All, but especially military and prior-service folks, I have a friend who will be finishing his AA in Pre-Business Administration from the local community college this spring. It is his intention to continue on to BSBA, and possibly an MBA. We were chatting this morning about what he hopes to do, and the Navy's HSCP program (http://www.millsaps.edu/_resources/author_files/CareerCenter_NavyHSCP.pdf) in Healthcare Administration came up as a possibility, since it would pay him a decent salary while he was in graduate school, then he would spend three years active duty as a Naval officer gaining practical experience in Healthcare Administration. If you were targeting this program, where would you choose to finish your undergrad degree? Would you target one of the Big 3, so that you could finish quickly and get on with the process of applying to b-school, or would you target a state school (in this particular case, most likely East Carolina University) hoping to get an edge in the applicant pool? My friend works full-time, so he is expecting to finish the undergrad degree through a distance/online program before going on to attend b-school on campus. He has already passed several CLEP exams on the way to the AA degree, so he is comfortable earning credit by exam. Any advice would be appreciated!
A freind of mine completed an interesting path to commisioning in the Navy. He was a Hospital Corpsman and wanted to finish a nursing degree. He met the Navy requirements and was accepted in to a Navy program whereby he was allowed to attend a state school's nursing program while enlisted and received a commission after completion of the degree. So, he effectively was paid to go to school. Similar to the program above. There was a service requirement. To answer your question. Go state school, competition is stiff. Ask to meet with anyone currently in the program and get a feel for the basic qualifications, etc... A good program for health care is here: Online Programs The military is good about sending folks to obtain doctorates.. I have two friends who each had their doctorates paid through the military, both are overachievers and completed their doctorates in three years. One graduated from Auburn, the other Duke. I was surprised that the military would pay for a Duke education but the possibilities are there. The process is selective so make sure your friend spends the time to finish a program that will be competitive.
Kevin, I think the program your friend attended is the same one I am referring to, it is fairly broad in scope, covering nursing, PA, MD, dental, as well as MBA/MHA students. One of the reasons I considered pointing my friend towards one of the Big 3 is that you already have to be accepted to your graduate program to apply for the HSCP program, so I would expect that the reputation of your grad school would trump the big 3 undergrad, especially if your GPA and test scores are really good. (This individual should be able to pull off a 700+ GMAT) I suppose at this point, it might be worth a chat with a recruiter. Thanks for your insight!
