Enlisting into the Reserves to obtain a college degree vs Active Duty

[SamLee18]

Dear Marines,

During the fall of 2012 I fell ill to a disease that caused me to be hospitalized and finally discharged from the hospital in the middle of December. All my life I have aspired to earn the title of United States Marine. Previously before falling ill , I applied for the United States Naval Academy as well as the Marine Option NROTC scholarship. I did not receive the scholarship but did earn a nomination to the Naval Academy. Long story short, I was DQ'ed and the Naval Academy did not deem me competitive enough during the latter stages of the admissions process; probably because I missed almost two months of school and had to remove myself from AP Calculus. This generally would not pose a problem except for the fact I did not receive any notification until a phone call was made after May 1( all college scholarships and final acceptances are made by May 1) and was told I should look toward other options.

I do very much feel that enlistment is my best option towards becoming a Marine Officer in the future. Would becoming a Reservist Marine provide a better avenue towards attaining my degree and as well commissioning as officer in programs such as PLC and RECP/MCP-R instead of attaining my degree while on active duty? I desire to be a crypto-linguist or intel specialist. I feel that enlisting is the best route due to fact that even being qualified to enlist is an issue because of my inital DQ from the service academy and is still up in the air at the moment. I would like to thank all of you Marines for taking a look at this post as well as your service to our nation. Any advice would be much appreciated!

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[Rocky C]

These questions are all unknowns.

Seek the advice of a Marine Corps Recruiter.

Best of luck to you...

[josephd]

All I will say is this....

Enlisting in the reserves or active duty IS NOT a stepping stone to becoming an officer. If commissioning as an office is your ultimate goal, then get into and/or stay in college, stay in shape, and stay out of trouble and get into the PLC program. The reserves takes up more time than you think and while it is possible to do both and get where you want the likely hood of you doing so and being able to handle it is very low.

I have been through PLC before the reserves, and now I am in the reserves and going to college full time. Take it from my experience that it is not the best avenue of approach to your goal.

[MLMonk]

The fastest way to become an officer, is to go in as one. Joining the reserves in hopes of you having a better chance of getting selected is not worth the time. Being a 'prior' does not make you become a better officer. In fact, it was my demise during OCS.

The reserves is designed to allow people who have a full time civilian life and wish to serve our country as well. It is not meant to be used to become an officer.

Go work on your degree, maintain a 3.0GPA+, keep a 280+ PFT (100 crunches, 20PU's, 21min or less 3mi run) and try for the PLC program...as of..now. If you are a freshman or sophomore, start contacting your local OSO and get your package started. Work on upperbody, hill climbing runs, and carrying 15lb's while running in boots. That is what OCS is focusing on now.