Ra

Buttonz · #1 01-28-2006, 10:37 PM

Anyone here an RA or has been one? Advantages/disadvantages? Stories? I'm applying for it for next year, though I'm still unsure about it.

Optimist Prime · #2 01-28-2006, 11:31 PM

One of my brothers was an RA but got fired for having sex with one of his residents.

So I guess a con would be: no sex w/ residents under risk of being fired.

RioLambdaAlum · #3 01-29-2006, 12:18 AM

I was. Got to have a room to myself for the price of if I had a roommate plus a free parking pass as a few minor perks. Ummm...I never went home except for major breaks so didn't bug me one bit. You have to put up with a lot of crap sometimes. Don't be suprised if at 3 am you have a knock on your door from your residents needing something from you. Had one once need let in their room cause they left their key in their room and the roommate had locked them out not knowing they didnt have their key.
Other than that I would recommend it if you aren't one who likes going home all the time.

Buttonz · #4 01-29-2006, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RioLambdaAlum
I was. Got to have a room to myself for the price of if I had a roommate plus a free parking pass as a few minor perks. Ummm...I never went home except for major breaks so didn't bug me one bit. You have to put up with a lot of crap sometimes. Don't be suprised if at 3 am you have a knock on your door from your residents needing something from you. Had one once need let in their room cause they left their key in their room and the roommate had locked them out not knowing they didnt have their key.
Other than that I would recommend it if you aren't one who likes going home all the time.

Did you get free room & board? By us, they just give a $6,600 scholarship spread out through each tri, that doesn't even cover R&B.

tunatartare · #5 01-29-2006, 01:12 AM

Here you get free room and board and a meal plan with 5 meals/week and $250 thrifty cash to use at the cafeteria or cabaret (food store).

tld221 · #6 01-29-2006, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KLPDaisy
Here you get free room and board and a meal plan with 5 meals/week and $250 thrifty cash to use at the cafeteria or cabaret (food store).

only 5 a week? i get 10 and still struggle to make it work.

i'm currently an RA, and i think i liked the idealistic image of being an RA more than being one. dont get me wrong, i LOVE my job, and all 55 of my residents...

but there are some days i dont wanna see freshmen.

i love being on an RA staff, and i feel more connected to NYU by being an RA. call me dorky, but its true. and the influence you have on incoming freshmen and on university policy is cool too.

never mind that the NYU compensation is pretty sweet (free room/board plus 15% off books, and get to move in 2 weeks early)

thats approx. $16k. but there are schools where the comp. is way lower and not even worth it, unless you REALLY like the job.

you can PM me if you want more specifics.

tunatartare · #7 01-29-2006, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tld221
only 5 a week? i get 10 and still struggle to make it work.

You also get $250 to use in the cafeteria. The 5 meals/week is for all RA's. For instance, one of my housemates is an RA in our townhouse for the area. Since all of the townhouses where we live have kitchens, no one who lives up here is required to be on a meal plan. Yet she still gets 5 meals a week if she wants them.

tld221 · #8 01-29-2006, 02:42 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by KLPDaisy
You also get $250 to use in the cafeteria. The 5 meals/week is for all RA's. For instance, one of my housemates is an RA in our townhouse for the area. Since all of the townhouses where we live have kitchens, no one who lives up here is required to be on a meal plan. Yet she still gets 5 meals a week if she wants them.

i get $250 as well... however im in a traditional reshall, so... i guess its more a necessity for me.

xoheatherxo · #9 01-29-2006, 02:51 AM

i was never an ra, but i was friends with some at my college when i was there. i know they got the highest meal plan, room and board, and a monthly paycheck (not much but moneys money!). not bad but it was also a smaller school and the room and board wasnt that expensive to begin with compared to other schools. i personally never would have done it because i lived in the dorms for a year and then moved off campus. i didnt really like the dorms. but if you like living in the dorms, then id totally do it!!

Munchkin03 · #10 01-29-2006, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tld221
there are schools where the comp. is way lower and not even worth it, unless you REALLY like the job.

