Which recruiter do I contact?

[vcentwin]

I currently go to an undergrad down in Southern California, but my home is in Northern California/Bay Area (8-hr drive difference roughly). My school campus has hosted plenty of HPSP recruiters, and I am on speaking terms with the army HPSP recruiter; I don't plan on applying to an MD/DO program until I graduate (at least 1 gap year) and it is most likely that I will be living in Northern California when I graduate. Do I work with the HPSP recruiter who is based at my undergrad campus, or the HPSP recruiter near my hometown?

I asked the recruiter I've been talking to, and he said to process the application through him (that does not make sense; I will be 8 hours away by car, that is simply impractical) so i wanted to ask the former mil-med docs and officers on how to approach yet another piece in .gov shenanigans.

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[deleted480308]

I currently go to an undergrad down in Southern California, but my home is in Northern California/Bay Area (8-hr drive difference roughly). My school campus has hosted plenty of HPSP recruiters, and I am on speaking terms with the army HPSP recruiter; I don't plan on applying to an MD/DO program until I graduate (at least 1 gap year) and it is most likely that I will be living in Northern California when I graduate. Do I work with the HPSP recruiter who is based at my undergrad campus, or the HPSP recruiter near my hometown?

I asked the recruiter I've been talking to, and he said to process the application through him (that does not make sense; I will be 8 hours away by car, that is simply impractical) so i wanted to ask the former mil-med docs and officers on how to approach yet another piece in .gov shenanigans.

A milmed recruiter gets judged on how many they recruit, that’s why the recruiter said you need to use them

Use whoever is most convenient as long as you know there is a difference between a milmed recruiter and the avg recruiter hanging out in a strip mall office

 

[USArmyHPSP]

Your entire application packet will be online. People start their packet in San Diego, and end up going to school in New York. Most will end up changing recruiters during the process.

Because of the gap year, you may want to wait until Oct of graduation to start the process.

 

[vcentwin]

Thanks; because of the gap year(s) and not applying straight out of undergrad, the timeframe for these kinds of things can get confusing. Thanks for the input!

 

[Armyhealth]

It is really all up to your preference. I worked applicants from all over the country, about 90% of it is online or through email. The only part you do in person is the physical and fingerprints and the commissioning itself once selected. All that can be scheduled from afar and you just show up when they tell you to show up.

 

[TheEarDoc]

I would work with the med recruiter. It is a night and day difference going through a regular recruiter vs. a medical one when trying to direct commission. I worked with the closest medical recruiter (I ditched 2 others who were further away because I felt like they were not really wanting to work with me) and then did other things at the local recruiting office. When I would go to the local recruiter each time they would be confused about what I was doing. It's just a different ball game. As Armyhealth said go with the medical recruiter and most of the recruiting process will be done by e-mail, phone calls, signing and e-mailing paperwork back and forth. When you need to do something in person you can go to the local recruiter to have it done (fingerprints, tape test/height weight check, etc.), but the medical recruiter is going to be in the pipeline to know the questions you're going to have in the process. I would get rolling ASAP as the process takes awhile even when it goes well without a hiccup (unlikely!), that way it's not a mad dash to get things processed at the last minute before the board meets. This is coming from someone who had about any small thing that could go wrong with their commissioning go wrong including several trips to MEPS.

Good luck and thanks for your desire to serve!

 

[vcentwin]

I would work with the med recruiter. It is a night and day difference going through a regular recruiter vs. a medical one when trying to direct commission. I worked with the closest medical recruiter (I ditched 2 others who were further away because I felt like they were not really wanting to work with me) and then did other things at the local recruiting office. When I would go to the local recruiter each time they would be confused about what I was doing. It's just a different ball game. As Armyhealth said go with the medical recruiter and most of the recruiting process will be done by e-mail, phone calls, signing and e-mailing paperwork back and forth. When you need to do something in person you can go to the local recruiter to have it done (fingerprints, tape test/height weight check, etc.), but the medical recruiter is going to be in the pipeline to know the questions you're going to have in the process. I would get rolling ASAP as the process takes awhile even when it goes well without a hiccup (unlikely!), that way it's not a mad dash to get things processed at the last minute before the board meets. This is coming from someone who had about any small thing that could go wrong with their commissioning go wrong including several trips to MEPS.

Good luck and thanks for your desire to serve!

I don't plan on applying to med school/HPSP until after I graduate (I just finished 2nd year) but it's good to plan ahead I guess

 

[Mr_Churchill]

I would work with the med recruiter. It is a night and day difference going through a regular recruiter vs. a medical one when trying to direct commission. I worked with the closest medical recruiter (I ditched 2 others who were further away because I felt like they were not really wanting to work with me) and then did other things at the local recruiting office. When I would go to the local recruiter each time they would be confused about what I was doing. It's just a different ball game. As Armyhealth said go with the medical recruiter and most of the recruiting process will be done by e-mail, phone calls, signing and e-mailing paperwork back and forth. When you need to do something in person you can go to the local recruiter to have it done (fingerprints, tape test/height weight check, etc.), but the medical recruiter is going to be in the pipeline to know the questions you're going to have in the process. I would get rolling ASAP as the process takes awhile even when it goes well without a hiccup (unlikely!), that way it's not a mad dash to get things processed at the last minute before the board meets. This is coming from someone who had about any small thing that could go wrong with their commissioning go wrong including several trips to MEPS.

Good luck and thanks for your desire to serve!

Would you recommend applying in the middle of the app cycle? I’m submitting all my secondaries this week. Should I wait till I’m accepted to a school?

 

[Red Lobster Actual]

Would you recommend applying in the middle of the app cycle? I’m submitting all my secondaries this week. Should I wait till I’m accepted to a school?

No. Start the process now and make sure they are the HPSP/medical recruiters.

 

[TheEarDoc]

No. Start the process now and make sure they are the HPSP/medical recruiters.

THIS....