Disclosed herein are methods for purifying RNA comprising poly A. Also disclosed herein are compositions such as surfaces and oligonucleotides for purifying RNA comprising polyA. Other embodiments are also disclosed. Commercially-available resins having polythymidine oligonucleotide ligands typically contain less than 30 thymidine (2′deoxy) residues and some commercial resin suppliers utilize a distribution of dT chain lengths, not of a discreet length.