considering a second undergraduate degree before grad school

[TXang143]

I am using the GI Bill to finish my Bach. Degree, and I will graduate in the spring with a degree in History and Philosophy. I fully intend to apply to a PhD program, but I also have about a year remaining of my GI Bill benefits. I was wondering if starting, but not completing, a second undergrad degree would look bad on a graduate school application. I want to fully utilize my benefits since it is free school, and I would apply the remaining year of free tuition to a foreign language degree in order to strengthen my language skills prior to graduate school.

Any advice?

Edited July 27, 2013 by TXang143

[Sigaba]

Can you take the additional courses without declaring that you're going for a second degree?

[sarab]

Can you consider maybe taking them as a post-bac without declaring a degree? Your university might also allow you to take graduate courses which could be useful when you apply to grad school.

[TXang143]

I would be attendig a different university than my current one, unfortunately, because the language I need is not offered except as a "lesser taught language". Thus, I cant major or even minor in it. Further, the GI Bill does not pay for classes that do not apply toward a degree. That is a downside. I can only take "necessary" classes. Therefore, I would have to apply to a degree program.

Edited July 27, 2013 by TXang143

[Sigaba]

I would be attendig a different university than my current one, unfortunately, because the language I need is not offered except as a "lesser taught language". Thus, I cant major or even minor in it. Further, the GI Bill does not pay for classes that do not apply toward a degree. That is a downside. I can only take "necessary" classes. Therefore, I would have to apply to a degree program.

 

If you have a transcript that shows you've started something that you're not going to finish because you had the funding to do so, that will give some members of admissions committees a reason to ask if you're going to do the same as a graduate student in their program. 

 

As for maximizing your GI benefits, have you raised this question at BBs populated by members of the armed forces? It may well be that there's an exception that applies to your situation that is little known here but well known elsewhere.

[TXang143]

Right. That's the answer I expected, but was not hoping for. I will check into the stipulations of the GI Bill. Thanks.

[Sigaba]

Right. That's the answer I expected, but was not hoping for. I will check into the stipulations of the GI Bill. Thanks.

 

Please check your PMs.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Sigaba

[TXang143]

Please check your PMs.

Well, I read the details of the program and there are no stipulations I didn't already know about. Thank you for your suggestions.

[Riotbeard]

It is also something that you could address in your personal statement and/or have people address it in you letters of recomendation.  This could solve the problem, but it's a risk.  If you can get your reccomenders to address it as a positive that you went back for more language training , it could work out.

[Sigaba]

It is also something that you could address in your personal statement and/or have people address it in you letters of recomendation.  This could solve the problem, but it's a risk.  If you can get your reccomenders to address it as a positive that you went back for more language training , it could work out.

 

If TXang143 goes this route, I'd recommend first doing some additional research on the audience and the department. I'd specfically look for political activism centered around GWOT.

 

Some history professors are not particularly fond of the American armed forces nor of the men and woman who've served.

[drimlin]

If TXang143 goes this route, I'd recommend first doing some additional research on the audience and the department. I'd specfically look for political activism centered around GWOT.

 

Some history professors are not particularly fond of the American armed forces nor of the men and woman who've served.

 

 

 

On the other hand there are more than a handful of departments where military service is a big plus. Generally the larger state schools, but some of the private ones too. Don't want to give too much more in a public forum so PM if you want to discuss that more.

[dr. t]

Some history professors are not particularly fond of the American armed forces nor of the men and woman who've served.

 

That saddens me, a bit.

[nugget]

What if you delay your graduation and just graduate with a year of extra credits and you take those courses as electives? Will you still be eligible for free tuition? Alternately, you might be able to add on a minor to your program and complete the course requirements during your extra year.

[TXang143]

What if you delay your graduation and just graduate with a year of extra credits and you take those courses as electives? Will you still be eligible for free tuition? Alternately, you might be able to add on a minor to your program and complete the course requirements during your extra year.

Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to take any more electives because I have taken as many as are required for my degree. I only have 2 semesters remaining before I graduate. I thought maybe I would switch my degree plan to Foreign Language, then I would have an excuse to take more language classes while dragging out my graduation to fully utilize my benefits. The trouble with that plan is that the language I need is not offered as a major or a minor; it is a "lesser taught language". However, I could still benefit from studying a more common language, like French, in the meantime.

I seem to be playing a loophole game, and I don't enjoy it.

[Josh J.]

It is my opinion that a lot of this stuff gets over thought. It's additional preparation. That should be obvious to the adcomm. If it was for human kinetics or accounting or something not at all related, then it might be something to worry about.

My advice is do the language, get great grades, and if you are really worried then mention in your statement that you've taken additional language as prep, and then change your major back to undeclared after you've satisfed whatever the heck the VA/DOD requires for your GI Bill.

[TXang143]

What if you delay your graduation and just graduate with a year of extra credits and you take those courses as electives? Will you still be eligible for free tuition? Alternately, you might be able to add on a minor to your program and complete the course requirements during your extra year.

The "minor" idea was quite good! I'm working with my advisor now to add a foreign language minor.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Hey, I see you're a GI Joe. A few words of shizdom. Do you have the Post 9/11 or the Montgomery? Or both? The Post 9/11 (which pays much better) is only for 36 months. I'd advise you not to waste it all before grad school. Fortunately I didn't use mine until my last 2 years of undergrad, so I'll have 1 year left when I start my master's and the MS program I'm trying to get into is only 1 year. So it works out perfectly. Of course, if you get full funding then you might as well use up the rest of your GI Bill now. The cool thing about the GI Bill is even if your school gives you free tuition and a living stipend, the GI Bill will still give you a monthly housing allowance of about 2k. To address something I skimmed over when looking at this thread, the GI Bill doesn't pay for non-degree seeking courses. They do, however, pay for certificates. All universities offer certificates in various things, so you can always take classes toward that if you want to stay in school and use up the rest of your GI Bill. For example, my school has an Ethics Certificate offered through the philosophy department. Note sure what it's good for, but if you can do it for free you might as well. Or get like a TESOL (teaching English) certificate. Anyway, I just finished finals and I'm downing moscato so I don't know what I'm talking about. 

Edited August 1, 2013 by JoeyBoy718

[TXang143]

Hey, I see you're a GI Joe. A few words of shizdom. Do you have the Post 9/11 or the Montgomery? Or both? The Post 9/11 (which pays much better) is only for 36 months. I'd advise you not to waste it all before grad school. Fortunately I didn't use mine until my last 2 years of undergrad, so I'll have 1 year left when I start my master's and the MS program I'm trying to get into is only 1 year. So it works out perfectly. Of course, if you get full funding then you might as well use up the rest of your GI Bill now. The cool thing about the GI Bill is even if your school gives you free tuition and a living stipend, the GI Bill will still give you a monthly housing allowance of about 2k. To address something I skimmed over when looking at this thread, the GI Bill doesn't pay for non-degree seeking courses. They do, however, pay for certificates. All universities offer certificates in various things, so you can always take classes toward that if you want to stay in school and use up the rest of your GI Bill. For example, my school has an Ethics Certificate offered through the philosophy department. Note sure what it's good for, but if you can do it for free you might as well. Or get like a TESOL (teaching English) certificate. Anyway, I just finished finals and I'm downing moscato so I don't know what I'm talking about.

For someone who doesn't know what they're talking about, you covered the bases pretty well. I am familiar with the rules of the GI Bill enough to know I can't take courses that don't count toward my degree, I wouldn't consider using my full benefits "wasting" them if I get a useful degree out of it. The TESOL is a good idea that I had not considered.

Regardless, I think I'm going to pick up a minor in foreign languages in order to postpone my graduation until I'm more confident with my language skills. I still have 20 months remaining. That's plenty of time to be able to read 2 languages, one of which I can already read fairly well.