SPEDucator

Certification will be hard if you haven't student taught in middle or high school. You are better off looking for independent schools or charter schools that don't require certification. NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) has a job board that you can look at. Just a warning hiring season is at the tail end in the independent school world.

I'm right there with both of you. Going to UT Austin in SPED. I've been trying to find online jobs, as I feel they would be more flexible with hours. I've looked into VIP kids (https://www.vipkidteachers.com/) as I have a teaching background. I'm just a little worried that it's what people sign up for, so it's not guaranteed $$ each week. Any other work from home options people have?

My current ipad isn't compatible with the apple pencil, so I'm planning on upgrading to the new air. I like the pro, but I don't know that it's worth the extra $330 (upgrade on ipad and pencil). The hand drag won't be an issue with the ipad. It can detect hand vs pencil. Are you near an apple store and go try them out? I would recommend that before you commit. I have one for work and I love it!

Hi! I'm joining UT Austin for a PhD in Special Education. I'm so excited. When is everyone moving down? My plan is in early to mid August.

With this in mind I would choose UNC. The two hours might make you think that you could pop in for a weekend of something like that, but with a job and coursework you are going to be busy and so going back each weekend or even every other weekend would keep work/school on your mind a lot! I think 1 year at UNC you could still visit or they could come to you, but it would be more intentional time together. I think it would seem more "special" and you could be able to prepare for it by getting work done ahead of time as it wouldn't be as often. This is personal preference but I prefer a cohort. It's so nice to all get together, review the material and also be able to reach out over those first few years of doing the work and commiserate. I had this with my masters program and it was invaluable and one thing I looked for when searching for a PhD program.

also consider whether you will need to pay taxes on the 20k. That will make the per month amount less.

I saw this on another site and thought it would be good as we have less than a month before April 15th! This is a thread where folks can post what schools they are deciding between and what circumstances they are considering, as well as any other factors that are being considered. I'll start although I'm 99% positive that I've made my decision. Coming from: Washington, DC Deciding between: University of Minnesota - Minimal funding (RA only not guaranteed funding over the summer) - AMAZING Professor (but only one doing the research I want) - COLD - Department did not seem cohesive (probably due to people doing VERY different types of research) UT Austin - Impressive funding (including RA which does include the summer and a 1 year recruitment fellowship) - professor doing research that I like (more than one professor working on these topics) - HOT - department seemed more connected and people seemed supportive (I spoke with a current PhD student for 45 minutes over the phone) Other Considerations - neither can officially guarantee Ra-ship for more than 1 year (but both say it will happen) - extreme temps in both places (coming from a person used to 4 seasons this is something I am concerned about) - cost of living is around the same for both cities How I'm leaning: I'm very much leaning towards UT Austin for the $ and the feeling that I got about the department. My one hesitation is that I LOVED the professor at Minnesota and she is doing the EXACT research that I want to do...

I also like handwritten notes, but have found an ipad with apple pencil does the same thing. I can read an annotate PDFs as well as take handwritten notes or typed notes. I use notability and have it on both my ipad and computer so it will sync between the two.

If you have a current ipad you can trade it in at apple for some credit toward a new ipad. With the amount of fakes/refurbished ipads that go around, I will only purchase my apple products from apple. They usually do a promotion in July for free headphones, which might be too late for me as my current computer is through work and I will need to turn it in in June...

Hi All, Just thought I would check in on what everyone is doing? Anyone make any decisions? I'm still up in the air so any ways people are deciding would be appreciated!

Thanks! I hope you hear some good news! When I was accepted to my masters program at Vandy, Al had to call me to tell me I was in because I had never received an acceptance but they were going to call me to offer me a funding opportunity. If I had known about Grad Cafe then I probably would have been so worried and assumed I didn't get in because other people would have already heard. So honestly you never know!

I was rejected on Friday, which was what I expected. Congrats to whoever got in!

I got more info on funding feel free to PM me if you want to talk.

Thanks! Now I will be refreshing my email all day tomorrow! Luckily I will be visiting another school on Monday so if I don't hear tomorrow I'll have something to distract me this weekend into Monday.

I'm so sorry! Here is the information I was given about the student visit day (https://education.utexas.edu/campus-visit-day) if that helps. I know the wait is hard and I'm dying to hear about funding. I know they can't guarantee it, but I do think that they fund the majority of their grad students. With how competitive the field is, they wouldn't get the candidates they want without funding. I would hold off until you get the funding letter. I've also heard that once you are on a project you are likely to stay on it until it ends or you choose to move on.