Good luck to everyone who has applied for STA-21 FY10. My husband and I are currently loving the life that this program has provided for us already. He is a FY09 Core Selectee and currently attends NC State. I thought I would take a minute and let you guys know what has happened since the selection board results came out in October, from a wife's perspective.
By the time results came out, we had already put in the applications for the schools that we wanted to go to. There were only 2, so we put out about $100 in application fees. No big deal. This helped IMMENSELY with getting orders in a expedited fashion. He also already had all of his medical stuff done before results came out. We had orders about 2 weeks before Christmas and were able to immediately arrange for our move and start looking for housing here in Raleigh. It was very helpful. He attended only NSI from Feb-April and while he was gone, I moved our family to Raleigh. Upon graduation, he reported to the school NROTC (he was the only one out of 3 to show up) and was given various "free" leave (checking in 3x/week via phone) for the 3 weeks until school started. The other 2 guys who were with him at NSI all got charged for that 3 weeks although they were in town.
My husband is LOVING this program. He said that if he could do this as his career for the next 12 years, he would! The Lt.'s at his NROTC is very down-to-earth and requires 1x/week muster/PT. Otherwise, his job is to go to class and get good grades. He has already completed 7 credits in the Summer 1 5-week term and got straight A's. They seem to have different rules once you get to the NROTC about age-requirements and such. He was also told that because he came from the submarine fleet and was core, he would likely be strong-armed back into the submarine fleet.
Now for the down-side. It's been difficult finding doctors in the area that take Tricare. Most of them will take it, but only 1 or 2 patients. I am currently expecting and have to drive 1 hour to UNC Chapel Hill for prenatal visits and to deliver. It was also hard to find a PCM within a 20-minute radius. I hadn't expected the trouble since the list of Tricare docs was extensive. It has also been difficult finalizing the move and getting the remaineder of our move money because of not having a PPO office (or any office for that matter) around. We have contact with 1 person at the NROTC who keeps in touch with the base for us, but if they don't respond to her, we are up a creek.
Now onto the expenses. Although we got him classified as a resident prior to reporting, his first tuition bill was non-resident. There was a fantastic guy at the NROTC in charge of dealing with the university, and he took care of all that. We have had to pay out of pocket for books so far because of the small amount they give for summer terms. We have also had to pay out of pocket for a parking pass. This is $300 for fall, $300 for spring and $150 for summer. Not something we had banked on.
Overall, we are incredibly happy and looking forward to his commissioning in Dec 2010! When I stop and think about it, this all seems like a dream. The 2 years of applying, the waiting, the waiting, the waiting! Please let me know if you (or your significant other) has any questions!