Pre-med after military

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Back in my high-school days (before I became cynical and demotivated and decided not to go to college and instead joined the Navy) I really wanted to start on a pre-med path. An amalgam of bad feed-back from family and friends kind of dissuaded me from that, in spite of my anatomy teacher’s opinion that I would be good at it. </p>

<p>So, after sitting around for a year and a half working trying to find out what career path is worth putting myself into college loan debt for, I just decided to join the military. Now, when I get out in a year, they pay for my college and I can worry about doing the learning in stead of trying to figure out how to pay for it all. Now, I’ve spent the last two years as a stretcher bearer on my ship, which is basically the corpsman’s underling and I’ve been seriously considering revisiting my pre-med aspirations.</p>

<p>I’ve been out of school for 5 years now, so I’m thinking I’ll want to take a few classes at a community college or something for a year-ish to re-tool my mind before I jump in and start wrecking my GPA as a pre-med at a university, right? Plus, I did pretty terrible in high-school; not that I’m dumb, I got a 34 on my ACT if I remember right. I’d like to do my pre-med classes at the University of Minnesota in Morris - it’s a smaller branch outside Minneapolis that’s directly down the road from a hospital, so I figure I’ll have good volunteer opportunities and some hands-on experience there. Not to mention smaller class sizes and all the other benefits of a smaller school, with the perk of it being a state uni. I suppose my experience and training with field/battle aid can be a highlight on my med-school application down the road?</p>

<p>I feel like I’m just rambling here, but I’ve been at sea for a while with no one to talk to about this sort of thing. I guess I was hoping to get some feedback on whether I might be on the right track so far. I’ve read through some of the sticky threads but I didn’t see anything about how to prepare for pre-med/med after being out of school for a while. Anything different?</p>

2

<p>Thank you for serving!!!</p>

<p>When you get out you can pick any state as your home state? Are you required to go back to the state you joined from? What is the reason you are picking MN?</p>

<p>If you can pick any state I would spend your time researching state public university systems and the states’ respective medical schools. Some states have zero med schools while others have quite a few compared to actual applicants.</p>

<p>I actually moved my entire family (5 kiddos) because of the opportunities some states provide their residents as far as in-state public options, not just for undergrad but especially for their graduate programs.</p>

<p>We moved from CA (the UCs and Cal State systems) to NC (the UNC system). I also took into account the ease, accessability and cost of the community college system since CA CC is cost effective and abundant. The state of NC funds most of the expenses for running the multi-campus system in order to keep tuition low both for undergrad and grad school.</p>

<p>Having UNC Chapel Hill, NC State and 15 other campuses to pick from at low tuition rates was an added bonus. There are 4 med schools in NC, UNC, ECU (both public) and Duke and Wake Forest. Both privates give preference to in-state as well. ECU ONLY takes in-staters. UNC and ECU both have dental schools as well.</p>

<p>Another state with many med schools is also Texas and they too have low in-state tuition.</p>

<p>I took a year to figure out where to relocate to, but it has been worth it. 4 of mine have already graduated college and have moved onto grad school here. One is at UNC Chapel Hill med school, where tuition is $14,000 compared other med school’s he was admitted to for over $70,000 per year for tuition.</p>

<p>UNC Greensboro and NCA&T have built a new school/lab for their new Nanoengineering school, for a BS, MS and Phd. Very cutting edge. All for low in-state tuition.</p>

<p>I would take some time and really look at all your options. If you want this, do the research and realize you will be in for a long haul, but it can be done! Maximize your options from the very beginning. Avoid costly mistakes from the beginning and really manage your choices. All of them.</p>

<p>Kat
and again thank you for serving, fair winds and following seas</p>

3

<p>Another state you might consider is New Mexico–low cost of living, strong military presence in the state, (but mainly air force and army since it’s kinda landlocked there…) Very low in-state tuition rates at the public Us. As a veteran, you’d automatically receive in-state tuition rates at all state higher education sites regardless of you actual length of residence. IOW, you’d be considered in-state from day 1. </p>

<p>The local CC system (CNM, 6 campuses–the CC actually enrolls more students than the state flagship U) has good facilities, professional instructors and a articulation agreement so that any courses taken there automatically transfer to the state flagship U.</p>

<p>UNM has a significant population (35%) of non-traditional students on campus so a older, returning student would be less likely to feel out of place among the 18 year olds.</p>

<p>NM has only 1 medical school but has a very strong in-state preference with a very high acceptance for state residents. (More than 90% of in-state applicants get interviews and the in-state acceptance rate is ~40%. You won’t find a rate that high anyplace else.)</p>

<p>~~~~~</p>

<p>One more thing to think about some private universities may offer benefits/scholarships to veterans above and beyond what you receive through the GI bill.</p>

<p>The University of Rochester pledges to give all Post 9/11 vets a scholarship that along with their veterans benefits that will cover their full tuition. </p>

