Is TFA the only program that counts? Forum

[gurlja18]

hi everyone

im taking a year off to tutor children from low income backgrounds for a program very similar to TFA. I was wondering if it will be as good as a soft as TFA? or is TFA in a class of its own? thanks

[bfigsan]

Tutoring low-income youth is a worthy endeavor and certainly counts as a soft, but I doubt it would be viewed by ad comms as equivalent to TFA. I have to say, I hope it wouldn't be seen as equivalent, because, as a TFA corps member, the level of difficulty is quite different. Someone coming out of TFA has a much different skill set than someone coming out of one-on-one tutoring.

[wbrother]

I've heard that TFA actually looks better than having normal work experience as a teacher.

[iteachtenthgrade]

Tutoring low-income youth is a worthy endeavor and certainly counts as a soft, but I doubt it would be viewed by ad comms as equivalent to TFA. I have to say, I hope it wouldn't be seen as equivalent, because, as a TFA corps member, the level of difficulty is quite different. Someone coming out of TFA has a much different skill set than someone coming out of one-on-one tutoring.

+1

[09042014]

I doubt TFA is as good what TLS says TFA is worth.

[badaboom61]

TFA is seen as very selective (it is) and prestigious (it effectively markets itself as such). Adcomms therefore view it more favorably than many softs, for example, working as a teacher in the exact same school under the exact same conditions as a TFA corps member, although its unclear how meaningful this boost is on admissions.

Employers may or may not have a different view of how valuable the experience is, although they would probably view as superior to most post-graduation public interest work simply because it is a signaling mechanism for "prestige".

[iteachtenthgrade]

I doubt TFA is as good what TLS says TFA is worth.

I don't know, my cycle has been pretty great so far. In at CCN, full funding at Berkeley for a Ph.D and JD and I only have a 172/3.58...

Anyway, don't do TFA for law school. Do it to do TFA.

EDIT: This is anecdotal but still... I'm very pleasantly surprised.

[09042014]

I doubt TFA is as good what TLS says TFA is worth.

I don't know, my cycle has been pretty great so far. In at CCN, full funding at Berkeley for a Ph.D and JD and I only have a 172/3.58...

Anyway, don't do TFA for law school. Do it to do TFA.

EDIT: This is anecdotal but still... I'm very pleasantly surprised.

3.6/172 seems about right for CCN.

The PhD/JD admissions are basically PhD admissions. I dunno how competitive you were.

[iteachtenthgrade]

I doubt TFA is as good what TLS says TFA is worth.

I don't know, my cycle has been pretty great so far. In at CCN, full funding at Berkeley for a Ph.D and JD and I only have a 172/3.58...

Anyway, don't do TFA for law school. Do it to do TFA.

EDIT: This is anecdotal but still... I'm very pleasantly surprised.

3.6/172 seems about right for CCN.

The PhD/JD admissions are basically PhD admissions. I dunno how competitive you were.

They didn't need to offer me anything for the law school. I got in off FR2. And the Ph.D. program is JSP at Boalt, so it should be pretty representative. Cohort is only 8-10.

[P-salms]

TFA is a good soft but not in a league of its own. NYC Teaching Fellow is a similar program that follows the TFA platform and boasts essentially the same level of selectivity as TFA. I speak as a NYCTF and someone who works with several TFA members with newly minted bachelors degrees.

As far as law school admissions go, I went from outside top 20 last year (applying right out of undergrad) to T5 with essentially the same numbers and 'softs'.