You've decided to apply to Teach for America. The most selective post-college program out there. I'm Wes: father, spouse, recent graduate and future corp member for 2010. I've applied to the program twice. I've been on the downside of this recession- unemployed with a wife also out of work and a daughter to care for. Today things are much better I'm nannying to make ends meet but excited that after applying this year for the first/summer deadline I was accepted . I have a lot to share and in these 2000 or so words I hope to share the first part (the application process) with readers and hope a greater understanding of what it means to apply to Teach for America will be garnered by the end of this long three part post. Enjoy.
Making the decision to Apply
I decided to apply for Teach for America (TFA) when I was a Jr. in college. TFA was already doing a lot of recruiting on campus. It was one of the few organizations involved in a campus leadership foundation I was a member of at the time. In addition I was moved to education after a self-reflection exercise in an Anthropology course (of all places). Way before the financial collapse I knew I wanted to go into teaching.
That summer I spent a considerable amount of time researching teaching options and TFA ranked top on the list as ways to get involved in the sector. The appeal of having a career-long foundation for success through the TFA network is what made me strongly in favor of applying. The fact that Beecher and I were expecting and soon to be starting a family the appeal of a steady career tract also was promising. Beecher and I poured over hundreds of articles, studies, and opinions on TFA. My main concern was about the competitiveness of the program as written about this year in the post Acceptance Reality. While TFA is not “competitive” it is highly selective. Their percentages of high GPA, high SAT scores, and high achieving students were extremely intimidating. With my 3.0 GPA, and the fact that I had a daughter on the way, these numbers were concerning.
Still I decided to apply but to do so after I had another semester under my belt to boost my GPA even further, as well as to give me more time to better prepare for the rigorous process.
Alright lets charge forward to solve the greatest inequality in America
After Beecher and I decided to join we made the appropriate arrangements to go forward (including me quitting my job). In addition to reading everything out there about the organization, we attended two events on campus about TFA. The first was held by our University Career services, the second was an information session held by the main recruiter at our school. Finally, we visited the regional office that summer to get an up-close and personal look at TFA’s work.
The most important part of this process was our rigorous note taking. We scoured the TFA website, and numerous news stories noting words and terms that were repeated over and over again. We wanted to essentially boil down the articles to key words and then note which ones were used most often. We had a constantly updated list of these terms as we heard them being used by the organization. The more these words and terms were used, the more we were able to connect them to a greater theme in what the organization was looking to accomplish and what they were looking for in their candidates.
For example: “willing to do what it takes” noted at least two dozen times across all materials and physical events. That was connected to individual stories we had read in our periodical searches online. This was one of many such examples that demonstrated greater qualities that TFA looked for in most applicants.
Putting Passion to Paper and Words
That winter break, Beecher and I spent much time on our applications. Connecting the ideas that we had observed, noted, and cared about most into our candidacies. Out of the word lists we had compiled we chose the ones that fit our experiences and beliefs most closely. The following week I advanced directly to a final interview while Beecher was invited to a phone interview.
Beecher prepared for her phone interview by meeting with a counselor at our University Career Services. A list of potential questions served as mock interviews at home. We wrote out answers to the questions, again referencing the lists of key words where appropriate and focusing on different aspects of her resume for each question. The phone interview was a success and Beecher was invited to her final interview as well.
The next couple of weeks were spent eagerly preparing for this interview. I had several meetings with one of my professors to find out a great lesson relating to African American history since it was Black history month. The most nervous part of preparation was for the lesson. Much money was spent on supplies to teach our lesson. We spent an entire weekend going to the Mall deciding on the perfect outfit for Beecher to wear to her interview. Finally, hours upon hours were spent with us shooting questions back and forth to each other in mock interviews while compiling the many items TFA requires just one week before your interview such as the Transcript evaluation form. These items alone take hours to complete and are time sensitive.
There are tons of resources and blogs on the web that detail the final interview, so I will pass on talking about that process. I was highly nervous in my final interview and had many times where I felt frozen with anxiety. With that being said, if you have what it takes to be a TFA member I think you will find a way to make yourself shine in this final interview.
The time period between your final interview and your acceptance notification take forever. I know that I was all-consumed by the waiting. With a young daughter, Beecher (who was also waiting), and a crumbling US economy at the time, the wait was dreadful to say the least. On acceptance day Beecher was rejected outright. I was waitlisted and told that I would be notified of my status.
