Graduate School

How quickly can I enroll in a civilian graduate program after my 4 years at West Point?

Do i need to completely finish my 5 years of obligatory service or is there any way that I can be both an active duty officer and a full time grad student simultaneously? If it's possible, I am willing to put in the effort; I just need to know if there is the time.

(I don't mean online classes. I mean I will request to be stationed at a post within commute range of a university)

If you want to study full-time while on active duty, you would need to get some sort of scholarship and go through whatever process the Army has for that. It is doable, but I don't know the details of how the Army does it.

There are a limited number of ADSOs available for Grad School. All depends upon your OML position after LDAC.

I was in a graduate degree program while on active duty (I seem to recall that the Army paid for almost everything, and you could do it immediately once you report to your assigned duty station). But I was an Infantry officer, and field exercises constantly interrupted my studies and my ability to study for examinations. Commuting to class was a real pain. If you are in a more "9-to-5" branch, you may have better luck than I did. I know you're not into on-line programs, but they may be easier for you if you are deployed. But you still have to write papers, etc. and get good grades.

If you are like me, you may feel that you are wasting valuable time by not pushing yourself and making grad school your "second job." In retrospect, though, I probably should have just enjoyed life more and my active duty experience and should not have taken on that additional responsibility. In the end, I never finished that grad degree and ended up pursuing an entirely different line of work after active duty.

Ultimately, I separated from the Army and went to school full-time. I found as an Army officer that I was much more prepared for post-undergrad education than the kids who entered right after college. I did do some time in the Reserves during my first year, but it interferred with my studies again, so I decided to drop the military and focus solely on academics. That ultimately worked for me. At that point, I could have re-entered active duty but elected not to do so. I think most of the folks pursuing a military take time after their 5-year commitment is done to do serious graduate work before re-entering.

MI4980 said:

How quickly can I enroll in a civilian graduate program after my 4 years at West Point?

Do i need to completely finish my 5 years of obligatory service or is there any way that I can be both an active duty officer and a full time grad student simultaneously? If it's possible, I am willing to put in the effort; I just need to know if there is the time.

(I don't mean online classes. I mean I will request to be stationed at a post within commute range of a university)

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If you wins some sort of schoarship (Rhodes, Marshall, Hertz, etc), you can attend a cilivan graduate program right after graduation while getting paid as a 2LT

What you are asking about is ACS - Advance Civil Schooling.

ACS usually happens when you are in mid career when you get selected for an assignment that requires a graduate degree. The good example is being a professor at West Point. During ACS you are full time student, no military duties.

I don't know if Army still does it or not, but it used to offer ACS if you agree to add several years to your service obligation.

Some ROTC instructors work on their graduate degrees at the institution they are assigned to, but typically 2LTs don't get ROTC assignments.

I did FLEP in the Air Force -- they paid for law school. I tacked a few extra years onto my ADSO. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

MI4980 said:

How quickly can I enroll in a civilian graduate program after my 4 years at West Point?

Do i need to completely finish my 5 years of obligatory service or is there any way that I can be both an active duty officer and a full time grad student simultaneously? If it's possible, I am willing to put in the effort; I just need to know if there is the time.

(I don't mean online classes. I mean I will request to be stationed at a post within commute range of a university)

Click to expand...

I've been told by my Blue and Gold officer for USNA (and I think this also applies to Westpoint) that it is possible to show your AP test scores and be given a test to see if you are qualified to receive credit for some classes at the academy without taking them. This means that by your last year there, you can be working on some classes that contribute toward your master's.

That is not true everywhere, so research the details on that one!

pilot2b said:

I've been told by my Blue and Gold officer for USNA (and I think this also applies to Westpoint) that it is possible to show your AP test scores and be given a test to see if you are qualified to receive credit for some classes at the academy without taking them. This means that by your last year there, you can be working on some classes that contribute toward your master's.

Click to expand...

Uhhhh....no. Not at West Point.

A CGA, during Swab Summer, swabs may test "out of" a regular class or two to take the honors version. They don't get credit for the other class, but have the opportunity to take a harder one.

At USAFA, you can test out of several classes or take honors versions. I recommend both. As far as I know, that only freed up time for different classes later on, or a less hectic schedule.