Need advice from ROTC/Military SDNers

[UCLA Paratrooper]

Hey Everyone!
I've been following this website for the last month and I am AMAZED at the knowledge and support of the members here. As my first post I thought I'd introduce myself...
I was born in Korea, my family immigrated to Chicago when I was one. We moved backed to Korea when I was in second grade because my father got a job as an engineer working for the Deparment of Defense. I finshed up high school in Korea and now I am a Psychobiology major with an Education Minor at UCLA. And more than ANYTHING else in the world rigt now, I want to get into medical school next year.
I had a question I hoped that some of the Military members of SDN could possibly answer. I am an Army Cadet getting commissioned next year. I was wondering if those you who have gone through some of the ROTC training used your experiences with Army ROTC during the whole application process. Did you write about it in your personal statement? Did it come up during interviews? Was it a positive thing? Thanks!!!

UCLA Paratrooper

PS...CONGRATULATIONS to all those who will be attending medical school next year!!! Hang in there for all that are still waiting!!!

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[SMW]

Welcome to SDN, UCLA Paratrooper!! I'm not sure how many military types are posting on SDN, but you'd have a better chance of flushing them out, if you changed the name of this thread to something like "looking for advice from ROTC SDNers." You can do that by clicking on the little pencil (edit function) icon above your post. In general, to answer your question, you want to make your personal statement as personal and original as possible; it should give a very clear picture of who you are and how that plays into why you want to go into medicine. If ROTC is very important to you, then I don't see how you could not mention it. It will definitely go on your list of EC's so may come up in interviews whether you mention it in your personal statement or not. I would think wanting to serve your country couldn't help but be a positive.
Good luck with your application!!

 

[johnM]

Welcome to SDN UCLA Paratrooper! Sorry, I'm not a cadet or anything, but I'm starting at USUHS (the military med school) next year. I'm just curious if you are looking to go into the military after med school? Do you have a commitment from the ROTC program and won't that carry over to post-med school times?

In any case, I don't think military service can really hurt you unless you get totally unlucky and have some super-liberal hippie reviewing your application. but even then, for every school where that happens, another reviewer at another school will be impressed. good luck regardless!

 

[johnM]

BTW, SMW is right, change the title of your post!

 

[UCLA Paratrooper]

Thanks for the advice guys!!!

UCLA Paratrooper

 

[ttac]

Hi UCLA Paratrooper!
I didn't exactly take the direct route: graduated from Army ROTC in '97, majored in chem/minored in bio, and went into the California Army National Guard as a combat engineer platoon leader. I've been a PL/XO ever since then (that is...one weekend a month and two weeks a year) and finally was accepted into a couple of schools so far.

My gpa wasn't stellar... well, it wasn't even ok, but I think my military experience (EOBC, Sapper Leader Course) helped me stand out. I had good mcats and postbac classes, as well as some publications, but I think the military experiences probably helped me even more. I did talk about my military experiences in my essay, as well as in interviews, and I think it was a positive factor.

If you have any other questions, I'd be glad to give any advice/help I can to a fellow Army guy (I don't know about helping out Navy or AF guys, though :wink: )

-ttac

 

[barb]

I did the whole ROTC, airborne school, OBC thing and last year when I applied, my pre-med advisor recommended that I don't really talk about those experiences because some people might be anti-army, etc. I followed his advice and applied to almost forty schools, and didn't receive even a single interview invite. Then I took my application to a friend who had taught med school for several years and asked him what I could do to improve my application. He recommended that I not only mention my military experiences, that I emphasize them in my personal statement. So I did. (Thankfully, I attended the Medical Service Corps OBC and actually "played" the field surgeon in a major training exercise, so I actually had military experience that was medically related). This year when I applied (my qualifications being identical to last year when I applied, only my personal statements re-worded), I applied to about 15 schools and got 7 interview invites. Long story long, I would definitely mention your experience, but make sure you show how it is relevant to what you will be doing as a doctor (i.e., leadership roles in ROTC analogous to leadership roles in the hospital, etc).
Congratulations on your upcoming commissioning LT2B, and good luck!