Joining the Navy/Air Force Reserves and college? Is it manageable?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I'm graduating high school in a month am seriously considering joining the Reserves. One of my friends got me interested, and I researched it. College would be my first priority and I'd probably want to do basic training the summer of 2013. The Reserves offer many options for college money, which would be really, really useful and make it easier for me to attend the school I want (UT Austin) rather than a full-ride school that I really don't want to attend. I'd get paid for the hours I work (and I'd only have to work one weekend a month) and it would give me experience right in college rather than having to fight for competitive internships and such. In addition, I know there are many long-term lifetime benefits that come with joining the Reserves even just by committing for 2-6 years.</p>

<p>I understand the Reserves is not a "scholarship program/part-time job" or something. It is a long, serious commitment and requires annual training on top of basic training, etc. There's always the possibility of being deployed (which I would definitely prefer not happen).</p>

<p>I am definitely someone who takes the future into consideration. With the major I'm pursuing (electrical engineering) and the fact that I know I'll do well in school (I'm in the top 1% of my HS class, high SAT score, etc), I am fairly certain I will get a job right off the bat as well as some scholarships later on that would render the college money from the Reserves a little less useful (which is my primary reason for wanting to join, though not the only one). I'm a little worried that the Reserves may make it harder for me to concentrate on my education and may interfere with me committing to a job after I graduate. This is what has left me divided between whether I should join.</p>

<p>Is it possible to concentrate on my education and extracurricular, have a good social life, and be in the Reserves? Am I in it for the wrong reasons? Will it be helpful on my resume or graduate school applications? Has anyone had experience that would like to tell me about their experience? Thank you all for your help!</p>

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<p>I think in terms of time commitment you’ll be fine. Obviously there’s alway the risk of deployment.</p>

<p>As for interfering with committing to a job, it’s illegal for an employer to drop you because of Reserve or National Guard duty:</p>

<p>[Uniformed</a> Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USERRA]Uniformed”>Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act of 1994 - Wikipedia)</p>

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<p>Thank you so much! I will talk to a recruiter soon, but I wanted some unbiased opinions first.</p>

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<p>A friend of mine is in the National Guard while studying full time and he seems to manage. It really seems like it’d only be a problem if you get deployed. You’ll also wanna stay on top of your long term assignments since you might end up having a project due the day after a drill weekend haha.</p>