<p>I’ve seen a lot of people on here have gotten accepted to do elementary. I’m actually hoping to do high school math. I was actually a math tutor in my last year of college and realized high schools are not doing a good job of preparing students for math in college- which has become my whole reason for wanting to do TFA. Math is the foundation for so many courses for students hoping to get into business and medicine and things like that. My whole thing isn’t just getting kids to graduate H.S. I really want to get more kids prepared for the SATs and to be able to go on to college. Thats a huge gatekeeper…</p>
<p>I have a final interview! I’m in the Alabama area :)</p>
<p>Cali…I have an AAS in Criminal Justice, a BS in Human Services Management, and a MS in Psychology. Spent 16 years in the United States Marine Corps, and I am 53 with no kids at home anymore. I have raised 5 kids and have 8 grandkids (3 of whom were living with me for the past two and a half years). I am very interested in what info you have, but am too old for some of the resources that TFA showed me.
Bekkah, I feel your pain! At least you are already working towards an Ed Degree…graduate degree, right! Good luck with that and getting the opportunity to teach. I plan to apply again in August, hope to see you around then!</p>
<p>I have a final interview in 2 weeks! Anyone else in the Dallas-Fort Worth area?</p>
<p>@ ssgtbam- First and foremost, thank you for your service (Staff Sergeant?). Much respect to you. Secondly, you have a similar background as I do (10 years in law enforcement, and education and background in human services and law). Take a look at the Youth Villages website and PM me if you would like to know more about them. I have a friend who moved across the country to work for them in Atlanta and it was a good experience for her.</p>
<p>@ssgtbam, I think I will reapply next year. I am young, I can bounce back from this. I just feel that I could do so much more with my life then I am doing right now.
When I reapply for next year, I will be closer. I am taking exams and things for my license so I will be ready for TFA because I have to take them for my Ed degree anyway. I feel that TFA provides great support and I really want that. I would do anything to be a corps member. Hopefully applying 1DL or 2DL will improve my chances of being accepted. I feel like we should stay in touch and hopefully we both end up being corps members.</p>
<p>Hi friends! Looks like there hasn’t been activity on here in a week, but I just came across this thread and I’m eager to participate! I applied to the 5thDL, so I have my final interview next week!! Anyone else out there in the same boat? I could use some support from the TFA applicant community because I don’t know anyone else currently applying! I’m 25 years old, finished my undergrad in 2010 so I guess this makes me a nontraditional applicant? I have a few questions for anyone out there who knows more about the application process… first of all is there any disadvantage to applying for 5thDL and/or to being a <em>slightly</em> older working professional? Do roughly the same amount of people apply to each deadline? I’m also wondering about the 2013-2014 regions, because I filled out my regional preferences (and still have a couple days left to make changes)- but DOES ANYONE KNOW whether the prospective new regions are actually heppening? I listed Portland, Pittsburgh, and San Diego all as top preferences- has anyone been placed in these regions yet?? Also, I live in Philly and have been living/working here a couple years. Philly is my top-choice region- would TFA be more likely to place me here since I have a relationship with the city? OR does that have zero bearing? AH I’m really nervous about everything.</p>
<p>@obiejess Good luck next week on your interview! I have mine next week as well and I’m in the same boat as you. I do know that they don’t even look at the assignment preference until you are chosen to participate with TFA and I think it’s a separate team that deals with the assignment preference from the admissions team. How is your lesson plan coming along? I’ve been working on mine for the past week and I am so nervous about this part but hopefully all the practice will pay off!</p>
<p>Thanks @teexo128, good luck to you as well! Where is your interview? I definitely need to practice my lesson plan and figure out how to make it more dynamic- it’s been tricky to get it down to 5 minutes and also allow time for questions… I’m really gonna need to think about possible props or handouts- I just can’t tell what to expect! My lesson right now is very simple, and I’m afraid that the more complexity I add with handouts will just take away time. I have until April 5th in any case…any advice? I’ve filmed myself practicing a few times but I haven’t practiced in front of a real audience. What are your regional prefs? I keep changing mine but my top four are Philly, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Rhode Island.</p>
<p>@Cali</p>
<p>I forgot to ask what are you going to do about the law school you attend since you will be heading down south now?</p>
<p>@yungman - Since it’s a State Bar program (not ABA), and I just finished the first year, they allow time off to study for, take and pass the California FYLSE in October. After that, I can either decide to postpone my studies until I get back in a couple years, or do my second year via the correspondence option. Lots of the CM’s will be working on their masters degrees, but since I already have one I feel like I “could” work on my law degree instead. For most of the first year, though, I plan to focus on teaching and see how I feel. Depending on whether I really love my new home, I may withdraw and apply to an ABA school. How are you doing getting ready for your transition into the corps?! Congrats on your acceptance and thanks for your support during the crazy waiting period. I’m much more well-adjusted these days! 