<p>[University</a> of Rochester : College Admissions](<a href=“http://enrollment.rochester.edu/rochesterpledge/]University”>http://enrollment.rochester.edu/rochesterpledge/)</p>

<p>If that school does, it’s likely others may also. It may take a bit of digging to find them, but it could be a worthwhile time investment.</p>

4

<p>

Is there a typo here or am I ignorant about this: Does $70,000 per year include everything (i.e., COA) instead of just tuition?</p>

<p>Assuming no scholarship (as it is typically the case for most “average” students at most med schools), I always thought the cost of attending a private med school is about the same as attending a most expensive UG as a fullpay UG student.</p>

<p>NC, Texas and NM are indeed very nice ibecause of their state-sponsered low tuition (and cost of living as well.)</p>

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<p>Hi Mcat2:</p>

<p>sorry for the confusion, I was trying to keep the apples to apples comparison, the $70K for say (Temple last year) was the tuition around $55K (listed on their website)+ the other stuff included in their package for payment once accepted…so equipment, laptop, fees, health insurance and god knows what else- but NOT including room and board. So around 14K for UNC compared to another private around 70K but no room and board which can vary with the area’s cost of living. So philly would be higher than NC, at least in son’s case vs. his buddy at Penn’s SOM.</p>

<p>Kat
its all those EXTRAs that pile up, son spent his gap year figuring it all out cost-wise (spent his free time getting another degree…crazy boy!)</p>

<p>His figuring included some med school’s unit loans based on need only (H,C,D) and was still cheaper for him at UNC with scholarships.</p>

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<p>I never really considered anything but Minnesota. I want to go back to spend time with my friends and family, especially after hardly seeing them the last 3 years. I’ll have to dig into that a bit more, though. I think in-state COA for UMN is only around 13,000/yr, and I’ll receive a monthly stipend of around $1,500 as part of the G.I. Bill as long as I’m a full time student. Think someone can link me to a few colleges with better rates? The internet isn’t too fast here, it could take me several days to find and load all the pages I want.</p>

<p>On another topic - thoughts and opinions on doing an Anthropology major during my pre-med time? At UMN it has a pretty low number of in-major credit requirements (35) compared to if I were to do nursing (73-79 in-major) or psychology (42), which I’m also considering. That would give me plenty of time to knock out my pre-med req’s as electives. Though nursing would probably cover a lot of those courses anyway, and give me a job and experience if I don’t make it into med school right away. I don’t know about psychology, I might get pigeon-holed into some psychiatry residency or something. I’d rather do emergency medicine or surgery.</p>

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<p>Also just realized, the G.I. Bill will cover all costs for public state schools for state residents. Out of state or private schools it pays up to $17,500 per year for “tuition and fees” plus the stipend. So, if I change my state of residency before I get my discharge papers, I can essentially attend their state colleges for free as long as I meed admissions requirements. In previous years there was a cap to the amount they’d pay for public state schools, but they’ve re-tooled the GI Bill a bit to cover them fully.</p>

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<p>I just stumbled upon your thread…my Dh is AD and I have done a ton of research on the GI Bill as his is transferred to our daughter. First start taking classes while in the Navy to get prepared for your return to college, don’t spend any of your 36months of funding on CC classes. Also I don’t think you can simply change you state Of residency after you get out to meet the instate requirement because each school will have requirements to receive instate tuition</p>

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<p>Sorry my phone went a little crazy. Also check out the GI Bill yellow Ribbon Program.</p>

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<p>It’s officially too late for me to take any more classes on active duty. Within 1 year of EAOS (End of Active Obligatory Service) they won’t approve tuition assistance. I took a couple classes last year while deployed, though. Western Civilizations and Sociology through Central Texas College. Not sure yet if they’ll even transfer anywhere, though.</p>

<p>Also, I’ll probably work part time somewhere to pay for my CC classes for a semester or two then let my G.I. Bill kick in whenever I get accepted to a university.</p>

11

<p>UNM has a very strong anthropology department with some brand name profs. It’s a fairly small dept with the profs often inviting the majors over to their houses for dinner and discussions.</p>

<p>(Another plus–the med school is right across the street from the undergrad campus. Lots of opportunities for volunteering and research.)</p>

<p>In-state COA (tuition, fees, books, room & board, travel) is $14830. However, costs will be less if you don’t live in the dorms and instead rent one of the many modestly priced houses/apartments within walking distance of the school. Average rent for 1 bedroom apt $650; average rent for a bedroom in shared house $375-450.</p>

<p>You ACT score might even garner you some merit aid.</p>

<p>CNM (the community college) costs $44/credit.</p>

<p>You can start at CNM now since they offer distance education classes.</p>

<p>Here’s a link to the current course catalog.[Course</a> Catalog](<a href=“http://www.cnm.edu/coursecatalog/index.php]Course”>http://www.cnm.edu/coursecatalog/index.php)</p>