<p>I'm a 10 year Navy Vet planning on returning to school at the end of my current enlistment. I'm looking for advice on what schools I should consider attending when I leave Iraq in 9 months. I just completed my associates degree at a regionally accredited community college and I'm not really worried about cost since the GI Bill will take care of most of it.<br>
I plan on majoring in anthropology with a minor in food science, I know weird combination. I spoken with some military college advisors but the seem to steer people to the programs offered on base. I have a couple schools in mind but I'm afraid that my GPA (2.9), which isn't stellar because of my 1st college experience and that the school had to take 15 credits in transfer from my military experience, will deter me for applying to top tier programs.
I'm not interested in Phoenix, AMU or any other cheesy program that targets service members with the lure of a quick degree.
Thanks in Advance.
John</p>
<p>Try state schools. Where are you from?</p>
<p>Your 2.9 GPA is from the recently completed community college program, but includes grades received from courses taken earlier (for which you received transfer credits)? Is there an upward trend (or a higher average for the CC courses alone)? Do you have fairly recent SAT/ACT scores? What schools are you considering?</p>
<p>Anthro and food science is not necessarily a weird combo. The connections among people, plants, and food is a pretty important topic to some anthropologists.<br>
[Ethnobotany</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnobotany]Ethnobotany”>Ethnobotany - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Take a look at Montclair State University in New Jersey. I’m not certain of your admissions chances, but it’s a good school with programs in Anthropology and Nutrition and Food Science. Also, under the New Jersey Troops to College program, it has an individual designated to help veterans in their college search. Here’s the link to the program info [Troops</a> to College -Montclair State University](<a href=“http://www.state.nj.us/highereducation/TroopsToCollege/MSU.htm]Troops”>http://www.state.nj.us/highereducation/TroopsToCollege/MSU.htm)</p>
<p>In addition, look at the list of schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon program, because they will typically have veteran’s liaisons on campus. Here’s the link [Yellow</a> Ribbon Program List - U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs](<a href=“http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_BILL_Info/CH33/YRP/YRP_List.htm]Yellow”>http://www.gibill.va.gov/GI_BILL_Info/CH33/YRP/YRP_List.htm) I don’t know what area of the country you are interested in, but any number of schools on the list, including University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Purdue, have the programs you’re interested in and are very reputable schools.</p>
<p>jbow808 -</p>
<p>The College Board CollegeMatchmaker search engine finds 591 colleges that offer majors in both Anthropology and Food Science. [College</a> MatchMaker: Results](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board) You have a lot to choose from! You will find that at many state universities, Food Science is in the College of Agriculture while Anthropology is in the College of Arts and Sciences. This means that you will need to investigate how hard it is to do a major in one college and a minor in the other. Some universities have tricky rules about this kind of thing.</p>
<p>In addition to checking out the Troops to College initiatives and Yellow Ribbon programs in different parts of the country, you might want to take a look at the Veterans sub-forum here. It is under the College Admissions forum. Here is a quick link for you: [Veterans</a> - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/veterans/]Veterans”>Veterans - College Confidential Forums) The posters there probably can give you some good advice.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>Purdue might be a choice also. I believe quite a good number of veterans go there and since ROTC is very big there, it might show a way of how military friendly they might be?</p>
<p>VA Tech has an outstanding food science program. Not sure about the anthropology dept., but they have one. Being a former military school that still has a sizeable Corps of Cadets makes it very military friendly.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input… This is what my list looks like right now.
Columbia University - School of General Studies ( Program designed for Veterans)
New York University
Boston University
Syracuse University
University of Arizona
University of Hawaii Manoa
University of Washington
Arizona State
Indiana University - Bloomington
Iowa State
Miami University
Oregon State University
University of Missouri Columbia
University of Nebraska - Lincoln</p>
<p>Penn State has food science.</p>
<p>If you want to avoid hordes of knee-jerk pacifists who look down on the military, I’d take NYU, Boston U., Syracuse, and U of Washington off of your list. The rest of your schools look good.</p>
<p>I went to grad school after 10 years in the Navy. A lot of people were surprised I could write a complete sentence, but only one person played the baby-killer card. Good luck.</p>
<p>First, thank you for your service to our country.</p>
<p>Your list has fine schools, but they are all over the country. Are you sure you do not have a preference for where you want to study and perhaps live? Also, they range from big cities to very rural–do you have a preference?</p>
<p>Penn State and UConn might be good options.</p>
<p>Schmaltz, what kind of evidence do you have of “hordes of knee jerk pacifists who look down on the military” at those schools? Except perhaps NYU, I have not heard of any of them as very political. Jbow, before crossing off an otherwise promising school for that reason, i would check with their ROTC unit, if they have one.</p>
<p>yabeyabe, oh, puleeeez. Boston University not political??? Syracuse, not a haven for spoiled East Coasters who think war is icky? Seattle not awash in naive Northwesterners who don’t understand why we all just can’t get along? Nobody is saying 100% of the people at these places are like this, but the op (like any sane person would) is looking to play the percentages and avoid places where the deck might be stacked against him. With several thousand colleges in the US, there’s no reason to to go to a place where you’re swimming upstream.</p>
<p>@ Schmaltz - I’ll have to agree with you on your opinion of about UW, from a personal perspective - I live in Seattle. Surprisingly Syracuse and Boston have very pro-military policies ( i.e. distance learning programs on military bases).
@ yabeyabe2 - I want the “Big School” experience, college sports, clubs and organizations; some are purely just to satisfy my wifes career aspirations (She’s a nurse and wants to work at a big hospital), some are because they are located near family, but all are research universities and offer both majors and opportunities to conduct field studies. </p>
<p>Basically what I’m looking for in a school boils down to job opportunities for my wife, solid school system and educational opportunities for my children, somewhere near family (2-6 hour drive), and most importantly provides a solid support structure for veterans, (a student organization, special vet programs/ initiatives).
Thanks</p>
<p>Welcome ashore.</p>
<p>I think any large state school would fit your need. If I were you I would pick somewhere my kids got a good eduction. Big city schools (for your kids) will in general not be the best, and schools (for your kids) will be better or worse depending on where you end up. What I hear from friends who live around the country is that public schools are great in the midwest & the NE and crappy in CA.</p>
<p>go `CUSE…very military friendly</p>
<p>I’d use ROTC as an easy gauge. They tend to be on large public schools and your wife’s job could require an urban/close suburban location. All schools have silly 18 year olds who don’t know the difference between an unpopular war and military people and you’ll learn to ignore their activities. Boston University has ROTC, but it is private and expensive and in Boston, so it might attract more brats. For me, a worse problem would be housing costs…
Look at University of Maryland.</p>
<p>You probably want to factor in cost of living, which would rule out Boston and favor a Penn State, Maryland or North Carolina. </p>
<p>With CC, you will find a lot of people who are eager to opine with certainty about schools they have never seen or even had a close friend of relative attend.</p>