View Full Version : I am at a turning point in my life and I am not sure what descion to take...
lea_09
Mar 10, 2010, 09:31 PM
Thread moved to more appropriate section.
I am currently a freshman/sophomre in college. I am growing in maturity and academically. In the past year I have been doing well in my classes, but I been struggling in math (I hate math and I am psychology major). I got accepted into a big league school and I want to attend the rest of my 3 years there and go to grad school. And hopefully go to UCLA for premed (personally dream to become a pathologist). Money is the issue. I love my parents very much and we are actually in the upper-middle class BUT they will not help me with tuition because they felt like I blew off all my scholarships. Which is kind of true, but they were for schools that did not have my major at all and they were private... all girl schools. No sororities at a private school. So I stayed in town and my grandma paid for my tuition. Now I have to pay for my summer classes to get my gpa up if I do not pass this math class. Since money is the issue... I plan to join the National Air Guard to help with tuition. I got a lot of benefits but I would miss a semester of school and plus it is 8 1/2 weeks of boot camp and 6 weeks of tech school. Is it worth it to take a semester or more off to just go to be in the military?
PS: I am a miss priss too. I am actually 5 foot 3 inches. Only weigh 117 pounds. I am just scared to death about the physical part of boot camp.
Clough
Mar 11, 2010, 02:31 AM
Hi, lea_09!
How long would you have to be committed to being in the military, please?
Thanks!
I wish
Mar 11, 2010, 05:57 PM
Why can't you get student loans?
I don't think that joining the National Guard is the answer to your money problems.
What about becoming a teacher's assistant? Working jobs while you're still in school so that you can study and work at the same time.
lea_09
Mar 11, 2010, 09:28 PM
Hi, lea_09!
How long would you have to be committed to being in the military, please?
Thanks!
I plan to have a four year contract with them. I get paid to go to school and taking out student loans is not ideal for me because I believe that I will be in so much debt. I got accepted into a big league school. I loved it there when I went to visit my friends. So many opportunities. I estimated that I would be 100g and plus in debt with student loans. I already work part time and possibly going to assist in embalming in the funeral home. I really want to be a doctor and I applied for many scholarships already and I hope they follow through for me. I do have a promising career in two fields: science and english. I got asked to be an English tutor for my college by one of my professors. I can choose to stay in town another semester, but I pay my way. I would be the youngest tutor in the department too. I mean there is so much to do, but I don't know what to do.
Clough
Mar 11, 2010, 10:02 PM
Would you be able to go to school while being in your military commitment?
Thanks!
lea_09
Mar 11, 2010, 10:15 PM
Yes. I would be on the air guard reserves. I would only be off a semester and I would be only working for them once a month. It is simple, but I am scared to death about the physical part of the boot camp
I wish
Mar 12, 2010, 03:27 PM
You have so many doubts about the reserves. What if it doesn't work out? Do you have a backup plan?
Why not save yourself some trouble and go directly to the backup plan?
lea_09
Mar 14, 2010, 06:22 PM
You have so many doubts about the reserves. What if it doesn't work out? Do you have a backup plan?
Why not save yourself some trouble and go directly to the backup plan?
My back up plan? Ugh... sucks. Goes straight to go college. Take out loans... get married... take more loans out... then grad school... more loans (yuck) and then pre med. Residency at a hospital under another pathologist... I just think I will only be making about fifty bucks per hour during that time. I hope I get the loans paid off in 4 yrs. But the economy sucks and I don't know if I am guaranteed a position at the hospital.
I wish
Mar 14, 2010, 06:30 PM
Sounds like you should do more research about the reserves. The army can be very grueling and not for everyone.
Loans are always an option. But how are you grades? If you have high enough grades to get into Medical school, shouldn't you be able to apply for some scholarships?
I'm not sure which school you plan on attending, but I have a friend who went to Princeton and he was able to get a lot of grants. His family had a lower income, so the university gave him a very high grant.
How about summer jobs? Did you a get a chance to save up?
lea_09
Mar 14, 2010, 06:35 PM
Yeah I plan to just get some information on the reserves soon. Like this upcoming Tues. I do have a good grade point average, but I plan to go to pre-med at UCLA. I got accepted to IU Bloomington but they don't offer large merit scholarships and I applied for some scholarships from private corporations that are offering them. But a lot of people apply for them and the essays they make me answer are like dumb and irrelevant to life. So it makes me feel like I don't need to type this essay but you know a thousand dollars is a thousand dollars.
Fr_Chuck
Mar 14, 2010, 06:41 PM
You know at the end of the day, a college degree from another school is still a college degree, and it is often what we do with that degree that makes the difference.
If you are not the phsycail type, getting dirty, crawling on the ground, going though mud and many other things are not going to be fun