Need advice for a potentially sticky situation

[tatchle1]

Hey everybody, here is my concern:

I have been accepted to an OOS school that was my overall second choice, however it is expensive. I am seriously thinking about applying for the HPSP through the Air Force to allow them to take care of the price of school for me.

However, I am waitlisted at my number one choice of schools (it too, is expensive and I would do the HPSP if I got in there). The good news is, they move alot of people off the waitlist, I had a good interview there, and overall I think I have a great shot at getting in. The bad news is that my recruiter for the Air Force said I would have to know which school I was going to go to by April 15th, and this school states they take most people from the waitlist during April through July.

So, I would be devastated if I enrolled in the AF, was forced to go to my second choice school, and then in June be notified I had been accepted to my first choice school, but couldn't attend. Does anyone have any advice? I know some other people have been in this situation before.

Oh and I know I shouldn't join the USAF just because they pay for school. I really am pretty excited to be doing it.

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[J ROD]

Hey everybody, here is my concern:

I have been accepted to an OOS school that was my overall second choice, however it is expensive. I am seriously thinking about applying for the HPSP through the Air Force to allow them to take care of the price of school for me.

However, I am waitlisted at my number one choice of schools (it too, is expensive and I would do the HPSP if I got in there). The good news is, they move alot of people off the waitlist, I had a good interview there, and overall I think I have a great shot at getting in. The bad news is that my recruiter for the Air Force said I would have to know which school I was going to go to by April 15th, and this school states they take most people from the waitlist during April through July.

So, I would be devastated if I enrolled in the AF, was forced to go to my second choice school, and then in June be notified I had been accepted to my first choice school, but couldn't attend. Does anyone have any advice? I know some other people have been in this situation before.

Oh and I know I shouldn't join the USAF just because they pay for school. I really am pretty excited to be doing it.

Ask your recruiter if you can delay the app then and just get it in a little later and maybe only take less of the HPSP?

 

[Parts Unknown]

So, I would be devastated if I enrolled in the AF, was forced to go to my second choice school, and then in June be notified I had been accepted to my first choice school, but couldn't attend. Does anyone have any advice? I know some other people have been in this situation before.

I haven't been in this situation, but the AF will be more than happy to take you on even after you have started med school. You could just take out the loans for M1, and then reassess whether you want to sign up for M2-M4. You'll have one year of debt, but one less year of payback.

I know a number of people who used the military to pay for medical school, and I think only one of them would do it again. He had undergrad paid for, as well, and wanted to do family practice. By the time he's finished with payback he'll be only a couple of years away from a pension.

The other extreme signed up for three years of med school, got stuck in this horrible AF residency, couldn't do the fellowship she wanted, and had three years of payback in this backwater that she hated. That was a very costly decision.

Caveat emptor.

 

[BigRedDeal]

I don't have much experience with AF, but I am in Army ROTC and have been looking into Army HPSP. I talked with a 1st year medical student at one of my interviews in October. He said that as long as he got his paper work in by December, he would get the 4 year Army HPSP scholarship, monthly stipends, and $20,000 bonus, but not the monthly stipends for the months he was not under contract.

If AF doesn't have the same policy, you could always apply for the Army. Army has better residencies and more options anyways.

 

[Tatastrophy]

Hey everybody, here is my concern:

I have been accepted to an OOS school that was my overall second choice, however it is expensive. I am seriously thinking about applying for the HPSP through the Air Force to allow them to take care of the price of school for me.

However, I am waitlisted at my number one choice of schools (it too, is expensive and I would do the HPSP if I got in there). The good news is, they move alot of people off the waitlist, I had a good interview there, and overall I think I have a great shot at getting in. The bad news is that my recruiter for the Air Force said I would have to know which school I was going to go to by April 15th, and this school states they take most people from the waitlist during April through July.

So, I would be devastated if I enrolled in the AF, was forced to go to my second choice school, and then in June be notified I had been accepted to my first choice school, but couldn't attend. Does anyone have any advice? I know some other people have been in this situation before.

Oh and I know I shouldn't join the USAF just because they pay for school. I really am pretty excited to be doing it.

based on my brother's experience with recruiters....they lie. I would see if you could find a "second opinion" about the April 15th deadline. I suspect he has a quota to meet and wants to push you to sign the papers as early as he can force the pen into your hand. Hate to put it that way but that is how it worked out with my brother.

 

[NickNaylor]

Um... this situation seems like an altogether bad idea. I would weigh seriously the commitment required by the HPSP.

 

[FIREitUP]

i would take the debt over having my prospects owned by the gov't.