AECP FY12?

dccubano · Mar 28, 2012

You don't have to come from a medical MOS to apply for the program. I applied and I have been an Army Bandsmen for over 12 years. How many people they accept depends on the needs of the Corps and the amount of qualified applicants they receive every FY. THE MTF needs to be an Army Medical facility and VA hospitals do not count. In regards to school acceptance, you can be accepted anytime in the process. If you are accepted before the board results are out, you may be able to defer, it all depends on school policy. You also get to use Army TA to take your core prerequisites most of those need to be completed or close to completion before you can complete the AECP application or apply to any BSN programs. Getting a recommendation from a Chief Nurse is not hard but you have to take the initiative and set an appointment. My experience included an interview that lasted about an hour. It is best to try to do this towards the end. I had completed most of my prerequisites and made sure to have a duplicate AECP packet that was 99% complete that I could hand to her(The only thing missing was the Chief Nurse rec.). Be prepared,this is like any other job interview, and you only have one chance to make a good impression. The interview and the way you put your packet together is critical to getting the Chief Nurse on board with a recommendation. I left the packet with her to use as reference in writing my letter.

I hope this was of some help. It looks like you are pretty early in the process. The guidelines may change by the time you are ready to apply. There is also an AECP Rep that you can contact.

snathers · Mar 28, 2012

please ask a recuriter.

BSNtoArmyRN · Mar 29, 2012

dccubano,

Thank you for the information, it was very helpful. I have been communicating with the AECP rep but the rep just recommended that I review the FY2013 application procedure which left me with alot of questions. Snather's comment was not helpful at all. The recruiters I have talked with regarding AECP are really uninformed about the program, and they recommended that I get a BSN and then put a packet in for direct commission.

dccubano · Apr 13, 2012

Just got accepted into my #1 choice, University of Maryland. It took them forever to make decisions. Now, I can finally do my post acceptance paperwork. A little nervous about tuition. They are flirting dangerously close to the 9000 tuition cap. I've made a request for the tuition waiver, just in case. It's a shame that AECP doesn't increase their tuition cap; I think it has been the same for the past 3 or 4 years. Maryland may soon be off the list of AECP possibilities, if tuition keep escalating. It's a great school, in a great location...oh well.

Does anyone know how to handle registration fees? I am supposed to pay $400.00 to reserve my spot. That money is then credited towards my tuition when I start in the fall. Under the AECP guidelines I am not allowed any out-of pocket cost towards tuition. I've left a message for the AECP rep but I haven't heard back....Any thoughts?

nursetobejenny1981 · Apr 18, 2012

I would email SFC McDavitt and see what she advises. She answers her emails fairly quickly and seems to always have a yes or no answer, with no fluff in between.

I took my TEAS this past Saturday and am in the one week wait for results. I was not even able to submit my application to Austin Peay until after 15 April so now i have to wait for the results to do send it all in. THEN they said that I may not get notified til mid June. Good thing I am only taking 2 weeks leave once I PCS!

dccubano · Apr 19, 2012

I would email SFC McDavitt and see what she advises. She answers her emails fairly quickly and seems to always have a yes or no answer, with no fluff in between.
I took my TEAS this past Saturday and am in the one week wait for results. I was not even able to submit my application to Austin Peay until after 15 April so now i have to wait for the results to do send it all in. THEN they said that I may not get notified til mid June. Good thing I am only taking 2 weeks leave once I PCS!

Thanks for the response. I have left several messages and emails for SFC McDavitt but have not received any response. I now they are probably busy with packets for FY13 and as well as FY12......Congrats on getting picked up. I thought I was cutting it close to the wire, but you have me beat! I wish you the best!....... School starts Aug.27 and I am sure I will be at my current duty station till the week prior. I will be staying in my home so there is no PCS move for me. I have Kimbrough, Bethesda, and Dewitt as possible ATF's near the University of Maryland.....Good luck!

nursetobejenny1981 · Apr 21, 2012

Wow, I am surprised that she hasn't responded, although I did not think about how busy she must be right now so I am sure that is contributing (as you thought). I finally got my TEAS results so I am overnighting my application on Monday and will hopefully have my acceptance soon after the 1 May turn in deadline. I am anxious to get my orders, as things seem to take forever here in Fort Stewart.

Another question for anyone who may know. I was offered a Pell Grant (and loans but obviously won't need them) by APSU. Are we allowed to accept them? I know that we are not allowed to use TA while in the program but I can't find anything that states we can't accept Pell Grants. Honestly, a refund check around Christmas would be awesome (husband is deploying so you know how travel is for that stuff). But I don't want to break the rules and get spanked later.

dccubano · Jun 7, 2012

I was just reading through the AECP student detachment handbook and feel a little overwhelmed. I was mistaken to the think that all this paperwork would be over when I completed my post packet. Looks like I will be a one man HR office till I am done with school. It seems the most overwhelming part is the in-processing. There are so many offices to report to. Any words of advice or comments on past experiences would be welcome.

