Marines vs. college...please help

Question

I really want to join the marines....i think it would be great for me....but i also DONT want to lose sight of what i want to do with my life career wise...which is to become a video editor...but im also very insterested in the MOS as a sniper....that would be the absolute best in my opinion...

- is it even possible for me to join the marines and still have a personal career goal outside the corps such as my video editing goals???

- should i finish my skewling before entering the marines??

- should i enter the marines and then let them help me pay for my college??

please...anything would help...any personal experiances relivent to me would be greatlly apprieciated.

Answer 1

been there done that. I served 4 and a half years with the USMC. I am now letting them pay for my schooling for four years. It is a great way to be able to go to college and keep yourself and your family out of debt. If you do not go into the marines now, later in life it is possible that you will look back and say to yourself that you wished you would have joined. If you can live with that then go to school, but if you wanna have memories and stories to tell your grand kids i suggest that you join the marine corps. It is something that i would not change to save my life and i am happy that i did it. Mind you i also served two tours in Iraq.

Answer 2

Remember when you join a service your signing up to serve your country, and if you say your desire is to be a video editor, I would go to college, because like most recruiters tell people who wanna join the military for an education "There are more simpler ways than the military". If your really good at managing time, you can do both by either being on duty during the day and go to night school, or go during the day and do duty for a graveyard shift.

Answer 3

snipers spend most of their time protecting other members of the unit, team, etc.  it's not very glamorous and is not like on tv or the movies where the are always sniping the bad guys from afar.

I would think long and hard before joining the military right now.  we are going to be involved in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan for the next decade, easy.

Answer 4

Yes! You should finish SCHOOL and not skewling

The Corps does not have Women Snipers

The Navy or Air Force would be your best hope for an education in the video field.

Good Luck

Answer 5

First off, you can't be a Sniper.  Being a Marine Corps Scout-Sniper means you must first enlist in the Infantry.  As you seem to be a woman, that would automatically preclude you.

Second, what is "skewling"?  Is that "schooling"?  If so, please, for the love of God, finish "skewling"

Third, go to college.  You can go to school while you are in, but remember, the Marine Corps is your full-time job.

I think you should research enlisted MOS fields further and maybe find something that might dovetail with your "video-editing" goals more carefully than an MOS field you are not allowed to join.  Perhaps working in Public Affairs? or another related MOS?

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

The Army has an MOS for that specificly. Go to goarmy.com and I beleive it's a 25R. If not, look in the signal careers. It's one of them. The Army can pay for you to go to collage while you there, and yah, you'll have time to get whatever degree you want. I'm working on my assosiates without even taking money out of my GI Bill. Just look around at the diffrent branches. I'm sure the Air Force has an MOS like that, too. Go to recruiting websites and just take some time to go over the diffrent MOSs.

As for you being a sniper, sadly the American Congress (NOT the branches themselves) say that we cannot be in combat MOSs. Therfore, you can't be a sniper. (Who'd wanna be? It isn't as glamorus as Hollywood makes it out to be.)  

Answer 7

well first off the marines has the best schooling of all the military branches from what i have read.. u get great dicipline and an experiance of a lifetime... u get to do what u want (sniper) and honestly u get paid to go to school I MEAN THEY PAY U.. u aint paying for it... if u feel uneed more education after u are done then u can do it.. but i am sure u would prefer to do the marine thing while u are much younger u know.. u dont wanna go to colledge for 2 years and say d**n i should have went into the marines first... i say do the marines first.. have fun with it:)  

Answer 8

Yes you can go to college and join the Marines at the same time. I do believe you can also get money for college and use it after you leave the Marines as well.

However, with 13 weeks of boot camp(h**l on Earth) plus additional training, 5-8 month deployments,etc. You wont get to do much collegework at all for a few years(However long your active duty deal is).

I'd reccomend you go for the Navy because they have a News & media Department where thats all you would do is video edit,radio edit,photography,write scripts, a variety of things(This is a list of several different jobs) plus you could earn college credits for your degree in Communications(Specilize in Media/Jounalism).

The Air Force has the shortest boot camp(Currently 6 weeks will be 8 starting Nov.) and still shortest deployments 90-120 days is the longest I have ever heard. Compared to ONE YEAR Army(Used to be over 16 months) 6 or more with the Navy, 5-8 or more with the Marines.

Answer 9

"Once in your life, you will be young. Once in your life, you will be unbound by the trappings of routine and unshackled by the things built around you. What an incredible thing, to know that any moment might find you on the way to a far corner in the world. What an amazing feeling, to be part of the history that will surely be written. If you are very lucky, you will have the opportunity to do all the things people dream of doing. In our opinion, there is no better mold than that of U.S Marine. The Corps is looking for the few and the proud. Perhaps you can be one of us."

I think that sum it all up, yeah? You are only young once, you only have one life, don't live it with regret, or wondering 'what could have been'. Go for it, you have the rest of your life for college; there is not age or health limits. There are for the Marines. Do this now.

Answer 10

If I were you I would go to college and forget the marines. My cousin had the same idea as you let the air force pay for college, but it didnt work out all that great. It took him forever to get his degree because he didnt have time and now he's leaving for 4 yrs. Dont sign your life away! Stay in school! Also, you'll have trouble regarding personal life! You won't have time to get married or have a boyfriend or a life in general!