TA jobs as a Masters student...

[Macrina]

It looks like I might be working as a TA for one of the introductory MDiv theology courses next year. Has anyone else done this? Is it a good or helpful thing if I'm planning to apply to doctoral programs next fall? And if you've done it, how much does it pay? I think it does pay, but I'm not sure how much, or if it is a good idea/worth my time.

At my institution, these spots mostly go to doctoral students, and I don't know any other masters students doing this, so I don't have anyone else to ask. Thanks for any answers.

[RedDoor]

It is certainly a good thing, though I am not sure it will help you dramatically in your application. I certainly would go for it. In my experience, TA jobs for students pay ~$800 compared to the typical adjunct pay of ~$1,500-$3,000 per class. The TA job will also allow your references to speak on teaching ability, which should be a nice way to separate yourself from others.

 

You'll want to make sure that it does not affect your GPA dramatically. In fact, that may be more important than the TA job.

[Macrina]

It is certainly a good thing, though I am not sure it will help you dramatically in your application. I certainly would go for it. In my experience, TA jobs for students pay ~$800 compared to the typical adjunct pay of ~$1,500-$3,000 per class. The TA job will also allow your references to speak on teaching ability, which should be a nice way to separate yourself from others.

 

You'll want to make sure that it does not affect your GPA dramatically. In fact, that may be more important than the TA job.

Thanks! Very helpful.

I actually already have some solid teaching experience, but the prof who offered the TA position is my main reference, so I guess it can't hurt...

[AbrasaxEos]

Do it.  I came out of YDS utterly unprepared, but with a great deal of drive for pursuing a PhD in Ancient Christianity (my concentrated M.A.R. was actually in Hebrew Bible).  I went from having one strong recommender who was not tenured to four, 2 of whom were senior faculty.  I also gained a good deal of experience teaching to a different kind of crowd.  As a caveat, I was actually done with my M.A.R. when I did it, as YDS does not allow you to teach (technical) peers, so as RedDoor notes, be sure that you can handle it with your courseload. You'll need to steer a course between the Scylla and Charybdis of (a) doing poorly in your courses / ( being a crappy TA because you aren't spending the time you need to prepare.  I was paid almost 10k per semester (basically the Yale doctoral stipend at the time), believe it or not, but I would not take this as typical.  I actually think that this did help me dramatically in my applications, though more because:

 

1. I was able to TA under two big names in the field who were then able to heartily recommend me when the time came.

2. I was able to take a few extra courses in languages, as well as sit in on a few others in varied subjects of interest.

 

I think that had I applied straight out of YDS, I likely would have gotten in nowhere (or maybe one of those places that cranks out PhDs and offers no/low funding).  Instead I was litlerally only flat-out rejected from 1/6 programs that I applied to. 

Edited March 11, 2014 by AbrasaxEos

[jstudemeyer]

Is it particularly difficult to get a TA job as a MA or MTS student? Is it a "by invitation only" job or do schools usually allow students to apply internally? As a student preparing for the crushing poverty of graduate life, I'd love to find a bit of work within a school.

[Joseph45]

In my humble opinion, if it helps you get to know a professor that you really want to know better, and possibly get a rec from, that's fine, but I have my doubts about whether it's really that helpful.

 

Apparently some posters above were helped with rec letters after TAing, but I have to think that poster is the exception. These letters oftentimes won't actually help much, because the professor can't speak to your ability as a student. Doctoral programs, for better or worse, just do not care about whether you are or will be a good TA.

 

More importantly, nobody's going to see that you were a TA and think that you'll be a good match for their program. Other things, such as grades, rec letters, and GRE scores will let them know that you're intelligent, but what really matters is whether you fit. Being a TA won't overcome bad grades, rec letters or GRE scores, and it won't make you a fit. On the other hand, being a TA often does take up a lot of time, time which you could be spending on classwork, impressing your referees, and on your applications.

 

Sorry for being negative, but that's my honest opinion. Exceptions aside (i.e., a rare chance to get to interact with an important prof in your field), it's probably not worth it.

[AbrasaxEos]

Don't get me wrong, being a TA is not a replacement for any of the other elements of a good application, fit being foremost among them.  I will say that in each of my acceptance calls, my being a TA was commented on positively - was this the deciding factor? Probably not, but I do think it helped. Further, while doctoral programs don't particularly care whether you are going to be a good TA, the job that you might apply for after your doctoral program will.  You'll gain some during the course of your PhD, but why not have some more, and in a different kind of environment?

 

Note also that I would very much not suggest doing this if it is going to affect your academic performance negatively.  I mentioned this in the first post as well.  So, as with most things on this forum, you'll get both sides of the coin, and strong opinions that one side is much shinier than the other.  This is one of them, as are those responding above.  I think that you get the pros and cons set out pretty well, so have fun deciding!

[Joseph45]

Don't get me wrong, being a TA is not a replacement for any of the other elements of a good application, fit being foremost among them.  I will say that in each of my acceptance calls, my being a TA was commented on positively - was this the deciding factor? Probably not, but I do think it helped. Further, while doctoral programs don't particularly care whether you are going to be a good TA, the job that you might apply for after your doctoral program will.  You'll gain some during the course of your PhD, but why not have some more, and in a different kind of environment?

 

Note also that I would very much not suggest doing this if it is going to affect your academic performance negatively.  I mentioned this in the first post as well.  So, as with most things on this forum, you'll get both sides of the coin, and strong opinions that one side is much shinier than the other.  This is one of them, as are those responding above.  I think that you get the pros and cons set out pretty well, so have fun deciding!

You obviously have first hand experience here, so I'm obviously being stupid disagreeing with you, but it still seems odd to me that PhD programs (good ones at least) would really care about this. And while some jobs care about your teaching credentials, I really really don't think it would matter if you TA'ed as a masters student or not--especially because getting such jobs aren't really due to one's skill as a teacher.

 

Anyway, like I said, I'm happy to admit that you know more about this than I do. I just can't think that your experience is very normal though, But maybe that's just because I'm stupid.

[mdiv2014]

if teaching is your passion and you're good at it, being a TAing will validate that IMHO only strengthening your application

you could incorporate a new subject or teaching methodology into your teaching experience

but if teaching is not your passion dont bother because you think you  HAVE to be a TA

if you're neutral and being a TA improves your teaching, showing personal growth, it might help

 

it really depends on the situation

Edited March 12, 2014 by mdiv2014

[Macrina]

Thanks, everyone. This particular course is taught by my POI who happens to already by my strongest recommendation. I think I'm going to do it, in part to further strengthen aspects of my rec/application, and in part to 'test out' teaching and academic work. They don't usually hire non-PhD students for these positions, so I think the fact that it's been offered is a positive thing.

[Alex Madlinger]

I'd say go for it. It will almost certainly help your personal and professional development, and it can't hurt your application to a PhD. Maybe (?) a few extra years of TAing will look good on a CV when you're struggling for that first job?