Nipissing

[lolamatopoeia]

I woke up this morning to find an Offer of Admission to the BEd program at Nipissing University in my inbox. Uh oh. This is where things get complicated.

I am fully aware that Teacher Education programs in Ontario are ridiculously competitive and notoriously difficult to get into and so to anyone else this would be fantastic news and I don't want to take that for granted - but then I've got New Zealand and the University of Canterbury's Offer dangling in front of me. FUCK. I want to go the NZ for what I see as the experience of a lifetime and take a chance, my one last shot at a dream, but at the same time this is my education we're talking about and I've got to consider if I should go to a school that is known for a quality program or for one that let me in likely partially because I'm an international student (and is thus usually a last resort for wannabe teachers in Ontario who otherwise could not get in here). But I've never even been on a plane before! If I chose to stay that's like choosing to be stuck here in Ontario forever! FUCK fuck fuckity FUCK fuck FUCK FUCK.

Edit: The deadline to accept their Offer is April 17th.

FUCK.

Comments

[lolamatopoeia.livejournal.com]

p.s. any way to find out placement rates for new teachers or years to teaching stats?

[ekaterinn.livejournal.com]

You should be able to ask the education departments at the schools for their stats. Much like grad schools, if their stats are any good, they will *probably* keep track of them and tell you. If they don't, that could be a warning sign.

Also, you could ask about the two programs on http://community.livejournal.com/ontario_teacher/ or even on community.livejournal.com/teaching (since vthat comm gets higher traffic).

Is there a big difference in costs in the two programs?

Finally, there's the point that if you want a full-time position within your first year or two, it won't be in Ontario. Alberta or northern Canada would be probably your best bet. So, wherever you go, you won't be stuck in Ontario forever.

[lolamatopoeia.livejournal.com]

Thanks, and I'll definitely post the question in the Teaching community.

The cost difference? Oh yes. That's a HUGE issue. Tudor and I have done spreadsheets comparing the estimated costs for the year, including tuition and all school and living expenses and the figures are (no joke):

Nipissing: $15-18k for the year
New Zealand: $35-39k (!) for the year

Yeah ...