Nursing school before Air Force better? Or have Air Force pay for you to be a nurse?
Question:
Thanks
Answer:
If you can get into the ROTC program in college then I'd recommend that as the best choice. The monthly stipend isn't anything outstanding but it helps, and there are some military programs that offer student loan repayment plans once you're in.
(I know the national guard have that program for nurses - please check with a USAF Nurse Recuiter to see if active duty offers it as well)
If you enlist without finishing your degree the BEST you could hope for would be to score high enough on the ASVAB to be eligible for training as the equilavent of an LPN. Enlisted people are NOT educated by the USAF to become RN's upon enlistment no matter how high they score.
There are programs such as Operation Bootstrap, or Green to Gold that provide for sending enlisted people who have completed two years of college already to a civilian university (full time) while they're still on active duty to get their bachelor degree in critically needed professions such as nursing, but I believe you have to have already completed one enlistment term before you would be eligible to apply for those programs (unless they have changed the criteria).
You could join ROTC now at your college while you finish yourt nursing degree and join the air force guard or reserve and earn the weekend drill pay plus two weeks of active duty pay each summer to supplement your income while you're in school, then take your commission once you graduate as a nurse & go active duty.
May I suggest you look for any & all nursing scholarships that might help you stay in school as well? Here's an excellent up to date nursing scholarship directory:
http://myonlinenursingdegree.com/healthc...
Good luck with whatever you decide to do :)
I think that going for an ROTC scholarship would be the ideal solution. It would be the best for the Air Force to pay for your schooling up front while you learn to be a nurse and an officer. It is much easier to be commisioned as an officer from ROTC than to try and become an officer after enlisting. Just make certain that you are willing to commit many years of your life to service.
Research all the pros and cons of both situations, then make two lists, one for pros and one for con. Which one out weighs the other?(chose the best for you according to what you need and want). Just make sure that whatever you do get a guaranteed MOS this keeps you of the war zone.
Air Force first. How can you lose?
If you join the Air Force first, you will have to spend the time in the service while you take the classes. If you join ROTC in college, they will pay for it and then you can join the Air Force. It is not a life long committment. But if you want to be in the Air Force anyway, the time committment shouldn't be a factor anyway. Go visit a recruiter but hope for an honest one.
uhhh lets see here pay for school or someone else pay for school?? that is a hard one... what do you think?
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