Question for you military folks

[BETTEH]

Thanks for your replies, i will be visiting the Airforce and Naval recruiters for more information, i have not made a definitive choice yet, as i am also looking into a multitude of med schools.


Again, thanks for all of your input.

[Richter]

Like many others here, I spent most of my adult life in the service (Air Force). Here is what I can tell you for sure, unless you go ROTC or to one of the Service Academies, they will not pay to send you to school until after your term of service have expired. Once you have served, you will get your GI bill and this will pay for your education. You will have 10 years in which to use that money.

Good Part - You get that money to pay for your education.
Bad Part - The money is for education costs only not for cost of living expenses. So picking a cheaper school thinking you'll get that money in $$ for not using all of it is a myth.

Good Part - You will have learned a good trade in the service and most likely have some of the best experiences of your life.
Bad Part - You are now dependent of a full time paycheck and going to school full time is almost impossible. Not out of the question, but very difficult especially if you started a family while in the service.

My suggestion is go to school first. Get your education. If that is not an option, talk to them about ROTC. They will pay for your education and you'll have military obligations at the same time. You'll be required to fulfill the term of service like any other enlisted person. If you do not, you will have to pay them back for the education.

They key is ask them every single question you can think of. Do not be afraid to ask any questions. Get things in writing.

And Remember this: You can sign anything but you are not committed to service until you that the oath.

[Cpt._Keyes]

[quote="Richter";p="155806"]Like many others here, I spent most of my adult life in the service (Air Force). Here is what I can tell you for sure, unless you go ROTC or to one of the Service Academies, they will not pay to send you to school until after your term of service have expired. Once you have served, you will get your GI bill and this will pay for your education. You will have 10 years in which to use that money.

Good Part - You get that money to pay for your education.
Bad Part - The money is for education costs only not for cost of living expenses. So picking a cheaper school thinking you'll get that money in $$ for not using all of it is a myth.

Good Part - You will have learned a good trade in the service and most likely have some of the best experiences of your life.
Bad Part - You are now dependent of a full time paycheck and going to school full time is almost impossible. Not out of the question, but very difficult especially if you started a family while in the service.

My suggestion is go to school first. Get your education. If that is not an option, talk to them about ROTC. They will pay for your education and you'll have military obligations at the same time. You'll be required to fulfill the term of service like any other enlisted person. If you do not, you will have to pay them back for the education.

They key is ask them every single question you can think of. Do not be afraid to ask any questions. Get things in writing.

And Remember this: You can sign anything but you are not committed to service until you that the oath.[/quote]

GI bill has changed drastically and there are programs that do pay for school even without ROTC or service academies

[BETTEH]

As it is right now I applied for several premed schools in the vicinity of myself. Im going to take out a nice loan to pay for premed and do my four years. Depending on my MCAT and GPA will really determine what i do. If i can get some scholarships and grants then doing it the hard way wont be so much of an issue. Keyes found a neat little program that wouldn't require me to do anything in the Navy until i graduated med school, in which case i would work for them until the time was paid back. I have 4 years to get things straight, and for the economy to straighten out so i can get a decent shot at a loan. Thanks for your help guys.