Recently, our counselor presented us, a group of maybe 20 students or so to become a chance to be a TA for one of the elementary grades in our school.
We would be having the chance to help the teacher with many tasks.
I particularity am not sure if I want to take the class or not.
I am a junior and do not know if this will be beneficial for me for my senior year.
I am in my third year of band and my second year of taking a foreign language class.
Before being given this choice, I was planning on taking
Band(4th year) and French(3rd year), for my senior year on the side with of 5 core classes.
I have not taken many AP classes and in currently in my first 3, planning on taking 5 next year.
I want to be a science major, but do not know if I should pick being a TA or not for the next year.
I was deciding…maybe I could take away band and put in this TA class, but I really enjoy band and would like to do it in college, same with french, I could take french out, try to take french DE online, but then I would miss out in my friendships in my french class.
I have worked with younger elementary kids before, but I really am not sure what to do.
Advice would really help, what are colleges looking for? Would it be better to substitute band/french/other with this class (my school counselor demonstrates it as an opportunity- but I am not sure what to pick)
Stay the course - without TA. Why? You don’t want to give up band.
A lot depends on the level of college you seek - but it doesn’t appear you really want to TA - and that enough is reason not to.
Good luck.
Cost-benefit analysis – seems like it would cost you more than you would benefit. No need to do it if you’d have to give up too much. Politely decline. No college will reject you because you didn’t take an opportunity that the college doesn’t even know about.
There is no benefit to becoming a TA unless you plan to go into the education field. My daughter had several friends TA for high school teachers or TA in the front office, but they were used primarily as space-fillers, not something that helped in college apps.
You need foreign language through level 3 or 4 (selective colleges consider it a core course) and you enjoy band+music performance is actually valued by colleges.
Btw I would caution you against taking too many AP courses senior year when you have to handle college applications. If you are taking 3 this year and doing well, taking 3 or 4 senior year would be PLENTY and 5 overdoing it.
Being a TA is ONLY useful if you plan to apply as an education major to your state universities - it confirms your interests in the major.
Otherwise it’s a non academic period that decreases rigor.
Be sure to diplomatically explain to your counselor (using positive terms) why you are making the decision that it’s sounds like you already did, especially if this counselor will be writing your counselor recommendation .
Many colleges want to see foreign language through level three, and some through level four. If this TA thing would prevent you from taking foreign language your senior year, I would suggest you think about this very carefully.
One of my kids chose to take honors wind symphony senior year (had been in it all three previous years) instead of AP Modern Euro. Music was important to her, and like you, she wanted to (and did) continue to play in college.
Please thank the counselor for offering you this option, but I would suggest that it’s not in your wheelhouse. You don’t indicate anywhere that teaching or working with young children is in your future goals.
I’ll provide a different perspective.
Do you want to be like 58k other people who applied to your future schools? We here say colleges want to see this and that. They already have literally thousands of people with exactly this and that – what will it take to make you special?
Think outside the box for a moment.
I know help teach elementary school doesn’t directly benefit your own learning, but placing you in a position of trust says something about you. Learning and teaching are two different things. Being able to work with other people and help is also a special quality not many people have these days. Not to mention recommendation letter may be important.
BUT, in the end, you need to do what you want.
Just make sure you are fulfilling the admission requirements for those future colleges.
This is a personal decision based on your interests.
I disagree with the assertions regarding lack of benefit of being a TA. It depends upon your duties. If expected to teach some classes, TA experience is among the most valuable learning tools one can experience. Learning through experience how to present material to an audience forces one to understand at a higher level than is necessary to be an A student.
No right or wrong answer in your situation, but it is important to make an informed decision. Many admissions officers place a high value on teaching others.
Become a TA if that is what you want to do.
Continue with band/French if that is what you want to do.
If you decline the TA offer, I would speak to your counselor and thank him/her for the opportunity but that after consideration you would rather not forego taking band or French in your senior year.
Just make sure the colleges to which you plan to apply don’t require a third level of foreign language study in high school.
I would also suggest that you inquire about other ways to work with young students. Our NHS had volunteer tutors who did this at our elementary school twice a week after school for six week blocks (students could do more if they wanted to). The HS kids helped the younger ones understand and complete homework.
Perhaps there are other opportunities to work with younger students.
Also…what are your FIVE core courses. Where I am, foreign language is one of the core courses…along with math, science, English and social studies.
Thank you all for this advice! It greatly helps. Our counselor was giving us a deadline to make this choice and I had to make this decision very promptly and was not sure about what goals I had.
I haven’t joined NHS yet, maybe if I join next year I could try to do that? It seems like a good option I could try. I will ask my classmates in that club about it. The five core classes I am mentioning is that I will be taking two sciences, English, social studies, and math.
Okay, I will make sure to tell my counselor this. Fortunately, we have another counselor(who mainly works with the college applications and I can try to reach out to her.)
So…why are you taking two sciences instead of level three of FL? Or have you done level 3 of FL already?
What’s your schedule for next year?
It should include
English
Math
Social Science/History
Science
Foreign Language
1 or 2 personal choices
What colleges are you aiming for?
I am currently in my 2nd year of foreign language(French), but I am planning on taking French(3rd year) for my senior year. The reason why I am taking two sciences is because I have not taken physics yet, and AP Computer Science Principles will be my other science
Two of the colleges I’m aiming for are Georgia Tech and University of Georgia, so colleges similar to those are the ones I’m aiming for
My schedule now based on the choices I made would be:
AP Literature,
AP Calculus AB,
US History(Heard it was not too easy to manage with notes requirement so changed it to non-AP)
Physics,
French III
AP Computer Science Principles,
Band IV
Your schedule, as is, is very good. All core subjects are there. The only 2 classes you could switch out would be Band IV (but you enjoy it, have friends in it, and it shows consistency being the 4th year, so why switch?) And AP CS Principles (which makes more sense for Georgia Tech than a TA period).