I’m taking the second of my three Praxis tests tomorrow. Woohoo!</p>
<p>For ObieJess - I’m also a mid career professional, and a bit older than you. There were several of us who were late 20’s/early 30’s and up. I felt like my life and career experience were positive factors, and you should certainly present them as strengths during the interview.</p>
<p>I have not heard of anyone being placed in the potential expansion regions. I had Alaska near the top of my list, so it’s kind of funny that I’m going to the opposite extreme in Mississippi. lol Try to keep an open mind and do your research about the cost of living, graduate degree possibilities, and the population/demographics/social issues that interest you. Good luck with your interview!!</p>
<p>@Cali
I’m doing well. I just started to study. I’m moving from the south to NYC, so it is a big move for me. I was asking you about that because I plan on going to law school as well. And I plan on teaching, going to grad school (it’s required in NYC) and studying for the LSAT. So I will be very busy! I also plan on taking my exams in June and will spend the next two months studying for my NYC exams. I’m pretty excited! Also, no problem. As I told you us getting picked was out of our control but I am happy we both made it!</p>
<p>@obiejess thanks for the positive thoughts! I’m sure you’ll be great! My interview is in Dallas what about you? I actually went to teacherspayteachers.com and found some freebie handouts and there are a ton of options on that website! If you need a dynamic idea Pinterest never fails! It’s actually helped me a lot with my visual aids and handouts. I actually skyped with a friend and had her critique my lesson plan just to get a fresh perspective so that might be something you could try. Or type out a “script” or outline and use that as a foundation to build upon. As for practicing I’ve been running through it in my car on the way to and from work so I can at least have it memorized. Have you attended any of the webinars? My top regional choices are Dallas - Fort Worth, Miami - Dade, central fl, and I think South Carolina.</p>
<p>I remember them saying Atlanta, all regions in Cali (and somewhere else) are not eligibile for 5th deadline because of something to do with certifications. There was an alert saying that if interested in those regions, to apply by 4th DL.</p>
<p>I listed Dallas Ft. worth as my number 1 choice as well <em>fingers crossed</em> followed by (2) Houston, (3) Newark, (4) Baltimore, (5) Philadelphia. I’m from NJ, and went to college in NJ so its safe to say the idea of moving away from everyone I know is terrifying. But I compared literally under a microscope and TX seems to have the lowest standard of living compared to all the more urban regions. And I can honestly do well with never having to see snow again lol. I interview in NYC on wednesday. Good luck to everyone else out there interviewing this week!!</p>
<p>Good luck @tlmm12 I have my interview tomorrow as well! I’m living in the Dallas Fort Worth area right now and I picked that as my number one choice too. Hope you all have a great interview day!</p>
<p>Well- now time for an anxiety-filled next two weeks! How does everyone (5DL) feel after their interviews?</p>
<p>Hi there! I’ve been lurking for a while but finally decided to post! I think my interview went really well! My lesson stood out for all the right reasons in my group, I contributed to the group discussion while linking solutions back to the core values, and I think I got a good response and generally answered the questions well in my one-on-one interview.</p>
<p>The one thing I am wondering–I know for the first deadline people there was a way to tell before the notification day to see whether or not you were in based on your transitional funding status. Has this been changed in the deadlines since?</p>
<p>my final interview day went really well except that I thought my personal interview time was at 2:45 but really it was form 1:30 UNTIL 2:45. So I arrived at 1:45 "/ my interviewer said it was okay and to take a deep breath but I know organization is a trait they look for. do you think I will be rejected because of this? I am soooo nervous. fortunately, they said I could get early notification so I only have to wait ten days "/</p>
<p>Hi guys,
On what basis they are rejecting the application? Let me know. I’m planning to apply for it.</p>