RA experiences?

[Hilltopmom]

Has anyone’s child been a RA (resident assistant)

want to share about their experiences good and bad and also the application process?

different at all colleges I know, just curious.

My ds is applying for next year. (Not a kid I ever expected to apply to be an RA)

[Bootsie]

DD was an RA for two years.  Both years she was an RA in an all-women's freshman dorm; her experiences were somewhat different from her peers who were in upperclassman dorms.  One thing that was surprising was the amount of training she had to go through both years.  She had to be on campus about two week before the fall semester and about a week before the spring semester.  Overall it was a good experience for her.  

I do not know too much about the application process except that they did do interviews of potential RAs; she also got to sit in on the interviews when there were openings for full-time people in student affairs and provide input into that process.  

[saw]

DD is an RA in a freshman dorm this year and, last year, was in an upperclassman dorm in a similar capacity. I think the RA has been a bit of a disappointment as it has involved a lot of training and takes quite a bit of time, but has limited upside. She's responsible for weekly meetings and for coordinating activities, which she likes generally. In terms of downside, she had to be on campus quite early in the school year, meaning that she had quite literally less than a week truly off from school over the summer, between classes, jobs and internships. There was a lot of training! There's no pay or any sort of discounted fees, so it's done just because you like it or because it looks good on your cv. Initially she didn't even get a decent room -- the room was tiny and didn't have a closet or a place to hang clothes (I made her complain and she got a decent room as a result). I think the view is that RAs at her school do quite a lot of work but don't get a lot of benefits for the work they do. I'm sure this varies considerably from school to school, though. One thing I was concerned about was liability for the freshmen, in terms of alcohol and drug use and so on, but RAs at her school at least have no liability for freshman bad behaviour. 

[Hilltopmom]

2 hours ago, saw said:

DD is an RA in a freshman dorm this year and, last year, was in an upperclassman dorm in a similar capacity. I think the RA has been a bit of a disappointment as it has involved a lot of training and takes quite a bit of time, but has limited upside. She's responsible for weekly meetings and for coordinating activities, which she likes generally. In terms of downside, she had to be on campus quite early in the school year, meaning that she had quite literally less than a week truly off from school over the summer, between classes, jobs and internships. There was a lot of training! There's no pay or any sort of discounted fees, so it's done just because you like it or because it looks good on your cv. Initially she didn't even get a decent room -- the room was tiny and didn't have a closet or a place to hang clothes (I made her complain and she got a decent room as a result). I think the view is that RAs at her school do quite a lot of work but don't get a lot of benefits for the work they do. I'm sure this varies considerably from school to school, though. One thing I was concerned about was liability for the freshmen, in terms of alcohol and drug use and so on, but RAs at her school at least have no liability for freshman bad behaviour. 

Saw, 

no compensation? Wow.

when I was in school and at my sons school, RAs get free room & board which is our biggest expense ($14,000 ish). So being an RA is a huge plus financially even though it’s a lot of work and training. He would have to go back early for the training but it’s way more money than he can make at a summer job.

[saw]

I have to say I haven't been thrilled by DD's experience as an RA -- it takes time, requires her to be responsible for a bunch of freshmen, and provides no financial or other compensation other than the cv value. The school is a full-need met school, so I imagine that's why the school won't pay, but it still seems wrong to me to expect this level of effort from a student on behalf of the school without compensation. I was absolutely livid when she was put into a tiny room with no closet, while freshmen around her had decent rooms. Also, she hasn't been able to room with friends and there's been a bit of friction in the RA group for her dorm, which has made the social experience fairly negative. Here's hoping the cv value makes it worth it. 

[elegantlion]

One of my undergraduate classmates was an RA. They get free room and board, but it was all consuming type of job. They are very extroverted, people-oriented, but they gave up the position, moved off campus with a friend and got a job in the community instead. 

One thing they talked about was the requirement on some weekend shifts - they were not allowed to leave to building while on duty. They did have some people under them - forget the title - and those student often ended up working night shifts. They'd be exhausted in class the next day. Our campus is supposedly a dry campus, no drinking or smoking on campus (supposedly) - so not even the pitfalls of open drinking. 

IMO, it takes a certain type of personality to do well in that job. I would investigate fully before applying or accepting such a position. 

