And you know from personal experience? The program is pretty unique, as it is only 1 year. I know of no one who did it who was told there would be no disassociated tour, and plan on having to do one if I stay in under the "normal" career path.
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Question on Grad School
- Thread starter Random Task
- Start date
I'm interested in pursuing a grad degree after I commission in a year's time, likely in security studies/international relations, through the Officer Scholarship Program. I have looked over OPNAV Instruction 1520.24B, but the most recent one is dated 2008, so I'm not sure of the applicability of the info contained therein. If anyone who has gone through the program could point me in the right direction and answer a few questions, it'd be much appreciated:
-What's the application process? Do I compete for a scholarship and then request to accept, or do I have to receive permission ahead of time?
-How many slots are available per year? Is there a technical-major requirement?
-When is the last possible date I can accept a scholarship?
-What percentage of tuition does it have to cover?
-Can I go abroad (England/France)?
Thanks in advanced.
-What's the application process? Do I compete for a scholarship and then request to accept, or do I have to receive permission ahead of time?
-How many slots are available per year? Is there a technical-major requirement?
-When is the last possible date I can accept a scholarship?
-What percentage of tuition does it have to cover?
-Can I go abroad (England/France)?
Thanks in advanced.
DO IT! Your "seniority" in flight school means nothing, and with as much delays as some guys get out of their commissioning sources, your year ahead (especially if you can work drug deals to work minimum wait times) won't mean shit. Technical degree and a year behind, which ultimately ends up not much different than your peers, especially while YGs get delayed a year or two.... TOTALLY worth it. Fuck the wickets the Navy sets. If you can get a free technical masters... GO for it. The civvy world will pay dividends for it, so might as well get as much out of the Navy as they'll get as much out of you as they can.
There can be ramifications to getting a masters degree after commissioning. Once you've commisioned your time in the Navy clock has started but your until you wing your Naval Aviation career clock hasn't. 1yr in a masters program + flight school delays can leave you up to 2yrs behind your peer group. Which, if you don't have a strong record, might mean you have to play catch up later on. Since the 3yrs in a fleet squadron are pretty non-negotiable, the only real wiggle room is in your shore tour.
I went to grad school for 1yr after commissioning. I think spent a total of 11mo in various pools in the TRACOM. When I got to my shore your I made plans to roll a year early to get to my disassociated job and get myself back on track. Then there was a huge mess this year with shrinking screen groups, so I got rolled back a year, essentially putting me "right on time". Had that roll back not happened I would have had to give up a year of my shore tour to make the other wickets.
Of course, the benefit from this cost is that I now have a masters. When I'm on my shore tour I'm not doing my day job and then going to school at night. I'd still make the same choice, but jsu tknow that it comes with some risk.
I commissioned in 2006 and went to AFIT for a year of grad school. My experience has been very similar to what Pags was describing. Granted, I'm still in my first fleet tour. I would say I am roughly 18 months or so behind the people I graduated from school with in regards to quals, experience, and time in the squadron. I'm going to have to find ways to make up for the time I lost. I'm currently looking at rolling from my squadron a couple months early (mostly due to the transition to the P-8) to get some of that time back.
With that being said, if you are given the opportunity to get your grad degree: DO IT! I don't regret my decision one bit. I had a blast that year in grad school and I think it made a difference for me in flight school. Not because I had that grad degree, but because I was one year older and just a bit more mature. I knew how to manage my time well and how to focus on the task at hand, which comes in very handy through out flight school and your Navy career. Grad school only further reinforced the importance of those things.
One caveat, after all of that work I did on my Master's degree, I have yet to use it. I'm a very glad I have and I learned a lot from my grad school experience besides the technical knowledge that a Master's degree teaches. However, nothing I do now requires a grad degree. After all of the work I did, I'm starting to think about ways I could use it in the Navy. It will open other opportunities up to me down the road (AEDO or TPS as examples). So, take advantage of the opportunity whle you can.
One final thought... Take advantage of every good deal in the Navy you can get. I say this because the Navy will find a way to get you to 'repay' that good deal down the road.
With that being said, if you are given the opportunity to get your grad degree: DO IT! I don't regret my decision one bit. I had a blast that year in grad school and I think it made a difference for me in flight school. Not because I had that grad degree, but because I was one year older and just a bit more mature. I knew how to manage my time well and how to focus on the task at hand, which comes in very handy through out flight school and your Navy career. Grad school only further reinforced the importance of those things.
One caveat, after all of that work I did on my Master's degree, I have yet to use it. I'm a very glad I have and I learned a lot from my grad school experience besides the technical knowledge that a Master's degree teaches. However, nothing I do now requires a grad degree. After all of the work I did, I'm starting to think about ways I could use it in the Navy. It will open other opportunities up to me down the road (AEDO or TPS as examples). So, take advantage of the opportunity whle you can.
One final thought... Take advantage of every good deal in the Navy you can get. I say this because the Navy will find a way to get you to 'repay' that good deal down the road.
MarckCargo
Banned
I would like to know what is the age limit for getting into navy. And for how long we can allow to work? I mean retirement age, and all I want to know.