College now?

[Camper51]

Smalcom,

There is a lot of experience talking to you on this forum.

By far the majority have said to take the education and run like hell with it.

We have spoken our words of wisdom (or bullsh*t if you like) from the college of hard knocks and from the well of wisdom and experience that we have all drank from. Some of us are high school dropouts such as myself, and some are college graduates and some are anything and everything in between. Yet the common thread here is to get YOUR education first, then consider the Corps. The Corps will not go away but your educational opportunities may disappear forever if you do not take them while you can.

We understand that life gets in the way of plans in ways you cannot ever expect and that if you don't take the open door while it is offered, you may never see that door again...

We all also know that being young only happens once and that your heart is set on the Corps. You must do what is right for you for now. Just remember that in 10 years (a long time for you now) you will look back and think very differently than you do now. I can almost guarantee that not getting an education while you could will be a regret in 10 years and almost everyone on this forum who has been in that boat will agree with me most heartily.

If you take only one piece of advice for the rest of your life, let it be good advice. Look around and see what it is. It is in plain sight and you know the answer, even if it is not the answer you want, it is the right one...

[J-Ro]

[quote=FooDawg]I realize now that the money spent on my AS was WAY too much. Was it a bad investment?? NEVER. I learned so much out of that education. Stuff I would have never taught myself. I don't believe my financial situation is necessarily yours or anyone elses to state whether it's a bad investment or not and I kind of take offense to that.

No your right your financial situations OR your Credit Scores is nobodies business but your own, but you put your business out their. And at 23 with an Associates and a bunch of credits that are non-transferrable "in my-opinion" THAT'S a BAD INVESTMENT. If you think what you have done with your monies is good then that's all that matters, I guess

[Marine84]

You spent dang near 80Gs for an AS AND the credits weren't transferrable? I ain't no rocket scientist but.....................

[J-Ro]

You spent dang near 80Gs for an AS AND the credits weren't transferrable? I ain't no rocket scientist but.....................

LOL... That's all I was sayin

[His_angel]

Ah heck. I'll add my thoughts to the thread.

Dude! A full friggin ride scholarship?!?! Go for it. Give it at least a couple of semesters to make up your mind. I did a year in college. Knew at that point that I hated it and it wasn't for me. My point? You won't know if you don't at least try. Otherwise you "could" go into the Corps and always wonder "what if" or what could have been. Thus may end up hating the Corps instead of loving it. And just because you graduate college doesn't mean you have to go to OCS. You can still go enlisted but will have the college behind you to become an officer later if that's what you decide you want to do.

And you could be like me. I knew in high school I did not want to do another 2 - 4 years of school. I only went because everyone else wanted me to go. Maybe in the end it was beneficial because I was another year older, more mature and wasn't straight out of highschool and someone else's house. At least I don't look back and regret not having tried it.

I have my high school experiences. I had a taste of college. And I wouldn't trade my time in the Corps for anything. We can all offer our experiences and thoughts but in the end it's still your decision. You have to live with the consequences of whatever decision you make.

Angel

[FooDawg]

haha, I have an AS from one school in software development, and am working towards two BS's right now in History and Psychology. The first AS cost me the bulk of my expenses, about 50-60k for that degree, it was an extremely specialized school, so pretty expensive.

I specifically stated that that non transferrable degree was 50-60, roughly 53k to be exact. And the college was an accredited school. I had no idea the credits were not transferrable. I attended the college when I was 20 and got a lot out of it. That degree put me in flight simulations development positions, which ultimately led me to my desire to fly helicopters (especially after the IITSEC conference). Unfortuantely when I tried to transfer the 96 credits fromt hat college to finish up my BS degree, I was faced with the reality that the credits meant nothing to conventional colleges since it was such a specialized program. Still in no way a bad investment. My choice to continue pursuing my BS was because I wanted that for myself and I love learning new things. 80k in debt is roughly 4-5 years of college with an AS and just about half way towards two BSs. Thats about the same amount of education I could have gotten from a conventional school if I went straight for it, I just chose a different route. I dont believe I made any bad choices and in the long run it helped me figure out what I want to do. Join the Marine Corps as a pilot and try to get a flight seat in helicopters. I think that oppurtunity came at somewhat of a financial price, but in the long run has allowed me time to grow and make a good, well informed decsion with experience and maturity behind it.

Think what you will about my "investments". Putting a price on learning and experience and wisdom and then saying that someone made a bad investment on it is kind of a bad message to send to the kid with a full ride in my opinion. Any education is good in my opinion, but thats just me. Hope maybe it has been explained a little better for everyone.

[Marine84]

Not trying to put you down sweetie - but, before I went for an AS I ASKED whether the credits would transfer if I decided to go for the full BS - if they hadn't I would have chosen another school. I certainly wouldn't have paid that much money for something that wouldn't - but that's just me. AND I had to work and pay for my own because my parents made too much money for me to get a free ride. Even though my folks DID have the money - I wanted to do it on my own so that way, IF i flunked out or quit, I didn't want to hear no junk about wasting their money. I would have nobody to answer to but myself.

If you got a free ride - go for it - nothing wrong with it. And nobody is knocking you for spending that much money on an AS that is useless - hell, it's YOUR life and YOU are the one that's going to have to pay it all back.

