I was selected for MECEP in October 2001. I graduated and got commissioned in December 2004. Some of this may be dated, as I went through Prep School in 2002. Use MCO 1560.15L and the latest MARADMIN regarding MECEP and hopefully you'll have someone working with you who can/will help you out. Anyway, there has been a lot of discussion about and I have gotten several PMs about this lately, so I wanted to try to put it all in one place for other MECEP students to add to. Some of this is copied from posts I’ve made, some from PMs, some from other, older sources I had typed up.
So, here are some of my thoughts. If some of you who are in the program right now know of some updates to this information, let us know.
College admission/major selection
--By the time you get the MECEP selection results, hopefully you've already applied to several schools. You may already have one picked out, but I met very few people at prep school who hadn't changed their minds at least once. Some even changed at the last minute, switching colleges while at the prep school. If you haven't applied already, you may be behind the power curve. Contact the AMOI/MOI at the schools you want to go to. They can help you out in some cases. At a bare minimum, they will at least know who you are when you show up. Some colleges even "recruit" MECEP students. I got letters from several colleges asking me if I was interested. Of course, some actually told me it was best that I find another school because they didn't want any more MECEP students. So talk to them and see if you can get any help from the unit.
--As far as your major, it doesn't really matter as long as it is accredited. So basically, no "General Studies" degrees. I wanted to do electrical engineering but with a family I didn't think I could pull it off. So I went with building science (construction management). I joked about changing to music education and the MOI told me that was fine. But I didn't. I changed to Finance and graduated a full year early.
Tuition Assistance and VA Benefits
--You may not use TA while in MECEP. This doesn’t apply between selection for the program and actually starting MECEP Prep. You may use your VA benefits while in MECEP.
Things you can do to help yourself
--The most important thing is (went through this my last year I applied) that the title 'education officer' does not convey any special knowledge on the individual. Start now reading MCO 1560.15L (MECEP order) and the last year or two's MARADMINs regarding the programs. Learn them inside and out. Practice putting together an application yourself (formatting everything you need to type) so that next year when it comes time, you will have an idea of what everything should look like. Typically the role of the education officer involves signing TA paperwork and not much else. Don't let an education officer who is uneducated on enlisted commissioning programs screw up your chances of getting in.
--Start working on your personal statement. Start thinking now about which schools you might want to pick. Make 3-5 choices, if not more, have 1 or 2 serious picks and a few backups. I can't tell you how many times I changed my mind. Sometimes it was because I just realized I didn't want to live in the town the school was in, in one instance I called the MOI for basic information on their NROTC program and he threatened me on the phone because I wouldn't give him my SSN.
--Definitely ask around your squadron and see if there are any MECEP grads you can talk to. I never really talked to officers unless I had to, but once they started to find out I was leaving for MECEP, most of the officers in the squadron stopped by to tell me good luck and give me hints to make it through college, OCS, and TBS.
--Once the board gets closer, you should have by that point contacted a couple of your serious choice schools and talked to the MOI. This may have changed but when I was trying to get in, I was told that a few MOIs from around the country are there during the selection process, so it never hurts for someone to know your name and know that you've been actively trying to find out about their program.
--Between now and when you apply, talk to whatever officers write your fitrep. Tell them your intentions and ask them if they can make appropriate (positive) comments about your potential for service as an officer, and to give you a break out (such as "in the top 5% of Sgts I have ever worked with" or "one of the top 3 SSgts I have ever had in my command") on your next fitrep(s). That advice was given to me both by MCRC and by the enlisted career counselors.
--Also, don't know if I mentioned this earlier, don't be afraid to 'draft' your own endorsements and report of interview board. You know best how to highlight your strengths and if you give the board and the CO some good things to work with they just might use it. My last year, I wrote my board report, squadron CO's and group CO's endorsements. The board read it and signed WHAT I GAVE THEM. So did the squadron CO. The group CO made one minor change to fix some wording he didn't like and signed what I had written.
