Apply

Once you've gone through all of the steps to gather information, choose your major and find the institution you're most interested in attending, start applying. Even though you have your institution of choice, apply to at least three other schools. Make sure you've submitted each of the items they require in their application process. After submitting your application, follow up with the Admissions Office to confirm they received everything.

After successfully applying to schools, take time to prepare yourself for the next part of your academic journey. Balancing school, work and family life can be difficult. Achieving a healthy balance between the three is a challenge. Here are some tips for those getting ready to head back to school while juggling work and/or family.

• Remember the goal. It's important to keep in the front of your mind why you're putting yourself - and your family - through the stress of going back to school.
• Take baby steps. If you have a family and work full time, you might consider easing yourself back into school by first attending on a part-time basis.
• Prepare to be disciplined and work hard. Bring the discipline and work ethic acquired in the military into the classroom.
• Get support from family and friends. You're not the only one making a sacrifice while going back to school. It's important to explain to your loved ones that "life is going to be different" for while, but by working together you can achieve your goal.
• Stay professional at the workplace. Don't let the demands of school affect your performance at the workplace.
• Organize your time. Consider making a timetable in order to insure that you get the time needed to do your schoolwork and have time leftover to be with your family.
• Learn to share tasks. Even the most ambitious of people can't take on every task on their own. Don't let yourself get bogged down in work responsibilities, household chores and schoolwork by trying to do everything yourself. To avoid burnout, try to delegate responsibilities to others when possible.
• Share school with your family. Your family will likely be more supportive of your pursuit of higher education if you share information about your school experiences with them. Tell them about your achievements, new things you're learning and forewarn them about upcoming periods when your school workload will be particularly heavy.