Hello everyone! So I was thinking about dropping my AP Photography class (2D Design) and becoming a teaching assistant for my Spanish teacher instead next year. Before, I thought I was going to go to art school, but now I want to study Spanish and International Studies and maybe be a spanish teacher. This is what my schedule would look like:
AP Literature
AP AB Calculus
AP Studio Art Drawing
AP Government
Human Anatomy
Spanish 4
Teaching Assistant for Spanish
So before I would have both AP Photo and AP Art, so it’s not like I’d be dropping one of my “core” classes anyways. But I’m really not interested in taking Photo next year, and the only other option I would consider is taking Studio Art 4 AND AP Studio Art, if that would look better to colleges. Right now, these are the school’s I’m looking at:
Being a TA, while a potentially valuable experience, will do you no favors for college admission, as it is virtually impossible to quantify.
Simply put, there is no way that a person reading your transcript will be able to tell if you truly participated in the class itself, or if your grade was a reflection of being a good ‘gofer’ for the teacher. There’s no way for them to know that your A isn’t because you fetched a mean cup of coffee, or because you washed the teacher car.
Not to be too cynical, but even a great rec from the teacher is somewhat suspect, because the work product required for your grade is a moving target.
Even if it doesn’t help with admissions, I did something similar and found it to be an invaluable experience and would highly recommend it. Furthermore, it does make a good if a bit cliché essay topic (which if you’re interested led to a waitlist and a rejection lol)
I would think it would count as a good EC, but more importantly if you want to study Spanish and maybe become a Spanish teacher it could be very nice experience for you. IMO you aren’t giving anything up by having one art AP instead of two.
Thanks everybody! I’m going to talk to my counselor tomorrow to see what he thinks, and if I can switch! I already have a great relationship with my teacher, and she knows that i want to be a spanish teacher. Gracias a todos!
It would show tremendous leadership on your part and a clear passion. If possible, a supplemental rec from that teacher may be very helpful as well after your first few weeks working with them. Colleges prefer students who take classes and do things to show their intellectual curiousity over students who take classes just for the sake of taking them. I think being a TA would be a win for you.
Thanks so much! Normally, I feel like being a TA is looked at as somewhat as a “free period”. But I think since I want to do it for my spanish teacher, and I want to BE a Spanish teacher, it will be ok!
I think being a TA will look good and it will be good for YOU, especially since you have an interest in studying Spanish and becoming a teacher. I wouldn’t view it as a “free period”.
I’ve had junior and senior teaching assistants who were so lazy and did absolutely nothing everyday except for pretending to help. However, I have also had great teaching assistants.