Disaster and Depression
April came with another notification that I would find out in May if I was going to be placed. May came and again, I was told that by June 1st they would give me a final yes or no. In between each period I was working as hard as I could to ensure that I would be placed. I was visiting the TFA office and trying to find any way I could to stay connected and make myself more viable it was pointless. Unfortunately, June came and I was told no (basically getting the same rejection letter Beecher had got in the first place). Waitlisting was terrible and I write about my current feelings for those currently on it for 2010 here. My life felt as if was falling apart. I was graduating with no job prospects. I had quit my job to focus on getting a really great job and over my Sr. year I had applied for well over 100 jobs in addition to TFA only to get rejected by Every. Single. One. In hindsight I would have done some things differently on my regional preference form to increase my chances. My preferences were selfish and short sighted focused on sexy places I wanted to live while in the corps rather than where I would be needed to make the most impact. as written about
I spent the summer scrambling for employment. Beecher and I were living in a trailer (in a very rural region of the country) belonging to a family friend of hers, a place where she was emotionally unstable and we didn’t have access to some pretty simple amenities, such as internet. We were grateful for the free housing but terribly distressed by the lack of savings, mounting credit card debt, and continuing with no jobs (despite by this point my outstanding 200 job applications by this point).
Resolution?
Long story short, I finally landed a job making a decent salary. That August I noticed TFA had a summer deadline and I jumped at the opportunity. I knew that if I didn’t do something to boost my chances I would forever find myself trapped by the gap on my resume that felt like a slap on the face.
In my community I looked for ways to make a difference. My job was extremely unrewarding and disheartening. I was angry that the global recession dealt me such a bad hand yet at the same time happy to have some type of employment. To deal with this anxiety I started volunteering at the local KIPP School in my community.
The KIPP experience was amazing. It diffused a lot of frustration I had about my circumstance, while giving me valuable insight in the world of those working daily to help end the achievement gap. Re-applying was not the least bit stressful. This time, everything came almost naturally.
The second time around
While my first application essay came easy, this year it was the hardest to master. I wanted to spend it yelling in despair at the situation millions of Americans have now found themselves. A recession anthem for the downtrodden is what I wanted to write about. Instead, I was forced to bring out the inner optimist. The Wes who was young and idealistic, not the Wes who was ran over by society and trampled by life in the past year. Bringing this optimism out was hard yet it yielded me a phone interview.
My interviewer seemed genuinely intrigued by my experiences. I came in ready to defend my reasons for unemployment over the summer or my current un-traditional candidacy. Instead, she was interested in how these were assets. I was able to easily discuss my reasons for wanting to join. I told her why I was applying again, specifically how much time I have had to think about what being a corps member was. My expressions were heartfelt and not regurgitated ideas built from a document of commonly occurring TFA catch phrases.
To be honest I barely prepared for my final interview and I certainly didn’t spend much money on it. My lesson was chosen and put together two days before my final interview. I scoped out the location the day prior making sure I knew how to get there, and the layout of the interview room. The night before Beecher coached me through my lesson and I was ready to go the following day with about a fourth of the prep tome than the year prior.
The interview day was long. Since I was not nearly as nervous as the year before, it seemed to drag on for ever. Activity…after…activity…after…activity! Writing sample after writing sample, lesson after lesson. Through it all, I just talked what I believed and felt to be true. I discovered that wanting to be apart of TFA is a mindset not a group of qualifiers you subscribe to. Once you are in that mindset, all else comes naturally and you will flourish in the areas that they look for promise among applicants.
Acceptance
So I’ve been accepted no wait-listing! I will be teaching English in the MS Delta. I know I didn’t believe it when people used to tell me, but getting in is not all about fantastic grades and great extra-curricular involvement. While that helps its not the panacea for guaranteed acceptance. Like I said, being a TFA’er is a mindset. I am going to be needing to rely heavily on my basic foundation to get me through the rough times.
A point of disagreement even on this blog has been about the waitlist. It is a caveat to being qualified to join. Yes you may be “acceptable” like I was last year but the waitlist means they didn’t have availability to put you where you wanted to go and in the subject you wanted. My feeling is to avoid this try to think more open-mindedly about regions. Especially if you are single and have no dependents and would love to have a great adventure. Besides that, just be yourself, do your research, and get involved with the organizations core principles.
