<p>Just out of curiosity, what's your opinion on serving in the armed forces fresh out of high school and going to college after your enlistment is up as opposed to going to college right away? For me it's a tough choice. I've always wanted to be in the Navy because it feels sort of adventurous to me and I'm sure it would make me a more mature person. Plus, you can get about $70,000 for college and there's no better way to show an admissions team that you're up to the challenge of college life. On the other hand, you'd be older than most of the other students, so you wouldn't have the typical college experience. What would you guys do?</p>
<p>Why not do ROTC during college? Then serve in the military after college rather than after high school.</p>
<p>I think Kyt is right. Personally, I wouldn't join the armed forces, but they are respectable.</p>
<p>ROTC sounds better because you would be trained while you're getting your education. Also, you would be the same age as other students.</p>
<p>I think the main risk college-wise of the going in the armed forces first is the risk that you'll end up not going to college at all. I've seen too many go military with idea of getting those college benefits when they get out. But then the meet someone in the military and get married and start having kids. Next thing you know they are 45 years old and never went to college or at best maybe just took a few classes here and there along the way.</p>
<p>Military first is great way to go if you can stay focused on your goals and pull it off, but many don't.</p>
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Just out of curiosity, what's your opinion on serving in the armed forces fresh out of high school and going to college after your enlistment is up as opposed to going to college right away? For me it's a tough choice. I've always wanted to be in the Navy because it feels sort of adventurous to me and I'm sure it would make me a more mature person. Plus, you can get about $70,000 for college and there's no better way to show an admissions team that you're up to the challenge of college life. On the other hand, you'd be older than most of the other students, so you wouldn't have the typical college experience. What would you guys do?
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<p>One of my professor’s has a son who enlisted in the Marine Corps seven years ago as a high school graduate. Somewhat luckily, he enlisted before our nation went to war with Afghanistan. He was deployed to Japan, and he stayed there for four years without once coming home to visit his mother.</p>
<p>My professor has a mixed opinion on what happened. On the one hand, she claims that the Marine Corps made her son more serious about academics. She noted that during high school, her son was an “average” student with about a B average. Now, he’s studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has a 4.0 GPA. On the other hand, she said she was very uncomfortable for those four years.</p>
<p>What would I do? If I were determined to join the military, then I would definitely enroll in ROTC and earn my degree first.</p>
<p>why is the govt. so generous with education $ to attract recruits?
answer: by the time the military finishes with you it is doubtful the offer will be taken. the govt. would go "broke" if even half of the eligible enlistees took up the offer after 4-6 years.
Think ROTC. Investigate. If you decide to stay in for a term or two - as an officer - you will have opportunities to attend schools - at uncle sam's expense - you probably cannot get into now.</p>
<p>The other benefit of ROTC is that you will enter the military as an officer.</p>
<p>Navy is better than other armed forces. But going into the army straight out of high school is bad because you a) enter as the lowest rank and b) will probably get shipped straight to Iraq/Afghanistan after basic training. </p>
<p>ROTC or the service academies (if you can get in) are the way to go. And you can actually get scholarships through ROTC to lessen the cost of attending your university.</p>
<p>If you join straight out of high school you will be an enlisted man. You will have the opportunity to work on your associates degree while enlisted if you choose to. I would think it would require a good bit of self discipline.
Some enlisted service men/women get chosen to spend part of their enlistment at a university earning a bachelors degree thereby becoming officers. </p>
<p>My S is doing the NROTC program at his school. It is the most direct way to becoming an officer if that is your goal. If you are not interested in being an officer (the job responsibilities of officer versus enlisted are very different) then you should enlist.</p>
<p>There is no best service. It all depends on what you want and what you make of opportunities. You will always enter at the lowest rank, if you do not have something like college time, eagle scout, longer enlistment, etc.</p>
<p>ROTC programs are a good way to become an officer, as are the service academies. </p>
<p>Do some research and find out which way you think would be best for you.</p>
<p>I don't really understand what ROTC is. I looked on the armies website, and it was not very helpful. All I know is that you can get a scholarship( with a commitment) or just do the ROTC (no commitment).</p>
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I think the main risk college-wise of the going in the armed forces first is the risk that you'll end up not going to college at all. I've seen too many go military with idea of getting those college benefits when they get out. But then the meet someone in the military and get married and start having kids. Next thing you know they are 45 years old and never went to college or at best maybe just took a few classes here and there along the way.</p>
<p>Military first is great way to go if you can stay focused on your goals and pull it off, but many don't.
