[Sco]

Heyo! So, I am at a crossroads with what to do for my future. I know I want to serve in the military, and I have seen mainly two routes that I could go down, unfortunately my indecisiveness has made the decision making a bit of a bitch.

A. Enlist out of high school - Mostly what I am leaning towards, however I want to know just how much this could effect future college opportunities. I have always gotten great grades (could have done better, but ENTPs aren't exactly the best at applying ourselves towards things that we have zero interest in), however I'm not sure how much they matter in terms of applying for college after service. Another crossroads is the reaction from parents, but that matters significantly less to me than my own personal happiness, to be fair (sounds cold, but I don't mean it to be cold, love my parents, but they don't really know what I want out of life)

B. Try for an NROTC Marine Unit - This one is shaky for a few reasons, because I'm not sure I have the physical standards and requisites to be a competitive candidate for an NROTC unit (I can pass a Marine IFT/PFT a little above average, but for NROTC consideration, you need nigh perfect scores), also I'm not feeling college right out of high school. I don't feel prepared to deal with another monotonous 4 years in schooling, lest I blow my brains out from boredom.

Any thoughts? I don't really care how well read up you are on the topic of this, I just need someone to suggest SOMETHING.

 

[Tridentus]

Honestly I am limited with my knowledge of US universities.. But I know in the UK, your age upon entry is not really a factor in the selection process as long as you have the basic qualifications to enter, it can even be a bonus since you have enhanced life skills to succeed in the course, especially if you have picked up valuable life skills, such as you would have in the military. Since Universities are run like businesses similarly in both countries, I can't imagine the perspective to be too different.

Do you not have a career track option for officer training where they subsidise you to study? If you are so determined to join the military you might as well consider the career track, since you may well not find anything you feel more motivation towards for the rest of your life (sometimes a bit of time to consider does help, but no-one can promise you that you won't just end up stuck without any direction). In the UK they offer special funding for officer destined students.

TBH dude, if you run into problems with US university entry requirements after leaving the military, you could just go to one in a different country.. Germany for example has extremely low tuition costs for international students (just one example, there are many more), and you can complete degrees in 3 years (saving 1 year) in a hell of a lot of countries. The actual cost savings would probably even benefit you.


In my opinion, as a 25 year old, it's often not a bad idea to just do what you want in your early 20s, since it gives you time to learn about yourself, and discover more about the direction you want to go in.

 

[JayDubs]

If you want to both go to college and join the military, go to college first. A college degree makes you more competitive in the military, whatever direction you end up going. And there are various programs to help pay for college.

I'm going to take a shot in the dark though. I get the feeling you know that's the ideal path, and it's just not what you want to do. So you're looking for a reason not to go to college first.

That's okay. It's your life and consequently your decision to make. But make it with open eyes. Don't try to rationalize it.

 

[Shiver]

Any thoughts? I don't really care how well read up you are on the topic of this, I just need someone to suggest SOMETHING.

Buy an ice cream truck.

 

[Sco]

Buy an ice cream truck.

Good plan. I'm thinking Shameless style, sell drugs and beer to underage? Sounds good.