Class of 2024 Dental HPSP Recipient... Still haven't commissioned

[Robinjung95]

Hello all -
I am a class of 2024 dental student, starting school next month.
I received a conditional acceptance to the Army dental HPSP beginning of this year, the "condition" being I pass my commissioning physical screening.
I know this is highly unusual, but I was granted a waiver to bypass physical at the moment. I was scheduled to do the physical in March, but due to COVID-19, MEPS closed and everything halted, including the physical and everything moving forward. At this point, I am still waiting to go through the physical so I can officially commission as an officer and to receive the scholarship. My recruiter told me the MEPS opened back up recently and he is now attempting to schedule for a physical next week. Given that I pass the physical screening and be able to commission, how long will it take for the scholarship to kick in? The deadline to pay the tuition is in mid-August. I am also looking into the federal loans in case HPSP does not kick in on time, even though my recruiter says I should be fine. In case I do pay for my tuition with federal loans, would HPSP reimburse me for the loans? I know times like this is highly unusual and I am not sure if anyone would have the answers for my questions, but I thought I would ask anyway. Thank you all for your help.

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[Lab_lover]

Hello all -
I am a class of 2024 dental student, starting school next month.
I received a conditional acceptance to the Army dental HPSP beginning of this year, the "condition" being I pass my commissioning physical screening.
I know this is highly unusual, but I was granted a waiver to bypass physical at the moment. I was scheduled to do the physical in March, but due to COVID-19, MEPS closed and everything halted, including the physical and everything moving forward. At this point, I am still waiting to go through the physical so I can officially commission as an officer and to receive the scholarship. My recruiter told me the MEPS opened back up recently and he is now attempting to schedule for a physical next week. Given that I pass the physical screening and be able to commission, how long will it take for the scholarship to kick in? The deadline to pay the tuition is in mid-August. I am also looking into the federal loans in case HPSP does not kick in on time, even though my recruiter says I should be fine. In case I do pay for my tuition with federal loans, would HPSP reimburse me for the loans? I know times like this is highly unusual and I am not sure if anyone would have the answers for my questions, but I thought I would ask anyway. Thank you all for your help.

The best person to ask is your school’s financial aid office. I’m sure similar situations have happened and they will be able to give you the best advice

 

[ESPN907]

The truth is every recruiter lies, and “you’ll be fine” doesn’t mean anything coming from them. None of it will get set up fast enough I can tell you already, and Covid isn’t helping. Expect to take the loans to pay for school, and even for your cost of living initially. You may not get tuition payed for nor your stipend for months...just be ready for that reality. Hope that it all gets processed within the loan return window so you can just write that check for your financial aid office and move on. Good luck!