NurseJarheadMedic · Jun 12, 2012

hope this helps:

does anybody know what the board is looking for in their evaluation of the application?

a big factor is acceptance to a accredited school of nursing the meets the tuition cap of $9k/year

are they only accepting applications from 68w or other 68 series mos or can other mos that have not been working in the medical field apply?

no, i was accepted for fy 2010 an dthere were many different mos accepted, though a majority of the were 68 field.

do you have to have been deployed?

no, i first applied for fy 2009, and was accepted as an alternate, due to the fact that i still had classes in progress when the packet was submitted in january to meet the feb. 1 deadline. i was then deployed and applied yet again, and got accepted this time, but no deployment is not t prerequisite. if you look on the facebook site, you will notice that of the 8 aecp folks being sworn in for he march 2012 class at least 2 have no combat patches.

how many soldiers are selected each year, because it states that you can be selected as an alternate?

it varies each year, based on the needs of the army. with the recession though, it is getting less and less. when i wanted to apply in fy2008 (they wouldn't allow me as i was still in ait) there was a little over 90 accepted, then fy 2009 50-something, then fy2010 i believe it was only 39.

where do you get a letter of recommendation from a chief nurse if you are not near an mtf and have never served with a chief nurse that would know of my qualifications for the program?

this leaves me wondering, are you enlisted active duty? reserves? maybe your civilian facility head nurse can fill it out? or your military boss other than a nurse if you are a different mos? need more info here please.

do you have to be within 50 or 100 miles what ever it is to an army mtf or can you be near other military branches mtf like the marines for instances at camp pendelton or do you need to be accepted at a school that is close to an army mtf?

any school that is accredited and meets the $9k tuition cap. i was sent a list of 327 schools when i requested it in 2007. i can send it to you if you'd like. just keep in mind the list is 5 years old and that tuition rates may have gone up and exceeded the cap or they may have lost accreditation since then.

do you get accepted to a school first and then apply for aecp, because if you get accepted to a school and then have to wait for the aecp board to decide if you are accepted before you start school you may lose your spot at the school if you wait to start school until the board decides if you are acccepted or not?

this is one of the frustrating parts. you really need to be accepted, that is one of the hardest parts, as it is so hard to get into nursing school due to shortage of spots. i was accepted, then had to ask them to hold my spot (and pay a fee, of course) for the next year since i was only an alternate (fy2009) by the time the list came out in july and i had just completed the last pre-reqs earlier that may, bu tthe packet had to be submitted in january. then i got deployed, so that put it off a year. just be patient & persistent. if you can just get into a school, are not a dirtbag with njp's, and pass pt/rifle, you should be good.

it seems like a very lengthy process with a lot of red tape, if any one could help me out with the above questions and go through how they went through the process and what their qualifications were, what mos they had, what type of letter of recommendations did they use and who wrote them. thank you for any information that anyone may offer me.

it is a lengthy process, i started trying in 2007....but i will finally graduate dec 2012 and head to bolc. you may email me with any other questions. good luck!

john

NurseJarheadMedic · Jun 12, 2012

Congratulations!! Good luck with school.

NurseJarheadMedic · Jun 12, 2012

Congratulations on acceptance!

FY2010 here, graduating in December 2012. They just started a facebook site https://www.facebook.com/#!/ameddstudentdetachment

All I can offer in the way of advice is get your DA2125 submitted each semester within 10 days, your annual AER, and PT test every April/October. Good luck and I'll see you out there someday!

NurseJarheadMedic · Jun 12, 2012

@dccubano

"I was just reading through the AECP student detachment handbook and feel a little overwhelmed. I was mistaken to the think that all this paperwork would be over when I completed my post packet. Looks like I will be a one man HR office till I am done with school. It seems the most overwhelming part is the in-processing. There are so many offices to report to. Any words of advice or comments on past experiences would be welcome."

Welcome, y felicidades!

It IS a lot of paperwork at first! I just made a binder to keep the ASD (AMEDD Student Detachment) handbook in, and also to keep track of all the paperwork I submit. It will get better after the first semester! :) I keep a copy of the DA2125 on my desktop, and then each semester I just update it with the grades and next semester of classes. Then there is the annual AER and the PT tests in Apr./Oct. A good scanner/printer/fax machine will save you a lot of hassle if you can afford it. If you send them an email request, they will also send you a CAC card reader at no cost. I'm jealous, you are lucky to be in DC...for your summer assignment (if you don't have summer classes) you can request to go TDY at Bethesda, that would be a good experience. Also, DC probably has some awesome salsa clubs....which is just as well for me here at ECU, cause it might distract me from studying, lol. Oh, and they just started a facebook site. I put it in my reply to the original poster.

Good luck (buena suerte) with school!