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<p>Not that that's a bad thing at all.</p>
<p>Remember college is not necessary at all to be successful in life.</p>
<p>But college will certainly give you a better chance at being successful in life.</p>
<p>dank08, ROTC is training to be a military officer while in college. You take a military class /lab each semester in addition to your regular course load. In some cases you may have to take some classes not required by your major (for instance NROTC requires 2 semesters of Calc. and 2 semesters of Physics). In addition you do PT (physical training) with your unit at least twice a week. You wear your military uniform to all classes one day a week. Aside from that, you live the normal college student life.</p>
<p>If you receive a ROTC scholarship, it covers tuition, fees, books and a monthly stipend (deposited directly into your checking account). ROTC also supplies all uniforms.<br>
When you graduate, you are commisioned as an officer. You obligation is 4 years active duty and 4 years Reserve duty unless you have opted into a special school such as Flight School which requires a longer active duty committment.</p>
<p>ROTC = Reserve Officers Training Corp ... essentially ROTC is a program for students to receive training to become officers in the military in parallel with their undergraduate education. Some electives must be used on ROTC courses and some additional time is required for things such as the weekly drill session ... overall it is a very low time commitment for the bennies received (the time is equivalent of a low hour part-time job). In addition you will spend part of each summer on active duty in the service (at least this was true for the NAVY awhile ago). When you gradaute you are commissioned an officer ... the other main path to becoming an officer is to go to one of the academies. Some of the ROTC students will be on scholarship (tuition, books, and some spending money ... again, the NAVY years ago) but in return for the scholarship you need to commit to serving in the military (I think the commitment is now made after your freshman year ... it was after your sophmore year when I was a ROTC). I'm not sure about the deal for the non-scholarship students ... I am not sure if they are guarenteed to be commissioned or if there is a commitment required. Did that help?</p>
<p>Do you sign up for the scholarship or do you just get picked? </p>
<p>I'm not feeling the 2 semesters of calc.</p>
<p>There are a couple routes to receiving a scholarship (again as I experienced many moons ago). You can apply for scholarships as a high school student ... interestingly these applications are for scholarships at particular schools. Alternatively you can join ROTC as a non-scholarship student while in college and then apply for a scholarship. Either way you need to apply ... in my experience the more elite the school the tougher it is to get a scholarship.</p>
<p>To the OP: You're question is not exactly the typical one, and I'm a little curious as to you're motivations. Do you want to serve in the Armed Forces? Is it a need based thing? Some combination of the two?</p>
<p>Recognize that the military is no longer just something you can do for four years, then get out and go to college. Anyone who goes into the military today has to realize that there is a very real chance they will end up in a combat zone and that their life could be on the line. Because of this, you should not join the Armed Services if you're just doing it for the college money or if you are not entirely committed. If you do and you aren't, odds are you'll end up going AWOL or just hating life and slogging through your commitment for four or however many years.</p>
<p>Now, if you do believe yourself to be fully committed, I would certainly do some investigating into ROTC vs. Service Academy vs. Enlisting. The put it bluntly and rather kindly, enlisted men and women get the short end of the stick. If you think you can be a leader, you should seriously investigate becoming an officer. This will also give you away to get scholarship money for all four years of school, get your degree, and then serve, rather than the other way around.</p>
<p>I'm totally committed to joining the military, I think it will mature me and open my eyes to things I can't even imagine. </p>
<p>The only problem I have is that my parents are really against the army. They get all ****ed when I even talk about the military. My dad was drafted in Vietnam so he won't even hear it.</p>
<p>Perhaps your dad would be slightly more accepting of military service in the Coast Guard as it won't directly correlate with his (seemingly) negative experience in what was most likely the army. At least your parents won't fear that you will be shipped off to the Middle East right out of basic training. Good luck with your research and decision making.</p>