Air Force My recruiter misinformed me about the 2020 HPSP Scholarship

[701171]

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[Incis0r]

Hi all! So I'm hoping someone can tell me what's going on...

I talked to my AF recruiter in early October. I asked him what the next steps were in the process and he told me that I was really early and that nothing had to be done yet. He would contact me in November to help get me started but I wouldn't be able to really start the process until I had an offer from a dental school. Now I am hearing that all the scholarships are gone and it's not even mid-November. What gives?? I'm semi-pissed that my recruiter gave me bad information and now all the scholarships are gone.. is there anything I can do? Or nah?

Or if I'm incorrect and there ares still scholarships to be had, please let me know! But I will be contacting my recruiter ASAP tomorrow. He didn't answer my call earlier in the week. Ugh.

Is anyone else from Southern California and had this issue??

@lanzo , accepted for the Air Force HPSP last year, mentioned that they did the Board differently this year. See quote from him below:

Yes, you don't need an acceptance from dental school before being offered the scholarship this year. The Air Force is doing it the same way the other branches were doing it now...

 

[Soleus715]

Then why would my recruiter tell me differently in October.. Poop. This stinks.

We have to take everything recruiters say with a grain of salt.. It's unfortunate, I'm not sure why so many recruiters are misinformed.

EDIT: since the board got moved to jan 26th, i guess we're completing our apps early for the army

 

[BobbyBeavis]

Yep i got screwed over for Navy too

 

[Incis0r]

I'm not sure why so many recruiters are misinformed.

I think part of the problem is that recruiters can get PCS'd and given new jobs too. That's what happened to one of my recruiters. I lucked out and got a good new one, but I can see how someone new to the job, who has only recruited for enlistment before....or maybe has never recruited before period, could be overwhelmed by Med/Dental Corps process.

Yep i got screwed over for Navy too

What happened?

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[Incis0r]

It sounds like my wish of getting the 4 yr AF HPSP is kinda done. Looks like I can try to get the 3 year next time...

Just curious- why didn't you apply Navy/Army?

 

[LFA20]

Do you think it's just too late to try to get a new recruiter? Also, can I even get a new recruiter from a different region than mine??

It sounds like my wish of getting the 4 yr AF HPSP is kinda done. Looks like I can try to get the 3 year next time...

why don't you try other branches?

 

[BobbyBeavis]

Do you think it's just too late to try to get a new recruiter? Also, can I even get a new recruiter from a different region than mine??

It sounds like my wish of getting the 4 yr AF HPSP is kinda done. Looks like I can try to get the 3 year next time...

@Incis0r my original recruiter went MIA. I kept trying to contact him and he would never respond. I didn't want to give up on him considering I was basically done with my app. I even contacted various heads of command of his station and they never replied to me either. Ended up having to switch recruiters. Old recruiter lost all of my documents so I'm starting over.

@namasteinbed I thought we were stuck with recruiters in our region, but I just kept persisting (annoying them) and the recruiting station finally linked me up with my new recruiter who is excellent.

 

[Jalcalde]

Never ever rely on recruiters and take their word as 100%. Always do your own research or post on here so someone in the military dental field can give real answers. And I haven't met one that I did not have to pester constantly to get paperwork turned in. I am sorry that this might have caused you to miss your window. When you go to the recruiter ask what can you do right now to get things started even if they say its too early it is not. You can always go to MEPS and get your physical/paperwork done. You can also ask to be in touch with a new recruiter if yours is not up to par or go to the station instead of calling.

 

[midman19]

Yeah recruiters for HPSP are generally bad. I had to stay on my recruiter like a bad rash. I called him all the time to make sure he was staying on track. When I turned something in I called to make sure he submitted it and then called 3 more times over the next week to confirm that he submitted them and had received a confirmation that they had been submitted. I'm sure I drove him nuts but That's what I had to do to keep him focused on my application. A few months into the app and I called him and he didn't seem to know who I was until I reminded him I had literally talked to him a million times. It was quite comical. The sad thing is that this is how it is. You have to play the game. If you can successfully play the game, you have a chance at the scholarship. Some people don't realize there is a game and they lose before they ever even start. I'm sorry this happened to you OP but just know this going into next year when you apply for the 3 year. If you are ever in doubt, read the threads on SDN. If people say their recruiter is saying something different, confront your recruiter, if you are still unsure about whether they are giving you the right info, PM me and I will talk to AFIT (who runs the HPSP program) myself and get to the bottom of it for you. Good luck!

