Faster way to get from Enlisted to Officer

[zachcleigh]

I'm sure this has been thrown out there many times, but in the last year I have been stalking these forums, I have yet to see it.

As most know, To be an officer one of the main requirements is having a college degree. This is extremely time consuming and expensive for the majority of people, whether you're in the military or not. However, you can test out of certain classes by examination. Meaning you go to a testing center, take an equivalent of a "final examination," and if you pass, you can get college credit for it.

Two types of these exams are called: CLEP (College Level Examination Program) and DSST (Dantes). My understanding is that the military will pay for your examination fees for these two tests on your first try in a given subject (you can take calculus, psychology, sociology, etc. for free once each, but if you fail and wish to retake the exam, it's on your own dime). There are dozens of these exams available and utilizing them could vastly increase the speed at which one could earn a degree and become an officer.

An excellent resource in my opinion is degreeforum.net
It is a large community of military/civilian who are extremely helpful and willing to share information on obtaining or furthering education.

I'm sure the majority already have a grasp on this topic, but if one person who reads this is impacted beneficially, then it was worth it.

 

[time2]

The main audience for this forum are those who plan to attend one of the SA's in order to become an officer in the military. Enlisting to attend an SA is NOT the recommended path (and offers no guarantees), so those who are primarily interested in enlisting don't usually find a lot of their topics being discussed here which is part of the reason most topics don't relate to them.

Am not familiar with that other website, but it looks like another forum where a wide variety of people can offer opinions. Nothing wrong with that, but good to recognize that random opinions thrown out on various websites are only as good as the people offering them.

 

[zachcleigh]

This forum has multiple sub categories, such as Service academies, DODMERB, and "Other sources of commission." This would fall under other sources of commission, would it not? Achieving a degree to be able to attend OCS/OTS? Just in case is my assumption in this was incorrect, I posted this in an off topic category. Like I said, "if one person who reads this is impacted beneficially, then it was worth it."
I know the general audience has no use for this thread, but somebody will. The people who will have a use for it will be glad it's here.
Have a good day.

 

[NavyHoops]

You are correct DANTES and CLEP exams are a great program for enlisted to take advantage of. It was something every Marine I had in my unit who decided to not re-enlist go explore. I could not make them take the exams, but I wanted them to know what they are and how they could help them in the future.

Couple of items... I would encourage any enlisted person transitioning out to take these, but it isn't just as magical as taking them and getting credits. Every school treats these differently. There is no blanket policy on schools accepting these credits, if you will be charged to transfer these into usable credits and how they will be used if you transfer from say a community college to four year. It's important for any person to sit down with an admissions counselor and know what will and won't help them and how those credits will impact things. Many schools have max amount that will be accepted. Some schools won't accept them for any credit, but will use them as a placement exams.

With that being said, they will never hurt somebody, they can only help, so take advantage of them if college is in the plan for enlisted member leaving service. Also if an enlisted member is planning to leave and is thinking OCS is in their future, go talk to an officer recruiter. Know what the landscape looks like at least for that time period and ensure you are majoring in something that is desired and know a target GPA needed. Obviously all these things change each FY and are sometimes service specific, but it's important to not put yourself behind on the path day 1. Don't take advanced classes if you haven't touched a classroom for 4-8 years and 22 credit hours. Set yourself up for success. If you did 8 years know what the age limits you are working with so you don't have an 8 year school plan that will make OCS even harder to get to.