Hey all, first reddit post so take it easy on me.
I'm active duty military, deploying to Iraq in 100 days or so. Should be fun.
Enlisted with a degree in Humanities from a PAC-12 school, GPA was 2.85, minors in History and Art. (I got F's in a Spanish poetry class and a computer science course, was depressed and literally stopped going. That didn't help the ole GPA)
Was not focused in school, fortunately graduated without any debt. Love photography and originally was going to enlist to be 25V combat documentarian, however the depth perception test at MEPS negated that option. Woe is me.
Anyways I am now working on an MFA in Creative Writing through National University online. Using tuition assistance so I only pay $200 a class, I have no illusions about the online degree and am using it mainly as a chance to improve my writing. I have a 4.0 halfway through the program, the school is meh but I'm improving as a writer and the discipline of balancing school/military life is good.
I want to use my GI bill to go to a GOOD school after this, however I am unsure of my prospects. Essentially I will be a military combat veteran, 2.85 undegrad GPA (though 3.5 in History courses, probably a 4.0 in this MFA from National, and will have good writing samples and letters of recommendation from my professors at NU, though they haven't actually met me in person. I get out in Spring 2021 and want to attend school either that summer or in Fall 2021.
I will take the GRE before I get out of the Army, will actually study. I didn't study for the SAT back in 2011 and got a 1930, 650 in critical reading, 590 math, 690 writing. I expect to do well on the GRE and understand that I need to ace the Verbal section to be a competitive candidate for grad school.
I want to go to schools in a major metropolitan area, preferably NYC or San Francisco/LA.
My interests are History, Journalism, and English/Literature. Long term I would be happy being a professor or academic and would like to earn my PhD, though I'd be happy to be a writer/journalist as well. Photojournalist is also in the back of my mind, as I'm still salty over not being able to do photography because of the depth perception thing. Though the Army did just pay for LASEK so I win in the end.
Basically, what the fuck should I do? Where should I apply? What would you do if you were this dude?
I have so many options and am trying not to freak out in the mean time, but I want a solid plan in place. Because I already have a bachelor's, things are a bit more complicated as I feel like getting a 2nd bachelor's would be somewhat a waste of time and money from the GI bill. However a Masters program at a good school may be out of reach with my academic background.
Thus far I will probably apply to the following:
- Hillsdale College MA in Politics (doesn't accept GI Bill but gives veterans FREE tuition/room/board)
-Columbia University as a PostBacc / Graduate Foundations program
-University of Pennsylvania - Masters of Liberal Arts
There are others I'm interested in but these are the top of the list. I'll end it there, I know that's a lot but I'm just trying to make a rational choice and set myself up for the future. Obviously didn't make the most of my first foray into college, no regrets but I want to nail the next chapter.
Appreciate your time!
Submitted May 25, 2019 at 12:06PM by studentsoldieryogi http://bit.ly/2Qq3rzL
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