Graduate School Directly After College/NROTC

[OldRetSWO]

I'll pitch in here as well. The decision on whether or not to go for immediate grad ed needs to include
the warfare community as a very significant factor. Some communities such as Surface Warfare have very
critical career milestones and stepping away for a year or more at the starting line can have very significant and
yes, detrimental effects on career progression.
Something to remember in terms of community and service wide selection boards is that "Ducks pick Ducks"
and what the means in this area is that non-standard career paths can affect selection.
Community selection boards are how an officer gets screened for jobs such as Department Head and
CO/XO. Performance in those jobs is what is looked at by Service Wide selection boards for promotion.
Needless to say, if you don't select for those key positions, they aren't there for the promotion boards
to see. There are expected timelines to have had those jobs and if you are "late" due to immediate grad
school, you won't have had the necessary experiences for the Selection Board to evaluate.
.
This is probably less of an issue in aviation as their key screenings take place years later in the career than
they do for SWOs and Submariners.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

IMO (and based on personal experience), most people are better off doing something "productive" for a few years before going on to grad school. There are obviously some exceptions to this "rule," but not many.

^ I agree 100%, not only for the reasons stated..but also real world experience that adds context to whatever you are learning. I remember sitting in Property class, first year of law school, having bought and sold a home -- and finally understanding why we had to do things we did !

I had many classmates in law school that were completely clueless about life in general -- 16-19 years of education, without a lick of common sense or understanding how the real world works.

DS is considering applying for a scholarship that would send him to grad school immediately after commissioning.

I've read all of the remarks above, is there a hard and fast 'don't do it, not a good idea' here? If that were the case, why would USNA offer these scholarships? Maybe not for everyone?

^ There is no hard and fast rule, and in fact, many of the top grads get these programs. I would say if you can get someone else to pay for grad school, by all means, seize the opportunity. However, keep in mind, taking a grad program right out of a Service Academy puts you behind your peers when it comes to professional qualfications etc. , and that might hurt down the line. It probably doesn't hurt up to 0-4 (back in the day, you made LTJG if you were still breathing, and LT unless you really screwed up somewhere), but I would expect that at some time in the career, you will need to make that time back up.

 

[brewmeist]

My son is going back-and-forth with this. He is hoping aviation and his original thought was to go through flight school first, and go for his masters further down the road. But if there is a delay, he is thinking it may be wise to utilize that time for a one-year masters program if he gets accepted.

He always considers my advice, but this time, I got nothing. As a civilian, I can't relate to the pros and cons of this, even though I can read about it. But reading about it isn't the same as experiencing it. He needs to rely on his mentors and the system.

These decisions are so much easier in the civilan world. My daughter is a teacher. I told her to wait to get her masters until she had a job and let the school district pay for it. That's a no-brainer.

 

[cb7893]

My son is going back-and-forth with this. He is hoping aviation and his original thought was to go through flight school first, and go for his masters further down the road. But if there is a delay, he is thinking it may be wise to utilize that time for a one-year masters program if he gets accepted.

I believe that the same would apply to your son as applied to your daughter. However, I don't think he would begin to qualify for educational benefits until after X number of years of AD and full benefits after X plus ? number of years. I know my son figured all this out before extending his AD.

More important, your son has not been out in the big bad world yet. What trips his trigger now may be of little interest to him or future employers 8 years from now. Higher education cannot keep pace with change in the real world and will always lag behind. I would time my graduate studies to my entry into the job market, be that civilian OR military.

When he does think about Graduate School, he should aim as high as he can. Do not settle for an easy 1 year degree that simply checks a box.

My son (AROTC O-3) has a tendency to look ahead and figure out "what would be the best deal for me." This usually leads to periods of paralysis by analysis. My advice has always been to look to officers or former officers who are 2-3 years older. Does what they're doing appeal to you? And what was their route to get there?

There are a hundred different ways to fill one's time constructively during the wait period. This is just one of them:

Young Army officer hikes the Appalachian trail

HARPERS FERRY, WV — (WDVM) A young Army officer from Woodbridge, Virginia wanted to accomplish one more mission before he ended his military career in September. Lieutenant Colonel Doug Sweet…

www.dcnewsnow.com

For several years, Mrs. cb7893 and I did sections of the AT. We met a number of hikers who had just graduated college and were headed to graduate school or careers, including military careers. It was an excellent way to enjoy life, in a particular way, one last time.