Calling all US Military Fall 2011 Applicants!

Trying to decipher GI BIll (ch 33). Just got out-state tuition waver, plus a significant ammount of money for both years. If the total ammount of GI Bill plus my scholarship goes over the cost of tuition do I get to keep the money? Just wanted to know before I start making it rain at the hold em table

My advice would be to not go too crazy yet, because none of the money ever actually comes to you. The GI Bill money will go straight from the VA to the school's tuition office, and the scholarship will go to the same place. It's not like anyone will be writing a check to you.

Now, one question I do have is whether it's the GI Bill or the scholarship from the school that gets counted first...i.e. in my case (2 years past my initial obligation, 50% scholarship from Haas) do I get the 80% of the $17,500 from the VA then Haas pays half of what remains, or does Haas pay half of my tuition and fees then the GI Bill gives me 80% of the $17,500 to cover the difference? Obviously the second choice would be a little nicer deal for me.

I'm not entirely sure about MBA but for undergrad the tuition office will cut you a check if your scholarship goes over the cost of tuition.

Are you sure about that? I know the VA won't pay any extra, but I think it's school and scholarship dependent regarding money from schools. I think scholarships typically only cover tuition, whereas stipends will cover living expenses. I'd ask both the VA and school to make sure.

Regardless, ask for the money in Washingtons and hit the town with a nice roll!

I got a scholarship last year that went over my tuition by about 5k and my school ended up cutting me a check for this amount. Honestly, I don't know how the post 9/11 G.I. Bill or the ribbon work because I've been on chp 30 all throughout college where they give me the money instead of sending it to my school.

It's frustrating right now because I get a different story from the Program, the University FA office, and my current VA office

wp06- I saw you got an admit from Darden today too. Was that your first choice?

it is definitely up there, not sure where I will go, need to do some more research and go over some stuff with my wife.

i loved darden though, waiting to see if i get any aid in the mail next week, also wharton and yale decisions coming out today and tomorrow

you heaing to darden or still thinking?

I'm pretty dang sure that I'm heading to Darden. I still have an interview at McCombs, so I guess right now I'm trying to decide if I should just withdraw my app or still finish out the admissions process there. Decisions decisions.

For those that are familiar with both Stern and Darden, what are the big differentiating factors? I'm interested in both of those schools and both appear to have strong veteran's organizations. It appears as though they're close to being peer schools with a slight edge to Stern.

In at Wharton!

Congrats Jawnpace!!! That's amazing that you got accepted to one of the top three schools in the country, simply amazing.

I just finished my TAP class (I think it's similar all across the military) and met a young Marine who really wants to earn a MBA. He is a F-18 CDI, and is definitely bright enough to earn a top MBA. Unfortunately, his undergrad degree is from www.diplomamill.com or something similar, so his education isn't going to help him much--even though he's got a 3.9+ GPA.

Bottom line, I think he'll be attractive enough to a mid-level MBA like San Diego State or University of California - San Diego if he can get a 620+ GMAT score. I recommended he also take a calculus and a finance class at community college, but am not sure what else he can do to improve his chances. I'm worried about his past education making him a total non-starter. He can explain getting a degree online, but it's still a terribly weak background.

Any ideas? I'd like to help him out some as a last good deed before leaving the military and I'm afraid he's going to go back online without some solid evidence he can do better elsewhere.

you going to welcome weekend,i was accepted as well

im going to the vets brunch on sunday, will you be there?

Piggles,

I wouldn't worry too much about his undergrad degree- there are ways of proving to a highly-ranked school's adcom that he can do the work required- GMAT, community college classes, recommendations specifically talking about his analytic skills, etc. Plus I have a feeling that grad schools will start to see more enlisted guys getting their degrees from distance learning centers with all the deployments and very unstable work cycles they have had to deal with. I think enlisted guys are going to get looked at as having their first military contract as their college 'experience'- something arguably more prestigious and challenging than doing kegstands and bong hits at Party U for 4 years.

If he's as smart as you say he is, he should be looking at a 700+ GMAT and could get into a top-20 program IF he has an interesting story and can prove that he has the intellectual horsepower to hang with his other b-school peers. Don't discount the military service aspect either. It is turning into a total wildcard for the applications process- at least for me.

More concerning though is going to be his work experience- how long has he been in? What's his career goals? He's gonna need a coherent story to show that he needs an MBA to reach his dreams, and why school X in particular.

To prevent him from going the online route you might want to show him a couple studies showing the salary difference from MBAs from top ranked schools and those from Distance Learning institutions.. the numbers speak pretty strongly for themselves. Better yet, encourage him to actually VISIT a b-school or network him with one of your current b-school friends to show him what it's like.

For people who have never been to college, and compared to the travesty of military 'learning', I'm sure the business atmosphere at a top school would totally blow him away and make him want to go to a brick-and-mortar place.

Piggles-

I think he can shed some positive light on his online education. Instead of shying away from it he should be able to demonstrate how he was able to not only excel as a full time marine but at the same time succeed in school. I was enlisted, going to a less than stellar state school online throughout my career, and ended up with a good gpa (even though my 1st round of college held the cumalitve down). One of the hardest things for me was creating a resume that makes sense to civilians, took me some time, and I got some outside help. Also, it took me awhile to realize that deployments are not only combat experience, but international experience. Living and working with IA, ANA etc. is good exposure to a different culture, and can be talked about in interviews etc.

in at darden, wharton, and yale this week ; anybody considering any of these schools?

of course they all have the same damn admitted students weekend