Is Teach for America a strong soft in 2015? Forum

[hunt godlink]

Just wondering if anyone knows how the T14 schools view TFA nowadays and whether TFA corps members get a meaningful leverage in admissions besides the fee waiver.

[Calbears123]

The only "strong" soft in admissions seems to be URM and military.

[Mack.Hambleton]

no, just average.

[snagglepuss]

I sure by now the Yale adcoms keep a barf bucket around for every time they have to read about someone's TFA experience.

[Ron Howard]

Yeah, since around two years work experience seems to be the norm for T14 students these days, TFA is now probably just an average soft. But that does not mean it is not worthwhile.

[GreenEggs]

no, just average.

[ood]

As a TFA alum, it's just an okay soft. I try to avoid mentioning I'm TFA. It's on my resume, but I never speak about my "TFA Experience." In some parts of the country I've found TFA to be a hinderance. There's a lot of press, mostly bad, about TFA today.

[jbagelboy]

Northwestern still likes TFA a lot.

[Traynor Brah]

the only tangible benefit with respect to most admissions processes will be free applications. but if your numbers are any good they'll be free anyway. It's an average soft that some people might even look at negatively.

[Chrstgtr]

Northwestern still likes TFA a lot.

Depends on the school.

I would say I outperformed my numbers at all of the T14 but that was most noticeable with Harvard, NYU, and NU.

ETA: So yes I would say it is a pretty good soft but not one where you see a super significant difference in your cycle. So still a "soft."

[SufficientCondish]

161
3.9

State School

TFA 2014 Corp

in at Penn and Georgetown w/ $$

I thought it helped

[jbagelboy]

161
3.9

State School

TFA 2014 Corp

in at Penn and Georgetown w/ $$

I thought it helped

Maybe, but the above 75ths GPA is really why you're getting action.

Also, you should strongly consider retaking the LSAT. You could easily go to law school - a really amazing law school - for free.

[CanadianWolf]

Agree that it is a strong soft for Northwestern.

[hogscienceavatarlost]

In this past cycle I performed pretty much exactly as MyLSN predicted with my numbers. I guess the question becomes: would I have under-performed without TFA? I reckon it's better than K-JD, but still average work experience. When it comes down to it, we're just public school teachers.

[hunt godlink]

Also, what if I only decide to do it for one year and withdraw to focus on the LSAT. Would that affect my chances/would law schools care?

[John_Luther1989]

TFA is starting to fall into "This is how my mission trip to [poor country] changed my life" territory. I think people are starting to view it for what it is: a 2-year deferral before law school or banking rather than some high minded program for people committed to education.

[SufficientCondish]

I only did one year...I Applied during the fall. Only one school (Villanova) even asked about it.

But here is the truth. TFA is not a thing you can just "do to get into law school". It is impossibly challenging and takes over your life. You will not be able to study for the LSAT while also teaching 8 hours a day, lesson planning, grading, doing TFA PD and also having break time to recoup.

I was passionate about being a teacher and... Then plans changed, but you have to want to do the work... Or else you'll quit in a month... And no law school wants to hear about that.

[Joscellin]

But here is the truth. TFA is not a thing you can just "do to get into law school". It is impossibly challenging and takes over your life. You will not be able to study for the LSAT while also teaching 8 hours a day, lesson planning, grading, doing TFA PD and also having break time to recoup.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I was teaching at a tough high school while studying for my June LSAT and it was entirely doable. It's certainly not comfortable, though.

[jbagelboy]

But here is the truth. TFA is not a thing you can just "do to get into law school". It is impossibly challenging and takes over your life. You will not be able to study for the LSAT while also teaching 8 hours a day, lesson planning, grading, doing TFA PD and also having break time to recoup.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I was teaching at a tough high school while studying for my June LSAT and it was entirely doable. It's certainly not comfortable, though.

Yea, you can definitely study for the LSAT while doing TFA -- you have paid summers off. Just spend June through August prepping for the October exam.

