Education major at an elite school, good or bad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you wealthy? If so, then whatever. If not, then JMU for teaching. If you think he’ll or want him to) consider other majors, then go to a school with a range of majors and focus on getting summer internships.

+1
Unless you are wealthy, why would you spend $80K+/year for college. Where you go to school does NOT matter at all for education majors, other than it's best to attend school in a state you want to live in later, since you have to be certified in that state. Absolutely no reason to go to an elite school for that....it's literally a waste of money. Teacher salaries arebased on years of experience and highest degree, nothing else.

Because you're paying for the experience, the connections, etc. Because life is long and what you start out doing at 21 is rarely what you're doing at 30 or 40 or 50. Because having an elite university on your resume will help with all subsequent jobs and graduate school admissions, even if you're 10 years removed from anything to do with your college major. Because many people meet their spouse at college and almost everyone meets many of their closest friends and life-long connections.

I really have zero expectation that whatever my kid studies at 18-21 will determine what they're doing professionally at 30. I went to medical school as an English major. My husband went to law school as a chemical engineer. My brother works in finance as a philosophy undergrad (and grad!) major. My sister works in marketing as an education major. My cousin studied computer science and also went to medical school. Her husband went to law school after 3 degrees in Spanish language studies.

We're all successful adults with (frankly) large salaries. None of us ended up in our terminal occupations until after 30. Some of us are considering switching occupations entirely at age 50. Life is long. College has far more value than being a technical or professional school.

[Anonymous]

Just make sure OP's kid knows what he is getting himself into.  Nothing wrong with becoming a teacher but it does come with a financial cost

Younger brother majored in education at a school very similarly to Vanderbuilt and is currently teaching in FCPS system.  He and his wife are not making enough to afford a home in the Langley pyramid so they use my address to send their kids there.  

My DS is also interested in a career in education; however, he majors in STEM at Stanford and plans to work in finance for ten years before pivoting to become a secondary teacher.  At least that's his plan.

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with teaching, even if just for a little while, after a very good undergraduate education. But undergraduate students who only major in education don't usually get either depth or breadth out of their initial degrees. As long as he gets a major in the field he wants to teach, perhaps in addition to an education major, he can set this concern to rest. Better yet, save the education degree for an MA or postgraduate certificate because it is really technical training, not education.

[Anonymous]

DH was an engineer for years before moving to math teacher. Your DC can Teach as a starting profession if they want. I will wager that after 5 years making a pittance, dealing with crazy parents, undisciplined children, and a bureaucratic administration that wants to take every last drop of blood from you, while you watch your Vandy (or whatever selective school) friends make 150k compared to your 50k, your DCs will run from the profession. My advice is to at least major in Math or STEM so they are marketable when they realize the profession absolutely sucks. I can’t tell you how many teachers I’ve met that want to transition out of teaching, but they have very few practical skills that translate to business. Most don’t know the basics of MS office suite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you encouraging this?
I’m a hs teacher and I think it is best to major in a subject rather than education. You have stronger content knowledge which will make you a better teacher for middle and high school. Education majors are easy and boring.
Teaching cannot be taught through theory. You learn how to teach once you are in the classroom.

+1 I am also a HS teacher and I would not spend the $ for my kid to go to a private school for an education degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you encouraging this?
I’m a hs teacher and I think it is best to major in a subject rather than education. You have stronger content knowledge which will make you a better teacher for middle and high school. Education majors are easy and boring.
Teaching cannot be taught through theory. You learn how to teach once you are in the classroom.

+1 I am also a HS teacher and I would not spend the $ for my kid to go to a private school for an education degree.

The girl is going to Vandy. An Mrs. pairs nicely with an education degree if they want to be able to send their kids to a school like Vandy too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bad. If he wants to be a teacher, it's best to go to an in state public university which has good ties to the local school systems.

If he wants to live in another state, then he needs to pick a public university in that state.

There is no reason to go private unless he just wants to spend a lot of money, and no need to go out of state unless he plans to live in that state post graduation.

This. I'd save money by sending to state school and then pay for them to go to grad school to help with salary (MA and PhD). Number of teachers in the family, salary jumped with MA for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you encouraging this?
I’m a hs teacher and I think it is best to major in a subject rather than education. You have stronger content knowledge which will make you a better teacher for middle and high school. Education majors are easy and boring.
Teaching cannot be taught through theory. You learn how to teach once you are in the classroom.

+1 I am also a HS teacher and I would not spend the $ for my kid to go to a private school for an education degree.

+2 from another HA teacher. Get a degree in something (anything) other than education. He can still teach! He’ll just have to complete a certification program. Most counties have them.

This way he can fill the urge to teach for 2-3 years and still have a degree that will get him a job in another field. He’ll also avoid useless education classes this way. (Some of them really are useless.)

The job is no longer sustainable for a full career. Teacher burnout is REAL.

[Anonymous]

OP, i would say yes because there is great possibility that your child will change his major. 80% of all college majors do (this was very common at my SLAC and my UVA kid also did it).

[Anonymous]

Save the money for grad school!