[FooDawg]

First off, the AS isn't useless, so what are you talking about? I specifically just stated that its led me to figure out what I really want to do with my life. Without that AS I would have never gotten a job building military helicopter simulators and would have never figured out that after flying helicopter sims with flight mechanics that were made to train pilots in the military, that are actually used as we speak to train pilots in our military, that I in turn wanted to fly helicopters, not just make the sims. So where did you get useless from any of that? Thats more then most people can say for themselves in a lifetime. Some people live their entire lives without ACTUALLY knowing what they want to do. So it's not transferrable, so what. The school I got my AS from wasn't conventional, there were NO gen ed courses, it was all specifically towards development and physics and coding.

I really don't understand why everyone thinks its such a huge waste. That was never my intention in posting my "story". It was simply to show that a free ride is quite convenient when education costs so much. Any out of state tuition for a college is going to run you 20k a year easily. That was the simple reason for me posting it, not to have to defend myself to people who think im an idiot for paying money on an education from a specialized school. Any tech school in the country isn't going to give you transferrable credits, but your getting such a specialized curriculum that the education is much better then a conventional colleges curriculum, who require you to have a more rounded background of credits. So if you want to go learn how to write software in a 3d environment, your best bet is to go to a school like I went to, cause conventional colleges just can't compare in that regard.

So can we all please stop saying how much of a waste it was and stuff, it wasn't at all and if anyone should think that it was or wasn't, it should be me.
So Smalcom, take what you will out of all of this, no matter what your choices are, people are always gonna comment their feelings about it, so just do what you feel is right and what you will be proud of in the long run. Simple as that.

[J-Ro]

First off, the AS isn't useless, so what are you talking about? I specifically just stated that its led me to figure out what I really want to do with my life. Without that AS I would have never gotten a job building military helicopter simulators and would have never figured out that after flying helicopter sims with flight mechanics that were made to train pilots in the military, that are actually used as we speak to train pilots in our military, that I in turn wanted to fly helicopters, not just make the sims. So where did you get useless from any of that? Thats more then most people can say for themselves in a lifetime. Some people live their entire lives without ACTUALLY knowing what they want to do. So it's not transferrable, so what. The school I got my AS from wasn't conventional, there were NO gen ed courses, it was all specifically towards development and physics and coding.

I really don't understand why everyone thinks its such a huge waste. That was never my intention in posting my "story". It was simply to show that a free ride is quite convenient when education costs so much. Any out of state tuition for a college is going to run you 20k a year easily. That was the simple reason for me posting it, not to have to defend myself to people who think im an idiot for paying money on an education from a specialized school. Any tech school in the country isn't going to give you transferrable credits, but your getting such a specialized curriculum that the education is much better then a conventional colleges curriculum, who require you to have a more rounded background of credits. So if you want to go learn how to write software in a 3d environment, your best bet is to go to a school like I went to, cause conventional colleges just can't compare in that regard.

So can we all please stop saying how much of a waste it was and stuff, it wasn't at all and if anyone should think that it was or wasn't, it should be me.
So Smalcom, take what you will out of all of this, no matter what your choices are, people are always gonna comment their feelings about it, so just do what you feel is right and what you will be proud of in the long run. Simple as that.

ok...whatever you say

[Marine84]

OOOOOH lil pup got balls!

Like I said, nobody id trying to put you down and when I said it was useless, I should have elaborated and said useless towards that BS. If you learned what you wanted to do in life by doing that and getting a better paying job - that's great - hell, I didn't know what I wanted to do at your age so you're one up on me there.

If you want to do the whole flight thing - why join the Corps to do it? You could always fly a helo through the city of Vegas for about $300 + a pop! You'll surely make more money doing it that way! You could even do better financially if you taught other folks how to fly. Buy your own bird and do what you wanted with it.

Or do you just want to do it in the Corps cause you get to shoot the guns attached to them (maybe). It ain't like some video game..................

[FooDawg]

You know, im not gonna stoop myself any lower here. If you really perceived everything I said as you have commented, then well im sorry you misunderstood everything I said. If you really think so low of someone like that, then thats not my problem. Im proud where im at and where im going and come here to help give feedback to the people who appreciate it. I am sorry you think my input is invalid and hope someone appreciates it. I will pursue my goal regardless of what others think and am proud to stand tall about who I am. My past is helping me get through my future and I only hope others can understand and appreciate that statement. Good luck Smalcom in your decision.

[Marine84]

Listen up Poolee - one problem I see with you already is YOU AREN'T COMPREHENDING WHAT YOU'RE READING! NOBODY has put you down for doing what you're doing - some of us just think it's a little funny to spend that kind of money on an AS (which you even said yourself you realized it was way much) but, hey, if you got something out of it - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED FOR YOU! As far as STOOPING to some other level, you better GET UP ON MY LEVEL - I don't think you're low on the "food chain" for doing ANYTHING! And, as I've posted before, take the free ride that's been offered to you. For your age, you have every right to be proud of what you've done and where you're going.

And you STILL haven't answered my question.............WHY THE CORPS? WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR OUR MARINE CORPS?

You came in here posting your business - don't get your feathers ruffled when somebody that ALREADY HAS the TITLE asks you some pretty simple questions. This isn't a place to come to get a pat on your back about anything. It's just to see if you have your head up your a$$ or where it should be to handle such a task as becoming a Marine - it ain't no rose garden....................

When a Marine asks you a question, you need to have a better answer than what you posted above - SOUND OFF!

[J-Ro]

When a Marine asks you a question, you need to have a better answer than what you posted above - SOUND OFF![/quote]

I can't hear you!!!

[Marine84]

I think it's a pretty reasonable question, don't you J?

[Smalcom]

I thought this whole thing was ... nevermind.