[katilac]

9 hours ago, saw said:

There's no pay or any sort of discounted fees 

 

Whaaaat?? That's insane! I often don't think the job is worth it even when you a free room, bc it can be such a negative for studying and other involvement (particularly if you have a scholarship to maintain). I generally don't recommend it unless finances absolutely require it.  And I agree that certain personalities do much better with it.

It does vary from school to school, but it's always a big job imo.

Edited January 6, 2019 by katilac

[Frances]

On 1/6/2019 at 4:37 AM, Hilltopmom said:

Saw, 

no compensation? Wow.

when I was in school and at my sons school, RAs get free room & board which is our biggest expense ($14,000 ish). So being an RA is a huge plus financially even though it’s a lot of work and training. He would have to go back early for the training but it’s way more money than he can make at a summer job.

No compensation seems terrible. I thought my college was bad with only half a work study award for pay. I still had another job in addition to being an RA. 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Frances

[Frances]

On 1/6/2019 at 9:33 AM, elegantlion said:

One of my undergraduate classmates was an RA. They get free room and board, but it was all consuming type of job. They are very extroverted, people-oriented, but they gave up the position, moved off campus with a friend and got a job in the community instead. 

One thing they talked about was the requirement on some weekend shifts - they were not allowed to leave to building while on duty. They did have some people under them - forget the title - and those student often ended up working night shifts. They'd be exhausted in class the next day. Our campus is supposedly a dry campus, no drinking or smoking on campus (supposedly) - so not even the pitfalls of open drinking. 

IMO, it takes a certain type of personality to do well in that job. I would investigate fully before applying or accepting such a position. 

They had to stay awake for night shifts? I’ve never heard of that. 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Frances

[Bootsie]

DD received room and board (but no additional compensation) for being an RA.  It would have made it difficult or her to hold down an off-campus job, but the benefit of free room and board exceeded what she would have been paid in at another job.  It did allow her to interact with some of the campus administration that was then able to provide her a good letter of recommendation.

[saw]

LOL ... DD just told me that the RAs get free jackets saying they're RAs. The jackets for this year just arrived this week, even though RAs have been doing their jobs since September. 

[DawnM]

My son is applying too.  He has his interview as soon as he gets back.  They won't let him know until March.  There is some conflicting info about payment.  He was told he gets $6,000 per year, but I am not sure if that is payment directly to him or $6K equivalent off of his expenses for college.   Someone else said they get both, free room and board and compensation, but that seems like a lot. I can't find the info online.

I think it is a lot of work but if he wants to do it, it is up to him.

My friend's daughter was an RA and got fired.  The rule was no drinking, even if you are over 21.  Someone posted pics of her drinking wine and she was fired.  

[klmama]

On 1/6/2019 at 10:26 PM, Frances said:

The one thing interesting was that at her college they started the job in the spring and then finished in the fall, so that no freshman would have a rookie RA their first semester.

This is brilliant. 

[G5052]

I was an RA a million years ago and then was the head RA at my undergraduate school.

For me, it was a great job. I got a free room and a monthly stipend that covered nearly everything else when added to my summer job. I took on additional work editing papers and doing security guard work at campus events and graduated with no debt. That likely wouldn't happen now because high education is more expensive than ever. I am a people person and am not afraid of dealing with difficult people. The RA training was thorough, and I had been a summer protection officer with the National Park Service, so I had some law enforcement background.

The tough part is of course the work. The school I went to was a "party all weekend" school, so the students were wild at times and hard to deal with. There were students who committed suicide and who attacked me with no provocation. There was an RA who was fired after the students in his dorm did $10,000+ damage while he partied with them. There were rapes in dorms and some other things I wish that I could unsee. The majority of interactions were positive though, and the Dean of Housing was very experienced and competent.

[G5052]

On 1/6/2019 at 11:26 PM, Frances said:

They had to stay awake for night shifts? I’ve never heard of that.

 

I did this before cell phones, and we didn't have pagers. We didn't have a reception area in the dorms that was manned. We had one person on-call from 6pm-8am during the week after the housing office closed and then weekends. Each RA had to spend a certain number of hours in the housing each week. Our schedule took into account evening labs and weekend field trips/labs. I had to stay in my room when I was on call and call security if I was going to be at all unavailable by phone. I had to call them if I went to eat or took a shower and got 30 minutes for meals. But I didn't have to stay awake. It was normally quiet during the week and then crazy on the weekend, but we shared the load. No one was on call for more than 24 hours during the weekend.