Joining College After Military Service: Useful Tips for Veteran Students

Transitioning from school to college is hard for almost everyone regardless of how much you prepare for it. It is even harder for someone who was not necessarily in the student state of mind, where their only big decision was choosing their major.

Going to college as a veteran may not be as challenging as being at war, but it’s not going to be any easy.

Fortunately, there are ways for setting yourself up for success as you deal with a student’s life. Let’s share these useful tips with you.

Coping With The Transition

It is no surprise that a lot of the military life skills will help you out in college. Although there is a chance that you might be surprised by how transferable your skills are. 

For example, the ability to adapt to different situations or your time management skills can prove invaluable for success as a college fresher.  

Similarly, your extensive training involving strict routines and high-stress situations will definitely come in handy when you are under multiple deadlines during finals week. Group projects that almost all students hate might be your favorite part because you’ve known the longest how to work together towards a specific goal.

However, the military-to-student life transition might be harder if you fail to realize the bigger changes in your life, and you’re not ready to accept them. 

Student life is unique since it is one extreme of the spectrum, where responsibilities as a student and as a military person are on either end. A 9-to-5 job might be in the middle where you can expect a schedule and answer to a boss at work. 

But student life is a little different. While you still have to answer to your professors and peers, the only person that really suffers the consequences is you and there is no higher authority to whom you’re answerable.

Financing Your Future

College is expensive, no matter where you go. Veteran benefits can really help you out as you look for a source to finance your degree. 

You need to make sure that you are maximizing your benefits and researching might just be the way to do it. 

Many online databases are available that attempt to consolidate every benefit you are eligible for from cheap fast food coupons all the way to housing loan programs.

Another key way to finance your degree is by using veteran discounts while ordering textbooks and applying for veteran-specific scholarships. 

Depending on what school or scholarship you are applying for, you might need to brush up on your essay-writing skills. These scholarships are highly competitive and if you are looking for a way to secure funding, this might be the time to find professional writers who can help you with a great essay.

Balancing Your Newfound Freedom

As you cope with this new freedom of lesser responsibilities, you might be inclined to give yourself a break and there is nothing wrong with that (you deserve it!). 

However, you might be enticed to abandon your daily routine and rebel against the structure that you’ve known most of your life. 

This can be a slippery slope. 

Although college time management requirements are nothing like military rules and regulations, the ability to set a schedule for yourself might be new to you. Not having an authority figure or organization to answer to might make it difficult to set deadlines for yourself to excel in college.

As you keep these tips in mind, make sure to take the time to pat yourself on the back for choosing to invest in yourself by furthering your education. College is a time for exploration and this is your time to find who you are as a civilian!