[Joscellin]

But here is the truth. TFA is not a thing you can just "do to get into law school". It is impossibly challenging and takes over your life. You will not be able to study for the LSAT while also teaching 8 hours a day, lesson planning, grading, doing TFA PD and also having break time to recoup.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I was teaching at a tough high school while studying for my June LSAT and it was entirely doable. It's certainly not comfortable, though.

Yea, you can definitely study for the LSAT while doing TFA -- you have paid summers off. Just spend June through August prepping for the October exam.

My point is that the workload isn't so tremendous that you can't study during the year, as well. Honestly, budgeting LSAT study time while teaching should be fairly good practice for law school anyway.

[7777777]

But here is the truth. TFA is not a thing you can just "do to get into law school". It is impossibly challenging and takes over your life. You will not be able to study for the LSAT while also teaching 8 hours a day, lesson planning, grading, doing TFA PD and also having break time to recoup.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I was teaching at a tough high school while studying for my June LSAT and it was entirely doable. It's certainly not comfortable, though.

Yea, you can definitely study for the LSAT while doing TFA -- you have paid summers off. Just spend June through August prepping for the October exam.

My point is that the workload isn't so tremendous that you can't study during the year, as well. Honestly, budgeting LSAT study time while teaching should be fairly good practice for law school anyway.

Maybe you are an anomaly, but I agree with SufficientCondish here. W/r/t the vast majority of people, it is exceedingly difficult to be a good teacher while also taking seriously another pursuit (ie increasing your LSAT in a meaningful way). Very few inexperienced educators could cope with the heavy demands of good teaching while, say, improving their LSAT from 163 to 174. I am not saying you are this kind of guy or girl. But, the people who do this kind of next-steeping in their 16th month of teaching are, by and large, among the few that make TFA look bad.

[7777777]

TFA is starting to fall into "This is how my mission trip to [poor country] changed my life" territory. I think people are starting to view it for what it is: a 2-year deferral before law school or banking rather than some high minded program for people committed to education.

evidence?

[Chrstgtr]

It is probably worth mentioning that if you cannot find time to study for the LSAT when you are young and have summers off, extended spring breaks and winter breaks in addition to a facetime requirement of only about 40 hours a week, you will likely have a rough time in LS where everything is about balancing and managing your time or after LS when most law jobs are extremely demanding. Just something to think about.

[Joscellin]

But here is the truth. TFA is not a thing you can just "do to get into law school". It is impossibly challenging and takes over your life. You will not be able to study for the LSAT while also teaching 8 hours a day, lesson planning, grading, doing TFA PD and also having break time to recoup.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I was teaching at a tough high school while studying for my June LSAT and it was entirely doable. It's certainly not comfortable, though.

Yea, you can definitely study for the LSAT while doing TFA -- you have paid summers off. Just spend June through August prepping for the October exam.

My point is that the workload isn't so tremendous that you can't study during the year, as well. Honestly, budgeting LSAT study time while teaching should be fairly good practice for law school anyway.

Maybe you are an anomaly, but I agree with SufficientCondish here. W/r/t the vast majority of people, it is exceedingly difficult to be a good teacher while also taking seriously another pursuit (ie increasing your LSAT in a meaningful way). Very few inexperienced educators could cope with the heavy demands of good teaching while, say, improving their LSAT from 163 to 174. I am not saying you are this kind of guy or girl. But, the people who do this kind of next-steeping in their 16th month of teaching are, by and large, among the few that make TFA look bad.

That is probably fair. I wasn't TFA myself, but I was teaching public high school. It probably helped me that I was in my third year when I was doing my LSAT prep work in the run up to this past June (and got my increase in the range you specified :p). A few years in and you learn a lot of skills to minimize the crushing workload of your first year or two, I was probably underestimating the experience aspect.

[A. Nony Mouse]

TFA is starting to fall into "This is how my mission trip to [poor country] changed my life" territory. I think people are starting to view it for what it is: a 2-year deferral before law school or banking rather than some high minded program for people committed to education.

evidence?

There are definitely a lot of people who view TFA this way.