General Information: Graduate School is a great opportunity to further ones career after some time in the work force. Grad Schools of all types are located throughout the country and are typically associated with a traditional four-year university. There are many different types of graduate degrees available to students seeking to further their career in a specific area, or begin a new career in an area of focus they are passionate about. Each Graduate School and Degree Program has their own focus and strategy, so for information on a specific school or degree program, it is important to research that particular University’s website. In general, going to Graduate School can be a great opportunity to leverage your military experience, establish your new career, and greatly increase your earning power. Typically, Graduate Schools are offered at Public Universities (UCLA, Florida State, etc.) and Private Universities (Notre Dame, Stanford, USC, etc.).
Requirements: All graduate programs will require your Undergraduate Transcripts and one of several admissions testing scores. The three most common standardized tests for Graduate School are the GRE (Graduate Record Exam which can be used for many different programs), the GMAT (typically for students looking to gain admission to business school), the LSAT (typically for students looking to gain admission to Law School), and the MCAT (for students looking to gain admission to Medical School). Graduate School Applications are all slightly different, but in general, they will all ask for basic information/experience, your standardized test scores, your Undergraduate Transcripts, several essays, and recommendations. In addition, more and more Grad Schools are holding in person interviews prior to admission. Most Universities have application deadlines once a year, so it is critical to send your application in on time. A good resource to find deadlines is at www.collegenet.com.
Preparation: The largest component of preparing for admission to a University is in preparation for standardized tests. Many services offer test preparation services (Kaplain, etc.) for a fee, and there are many books that focus on preparing for the SAT and the ACT. In addition, there are multiple software sources that offer sample tests that help students prepare for the timing pressures and fundamental structure of the test.
Getting in: Getting admitted to top Graduate Schools in the United States is an extremely competitive process. The top Graduate Schools in the country will generally post the average Undergraduate GPA’s and standardized test scores for their most recent class of incoming students. This is a good gauge for you to decide if you have a legitimate chance at getting admitted to the school of your choice. With that being said, if your standardized test scores or Undergraduate GPA fall short of the school average, you should not be discouraged. In almost all cases, school admittance boards give heavy weight to a strong military service record and all graduate give heavy weight to leadership and management experience (which you obviously have through the military www.collegenet.com) so keep that in mine while applying.
Cost: Graduate Schools vary in cost widely depending on the program you are going for and what type of school you are going to attend (Public vs. Private). The Cost can vary from less than 10,000 a year to well over 50,000 a year if you include all ancillary costs. In general, Public Graduate Schools are significantly less expensive than private schools, especially if you are a resident of the state that your University resides. One thing many servicemen and women forget to think about is the impact of state residence – if you can change your state residence prior to separating the service, you should think about where you want to go to school, it could have a significant impact on your tuition costs. In addition to tuition costs, there are a variety of other costs to going to college including books, lab fees, room and board, parking, and several others. These fees can often catch students by surprise if they are not prepared.
Options for payment: There are several ways to pay for your college education – but as a rule of thumb, pay for as little out of your own pocket as possible. In order to do this, you should look at the many different ways to get the military to assist, get college scholarships, grants, and lastly student loans which ultimately need to be paid back by you.
Military Assistance: There are a few programs that you probably have heard of that help military servicemen and women pay for their undergraduate degrees. The most notable one is the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which pays a large portion of your tuition, depending on how much you have funded during your service. The other method is Tuition Assistance, which gives each servicemen and women money towards tuition.
Scholarships: A scholarship is a fund of money that is set aside to help pay for student’s college education – in almost every case this money does not have to be paid back by the students. There are literally tens of thousands of scholarships available to assist students in paying for their college education. More specifically, there are thousands of scholarships available for military veterans who have decided to go back to college – the key is to go out and find them. With a little research, you will be amazed by how much information there is about scholarships. One good resource we have found is www.collegenet.com.
Grants & Student Loans: A grant is a pool of funds held by the government that will help you pay for your education – most of theses do not need to be paid back. Student loans are a very popular way that students pay for their college education. In general, Student Loans offer students money for tuition, books, room and board at an extremely low interest rate. In most cases, the loans don’t need to be paid back for a significant period of time after graduation – and can often be deferred if the graduate is having trouble making payments.
General Information: Non-Traditional Graduate Schools can be a viable alternative for traditional Graduate Schools. The major differences are that they typically don’t offer the same experience that a traditional Graduate Schools offer (living near a campus, vibrant campus life, social environment, etc.). In addition, non-traditional Graduate Schools typically don’t offer the same networking benefits that come with traditional Graduate Schools, which can be an important aspect of navigating your career. In addition, more and more courses through non-traditional Graduate Schools are being offered online, which can add to the convenience. With that being said, Graduate School is a great opportunity to further ones career after some time in the work force
Requirements: All graduate programs will require your Undergraduate Transcripts and one of several admissions testing scores. The three most common standardized tests for Graduate School are the GRE (Graduate Record Exam which can be used for many different programs), the GMAT (typically for students looking to gain admission to business school, the LSAT (typically for students looking to gain admission to Law School, and the MCAT (for students looking to gain admission to Medical School). Non-traditional Graduate Schools will typically have admissions standards that are more flexible than top rated graduate schools. A good resource to find deadlines is at www.collegenet.com.
Getting in: Getting admitted into non-traditional Graduate Schools in the United States may be a lengthy process. Most non-traditional Graduate Schools will generally post their admissions criteria on their web pages. This is a good gauge for you to decide if you have a legitimate chance at getting admitted to the school of your choice. With that being said, if your standardized test scores or Undergraduate GPA fall short of the school average, you should not be discouraged. In almost all cases, school admittance boards give heavy weight to a strong military service record and all graduate give heavy weight to leadership and management experience (which you obviously have through the military) so keep that in mine while applying.
Cost: Non-traditional Graduate Schools vary in cost depending on the program you are going for.For specific cost information, you should visit the specific Universities website. In addition to tuition costs, there are a variety of other costs to going to college including books, lab fees, room and board, parking, and several others. These fees can often catch students by surprise if they are not prepared.
Options for payment: There are several ways to pay for your college education – but as a rule of thumb, pay for as little out of your own pocket as possible. In order to do this, you should look at the many different ways to get the military to assist, get college scholarships, grants, and lastly student loans which ultimately need to be paid back by you.
Military Assistance: There are a few programs that you probably have heard of that help military servicemen and women pay for their undergraduate degrees. The most notable one is the Montgomery G.I. Bill, which pays a large portion of your tuition, depending on how much you have funded during your service. The other method is Tuition Assistance, which gives each servicemen and women money towards tuition.
Scholarships: A scholarship is a fund of money that is set aside to help pay for student’s college education – in almost every case this money does not have to be paid back by the students. There are literally tens of thousands of scholarships available to assist students in paying for their college education. More specifically, there are thousands of scholarships available for military veterans who have decided to go back to college – the key is to go out and find them. With a little research, you will be amazed by how much information there is about scholarships. One good resource we have found is www.collegenet.com.
Grants & Student Loans: A grant is a pool of funds held by the government that will help you pay for your education – most of theses do not need to be paid back. Student loans are a very popular way that students pay for their college education. In general, Student Loans offer students money for tuition, books, room and board at an extremely low interest rate. In most cases, the loans don’t need to be paid back for a significant period of time after graduation – and can often be deferred if the graduate is having trouble making payments.