out of state college and the reserves?!

[krnboi]

so i am very much want to join the Marine Corps while at the same time attending college. i was told by my recruiter that i can go into the reserves and attend college as a full time student and since i want to become an officer i could go through PLC or OCS later. But the colleges i got accepted to are out of state. i got accepted to UC Irvine and UT Austin. So what i would like to know is if just how much would the Marine Corps be able to pay for out of state college tuition as a reservist? Could i become a resident of California because i would defer my admission for a year while training and therefore receive in state tuition? anything helps.

p.s. either way, i am still joining the Marine Corps

[AdminAssassin]

First of all you have to enlist in the 6x2 enlistment (6 years drilling, 2 years Inactive Reserves) to be eligible for the Reserve GI BIll, officially called the Montgomerey GI Bill-Selected Reserve. You could ask your recruiter about being a 92-day reservist. The way it works is that as a 92 day reservist you will attend Basic Training your first summer, return home to go to school and drill. The second summer of your contract you will report to MCT followed by your MOS school. After the completion of your second summer you will be returned to your Reserve Duty Station at which time you will complete your contract by drilling 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year. It's a perfect plan for Marines/potential Marines in college. I would go ahead and just use FAFSA your first year for Irvine, get started in school, then enlist in your hometown after your first year of college. You can just do an inter-unit transfer to drill with the unit closest to you while your in college. Your other 3 years of school you can combine your reserve benefits with FAFSA. Bottom line....use the reserve GI Bill as a supplement rather than your main source of tution assistance. It's $337/month you get paid pretty much. Go to www.gibill.va.gov and check out the website. When you get your bachelor's degree just put in your package for OCS. Good Luck.