Is it much easier to get into a graduate school if you have served as an officer in the military first?

Question

I am currently in college and i plan on going into the military as an officer afterwards( probably army but if grades permit airforce)

i plan on doing a 4 year tour and returnining to school afterwards.

Would graduate schools lower their stadards to let vets in or what?

i want to go to ut austin eventually but i dont think my grades will be high enough to get into that school. how much will militay service matter?

Advice please?

Answer 1

No graduate schools will not lower their standards for a vet. I would try to take a few graduate level courses while in the military and get nothing less than a 'B' on them. Also I would take the GRE test and would aim for an acceptable score on it. The fact you served in the military with a few graduate courses with good grades, and acceptable GRE scores may dilute your grades enough where admission is possible.

Answer 2

Prof. Ranto is correct.

Also, you won't want them to lower their standards for you because your standards are likely to be much higher than that of the typical fresh college grad.  A United States Army Officer, having served for four years of active duty, isn't someone that typically is tolerant of low standards.  Low standards at Joe's Mercantile gets people fired, low standards at Local State U fails students out - low standards in the military gets real people really killed.

Answer 3

For academic programs (MA, MS, PhD), it shouldn't matter.

For an MBA, it will be considered like other work experience.  Some MBA programs are a little more open to accepting military than others.  Schools like Duke, for example, like them because the schools stresses the idea of being a team player.  However, the academic credentials still need to be there.