First Day of School

My first day of school was on Aug., 20, 2009. I chose to go to the Art Institute of California - San Francisco to study Web Design and Interactive Media.

After spending 3 years being a photojournalist at a paper in the Bay Area I chose web design because it made the most sense and it was something I found interest in.

I was fortunate enough to find a couple military people and hit it off right away since we had so much in common already. Transition into civilian life is not that easy. Military is a whole other world. Though we think we are not respected we probably get more respect while in the military than in the real world. That said... all three of us did not receive any of our money yet. Granted this is a very new program and there seems to be confusion with the schools its best to ask a lot of questions and push what you think is right.

The old GI bill you called and let them know you are enrolled in class and then the school would go ahead and send in your paperwork after the add/drop date. Now since there is BAH involved and the money to the school goes directly to them... the school needs to certify you.

When I spoke to the VA people over the phone they had told me everything is alright and ill get my money on the first day of school but since there is a back up with a lot of vets going to school, the process is taking 4-6 weeks to where it used to take 10 days. so it is imperative that the school certifies you when you register for classes.

To break it down this is what I did:

Met up with the admissions folks.
Enrolled in school.
Applied for benefits using VONAPP - https://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp
Received my certificate of eligibility.
Met with a financial officer at the school.
Applied for the yellow ribbon program (more money for school).

After all the approval process I called the VA and asked what to do next. They told me once I receive another letter telling me they got my enrollment stuff and I can move to the next step is have my school send them a form (the school should know the name) that I am enrolled for classes... now this is where you will have to beg them to send it since there are a lot of mix-up with the old and new GI bill.

To this day I still have not received a dime and probably will not see it till later on but now I have everything in place so I should be able to see my money soon :)

One thing I do recomend is if the school asked you of something as far as GI related do not give it to them until you speak to one of the people at the VA to confirm that is what you need. You can get a hold of a VA person at this number: 1-888-GIBILL-1