Foreign military service for ECs?

[Kira010]

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So I have dual citizenship, one for my country of birth and the US. I had 2 years of military service in my country of birth after undergrad because they require one for every citizen and I wanted to keep my citizenship. I plan to live and practice in the US but having two citizenships can be beneficial in the future in any case and most of my family members are in my country of birth. I also like challenges and pushing myself to the limit both physically and mentally haha
My question is, should I include this in my application? I know the US army military service is something exceptional but idk if foreign military service is. I was also a translator in the army since I'm trilingual. If I do include this, I don't have any references except the certificate of completing military service which is not in English.
I also plan to work for Americorps for a year before I apply next cycle.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Include it for sure. Military service is basically always looked at favorably. That is something interviewers could verify pretty easily just by talking to you, since the type of people who make that kind of **** up are usually pretty obvious.

 

[Catalystik]

I had 2 years of military service in my country of birth after undergrad

My question is, should I include this in my application?

Include it for sure. Military service is basically always looked at favorably. That is something interviewers could verify pretty easily just by talking to you, since the type of people who make that kind of **** up are usually pretty obvious.

Compulsory service isn't viewed quite the same as volunteer military service, but two years of employment as a translator still adds value to a med school application, not to mention the implied teamwork, etc.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Compulsory service isn't viewed quite the same as volunteer military service, but two years of employment as a translator still adds value to a med school application, not to mention the implied teamwork, etc.

Probably depends on the school. Obviously our school views most military experience as a positive.

 

[LizzyM]

You do need to account for your time... otherwise it looks like a two year gap in your history.

 

[KnightDoc]

Probably depends on the school. Obviously our school views most military experience as a positive.

🙂 But you served in a 100% volunteer military. Sure, military experience is valuable regardless, but not evading compulsory service in order to retain dual citizenship IS a little different from voluntarily choosing to serve!!!

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

🙂 But you served in a 100% volunteer military. Sure, military experience is valuable regardless, but not evading compulsory service in order to retain dual citizenship IS a little different from voluntarily choosing to serve!!!

Our school is a military school. Knowing what military service is like is a big part of our application. Voluntary or not, two years in the military goes a long way to demonstrate that. Our school has a unique mission though and that obviously doesn’t apply everywhere as @Catalystik pointed out.

 

[Catalystik]

Our school is a military school. Knowing what military service is like is a big part of our application. Voluntary or not, two years in the military goes a long way to demonstrate that. Our school has a unique mission though and that obviously doesn’t apply everywhere as @Catalystik pointed out.

Do you have classmates who served in other countries? Are you aware of others in the school who did? Is it common?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Do you have classmates who served in other countries? Are you aware of others in the school who did? Is it common?

It is not common, but we do have some.