Finish BS, Go Reserve/Guard or SEPERATE, advantages/disadvantages

[TheLongRoad87]

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A bit about me:

-23 Yr old active duty AF Med Tech
-Upcoming USAFA assingment CO Springs until Feb 2013
-Transferring Majors from Psych with Park U to Pre-Med at PPCC
-Goal of completing AS in Pre-Med by 2013 and then transferring to other school to finish the BS, Pref. Back East. Or at least enough creds to transfer.

Barring unforseen circumstances(an untimely deployment, anyone?) this is the path i'd like to stick with my dilemma is how to proceed right after I seperate from AD in 2013...

Here's the choices ive comes up with, along with goods and bads..

Go Reserve or Guard(Finish BS with TA,but have to live around a reserve station that has my job(lack of choice). Although talking to in-service recruiter I may have a pretty good say picking a spot on the east coast.

Seperate Entirely(Finish BS w/ GI Bill, or other types of loans if id like to save my GI Bill) AND If I did this one, could I use the housing stipend for a 2-yr BS completion? sorry im pretty GI Bill ignorant..

Basically what im trying to determine is other than TA what would be my advantage of going reserve instead of sep totally? thats especailly true if i could get housing stipend seperating and using GI bill...thinking of that too, I have wife and a son

There's prob pluses and minuses all over but in general i'm trying to get back east to finish my BS, as well as go to med school on that side of the Country..

Either way during BS would like to study for MCAT and utilize USUHS or HPSP programs, with a strong preference of USUHS, the perks are unbeatable if you plan on staying in..plus I love that area of Maryland haha..

Advice appreciated

 

[A1cfox21]

A bit about me:

-23 Yr old active duty AF Med Tech
-Upcoming USAFA assingment CO Springs until Feb 2013
-Transferring Majors from Psych with Park U to Pre-Med at PPCC
-Goal of completing AS in Pre-Med by 2013 and then transferring to other school to finish the BS, Pref. Back East. Or at least enough creds to transfer.

Barring unforseen circumstances(an untimely deployment, anyone?) this is the path i'd like to stick with my dilemma is how to proceed right after I seperate from AD in 2013...

Here's the choices ive comes up with, along with goods and bads..

Go Reserve or Guard(Finish BS with TA,but have to live around a reserve station that has my job(lack of choice). Although talking to in-service recruiter I may have a pretty good say picking a spot on the east coast.

Seperate Entirely(Finish BS w/ GI Bill, or other types of loans if id like to save my GI Bill) AND If I did this one, could I use the housing stipend for a 2-yr BS completion? sorry im pretty GI Bill ignorant..

Basically what im trying to determine is other than TA what would be my advantage of going reserve instead of sep totally? thats especailly true if i could get housing stipend seperating and using GI bill...thinking of that too, I have wife and a son

There's prob pluses and minuses all over but in general i'm trying to get back east to finish my BS, as well as go to med school on that side of the Country..

Either way during BS would like to study for MCAT and utilize USUHS or HPSP programs, with a strong preference of USUHS, the perks are unbeatable if you plan on staying in..plus I love that area of Maryland haha..

Advice appreciated

Been there, done that, and came back around. First off, good luck with whatever path you choose. I was AD AF for 6 years, then 3.5 yrs ANG, now back AD AF.

The AFR does use the federal TA so you can use that. I do not know if the rules are the same as AD where you can't use TA and GI BIll. The ANG does not use federal TA. Most states have an undergrad Tuition program run by state. I was a Guardsmen in FL. They offer full undergrad tuition at any state school (2 or 4 yr). I also used my Ch 30 GI Bill in addition to Federal financial aid (grants & loans). in FL you had to commit to serve on Drill status for 3 years after using the state tuition program. I would imagine most states have something similar.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill is pretty sweet so joining the Reserves or Guard may be more of a continued service want vs need for school. Plus, you will be eligible for Tricare Reserve select which is Tricare Standard but only costs like ~$70 single and ~$150 family. Your drill pay would cover that mostly and you wouldn't have to buy the insurance the school offered.

Did you convert your GI Bill already or did you come in with the Post 9/11? If it wasnt for the fact I used most of my elegibility for Ch 30 I would have switched.

Little known fact: You can actually use up to 48 months of GI Bill benefits if you have eligibility for more then one of them. It basically works with the reserves/guard. You have to exhaust whatever you have now then switch to the GI Bill reserve or Post 9/11 if you had additional elegibility through the reserve component.

I'm sure others will fill you in more on HPSP/USUHS. Good luck!