Military Experience?

[Whisky-with-a-Y]

Hey all,

 

Just curious if anyone with any military background is applying to, or already in, a graduate program? I spent 4 years in the military and am curious if potential schools value this. I know they get tax breaks for taking veterans and what not, just curious of your experiences. I discussed it in my SOP's, in a small amount, and my history is listed in my CV. It seemse that some applications ask whether of not you have any experience and others dont. Just curious of anyones thoughts?

[TakeruK]

In my opinion, if the experience is not related to your field of research, then I don't think it will make a huge difference. I think having some military experience before grad school would be similar to having some other out-of-field job before starting school. That is, I'd say it will have slight positive effects because most schools value diversity in their students backgrounds and not everyone has previous military experience. But the fact that is military experience instead of something else might not really matter (I'd say the people who are positively biased towards military will balance out those who are negatively biased).

 

It's important to note also that even if the entire school gets tax breaks for having some number of veterans etc., it is the department that makes the admission decisions and usually things that benefit the school at the university-level does not really directly benefit each department (i.e. it makes no difference to them in terms of their budget). In addition, at some schools, the most precious resource is actually lab space / class space / professor time, so an applicant would need a fairly large monetary advantage for it to be a factor. 

[Whisky-with-a-Y]

Sorry, I should have been  a little more straightfoward. I only mentioned the tax breaks because it was the only example I knew of a benefit for schools. I didnt mean that that specific break would have any influence on a departments decision, and in reality, I agree that it wouldnt at all.

[Quantum Buckyball]

Hey all,

 

Just curious if anyone with any military background is applying to, or already in, a graduate program? I spent 4 years in the military and am curious if potential schools value this. I know they get tax breaks for taking veterans and what not, just curious of your experiences. I discussed it in my SOP's, in a small amount, and my history is listed in my CV. It seemse that some applications ask whether of not you have any experience and others dont. Just curious of anyones thoughts?

 

I believe it will help a lot in term of "unique work experience" because most of the chemistry applicants do not have that kind of experience  . One of the professors in my division was an army vet, and my coworker (in the same research group) went to a military school for his Masters.

[biochemistry professor]

Having real world experience and maturity is a big plus. There are too many students coming out of college who aren't serious enough about grad school and being a professional.