<p>What are the pros and cons of being an RA?</p>
<p>Pro - Cheaper housing (you only pay the different between the cost of a single and a double, something like 2-3k for the whole year)</p>
<p>Cons -
- You have to deal with people’s problems.
- You have to be “on call” and in your rooms certain nights of the week. This is one of the BIGGEST negatives. You get stuck having to be in your room, and you can’t leave since it’s a landline phone you have to answer in your room. If you want to study with a friend or work on a group project, they better want to work in your tiny dorm room versus a library, computer lab, or apartment.
- You have to work the front desk in dorms that have front desks.
- You can’t take more than a certain number of credit hours or do too much EC activities (or they won’t even accept your application).
- You can’t have another job (if they hours are more than like 10 hours a week).
- You have to put on “RA programming” like dorms events and multicultural nights.
- You have to remain in town and work for either thanksgiving break or spring break.
- You have to “request off” if you want to leave town for a weekend or something, and they only approve a certain number of requests off. So say goodbye to OU weekend unless you get lucky.</p>
<p>There are more cons, but basically it is NOT worth it for saving like 6k in housing costs. It stifles your social life (unless you just want to be friends with other RA’s). You can’t get caught in any drinking environment with your residents INCLUDING legal downtown bars/clubs. If you are over 21 and one of your residents isn’t (since, almost all people who live on campus are freshmen) and that freshman has a fake ID, and somebody in the housing department sees you in a picture when them in a downtown bar and you have drinks in your hand, you lose your job as RA and get kicked out. This is what one of my dorm’s RA’s told me this past year from something he saw happen to somebody years ago.</p>
<p>I applied last year to be one this year, but once I realized the HUGE cons to it, I decided against it.</p>
<p>I’m going to be an RA next year and frankly I’m psyched for it! Granted, I LOVE to organize activities, I LOVE teambuilding, and it’s a GREAT way to make sure that you do well in school. Last year, as a freshman, the parties were nonstop and kind of hard to turn down, I feel that having some responsibility will help me better decide between work and play. I don’t mind helping ppl with issues, in fact I’d LOVE to help new residents adjust to life away from home, nobody was really there to help me adjust. Now that I’ve learned what RAs are for, I wish I would have utilized mine more. Being an RA, you also get paid, for only having desk duty 4 hours a week. </p>
<p>1) Being on call isn’t so bad. You can leave, just stay fairly close. You definitely can catch up on much needed assignments from class.
2) Desk duty can either be hilarious or a good time to get work from class done so you won’t have to do it later. Desk duty on a weekend at like 3 a.m. is funny, you get to see the drunk losers stumbling in. Sad stories, but good ones to reflect on.
3) It looks rather charming on your resume, and the skills you learn will transfer over to almost any career.
4) Programs can be something you’re interested in. You can make them fun. There was a program I went to called “Sex in the Dark” where students asked random sex related questions to a sex expert. The room was dark so you couldn’t see who was asking what. Some questions were hilarious. Then they gave out condoms. Wouldn’t you like to put on something like that?
5) You meet A LOT of ppl. Networking is essential.
