fxcassell

hi everyone! headed to brown for the MAT in Secondary History/Social Studies. so excited to move to providence! does anyone know how much lead time i should give myself for apartment hunting? my program requires me to move in june 1, so i'm wondering how far in advance i should secure an apartment.

Hi guys! So excited to start at Brown this summer! My program starts mid-June so I'm looking for apartments now. How fast is the apartment market in Providence? I'm thinking I might visit for a few days in late April to secure housing, but will ads looking for a roommate posted in early April generally be filled in a few days? Also, how useful is biking in Providence? I won't have my car so I'm thinking I might get a bike, but I know there are a few significant hills around town.

I'm in the process of deciding between two schools (and possibly a third but I don't know funding yet). My parents really want me to attend one school that will probably be about $20k in loans when all is said and done, but the program I like the most would probably be another $10k more in loans. I know that $30k in loans is the maximum amount of debt I should be considering for my estimated post-graduate salary ($30,000 for a high school history/social studies teacher), but now I'm starting to have jitters about the state of the job market for teachers, especially in a field that is in such low demand like Social Studies. I'm terrified of the thought of graduating with no job prospects and debt. I've got no undergraduate debt but also no savings to pull from since I just finished my service as a Peace Corps volunteer. I'm just interested in hearing what other MAT students feel about post-graduation job market and how much they are willing to take out in loans.

ASCAL, are you referring to Brown's Urban Education Fellows? I received my acceptance today from the grad school dean, but all it had was an ambiguous statement that I had "received financial support" from my program, but nothing more specific. I applied to the Fellows program as an MAT candidate, but I assumed that since it wasn't listed in my acceptance letter than my financial support would be something less substantive. And I'm in the same boat as both of you; I just declined my offer from Stanford because I received a better offer from another school.

I also got the phone call on Friday but haven't received the email package yet. Secondary Social Studies/History. STEP is my first choice, but it will all come down to funding :-( Oh yeah, and I still have to take the CSET.

I'm an RPCV Morocco '08-'10. As I'm sure you are now aware, the application bureaucracy can be a nightmare. I applied in Sept 2007 and left for pre-staging in Sept 2008, which is a pretty standard wait time. My suggestion is patience, patience, patience. And, as annoying as all that bureaucracy can be, it's 10x worse once you get into your host country and start doing projects, grants, etc. I'm glad I served because as an undergrad I was determined to do grad work in development. After two years in the field, I am 100% sure I couldn't do it long-term. While Peace Corps can be incredibly rewarding, there are also daily reminders of how development work can actually be debilitating to a countrywhen applied improperly. However, my specific sector (Youth Development) reignited my REAL interest in working in the classroom, so that's what I'm applying to now. As for grad/career, I only applied to one Peace Corps Fellows program, so that benefit wasn't a huge one for me. Several of my friends have taken/passed the Foreign Service Test and the non-competitive eligibility can help if you are interested in a government job. USAID recruits like crazy from RPCVs. Like the previous poster said, I think the best benefit comes from the ability to talk about my experiences in my SOP, interviews, etc. A line that one friend jokingly used once in an interview was, "If I can do all of that in Arabic and Berber, think of what I can do in my native tongue!" I know that my experiences in a Moroccan classroom feature heavily in my own grad school applications. Hope this helps.