Future Marine Plans

[thencmarine]

I'm almost 17 and plan on joining the Marine Corps. Joining with parent consent is 50/50 at the moment, but i have no problem waiting for my 18th birthday if necessary. Ive done TONS of research on becoming a Marine and have wanted to do so since i was in 8th grade. My biggest desire was to join right out of high school get a college degree during my time in the Marines and get out when the time was right. Of course things change in high school and goals shift. My mother wishes for me to go straight to college and so does my girlfriend. After much thought, ive come to think about joining the reserves out of high school. That way i am able to concentrate on school, and satisfy my mother and girlfriend. However, after i get my 4 year degree, i wish to go active duty and be the Marine i want to be. Lately ive read the troubles and uncertainty of switching between reserve and active duty in the Marine Corps. And I'm unsure what to do.

Long story short... Go active duty out of high school? but i risk going against my mother and making it harder to live with my girlfriend... or go reserves during college with my girlfriend and risk having trouble switching to active?

I mean the reason im worried is i dont wanna graduate then wait 5 years to switch to active duty like one Marine on this website had to...

[devilbones2]

In all reality your girlfriend probably wont be there when you graduate. Your mother will be so proud of you when you graduate boot camp she will forget that she wanted you to go straight to college. Plus your MOS school will be worth college credit, you can get tuition assistance and CLEP classes while you are on active duty and you will get the post 9/11 GI Bill which will pay 100% of your tuition, housing as well as a book stipend. Plus you will have 4 years experience and if you want to stay in the military you can either become an officer or just a great NCO. Bottom line is this, do what you want to do and dont let your mother or girlfriend tell you otherwise. Its your life and you are the one that will regret it if you dont do things your way.

[thencmarine]

thank you, i know active duty is what i want to do, and i dont mind going to college first, but i would like to at least do reserves in the mean time..

its just ik that reserves had a hard time switching to active and i also heard that some people get screwed over with the GI Bill

[thencmarine]

plus my mom is bribing me with a new car (any that i choose) and shes already going to pay for my college

[Phantom Blooper]

Like a recruiter...get it in writing!

[Lisa 23]

The decision to go to college or join the Marine Corps is up to YOU!

As devilbones said...."Bottom line is this, do what you want to do and don't let your mother or girlfriend tell you otherwise. It's your life and you are the one that will regret it if you don't do things your way."

[thencmarine]

ok yes i understand thank you to all of you, and thank you for your service

[Old Marine]

thencmarine:

The most important thing at this point of your life should be continuing your education. After you get your education the Marine Corps will still be around and you having your education will without a doubt make your enlistment much easier. I would suggest that you set your priorities and follow them. The Marine Corps should not be number one on your list. Do you realize how hard it is to get a good job these days with only a high school diploma?

[Ice Man]

Why bother with the reserves? I don't get it. Why not do the Platoon Leaders Class or NROTC or something while going to college and go the officer route. That way, you get your degree, you don't have the hassle of trying to switch over to active, and you don't have to worry about drilling. Not sure what it's like in other MOS's, but with training and deployments, from my expericnce, getting your degree while in the Marines is a lot easier said than done. Especially in four years.

[lamanognr86]

Lets see, it takes college student 4 years of school to get a bach degree. within those 4 years, its 2 semester a year, an average 18 credits a semester. You do the math. You will most likely take 3-6 credits a semester while active duty. That's a long time.

I'd say get your degree first then go active, then officer. I prefer it that way, but thats my opinion. Do what you want.

[USMC2571]

Going against your mother and displeasing your girlfriend---those are things to consider, but not as important as doing what YOU want to do. It's your life, not theirs. They are not going to live your life for you, even if you wanted them to.

I agree with everyone here. Getting a BA in the USMC is not all that easy. It will take longer than normal, IF you can get one at all. There's always the Internet, as far as a degree goes.

Having said that, college is not for everyone. It just isn't. You have to be motivated to do well there or you may as well not even go at all, if it is just to please others.

If you want to enlist, and that's more important than going to college right now, then by all means do so. It's a matter of personal priorities and desires.

Weigh your options, college now vs Marines now, and make it what you want to do, not what others want you to do.

Nothing wrong with going to college and then going the officer route, or even the enlisted route.
Nothing wrong with enlisting now and going to college later or whenever.
There is no right or wrong about it----you don't need advice, you need to sit down with yourself and have a little conference, write out the pros and cons of each "route", weigh it all, and make a decision.
Just be sure it is your decision.
Try to keep what others want, out of the equation.

[USMC2571]

OP, one of the reasons I said what I did is that when I was 17 I dropped out of high school and enlisted. Got a GED halfway thru my enlistment.

Noo one could talk me into staying in school.

I just wanted to do it the way I did it.

That's why I'm telling you that if this is the way you really want to do it, then go for it.

Just make sure it is in fact what you want to do.

[Apache]

Restated
It is your decision on the azimuth you take
Probably your first major Adult life choice.

My input
Go to college and get a degree
Currently I have seen degrees people driving a truck so that levees the question
what are the H.S. grads doing ?

Do the reserves action and concern with transferring later
What will the wait time be ? Can't answer that 4 yes in the future

When you have a degree you can go Officer and not only be a Marine but LEAD THEM

[MOS4429]

Why bother with the reserves? I don't get it. Why not do the Platoon Leaders Class or NROTC or something while going to college and go the officer route. That way, you get your degree, you don't have the hassle of trying to switch over to active, and you don't have to worry about drilling. Not sure what it's like in other MOS's, but with training and deployments, from my expericnce, getting your degree while in the Marines is a lot easier said than done. Especially in four years.

There are a lot of good responses here, and you will notice that they differ, and that's because each of us answers to a certain extent what we would do if given the same circumstance.

I like Ice Man's response because in a sense it offers a compromise. You will go to college, which is what mom and girl friend would like you to do. (Personally, I would put mom's input as the most important. Whether girl friend is even there is 50/50. Beside, girl friend's direction is not so much what she thinks is best for you, but what she thinks is best for her.)

And while going to college, if going the PLC route, which is what a high school friend of mine did, went to a local JC, transferred to University of Oregon, became a grunt 2nd Lieutenant, and later went to flight school and drove C-130s. Now he does well flying all over the world for Fed-Ex. And if you can get accepted into NROTC, all the better.

Talk to mom. Make an appeal to her authority. You will be better off then just saying, take a hike, mom, I'm going to do what I want. Most parents, if presented a proper respectful appeal with a well thought out plan, will agree.

[USMC2571]

I hope no one thought I was saying the OP should tell his mom to take a hike. LOL.
That would be just a little extreme.

But the fact is, when you try to please everyone, you put your own ambitions on the back burner, which is never a good thing. You live for other people--never a good thing. Parents, girlfriend, friends---they are incapable of telling you what you really want to do. Only you know that.

When you start doing what others want you to do, then in my humble opinion, you are not doing justice to yourself.