<p>Here's another interesting topic - who here has applied/planning on applying to college after completing a mandatory military service?
How does that affect the application? For starters, the school probably barely remembers you. Aren't recommendation letters from the military more relevant than school reports in such a case?</p>
<p>since ure from israel, which practises a mandatory national service policy very similar to singapore, i can tell you what someone i know did. he applied, got accepted with finaid, and managed to hold off his place for 2 yrs... however, i am told that most schools will not hold places for you. the school i mentioned above was a small lac, thus perhaps the more personalised possibility. if u are looking at a big school (i mean, you are hankering after the ivies, right?), then i guess maybe you shd apply during the last year of military service.... explain all these to the adcoms, they shd undrstand.</p>
<p>if u want more specifics, you can pm me.</p>
<p>oh, and i shd probably mention that most universities will not hold scholarships for you... but since ivies do not have any merit scholarships (or not HUGE ones), then i guess u don have to worry abt this one.</p>
<p>In Switzerland they also have manditory military service.
I don't know what the law is like in Israel, but here if you're in school you just go after school, and if you don't come back to live in the country until you're 25 you don't have to do it, you just pay a little suppliment.</p>
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and if you don't come back to live in the country until you're 25 you don't have to do it, you just pay a little suppliment.
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<p>It should be like that in every country.</p>
<p>who would like to get out of utopian landscapes .Switzerland is potrayed as heaven where love is in the air</p>
<p>as for military service if its compulsary doesnt that mean every student from your country is on same footing so that shouldnt affect you</p>
<p>Military service can in some cases be the end-all be-all of extracurricular activities. If you are from a country from which very few people apply, military service will make you stand out in the total applicant pool. Also, if you serve as a non-commisioned officer it is even better - leadership is one of the most desired skills in college admissions and what better way to show it than being a squad leader for a year or so?</p>
<p>when was the last time switzerland actually fought anybody?</p>
<p>that's not quite right scandal-less. most US universities DO hold places for those who have to serve mandatory national service, even up to two years. indeed, the overwhelming majority of the Singaporean guys who have to serve 2 yrs of NS apply for admissions in their last year of high school and request deferral of 2 years. Most universities grant deferral, though there are some exceptions, such as Berkeley and Swarthmore (I think). I definitely recommend applying while u are in school... becoz u'll be in the right application mood with everyone else around u locked in the college frenzy, and also becoz teachers may forget u by the time u finish ur national service.</p>
<p>Well, in my home country military service is mandatory only for guys older than 19 years. However, if you are planning to study in a college/university you can postpone your military service. If you have a wife and a baby less than 3 years old, you can also postpone your military service. Finally, I am not sure about it but even if you take a loan to build a house or buy an appartment, your military service is also postponed. If you manage to postpone your military service until you are 26 or so, you are officially exempted from military service, so as you can clearly see, in my home country avoiding it is really easy.</p>
<p>Now in your case, how many years of military service do you have? Is it possible to pospone it by enrolling full-time in a college? I think that the best way for you would be to investigate all opportunities of putting off military service in your home country and then contact American colleges and ask admissions officers whether they would hold your spot and finaid in case you get admitted there. In case they don't, you should ask them whether they would evaluate recommendation letters from military personell. It all depends upon a particular college, because there is not really so many countries with mandatory military service, which cannot be put off when enrolling in college.</p>
<p>I'm currently at the end of my service, and am planning to enroll for 2007. So the problem is the teacher recommendation and the school report - they don't really remember me, it's not relevant anymore except for the grades.
Although teachers are known to have extraordinary memory sometimes so they might know stuff about me that I've already forgotten..</p>
<p>if you were a really outstanding student they'd hopefully remember you.</p>
<p>So you have little options in the following case, but to contact the colleges you are going to apply to and ask them for advice.</p>
<p>hmm since u're in ur last year of service u'll have to apply now anyway. for teacher recs, i suggest u find a teacher whom u were on close terms with in the past. even if she might not remember how outstanding u were a couple of years back, she may be willing to help and be open for negotiation. i.e. you may drop suggestions as to what to include in the recommendation. </p>
<p>military recs. i am not sure how useful that is. but a yale admission officer who came to our town for an admissions session didn't sound very enthusiastic about military recs or essays about your military career. because they usually sound identical i guess. and army officers aren't exactly the best people to judge you among other college applicants, though they may offer a view of another side of you. i'll suggest you submit a supplement rec by your army superior, in additional to your academic recommendations.</p>
<p>that's not quite right scandal-less. most US universities DO hold places for those who have to serve mandatory national service, even up to two years. indeed, the overwhelming majority of the Singaporean guys who have to serve 2 yrs of NS apply for admissions in their last year of high school and request deferral of 2 years. Most universities grant deferral, though there are some exceptions, such as Berkeley and Swarthmore (I think). I definitely recommend applying while u are in school... becoz u'll be in the right application mood with everyone else around u locked in the college frenzy, and also becoz teachers may forget u by the time u finish ur national service.</p>
<p>in response to this: i was told that a number of universities are not enthusiastic about holding places for students who might have to defer matriculation for two years... but i did mention that it IS possible to defer. so yeps. anyway woebegone, the rj website (which was written by a teacher who graduated from yale) advised all guys that many universities would not hold their places. so.. yeah. anyway im not a guy, im just suggesting to kornylicious what someone i know did. thats all.</p>
<p>erm, i think ms yale did suggest that most universities are willing to allow deferment for NS, though she did provide a short list of unis that have a clear no policy to dis. in fact, requesting for deferment for most of us is more of an 'inform' thing as opposed to a request thing. it's a trickier matter with the UK unis though.</p>