school and home (school is about 3 hours away - we have accepted that he is NOT one to stay weeks on end at school - he enjoys the break of coming home a little more often).</p>
<p>He’ll take a day to think about it, but not sure if the “pay off” is worth it.</p>
<p>Our daughter is a Resident Intern (= R.A.) at her SLAC (Hampshire College); it has been rewarding, but time-consuming. Sometimes it sounds like KKmama’s daughter’s experience. Compensation is roughly equivalent to room charges. Compared to the equivalent number of hours at a work-study position, the R.A. job is probably not as worth it. If the primary goal is money, there might be better ways to go - but it has been a real learning experience for our daughter and has helped her tremendously in having greater confidence in herself to handle problems and be a leader.</p>
<p>I was an RA in college. We didn’t get room and board (although mine was already covered through a scholarship); we got paid a stipend of about $400 a month. Since my room and board was already covered, it was worth it for me.</p>
<p>I had people come to me with problems all the time - it’s part of the territory; that’s what you sign up for. I liked talking to people and trying to help them through rough times, and so it didn’t bother me when people came to my room at 2 am for help (which wasn’t rare, but wasn’t frequent, either). My first year was great - I was on duty once a week and one weekend every six weeks, and it was fine. (My second year wasn’t so great because they restructured everything and messed up the residential life structure, but whatevs).</p>
<p>I’m a people pleaser and an authoritative person by nature; I like helping and managing people and so the RA position was a pretty perfect fit for me. I would’ve done it for free. I got to meet and talk with so many people through my RA gig; I got to help people, people came to rely on me for advice and for guidance during emergencies. I also got to participate in new student orientation and help coordinate new student activities, which extended the fun of that beyond my first year - it was great. I loved it so much I’m applying to be a graduate hall director for a nearby undergraduate college now that I’m in grad school.</p>
<p>My D has applied for a Program Associate ¶ position at her college. It is similar to an RA but is responsible for programming and mentoring for a freshman living/learning community. It pays room ($9000/yr!) and a $3000 stipend. </p>
<p>OP’s son should consider how much time this position will take, how much it will limit him (D will have to forgo taking a class that she wanted next year in order to “PA” the freshman seminar). Sounds like the pay is minimal, so maybe the responsibility is minimal.</p>