You should check, but I don’t think Cornell has an education major anymore.
When it did, it was actually in one of those contract colleges, the ag school, if memory serves.
It was primarily for science education.
Another contract college, College of Human ecology, had great programs in child development. But not teaching/ education per se, so far as I know. But I may be mistaken.
I think Tufts has an education major.
I recall hearing that it was best to get teacher training in the state you want to teach in, is that wrong?
I checked Cornell’s website, and they don’t have an education major but they have it as a minor, and if you minor in it you can get you’re teaching certificate and masters degree or something like that after another year at Ithaca College. So even though it’s not a major I feel like it’d still be worth it, especially since Cornell’s such a good school and I probably have a better chance of getting in there than at Vanderbilt.
I did say that, but I would make an exception if I get into Cornell because I do still want everything else that Cornell has to over: the best education, good location, large number of undergraduates, etc. Otherwise you’re right, I would want to just start my career after I get my bachelors.
Boston College has a good program although that would probably be a reach for you. U of Delaware is a great school that has a strong education department. Beautiful campus.
If you are going into elementary education then I would definitely add something else like special education certification. I am in North Alabama and there are always tons of people applying for any elementary job openings, same with secondary ed social science. Special Education, math, science, and some specialty areas would be much easier to get a job. There tend to be better job chances further South, but often those are inner-city schools(such as Montgomery) or poor rural areas. My cousin got his teaching degree at the University of Alabama and has been in the Tuscaloosa county school system for a long time now, but his degree is music education and he teaches middle school chorus.
Education is one of the most political fields that I can think of, making good connections will be more important in getting a job than the prestige of the university or teaching program. My ex-husband was a teacher and my aunt is a retired teacher, as well as many friends and other relatives. I honestly don’t think the pay is that bad compared with other jobs in my area(rural Alabama), but would be low in a high cost of living area.
If it’s available at the school I go to, I’ll try to add special ed certification.
I know the prestige isn’t important for getting a job, but it’s more of a personal thing for me, I really care about going to a good school.
There is nothing wrong with that extra21. It is perfectly natural to want to study at an excellent university, where the faculty, facilities, resources, students etc…are all world class. And it should have nothing to do with getting a job after college, it should be about the experience while on campus. If you (or your parents) can easily afford attending an excellent university with an excellent education program, and are willing to pay the premium, go for it.
Thanks! I am starting to wonder if my list is completely wrong though. I just went through it again and somehow some of the schools don’t even have an education major or minor, and I think I definitely overestimated my chances at almost all of them. It really feels like I’m back where I started because I dont think I’ll get accepted by any of the schools that I really want to except for my safeties.
It seems like you would really like to get into an “instant name recognition” private university, but your stats make admission a long shot at most of those. You’re not sold on the big public U idea except as safeties. And a lot of the mid-tier LAC’s and U’s that are matches for you don’t have education programs.
You might like UOP. It’s a mid-sized CA private U with an East Coast LAC aesthetic. http://www.pacific.edu/About-Pacific/History-and-Mission.html It would be a match/safety for you and it’s pretty generous with merit aid. And it has a long-established School of Education. http://www.pacific.edu/Academics/Schools-and-Colleges/Gladys-L-Benerd-School-of-Education/Academics/Undergraduate/Multiple-Subject—Elementary-Education.html This is one of the few programs in CA that will get you a BA and a teaching credential in four years. If it were in one of the major metro areas of California, it would be a tougher admit; its location in the Central Valley is not as much of a draw as a major city or coastal location would be. But it’s a very well-respected place to get an undergrad degree with a CA teaching credential, and with likely merit aid, it could easily be a better financial deal than attending a CA public U as an OOS student.
P.S. How’s your Spanish? If you want to be extra-marketable as a teacher in California (or the Southwest, or TX, or FL), start now and become as fluent as possible. Maybe even consider an AFS gap year. Doing an extra “super-senior” year of high school in a Spanish-speaking country could give you more time to boost your stats, and enhance your application from a life-experience standpoint too. You could nail down admission to a school like UOP and then defer for a year, and then apply to your “shoot the moon” dream schools during the gap year and see what happens.
I still think Tulane’s education program could hit the sweet spot for you if you want to be in the South. They’re right on that bubble of being a realistic reach and having the prestige and name recognition that you’re hoping for.
I would love to go to any “instant name recognition” school, whether it’s public or private. I’m really not interested in going to any school without name recognition.
I don’t speak any Spanish. I’m willing to learn it, but I don’t want to take a gap year.
“I just went through it again and somehow some of the schools don’t even have an education major or minor,”
That is a problem. You need to focus on schools that actually offer an education program.
“…and I think I definitely overestimated my chances at almost all of them. It really feels like I’m back where I started because I don’t think I’ll get accepted by any of the schools that I really want to except for my safeties.”
You have enough safeties (Alabama and UIUC) and targets (UGA, UCSB, Penn State and UF). I know you prefer Southern schools, but I would take a close look at Michigan State University (safety) and Wisconsin-Madison (target). Both have stellar education programs.
I do not think Cornell and USC make sense in your case. Their education offerings are very limited. I would add Michigan-Ann Arbor, UNC and UVA, all of which have more robust academic offerings in your chose field, and which along with Vanderbilt, will provide you with a nice group of reach/dream schools.
I have Alabama and UIUC as safeties still. I don’t think that’s going to change.
I’m pretty sure UCSB was one of the schools that I couldn’t find an education major or minor for, so I don’t think I’ll apply there.
I have UGA, UF, Penn State, Baylor, and UW as matches.
The reason I was looking at USC was because it was a top, large, university, with good sports, in California, which was exactly what I was looking for.
Cornell is pretty much the same thing. It’s an Ivy League school, good college town, large university, etc, and it has an education minor. I really wanted to apply to Cornell but it seems like that’s really unrealistic (isn’t Vanderbilt more unrealistic though?) so I guess I just won’t.
I like the three schools you listed as reaches so maybe I can apply to those instead.
I also like Duke, but again I know I have no real chance there.
I like how your list is developing. However I believe you are from NJ. Out of state UF is most definatrly a reach for nearly everyone. 7% to 10% enrollment cap oos . UNC and UF are not only very selective for instate they are exponentially more difficult OOS. Not impossible but reach.