Soon to be college graduate.

[Lemon]

Good evening,

I have a few questions in regards of joining the Marine Corps with a college degree. I am majoring in business administration and I'm a former collegiate athlete. I'm about to graduate from my military college in May and I have been attending military schools since the age of 14 as I strive in structured and disciplined environments. I am a non-ROTC student but I have had numerous classmates commission as 2LTs in every branch through their respected ROTC programs and I have my sights set on the Marine Corps. Numerous MESEPS, active duty Marines, and veterans suggested utilizing my degree and becoming an officer through OCS. I am considering joining the Reserves as I have a few jobs offers lined up that are well-paying but I know once I leave this military environment I will miss the comradery, structure, and overall atmosphere.

I will be speaking to a recruiter next week and I want to make sure I have the facts straight as I don't want get duped into a contract that I wasn't expecting. My question is would I have to attend Boot Camp, SOI, and get a slot for OCS as well as IOC? How does the processes work and how competitive is the process? Does overall GPA matter?

I am not stressed about Boot Camp, passing the PT test, getting yelled at by SDIs or DIs, smoke sessions, learning knowledge because that's expected if you want to bear the title of Marine. My only concern is having the patience dealing with immaturity as I lost both of my parents at an early age and had to mature into an adult faster than my peers. Would this be an issue for me? Also, is being a "Weekend Warrior" frowned upon in the Corps?

Regards,

Jake

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[josephd]

Don't bother with talking to a regular recruiter, their job is to enlist Marines not contract you to OCS for commissioning. You need to speak with an OSO(officer selection office/officer) in your area and get a package start for OCC(officer candidate course)

You would not go to bootcamp, MCT/ITB/SOI, and then MOS school. You would go to a 10 week OCS course, then to TBS(the basic school), and then follow that up with a MOS school that you get assigned to. Selection process for OCC/OCS is VERY selective, GPA doesn't really matter too much but it will help. The biggest factor for selection is your physical fitness, if you are not running a 285+ PFT you will not be competitive and probably not get looked at for selection.

No, reservists(weekend warriors) are not really frowned upon at all. Yes, you may get razzed over it from your peers but it's all in good fun and ultimately you are serving just like they are.

[Marine1011]

Be sure you inform the OSO that you are much more mature than most people.

[PJones64]

Excellent point. And also, I doubt if one of the functions of a recruiter or OSO is to "dupe" anyone into anything. You could probably leave that perception at the door on your way in. You forget that they have people beating down their doors to get in. They hardly need to dupe anyone into any contract. They turn away many more people than you could probably imagine.