 

[BobbyBeavis]

Never ever rely on recruiters and take their word as 100%. Always do your own research or post on here so someone in the military dental field can give real answers. And I haven't met one that I did not have to pester constantly to get paperwork turned in. I am sorry that this might have caused you to miss your window. When you go to the recruiter ask what can you do right now to get things started even if they say its too early it is not. You can always go to MEPS and get your physical/paperwork done. You can also ask to be in touch with a new recruiter if yours is not up to par or go to the station instead of calling.

Believe me... I went to the station. 3 times in one week before. Doesn't help when no one in the station can get in contact with him either.

 

[w4nt2baDDS]

Is anyone else from Southern California and had this issue??

Yup, exactly the same thing happened to me. It's sad that the AF recruiter for the 2nd largest city in the US could be so poorly informed. Dashed out any chance of me getting a 4 year AF HPSP.

Now I'm behind the ball for other 4 year HPSP programs and may just consider chasing a 3 AF HPSP. What a sudden change.

 

[BobbyBeavis]

Yup, exactly the same thing happened to me. It's sad that the AF recruiter for the 2nd largest city in the US could be so poorly informed. Dashed out any chance of me getting a 4 year AF HPSP.

Now I'm behind the ball for other 4 year HPSP programs and may just consider chasing a 3 AF HPSP. What a sudden change.

I'm sure you still have a good chance if you are interested in navy or army.

 

[w4nt2baDDS]

I'm sure you still have a good chance if you are interested in navy or army.

Yeah, I'm considering applying for the Army 4 year HPSP especially since their first board isn't until late January now. The fact that they bumped up their deployments to 9 months at a time is a drawback though (married). It's still an amazing opportunity however, so I'm willing to do a long deployment or two if necessary.

A decent little perk for going Army or Navy is the 20k sign-on bonus too, even though that boils down to roughly 14k after taxes.

 

[FatherOrangeJuice]

Anyone know the percentage of HPSP applicants that actually receive the scholarship for the Navy?

 

[Incis0r]

The fact that they bumped up their deployments to 9 months at a time is a drawback though.

Keep in mind that the deployment length could increase again. I think it was 15 months at a time for Army Dentists during the Surge in Afghanistan.

Given what just happened in Paris, I am expecting France to invoke Article 5 and all NATO members, including the United States, to formally declare war. This means we could expect to see brigades (with their dentists) deploying again.

 

[chan123]

Hey all, I just received word from my AF recruiter (like many of you it seems) that all the 4-yr. HPSPs are gone for this year.
I'm just really confused because when I reached out to him in August, he didn't have any sense of urgency. From the info he gave me and past HPSP recipients, I actually thought the AF board met latest out of AF/Army/Navy since in the past there was 1 board convening in March and decisions in April.
Did the timeline for the 4-year board completely shift this year? Anyone with more info who could enlighten me would be a huge help- thanks!

 

[w4nt2baDDS]

Did the timeline for the 4-year board completely shift this year?

Yup. Traditionally documents are due in February and they hand out scholarships in March. My recruiter made the assumption that was how it would also be this cycle.. But they changed it.. Probably needed all the info/documents in by Sep and they decided on people in Oct.

I believe my recruiter had good intentions but was just sorely misinformed. I had to re-evaluate things and now I'm applying for the 4 year Army scholarship.

The same opportunities exist in all three branches but it's pretty crazy how proactive pre-dents with great stats now have to scramble to fill out applications for the other 2 branches or sit by in idle until the 3 year AF scholarships rolls around next year and hope not to get screwed over again.

I'm already starting to mentally sell myself on the Army but it definitely feels like I'm making a realitively sudden and potentially significant change in my previous conceived life trajectory... but maybe a last second switch up will be a blessing in disguise?

 

[chan123]

@namasteinbed Nope! From east coast actually.
@w4nt2baDDS I agree- definitely a sudden shift and it's not the most ideal situation if you were set on AF, but you're right, I think that great opportunities exist in all 3 branches. Good luck with the Army HPSP!