Flight contracts
--Yes, MECEP students are eligible for flight contracts (SNA or SNFO). Pass the ASTB and a flight physical and that’s about the only requirements. Your MOI and AMOI should do the paperwork for you, have you sign the training agreements and then they can send your request off.
Edit: Read this thread
So, here are some of my thoughts. If some of you who are in the program right now know of some updates to this information, let us know.
College admission/major selection
--By the time you get the MECEP selection results, hopefully you've already applied to several schools. You may already have one picked out, but I met very few people at prep school who hadn't changed their minds at least once. Some even changed at the last minute, switching colleges while at the prep school. If you haven't applied already, you may be behind the power curve. Contact the AMOI/MOI at the schools you want to go to. They can help you out in some cases. At a bare minimum, they will at least know who you are when you show up. Some colleges even "recruit" MECEP students. I got letters from several colleges asking me if I was interested. Of course, some actually told me it was best that I find another school because they didn't want any more MECEP students. So talk to them and see if you can get any help from the unit.
--As far as your major, it doesn't really matter as long as it is accredited. So basically, no "General Studies" degrees. I wanted to do electrical engineering but with a family I didn't think I could pull it off. So I went with building science (construction management). I joked about changing to music education and the MOI told me that was fine. But I didn't. I changed to Finance and graduated a full year early.
Tuition Assistance and VA Benefits
--You may not use TA while in MECEP. This doesn’t apply between selection for the program and actually starting MECEP Prep. You may use your VA benefits while in MECEP.
Things you can do to help yourself
--The most important thing is (went through this my last year I applied) that the title 'education officer' does not convey any special knowledge on the individual. Start now reading MCO 1560.15L (MECEP order) and the last year or two's MARADMINs regarding the programs. Learn them inside and out. Practice putting together an application yourself (formatting everything you need to type) so that next year when it comes time, you will have an idea of what everything should look like. Typically the role of the education officer involves signing TA paperwork and not much else. Don't let an education officer who is uneducated on enlisted commissioning programs screw up your chances of getting in.
--Start working on your personal statement. Start thinking now about which schools you might want to pick. Make 3-5 choices, if not more, have 1 or 2 serious picks and a few backups. I can't tell you how many times I changed my mind. Sometimes it was because I just realized I didn't want to live in the town the school was in, in one instance I called the MOI for basic information on their NROTC program and he threatened me on the phone because I wouldn't give him my SSN.
--Definitely ask around your squadron and see if there are any MECEP grads you can talk to. I never really talked to officers unless I had to, but once they started to find out I was leaving for MECEP, most of the officers in the squadron stopped by to tell me good luck and give me hints to make it through college, OCS, and TBS.
--Once the board gets closer, you should have by that point contacted a couple of your serious choice schools and talked to the MOI. This may have changed but when I was trying to get in, I was told that a few MOIs from around the country are there during the selection process, so it never hurts for someone to know your name and know that you've been actively trying to find out about their program.
--Between now and when you apply, talk to whatever officers write your fitrep. Tell them your intentions and ask them if they can make appropriate (positive) comments about your potential for service as an officer, and to give you a break out (such as "in the top 5% of Sgts I have ever worked with" or "one of the top 3 SSgts I have ever had in my command") on your next fitrep(s). That advice was given to me both by MCRC and by the enlisted career counselors.
--Also, don't know if I mentioned this earlier, don't be afraid to 'draft' your own endorsements and report of interview board. You know best how to highlight your strengths and if you give the board and the CO some good things to work with they just might use it. My last year, I wrote my board report, squadron CO's and group CO's endorsements. The board read it and signed WHAT I GAVE THEM. So did the squadron CO. The group CO made one minor change to fix some wording he didn't like and signed what I had written.
Flight contracts
--Yes, MECEP students are eligible for flight contracts (SNA or SNFO). Pass the ASTB and a flight physical and that’s about the only requirements. Your MOI and AMOI should do the paperwork for you, have you sign the training agreements and then they can send your request off.
Edit: Read this thread