grad school

lukeS

5-Year Member
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Dec 13, 2009
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I was just wondering how grad school works after a service academy. How many people get to go? Does it get paid for? Do you owe more service time? Do you get to pick any university? Any insight would be great.
 
It's service specific, and depends on how you do it.

First, you can go through it on your own. I'm in the process of applying to a grad school in my area now. It is a night school, and I am using the Post-9/11 GI Bill to pay my way (should I get in).

By doing that, I don't owe extra time, and can attend classes after work Mon-Thurs.


Another way to apply to a grad school is to apply for grad school within the service, if you are selected, you go to a program, full time, and you will owe "pay-back" time. You will most likely also have a pay-back tour. You can grow your hair out, you will feel disconnected from the service, but it will get paid for...

You can also do online classes or pay your way through grad school.
 
this applies to rotc, not the service academies, but i couldn't find a better thread to put this in
any idea how grad school after rotc works?
 
Once you have been commissioned, there is no difference between OCS, ROTC, and Academy grads (except for different alumni networks). There is no difference in the way the grad school options work for graduates of different commission sources. The only difference may be the total amount of time you owe do to your commissioning source.
 
There is a difference in eligibility fro the Post-9/11 GI Bill between ROTC, prior, academy, etc.
 
Thanks for the help. Let Me throw out a more specific scenario. If I graduate top of my class and want to go to med school, what are my options?
 
Thanks for the help. Let Me throw out a more specific scenario. If I graduate top of my class and want to go to med school, what are my options?

If selected as one who is allowed to go to medical school (fewer slots than Grad school) then you could do either of these two programs:

USUHS
or
Health Professions Scholarship Program (this particular link is Navy specific, but Navy, Air Force, and Army all have the same program)
 
When would be the best time to go to grad school as an SA graduate (West Point)?
 
Once you have been commissioned, there is no difference between OCS, ROTC, and Academy grads (except for different alumni networks). There is no difference in the way the grad school options work for graduates of different commission sources. The only difference may be the total amount of time you owe do to your commissioning source.

Not true. USMA has ADSO benefits, one of which is guaranteed graduate school. Otherwise, not all officers are offered the opportunity to get an advanced degree. Your service commitment is 3 years longer but you are guaranteed the opportunity to have fully funded graduate school. You then have to pay back more years afterwards.

http://career-satisfaction.usma.edu/slides/ADSO_Programs/yg2010-usma-incentive-program-brief.pdf
 
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Thanks for the help. Let Me throw out a more specific scenario. If I graduate top of my class and want to go to med school, what are my options?

In addition to the previous links, here is a link to the current USNA policy on pre-medical/pre-dental advising and selection for the medical/dental corps. Even though the instruction is dated 2001, I found it on the USNA admin web page dated 3/19/2010, so it appears to be still in force:

http://www.usna.edu/AdminSupport/Instructions/1000-1999/1531-47C.pdf

Some points of interest:
-USNA will not recruit or encourage candidates to pursue med school. My daughter's BGO specifically told her not to attend USNA if she was mainly interested in med/dental school. That said, now that she's at USNA, her advisor is helping her to choose courses that will prepare her for med school if she is allowed to pursue it.

-The additional service time required is different for USUHS (7 yrs) versus the AFHPSP (4 yrs)

-You must be prepared to take extra classes (2 semesters biology, 2 semesters organic chem) beyond the core curriculum to be prepared. Chemistry and oceanography both lend themselves as viable majors.

-You must do MCAT prep on your own and do well on that

-You must excel in conduct and military performance in addition to academics to have a shot at a spot. Military performance/military aptitude essentially means your rank within company (only your classmates) as evaluated by your Company Officer & Company Senior Enlisted Leader (SEL). To get a "B" you must rank in approximately the top 20% (not sure of the exact cutoff) This means that you can't just put academics in front of everything. In addition to a heavier than normal class load, you'd better be contributing in a significant way to your company and classmates.

-You must be prepared to accept another service assignment. The USNA class of 2009 was only allowed 10 slots for med/dental school, even though the regs allow more

IOW, it's a hard way to become a Navy/MC doctor/dentist, but a few people succeed every year. Good luck!
 
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