6) Arts and Crafts…no you don’t have to be good at it. I find it fun to make name tags and bulletin board signs. The bulletin boards can consist of something you find fun or funny, like how to survive a lion attack, to knitting, to the 10 steps to becoming awesome.</p>
<p>Frankly, in my opinion, the pros outweigh the cons. It’s so so so much better than having to get a min wage job off campus. You work where you sleep! I work at babies r us right now and I cannot wait to get back to campus. No traveling to work, no uniform, housing paid for (essentially), you don’t have to stand all day, authority, the chance to influence the college experience of others. I love it, or I will love it.</p>
<p>^ “you get to see the drunk losers stumbling in”</p>
<p>See, I am one of those so called “losers” and that is precisely why I wouldn’t want to be an RA. It kills your social experiences.</p>
<p>I lived in Prather last year, and I actually went to dang near every single stupid little dorm activity they had. Mainly for the free food, but it was really just a way to kill the time before I went out to bars/clubs/parties/frat/etc to have fun. When the RA sponsored event was wrapping up, I got to go out and have fun, most the RA’s had to return to their room, work the desk(s) or do other business.</p>
<p>(And btw I went to my dorm’s version of “sex in the dark”. It was me, three other people I knew, and three RA’s I knew. We ALL knew each other’s voices, so the point of the program was killed. We ended up talking about sports and movies the whole time.)</p>
<p>Instead of being an RA, you should look at real internships or jobs around the area that pay more than minimum wage. Unless you have a useless major where you’ve learned no skills at all, you can get a job doing something you’re actually qualified for. That looks even BETTER on a resume than “see the drunk losers stumbling in”.</p>
<p>Working and going to college is a big commitment, but being an RA seems like an even bigger one. I wouldn’t recommend working at all when going to college unless it was for financial reasons. I would recommend doing internships though. It will set you up for future job offers, look good on your resume, and give you the experience you need in your field of study. The pay is also very lucrative.</p>
<p>Hey I’ve got a useless major and I’ve had internships/jobs. It can happen, but the skills I had for these things were self-taught.</p>
<p>Secondly @DenuMz, where are you going that the internships have been “very lucrative”?</p>
<p>^ The on campus recruiting system for McCombs students has tons of highly paid internships. The internships compete among each other for the students, and they try to pay well to get the best and brightest students. All McCombs students have to complete an internship to graduate, and 99% of them lead to full time offers.</p>
<p>Damn, I should have listened to my parents and been a Business Major. ■■■.</p>
<p>You could get an internship even if its not related to your major though. You probably won’t get accounting firms to offer you a internship unless your an accounting major, but you could get one at a law firm, insurance company, etc. They pay a lot because of what WTK said.</p>
<p>@longhorn2014 A lot of what you have been told has been misconstrued and exaggerated. As a person who is actually an RA at the university, it hasnt dampered my social life whatsoever and has actually been a very fun, fulfilling experience.
For one, when youre on call you dont have to be stuck in your dorm room. You can go eat in the nearest dining hall and youre free to roam around the dorm but its true that you cant leave campus and you have to stay in the dorm when youre on duty. However, depending on how large your dorm is, you may only be on call once or twice a month (if youre in a larger dorm). Youre not on call all the time and if youre in a larger dorm such as Jester, you may have times where youre not on call for about 2-3 weeks! It really just depends on scheduling.</p>
<p>Working the desk isnt bad either. Its fun to help people out when they have questions. Desk shifts are anywhere from 3-6 hours, depending on the time of day and if its a weekend. Weekend desk shifts tend to be longer (5-6 hours), while weekday shifts are around 3-4 hours long. Also, you only work the desk at a designated time once a week. For instance, you may work the desk every Tuesday from 8-11 AM and thats it. Weekend desk shifts rotate amongst the entire staff, and depending on how large your staff is, you may only get 2-3 weekend desk shifts a semester. Also, weekend desk shifts only apply to a certain day at a certain time (like Saturday from 1-6 PM). Oh, and you never work 3 AM desk shifts. The desk shifts range from 8 AM to 12 midnight. They have night shift workers (separate from RAs) who work the late hours.</p>
<p>In regards to time off, you are allotted one weekend a month to request off. Basically, this means that if you want to go home or away for a weekend, you need to request it off. This doesnt mean that you cant hang out with your friends and do things in Austin all the other weekends. It really only applies when youre leaving Austin, THATS when you need to request time off. As for working during Thanksgiving or Spring Break, you have to work during one of the two. If youre working SB, you only work the first or the second half, not the entire break itself.</p>
<p>RA programming can be loads of fun, especially if youre joint programming with other members of your staff. The turnout you get for programs really all depends on what day it is, what time it is, and if something else is going on at the same time (like an important bball game or something). You learn not to get your feelings hurt if no one shows up to a program youve organized. Sometimes you get really good turnouts and sometimes you dont, thats just the breaks.</p>
