Post Army (Active 4 Year Enlistment) Chances of Acceptance

College Search & Selection
1

I enlisted in the Army early this year on a four year contract straight out of high school (age 18). Given a 3.3 unweighted GPA and no money for university I decided to give the Army a try. Other than lack of finance and impressive academics I joined given the amount of money I would rack up in 4 years along with medical benefits (turned out I need glasses and now I have em!).

Anyways I am 8 months in with 10k in the bank and now starting school with UMUC Asia Division (currently stationed in South Korea) which is mostly online classes with a degree plan of an Associates in Math (All free). My plan as of now is to attend a university to major (B.S) in Computer Science. My question is should I consider Ivy League (Cornell), I mean aim for the highest nay?

I am dedicated with the current school classes I have signed up for so I know I’ll have a high GPA by the time I get my degree. Now given an Associates Degree in Mathematics, an Active Army enlistment of 4 years, good writing skills, and devotion, how likely is it to get accepted into an Ivy League school utilizing the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Scholarship?

I am also curious as to whether the school matters? Should I resort to my hometown school (University of Nevada Reno) given the cheap cost and familiarity of the location or perhaps a less competitive school such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute?

My post university goal is to land a job dealing with software development and its common knowledge that said jobs rely partly on WHICH school you went to. Everyone wants to go to the best school, should I pursue this belief, if so what steps should I take? If not, why? Many Thanks in advance, hope these questions/answers can help others in similar positions.

2

I think you should put at least one elite level school on your list, if your college grades end up being quite strong. That, plus your military service, will have significant pull in admissions at most universities, even those that ask for your high school record - even at the elites, which would normally weigh the high school record of a transfer applicant heavily.

School can matter, depending on what your future plans are. Why not try for Cornell? You’ll also apply other places, and if you don’t get into Cornell, you can go to one of those instead - so why not try?

If you’re looking at UNR and want software development, check to see if the companies you like recruit there or tend to hire from there. If not, then pick another school. You can use UNR as a backup school if you don’t get in where you’d prefer to go, so apply there as well if you like it. But try for stronger schools.

You might also like these other schools that are good in math: UMass Amherst, U Maryland College Park (I wonder if that might be a smooth transfer for you? Worth checking), Johns Hopkins, Northeastern, Tufts, U Arizona, BU, Harvey Mudd, U Southern California, UCLA (hard to get into from out of state), Carnegie Mellon, SUNY Stony Brook, U Wisconsin Madison, U Illinois Urbana, Duke, Rice, Pomona College, Vanderbilt, Washington U in St. Louis, Several of these schools won’t want your HS record - they’ll look only at your college record and your military service.

3

Thank you for your service. I am humbled by your dedication to our country.

Let me try to answer a few of your questions to the best of my ability. I’m sure others on this forum will chime in with their opinions as well.

Some of your questions are –

  1. should you consider Cornell as it’s the “highest”
  2. How likely is it for you to be accepted into an Ivy
  3. Especially in light of the Yellow Ribbon Scholarship
  4. Does it matter what school you attend (In terms of name and prestige) or
  5. Should you attend your hometown school of UN of Reno?
  6. Maybe RPI or schools with less competitive entry are your best choice?
  7. To get a job in software development, does the name-brand of your school matter?

My replies in order–

  1. Cornell is one school of many that you may want to consider. You may want to look at the several unique programs there. At Cornell CALS you apply to be accepted into a major, for example, and you may like some of the ones offered there. I believe, for example, that there’s a program in human-computer interface that may interest you. Cornell tends to accept transfer students. If you find the right program and your grades are high, then this might be a good choice for you. In my somewhat limited experience when I’ve phoned the departments at Cornell to ask about their unique programs I’ve found very helpful, friendly people to talk to who were able to guide me in terms of what the programs entailed, whether they accept students from, for example, community colleges, and the like. If you’re interested in Cornell, you may want to do some online research and then give them a call.

  2. Getting accepted into an Ivy is challenging for everyone. IMHO your military background is a bonus to your application. It speaks to your maturity and possibly also to your skills. Still it’s a challenge. If you feel that you have found the right program for you, they may feel the same about you, and you may get accepted. There’s no harm in trying. Many Ivies have excellent FA and make sure that if you’re accepted you can attend. My advice is to apply and see what FA they offer before making any decisions. If you want to answer more FA questions before you apply, use their net price calculator and then maybe follow up with any additional questions you may have with the FA office. For more information about any school’s rate of acceptance for transfer students, google and . Once you pull up the CDS (common data set) scroll down to part D. Transfers. That will show you the number of applications and the number accepted.

  3. I don’t know much about the Yellow Ribbon Scholarship. Others here may have more info. However FA at the top schools tends to be pretty good. I know that Vassar has a special program – a Veterans Posse – to help veterans attend that top LAC. Vassar is a school with amazing FA. Their CS program is pretty good for an LAC, and maybe that suits you, but it’s not the same style or substance as a Cornell or RPI which you mentioned. The point here is that there may be other schools that view veterans and their funding with the same positive perspective.

  4. My understanding is that for CS throughout your career what’s most important is what you can DO rather than the name brand of your school. OTOH it’s hard for people to ignore certain branding that you may carry. Before deciding which school to attend, carefully assess the FA packages they offer you. You may be surprised at how affordable a school can be. You also can bargain with a school once you see various offers.

  5. If you like your hometown school apply as a safety. Also apply to the several other programs that you like. Then weigh the FA packages and maybe make some visits to the departmetns and the campuses to see which overall package suits you best.

  6. The answer here is similar for #5. Make a list of your desired schools, apply, see where you’re accepted and the FA packages, Tour and ask questions. Then make your decisions.

  7. already answered in 4)

If you like RPI and Cornell, you may also want to consider –

Union (near RPI and has a lot of STEM and has great FA)
RIT
WPI
Rice
U of Rochester
Brown
New Mexico Tech
University of Pennsylvania
Duke
Emory
Santa Clara in CA – in Silicon Valley
NYU – but it has notoriously bad FA

I’m not sure what state you’d be considered a “resident” of when you attend college. Some state schools that do have high OOS tuition but are great schools for CS include–

UMich
UCLA
Ohio
UNC
The many other UCs such as Berkeley

and several others. Look on this forum at CS questions to find more information about best schools for you to apply to.

4

What is your home state of residence? For example, UT Austin has a top 10 computer science department and is very supportive of veterans.

5

Many or all states now offer in state tuition to veterans, so veterans have many more financially possible state university options than most other students. Check the universities’ web sites for more information regarding veteran students.

Among the super selective colleges, Stanford and Princeton appear to look for veterans and other nontraditional students in transfer admission. However, they admit very few transfer students, and top end academic performance in college will be necessary.

If you decide that the military is what you want to do for a career, but want to do it as an officer, the service academies do have admission pathways for those who are currently enlisted.

6

Thank you for the support.
Your answer just like the others has been most helpful. I will certainly look around the CS forum.
Cheers!

7

That is not the case. Your school isn’t a big deal when it comes to CS.

Most universities love veterans. (I was in the Air Force.) They tend to be more mature and serious about their studies than non-vets.