I'm an English major with no prior science background, so I really feel a post-bac program would really help me prepare for medical school.
So the first thing to note is that there are actually quite a few ways you can go about completing a post-bac. There are formalized programs like at Bryn Mawr, Columbia University, John Hopkins, etc. that will allow you to complete all of your requirements in the course of two years (or one in accelerated programs like Bryn Mawr). These programs are generally EXTREMELY expensive and are kind of a cash cow for the universities. Your situation will certainly be a bit different using the GI Bill, but there is a very distinct possibility that you will have to pay a fair bit out of pocket or through loans if you choose this route. The advantage of these programs is that they often have linkage programs to specific school and have a staff dedicated towards pre-medical advisement
The other option, which is available at many public universities, is to enroll as a "second degree" student and take all of pre-reqs on your own À la carte. This option would be completely 100% paid for with the GI Bill. There is a possibility through this route that you may not be able to sign for classes when you want and may be given lower priority than the normal undergraduates for registration. The academic advisement might also be less robust.
I'm not sure how I'd earn an income while making the transition between military and civilian. Does anyone believe this is possible on a military lifestyle? (that is, applying for post-bac programs while serving in the military).
If worst comes to worst you can always draw unemployment during the gap from military to school. But that may very well be unnecessary. While in school you will collect BAH through the GI Bill, which depending on the zip code of the school can be more than enough to live on. For example, I attended a school in New York City where the E-5 with dependents BAH was $3,300 a month. I paid about $750 a month in rent and utilities and was able to pocket the rest. This is a rather extreme example, but you can kind of figure out what your exact situation using the BAH calculator (
http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm).
A lot of the post-bacs won't require interviews and will be fairly straightforward to apply to. Depending on when you are separating from the Navy it might be a bit tricky to coordinate beginning all of the intro classes (like Intro to Biology) if you have to start in the spring. There would certainly be ways to work through that though. I don't think there would be ANY reason why you couldn't have a post-bac lined up for when you get out. I actually applied to a program when I was still in the Army two full academic years before I started (one of the years as a consequence of being stop-lossed). I told the program upfront that I was going to apply early, but that I was going to defer for a year while I still had a military commitment. The program was extremely accommodating and helpful. I transitioned immediately from active duty to school (which I'm not 100% sure I would recommend tbh).
Also, has anyone used the post-9/11 GI Bill to pay for their post-bac program? What about the Yellow Ribbon Program? What was your experience with this process?
The GI Bill will pay for a post-bac program as long as it offers some sort of certificate or diploma at the end of a course. This simply means that you do have to enroll in either a formal post-bac program or as a second degree student. Both are very common options and are really simple to do with the GI Bill.
The Yellow Ribbon Program applies only if you pursue a post-bac at a private school, but it definitely is available at a lot of schools. If you attend a private school the VA will pay a maximum of $17,500 a year, after which you will need to pay the rest out of pocket. Some schools will offer you more to help mitigate the amount of loans you would need to take and a full list of the schools participating can be found here (
http://www.gibill.va.gov/gi_bill_info/ch33/yrp/yrp_list_2013.htm). Essentially the VA will match whatever the school offers. If you were to attend a private school that cost $30,000 a year and they offered $5,000 for the YRP then you would receive a total of $27,500 per year and owe $2,500 out of pocket. Of course, any public school would be 100% free regardless of the YRP.
I can tell you some more specifics about my experience via PM, but needless to say it was super easy and enjoyable. I was able to spend 100% of my time focused on academics and E.C.s that I enjoyed. I walked away completely debt free, with an acceptance to a really solid M.D. school