<p>Lastly, RAs arent just some robots that dont care about anything else but their jobs and staying in the dorms. RAs are normal students that like to go out and have fun just like everyone else, we just have more responsibilities to balance at the same time (which is TOTALLY doable). It looks great on your resume, you get to meet and bond with a lot of cool people, and make an impact on peoples lives and serve as a mentor. Believe it or not, there are people whove actually been positively impacted by their RAs. You get free housing and food (if youre living by yourself, you pay the $2600 difference and thats it) and you actually get a stipend every month. Its been a rewarding experience for me so far and I have a very active social life on top of it. Of course, it has some cons, like cleaning up vomit and other bodily fluids if you ever encounter that, and being woken up in the middle of the night if something bad happens that you have to go see about (which hasnt happened to me that much at all). I DEFINITELY recommend that you give it a fair chance :)</p>
<p>P.S. When you get to campus, you should ask some RAs how they feel about the job and do some research about it so that you can make an educated decision that works for you!</p>
<p>P.P.S. Sorry for the SUPER long post, just thought I’d clear some things up :)</p>
<p>“it has some cons, like cleaning up vomit and other bodily fluids if you ever encounter that, and being woken up in the middle of the night if something bad happens that you have to go see about (which hasn’t happened to me that “much” at all).” </p>
<p>Lol you lost me right there. Even without that part, I wouldn’t be interested and would recommend internships or a less demanding job unless your financial situation calls for otherwise.</p>
<p>Lalalexi08 has the only credible information out of all the people here (including me). She’s been there and done it and know the ins and outs. I so second with her on asking an ACTUAL OR FORMER RA. They will give you the ups and downs versus getting info from someone on the outside looking in. They are always willing to help and provide their input. Ultimately obtaining the position will be based on YOUR strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. Do not be turned away or swayed into becoming an RA simply based on other peoples remarks/opinions.</p>
<p>As you can see non-RAs have negative remarks while so far potential and current RA have positive ones. Look at statements as a whole and don’t particularly hone in on ONE sentence.</p>
<p>Thanks, this has been really helpful information. I think RA might be an ok job for me. I will certainly check it out more when I move to Austin. Can’t wait to go!</p>
<p>idk, the whole “you can’t party with your residents” thing just put me off hardcore. I don’t like being told who I can and can’t socialize with outside of a job.</p>
<p>
As if NOT being an RA invalidates our opinions. Thanks for letting me know.<br>
I’ve never been an RA, and I have 3 close friends who have, and I can say that if it weren’t for the free rent, they would not be doing it. Just the few incidents of cleaning up bodily fluid can change your perception on this, but maybe @lalalexi08 has had a different experience. Of course, one person’s experience doesn’t even matter ultimately because YMMV.</p>
<p>
You shouldn’t be engaging in illegal activity with your residents (underage drinking/rec drugs) but I know one RA that didn’t let silly rules stop him/her.</p>
<p><em>wakes up a little</em> derp! I totally misread what why two kay wrote then. That’s what I get for trying to read in the morning :P</p>
<p>Lol @ texchick. You don’t need firsthand experience to realize how unattractive a job is. People have different tastes for jobs and believe they have more to offer in a business. If your skills are limited to picking up bodily fluids and vomit, go for it.</p>
<p>As far as my qualifications for my statements, I was very good friends with 3 or 4 RA’s from my dorm area (Brack/Roberts/Prather) and I’ll say that I didn’t envy their job at all. It’s not even the cleaning up bodily fluids in the stairway parts, it’s the limitations on where they could go, and when, and how they HAD to work the front desk at certain times each week, etc.</p>
<p>Sure, that’s something a job normally does, make you work at certain times, but usually that’s limited between 9am-5pm, and RA life does not have limits. They can get woken up at 3am to assist with a problem resident, or to clean something up, etc.</p>
<p>My thoughts exactly.</p>
<p>Okay, let’s try something different. @ DenuMz, @ Why Two Kay and @vacheespagnole, is there anything positive at all (besides the perks of housing) that you can see about the position? Did your RAs do anything at all to make you feel more welcome or comfortable or anything? Would it have made a difference if they weren’t there, would issues have escalated or went unattended? Did your RA friends ONLY have negative things to say about their job? Let’s try to open our minds beyond the “cleaning up vomit,” “limitations,” and “problem residents.” I know all the cons but I do look past them to see the perks</p>
<p>For example, (maybe an out-there example) Look a surgeons/doctors. They attend school for decades to sew up people and deal with blood and sickness and issues of that nature. They do it to help people, and of course for the lucrative pay, but primarily to save lives. Is this so different from the underlying cause of being an RA? Helping people, making a difference, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to argue with ya’ll but all I’m saying is that there are two sides to every story and with that, having understanding about each side, no matter your position, will get you further than just a one-sided viewpoint. Does that sound right or am I totally off base?</p>