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Does anyone have direct knowledge / experience with Teach for America? Son is very much interested in participating upon college graduation. We've been to the TFA website and someone let me know about a npr Morning Edition TFA segment that I was able to access online. But these questions have not been addressed in the resources found to date:


1. Does it make a difference whether an applicant applies for first or second deadline?

2. Is it possible to defer service by a year (prior to training) if applicant is also accepted to a Fulbright program (which requires, I believe, that you participate in the first year post-graduation)?

3. An earlier contact has said that there is more competition for more "desirable" locations (urban being described more desirable than rural). What about certain grades being considered more popular with applicants? Or certain hs subjects? Impact on app if you are willing to teach less "desirable" grade(s) / subject(s)?

4. Does gender seem to play a role in applicant acceptance? (I'm wondering if TFA mimics the teaching profession, ie more women in k-12, thus possibly boosting a male applicant's chances?)

Beyond answering above questions, any stories of personal related to applying to and particpating in TFA would be appreciated. Thanks.

By burningman on Wednesday, January 02, 2002 - 04:40 pm: Edit

You might want to contact someone at the TFA web site directly to get questions like the Fulbright one answered, I'd be kind of leery of getting this info from a non-official source. Looks like an interesting program.

By anonrs on Wednesday, January 02, 2002 - 08:25 pm: Edit

Thought I'd try for some personal experience anecdotes prior to son contacting TFA directly. (He's abroad until August '02 and has limited internet time). He's pretty excited about the program; he realizes he won't be making much money with his intentions of his life-work being related to helping people. At least the two-year TFA commitment comes with some sort of salary plus the benefit of (potential) partial student loan pay-off. (TFA needs to renew their standing with Americorps for the student loan relief).