Should I Apply for Advanced Clinicals to Start in August or September
Hi everyone,
I've finished all of my requirements for my licensing exams, early clinical, and all my coursework leading up to the application for advanced clinical. My application window, as of this post, is open until July 7th.
I live in Virginia, so I need a minimum of 50 hours for advanced clinicals and 60 days of student teaching with a mandatory two-week break between them. All my closest school districts go back between August 12th and August 18th. I've received two different perspectives from my program mentor as to why August or September is preferable. Earlier in my program, he said most schools don't like to take on student teachers during the first week or two of instruction, meaning I may not be able to log any time in August. He said more recently that my clinical placement coordinator and Northwest clinical neighborhood team could likely get me in somewhere during the first week of instruction at several schools, meaning I could finish faster.
I feel as though September would be the better option, but I would appreciate any other perspectives on this. My program mentor went on vacation and won't be back to discuss my application until July 6th, which is a pretty narrow window between our meeting and due date for the application.