<p>You're getting some great advice, and I hope you succeed! Many, many thanks for serving!</p>
<p>What's it like being in a tactics class? I've always been curious.</p>
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Now - all that stuff can be used to obtain college credit with equivalence to a SMART transcript. I don't want to do that. I don't want to take LESS classes, I want to take MORE classes!
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<p>Ah, but you see they can be equated to advanced credit that may be comparable to dual-enrollment / AP credit.</p>
<p>Anyway, just what do you want to study? Useful for interviewers and the "Why UChicago" essay.</p>
<p>I really need to study sciences. More than likely a Biology major. I need a strong scientific platform to do the research I want to do in postgraduate. Evolutionary biology is my passion, I cannot get enough. Nothing in academics compares in my eyes. Not only for the scientific advancement of those discoveries, but also for the huge social/ethical/philosophical implications of them. Did you know 51 per cent of Americans reject evolution? In a nutshell, I want to not only advance that field of study, but also argue for what its veracity implies.... and It is quite a heated topic and one that I feel is detrimental to the wellbeing of humanity. I won't go into any more detail, I have offended people in the past.</p>
<p>For the WhyUchicago essay I would probably have to write about my experiences growing up in the south and in the military surrounded by a certain worldview which i couldn't come to terms with. I think somewhere like UC will have smart people that can understand many different schools of thought, and be just the kind of peer group that could help me grow. The fact is I haven't had a rational intellectual conversation with even one of my peers in the military. Although I'm not not saying that there are no rational and intellectual people in the military by any means.</p>
<p>You probably missed your chance to have a second shot at AP credit (through self-study) but you have duty so if things don't fare well for you for 2009, there's always 2010, right? (But again you have a good shot if you play your cards right.) </p>
<p>What was your epiphany moment? I suppose you could build an essay (or some sort of overarching theme to work with) around that. I suppose it doesn't have to be an epiphany epiphany moment, I suppose, but how did you "wake up" and get a sense of what you ultimately wanted to do? Personally curious, and also a question whose answer might be useful somewhere in the application process. </p>
<p>I mean, was it through another MOS? Did you meet a researcher? Etc.</p>
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The fact is I haven't had a rational intellectual conversation with even one of my peers in the military.
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<p>Even with officers for peers? (But you're still an NCO, right?) </p>
<p>I'm quite interested in evolutionary biology too, because I'm fascinated with spontaneous systems (which also plays a part in political economy as well as the "hard sciences"). At this point I'm hoping to create a custom major in biolinguistics.</p>
<p>Just personally curious though -- are you planning on becoming a researcher? An academic with a military background would be kinda cool. For the past few years of my life I've seen myself in academia but recently I've been bugged about the issue of how to avoid becoming merely another Ivory Tower theorist. </p>
<p>I'm not sure how adcoms would see it, but I would love an individual who combines theory and action. A military background tends to ground one in the pragmatic, and if you have strong research and academic aspirations then you have your "theory".</p>
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I wonder if you've come across the film "Waking Life". I'm a bit haunted by the scene where a bunch of students (who were previously talking about violent revolution and society) observe an old man hanging off a pole, apparently for no reason. "No worse than us," one of them says. "He's</a> all action and no theory. We're all theory and no action."</p>
<p>Honestly, I think you have a real shot, wherever you end up applying to. You've come so far from the person represented in your HS transcript that colleges are going to be much more interested in what you've done since then, which, judging by your posts, is extraordinary and exceptional.</p>
<p>You've balanced intellectual curiosity with a desire to serve the public in the most dedicated way possible. One of the things colleges are actively looking for are socially responsible graduates, who can balance a passion for academics with a greater awareness of the world around them.</p>
<p>I don't really have much to say, other than that I'm sure most of this forum is behind you 100% and wishing you all the best in military and civilian life.</p>
<p>(Oh, and another thing that might work in your favor is the G.I. Bill. Guaranteed 4 years tuition is an attractive thing to colleges!)</p>
<p>galoisien,</p>
<p>Officers are not in my peer group. I'm a sergeant (which is a non-comissioned officer), but my actual interaction with commisioned officers is small. More of a liason between the junior troops and senior enlisted.</p>
<p>Yes, I love Waking Life, great movie. I also like how it was animated (rotoscope I think it's called). Good parallel.</p>
<p>And yes, I do see myself in research for a while. It would be necessary to become a subject matter expert in a scientific field for me to advance into the arena of debate and public action. So, yea, I guess that is pretty much my ultimate goal. I want to help expose a method of thinking that, I could argue, would be to the benefit of society. </p>
<p>Thank you too, thirdfloor, for your support.</p>