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I am currently a SPC in the Michigan Army National Guard. I enlisted in April 2017 and am interested in applying to the IPAP program, and like everyone else, I just had some general questions that I was hoping people that are enrolled in the program right now, or have just graduated in recent years could answer for me. 

  • What are the normal hours like every day? Do you feel like there is enough time to manage studying/sleep/having any kind of a social life? Do you wear uniform every day, or do you get to wear civilians? Classes are just during the week, correct?
  • Are you provided a place to stay off base? If so, is it an apartment or dorm room style? Do you have roommates? 
  • Once graduated, I've read about having to 'pay back' two years as on officer. Will that still be in a National Guard position? Or do I have to go active?
  • Do you get leave/breaks?
  • How are the semesters broken up?
  • I've heard that it is very competitive to get into the program, especially for NG soldiers. Coming from other NG soldiers that have gotten into the program, what were your stats like? GPA, SAT, shadowing hours, time in service, etc. I would like to see where I stand in relation to you.
  • I've also heard that you need to go to BLC before applying. Is this correct? 

I believe that is all I have for now. There may be more questions to come. Thank you in advance to everyone that answers.

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About to finish up my didactic phase in IPAP as a Reservist, so that is all I can speak to:

Hours: All 

Social life: None

Uniform: Yes

Weekends: Study

Housing: You’re on Active Duty, so same, except junior enlisted are not in barracks, you’ll get BAH.

Obligation: At least 4 years, but mine is 6 for Reserves (Not sure about NG). If the MI NG sends you, they will most likely keep you, since they’d be flipping the bill.

Semesters: Didactic Phase = 4x 16-week Trimesters with opportunity to use all the leave you accrue during the program

Application: Requirements updated every year and published in Milper. Also you don’t know how you compare to others until you apply.

Best advice: Find an IPAP grad PA around you to shadow.

Good Luck

 

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On 3/12/2019 at 1:29 PM, kenyo1bn said:
  • I've heard that it is very competitive to get into the program, especially for NG soldiers. Coming from other NG soldiers that have gotten into the program, what were your stats like? GPA, SAT, shadowing hours, time in service, etc. I would like to see where I stand in relation to you.

 

The NG gets (or at least used to) 10 seats per class. That is 30 seats per year. I'd be surprised if there were 100 packets that get boarded for selection. For my class, there were 21 submitted packets for 10 selected slots.  You'll never find better odds anywhere else.

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14 hours ago, PAMEDIC said:

The NG gets (or at least used to) 10 seats per class. That is 30 seats per year. I'd be surprised if there were 100 packets that get boarded for selection. For my class, there were 21 submitted packets for 10 selected slots.  You'll never find better odds anywhere else.

There are at least 8 NG in my class right now, however, I know their biggest hurdle was not just being selected, but securing funding from their state. At least one in my class now is from TN, but had to transfer to AL in order to be funded when he was selected.

Each state has only a set number of seats per cycle from what I have been told, but there should be a POC you can get with to find out about your state if you visit the IPAP page on the HRC website. This is where ALL of the relevant, and true application information can be found or contacts with the best answers can be made. Otherwise, if you’re getting the information here or on the Facebook page (unofficial), what you get is either old (past application cycles) or second-hand (someone who is working on their own packet and heard from a guy who heard from a guy). The selection board looks at the content of your packet, sure, but first to see that it is complete and perfect to standard.

This may be more than you’re looking for right now, but if you decide to apply, use your state POC, and the program manager instead of Internet forums. Bad second-hand information can keep your packet from boarding, and given that building it is like having another full time job for a couple months, you want it to be perfect.

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Other folks already spoke to the funding issues with NG slots. You can also apply for an active duty seat as a reservist/NG but you will incur an Active Duty service Obligation of 4.5 years but there are more slots and depending on other applicants from your state may be more or less competitive. If your not an E5 by the time you start you will be promoted to E5 and paid as such as an OCS candidate (your official status). Class starts at 7 or 8 and ends between 3 and 5 most days. Study time is based off of how well you are at rote memorization and how good a science background you have. I did not study 24-7 like many folks did...I didn't end up at top of the class but still got away with a 3.7 and above average PANCE score. I like my family and spent enough time in San Antonio to remember that I loved the city, just not the 281 commute so depending on your personal situation will dictate how much time you spend studying. Active or reserve slot you are getting a $100,000+ education and collecting a paycheck the entire time, have guaranteed rotations through just about every service that you don't need to find for yourself. In my opinion the best deal there is for PA training. 

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