<p>I'm currently an undergraduate at UC Irvine majoring in math. After I graduate, I will be commissioned as a U.S. Army officer in which I will serve for 4 years in active service and 4 years in the reserves. </p>
<p>My question is, if I maintain my studies by myself, save all the notes, quizzes, tests, and books I used for my undergraduate studies to be looked later after I'm discharged, will I be at least prepared to do well in graduate school? or is it a whole different league? </p>
<p>Also, I know that GRE test results last for 5 years before being invalid, but what about professor recommendation? I'll probably keep in touch with some of the professors that I'll work with once I got into undergraduate research (very soon), but just in case: Will graduate schools allow recommendations that were written 4 years ago? I know it sounds absurd.</p>
<p>You will find yourself far more prepared for grad school and life in general than a lot of your peers by virtue of your time in the Army, as long as you don’t waste your time there, and ambitiously pursue schools and extra training.</p>
<p>Regarding letters, you’ll want to wait until you apply anyway because you may change what you want to study when you go to grad school, and you’ll want letters to somewhat be tailored to that fact. So just stay in contact with people…</p>
<p>It is a whole different league - but there are things you can do to keep current.</p>
<p>1) Subscribe to one or two journals that cover the areas you’re interested in.
2) If you are stationed near a university, you may be able to enroll as a non-matriculated student and take a couple grad level courses a year to keep your skills sharp. (And make fresh contacts for those all important LORs)
3)Try to schedule leave so you can attend the occasional conference - its one of the best way to keep in touch with your professors.</p>
<p>Your suituation is not uncommon - you’ll be amazed at the number of officers doing graduate level coursework all over the country.</p>
<p>I was enlisted in the Army for five years after graduating from undergrad and working for a couple years. Then I applied for grad school coming out of the Army.</p>
<p>I had a problem finding suitable recommendation sources that were non-Army because I’d been out of school for so long. I probably didn’t get the most personally-tailored recommendations as a result. I had one of my language teachers and one of my ex-bosses from pre-Army days do my letters in addition to one of my senior sergeants.</p>
<p>So it’s good that you’re keeping recommendation letters in mind… Although in my case it was more of a problem getting the people to post their letters online to the universities’ web sites on time than anything else!</p>
<p>I did the same thing, but a few years back…</p>
<p>(what branch will you be commissioned in? Former artillery/Pershing here.)</p>
<p>I don’t think grad school admissions are so hypercompetitive in math that “being up to date” will work against you. In your favor will be a few years of maturity and a novelty factor. </p>
<p>Yes, taking what courses you can (if any) can help, as can using spare time to read in the field, be it journals or texts. As a matter of fact, I’d say as an entering grad student, having worked through a few well known textbooks on your own may be more important than journal reading. After all, you need the basics down well before the literature makes a lot of sense, and you can learn a good part of the basics on your own.</p>
<p>While on active duty, don’t hesitate to email faculty, even textbook authors, if you have questions as you read. some will not reply, but some will, and that will both help you understand the material (the immediate goal) and perhaps lead to useful future contacts.</p>
<p>I’m going to be commissioned in the U.S. Army, hopefully as an intelligence officer (I have the first say of what I want to be, the Army has the final say :P)</p>
<p>In my day, everyone got one of their top three branch choices. Not bad, eh? Of course, we were required to include infantry, artillery or armor as one of our three choices. </p>
<p>Truth is that the value of military experience does not lie in what branch you are commissioned in anyway, IMHO. This is because the civilian world, even the academy, values the soft skills one learns in the military far more than any technical knowledge one might gain, especially during the initial years.</p>