Like my undergrad! When I was an RA, all you got was a $1,000 stipend. But, then again, we were "Resident Counselors", and did not have the same authority or responsibility that an RA at most other schools did.

In the area around NYU, free room and board might just be worth it. During my last year of grad school, I was a Graduate Assistant (basically a boss for the RAs). It was a pretty sweet deal too--free one-bedroom apartment (in Manhattan!), $5,500 stipend, meal plan, and dining dollars to use as I pleased. Add that to my partial TA-ship, and I graduated with a nice savings.

Despite the crummy pay, I really liked being an RA. My undergrad required us to live on-campus for the first three years anyway, and the room I had as an RA was way better than any of the rooms my friends who lived in sophomore housing. Sometimes the kids were bratty. But...I could always close the door and pretend I was out of town.

PlymouthDZ · #11 01-29-2006, 12:44 PM

I was an RA for 3 years.

I loved it

I got my single room, then apartment as an upperclassmen, for free.

Plus, I learned a lot about planning and managing along with counseling and being a mentor. I met amazing people through Residential Life and I would do it all over again.

I even met my very bestest friend as an RA - we were in the same building and became rediculously close.

I would highly reccomend it... but you need to love bulletin boards and late night fire drills

Buttonz · #12 01-29-2006, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by PlymouthDZ

I would highly reccomend it... but you need to love bulletin boards and late night fire drills

To live on campus pass the required time means loving late night fire drills

The bulletin boards here are horrible...I could make a much better one with my eyes closed, so that's not a problem.

I just feel as if the $6,600 somehow isn't worth it, as it doesn't even cover the cost of the room, I'm still going to be paying to live on campus...just not as much as I normally word. Also, it comes in the form of a JWU scholarship, and there is a limit to how much you are allowed per year of JWU scholarships (it changes every year). I have a feeling that I won't even be getting the full $6,600 because I have a lot in JWU scholarship money already.

The money that covers room and board covers the weekday meal plan (3 swipes per day Monday - Thursday). It's an extra almsot $1,000 for the weekend meal plan (2 swipes a day, Friday - Sunday). RA's don't even get the weekendmeal plan for free, or anything else. It kinda stinks.

SOPi_Jawbreaker · #13 01-29-2006, 01:24 PM

I was never an RA but I do have some advice. If you become an RA and one of your residents has an injury or a medical problem, please take it seriously and not just tell him/her "it'll be fine, you don't need to go to the hospital".

One of my best friends had a really bad RA her freshman year. The first weekend, my friend got a UTI and was in horrific pain. The RA told her that health services wasn't open on the weekends and that she should just wait until Monday. Since this was my friend's first week at college, she trusted that the RA knew what she was talking about. Luckily, an upperclassman girl down the hall took my friend to a doctor. The doctor said that she should have gotten medical treatment as soon as she started to feel pain instead of waiting.

Later in the semester, my friend tripped while running to answer her phone. She hit her head on the corner of her desk and had a gash on her forehead. The RA told her that she didn't need to go to the hospital to get stitches...that she just needed to bandage it up. So, my friend once again believed the RA. Luckily, some of the upperclassmen from down the hall went to see what was up. One of them was pre-med and insisted that my friend go to the hospital and took her to the hospital. She had to get stitches and the doctor said that if she hadn't gotten the wound stitched up right away, she would have had a really nasty scar.

Moral of the stories: Your residents are going to look up to you and trust you. If you don't know the answer, it's better to be safe then sorry. You'd much rather have them go be told by a doctor that it's nothing than have it be something serious that didn't get medical attention.

Dionysus · #14 01-29-2006, 01:44 PM

If you want to start RAing in the fall, how soon should you start contacting people? Speaking of contacting people, WHO do you contact?

Buttonz · #15 01-29-2006, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dionysus
If you want to start RAing in the fall, how soon should you start contacting people? Speaking of contacting people, WHO do you contact?

Look @ the Res. Life section on your schools website. My school had mandtory meetings that you had to attend to get the application and stuff. The applciatins are due in by Monday