Teacher's College

...so many of you know that I am applying to teacher's college after I get my degree. The thing is, that's sort of right now. For fall 2008 admissions, applications are due on November 30 of this year, and since it is so competitive, it is never too early to start working on your application.

I attended some information sessions this past week on some of the schools in Ontario, and I also got some application tips from Career Services at UW. Needless to say, after talking to the different representatives and the ladies at Career Services, I'm terrified. The age group that I want to teach (Primary/Junior - or JK-6) is the most competitive field to get into.

The school I really want to get into is Laurier, since it is here in town. Barry and I will be newlyweds when it's time for me to go to teacher's college, and I thought it might be nice if we lived in the same city (ha ha). But it's looking more like I might have to go away somewhere instead.

This weekend I'm going to start working on my application and budgeting out the application. I have to decide how many schools I can afford to apply to. The application itself costs $110 for 3 schools, plus $25 for each additional school. Then each school has supplementary fees they charge in order to look at your application ($30-$70) and each school requires a transcript from my Undergrad degree ($8). YIKES! One of the representatives at the talks the other day told us that when he was applying to teachers college, he was so nervous that he applied to every school and spent over $1000 just on applications.

This whole process is a really good way to discourage those who are not actually serious about teaching. Some people apparently just want to be a teacher because of the holidays and the hours. They don't realize how much is involved, and it makes me angry that people like me (who have wanted to be a teacher forever) has to go through all this just so some people can get cushy jobs and be second rate teachers.

But I digress....