- Joined
- Jan 5, 2007
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- 262
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Come Oct 1st, my Army recruiter told me that I will be getting a 4 yr HPSP with 20K signing bonus minus the few months of stipend from the first semester of dental school. I was all ready to go and sign, and now I am told after the fact that there have been many more who have applied for the 4 yr HPSP, so to accommodate all accepted applicants, the army is going to offer me a 3.5 year HPSP with the option of taking the 20K- making it a four year commitment from a 3.5.
So in essence of calculation, I will be getting the same four year commitment just like the rest of the other 4 year HPSPers less the semester of stipend and tuition for this fall semester.
In summary, I feel shortchanged. I am starting this thread to glean your opinion if it is still a good deal to take the 20K and add the 0.5 year more of ADSO. Or should I be looking at other branches at this point?
I have read the Navy thread and although I hear bitter opinion about JO's doing all the work without having a good chance of promotion if you don't know someone, it is still appealing to me that I would have a good chance to go overseas to Japan with the Navy.
The AF seems like a safe bet, since most people recommend it, and there are no amalgam lines, right? But I don't know much of other advantages for joining AF and the local recruiter seems to be too busy to return any of my calls.
The Army on the other hand, still seems like the way to go because I don't mind getting a little dirty along the way (deployment, TOE, etc- I think of it as paying my dues for being military personnel) and it seems like the Army has the most "loyalty" in taking care of its soldiers who have put in their time and service. (Just subjective opinion, correct me if I am wrong) But it is hard to decide if I should be looking elsewhere or even consider direct accession- HPLR, given that I feel shortchanged and have this opportunity to look into other services.
Any positive comments or suggestions would be appreciated by people who are in any of the branches. I would just like to gain perspective, and to see if the 20K is worth taking despite the missed semester of benefits. Sorry for the ranting...
So in essence of calculation, I will be getting the same four year commitment just like the rest of the other 4 year HPSPers less the semester of stipend and tuition for this fall semester.
In summary, I feel shortchanged. I am starting this thread to glean your opinion if it is still a good deal to take the 20K and add the 0.5 year more of ADSO. Or should I be looking at other branches at this point?
I have read the Navy thread and although I hear bitter opinion about JO's doing all the work without having a good chance of promotion if you don't know someone, it is still appealing to me that I would have a good chance to go overseas to Japan with the Navy.
The AF seems like a safe bet, since most people recommend it, and there are no amalgam lines, right? But I don't know much of other advantages for joining AF and the local recruiter seems to be too busy to return any of my calls.
The Army on the other hand, still seems like the way to go because I don't mind getting a little dirty along the way (deployment, TOE, etc- I think of it as paying my dues for being military personnel) and it seems like the Army has the most "loyalty" in taking care of its soldiers who have put in their time and service. (Just subjective opinion, correct me if I am wrong) But it is hard to decide if I should be looking elsewhere or even consider direct accession- HPLR, given that I feel shortchanged and have this opportunity to look into other services.
Any positive comments or suggestions would be appreciated by people who are in any of the branches. I would just like to gain perspective, and to see if the 20K is worth taking despite the missed semester of benefits. Sorry for the ranting...
