enlisting with a 4 year degree?

[uw23ted]

I will be finishing college in June and my mind is made up to become a marine. I am about 2-3 weeks away from finding out whether or not i have been accepted for Marine Corp OCC. Given that this is a competitive program, I understand the possibility that I might not get it (although the selection officer has a 99-100% selection rate). I do have the grades and my physical score is great, i am a pretty competitive candidate. What i am wondering is, if i should not get it, i want to enlist. If i enlist, sine I will have a 4 year degree, what would my pay scale be? If i went to the recruiting office, could i "bargain/negotiate" a certain package? I thought i heard someone say once they went in as e-3 or e-4 with a 4 year degree. My asvab scores were very high so could i also try to lock a job up too? I am sure i would want to get this in writing too?

Thanks

[parcellspost]

It has been a while since I went to bootcamp but I believe you would only get E-2 PFC out of boot camp. As far as negotiating. As long as you scored high on the ASVAB then you shouldn't have a problem getting what ever MOS You want as long as it is open.
One word of advice don't go 0300 if you want to get any real skills. Go for one of the more technical MOS's and you may have a chance to get into OCS at a later date.
Good luck.
Lance

[HAVEGUNWILLTRVL]

UW,

Speaking for the Army, E-4 is Automatic with a degree. If your ASVAB score is high and you are physically qualified as determined by the Meps docs you should be able to get what you want guaranteed and in writing. Ask your recruiter to see a copy of Profile magazine. Every Recruiting station and every branch should have one. It covers what every branch offers and whats guaranteed so on and so forth. It also covers what is required for promotions as well. Check it out and let me know. Good luck with the Corps.

"Rangers Lead the Way"
Ski

[k9cop21811]

Before finishing college make sure you capitalize all your "i's", I mean, "I's". Sorry, i (oops) couldn't resist.

Either way you go you can't go wrong. A degree plus military will make you a great candidate for whatever you want to do when you get out. Officer experience will look better, however. Best of luck.

[graftongr]

Having a degree and enlisting can open some doors for you, but forget about the pay. The best you're going to get is PFC. If you're a stud you could pick up meritorious Lance Corporal out of MCT/SOI. We had a Marine with a Harvard Degree as a machine gunner in the grunts-he just wanted that experiance. After a tour he submitted a package and went to OCS-he's now an intel. Capt. Your degree can open some doors into HETT Intel. (almost all the really cool jobs in intel go to enlisted Marines). My two cents: go have an adventure. Don't let the recruiter talk you into a desk job b/c you have a degree. Sign up for something that puts you in the field and deploys. I was in 9 countries last year; 2 of them were conflict areas. You can always lat move out of combat arms-but not into. Intel would be my only exception to that rule b/c you can do some really cool things. As for the officer route-that's a seperate email. PM me if you want. I'm a Capt., USMC

[RoscoeRuhl]

In the event you aren't selected for the OCC program, you can still be in good shape by going enlisted. With a 4 year degree, you'll probably be looking at enlisted grade E-4 to start. You'll find the pay scale is the same for enlisted and officer grades, regardless of service branch. I can tell you that you'll find that after about 2 years of service, if not sooner, you can apply for OCS and be accepted easier from within than from outside. You'll also stand a better chance of getting the branch assignment you want. There are also programs for enlisting that will provide loan repayment on those student loans. You can get it all if you know what you want and ask the recruiter.

Have a great day!

[geodetective]

As a former enlisted Marine, here is my suggestion:

First, don't worry about a thing. You sound like an excellent applicant and I am certain that you will be selected for OCC.

But if something freakish happens and you are not selected, you should try again. Show them that you REALLY want that gold bar. Earning a degree shows that you have the motivation and ability to "stick things out." You've spent the last four (or so) years of your life dedicated to that task. Don't blow it all away by enlisting. The Captain is right, a degree might get you E-4 in the Army, but it certainly won't in the USMC. The difference between an Army Specialist and a Marine Corps Corporal are like night and day. You could have a PhD, but you will not enlist in the USMC any higher than E-2/PFC. You will be surrounded by other E-2s and E-3s constantly - most of whom just recently graduated high school. You will not have the opportunity to relate to others of your age and background, because to do so would be fraternization.

But like I said, I believe it is all a mute point. I bet you are pinning on that gold bar in less than a year.

geo

[USAF]

I agree with geodetective. DO NOT ENLIST. Re-apply for OCS if for some reason you don't get in. You could have enlisted before you went to college. Now that you have a degree, use it for what it's worth. I think you would regret enlisting.

[snpusmc]

UWTED23.

From the sound of it you shouldn't have anything to worry about but if for some reason it doesn't work out I for one would say go ENLISTED. GEODETECTIVE had a few good points but one angle he didn't bring up ( I didn't think of it when I first saw your post myself) is the Warrent Officer program. GEODETECTIVE or KRELLUM might have some info on this but I can tell you they get more respect then any officer. To this day I still work for one( when he calls you just say yes and know it will be something good) that is over 60 years old and he has more pull then I'v ever seen and he is in the mix of everything. As for enlisted you would come out of boot camp with a rank of E-2. I'm not sure what your goals are for the future but if it's in the LE field I would say pick up a trade ( DO NOT GO IN OPEN CONTRACT) after boot camp try to go Embasy duty or Force recon you might be able to get the ED in your contract. Force recon you will have to try out for and then get pumped through a few basic schools ( ARS, Jump and Dive) and then put some time in with a team and then try to move over to SOTG. Again it sounds like your going to be just fine so I doubt you will need these other options.

[uw23ted]

thanks for the info fellas, I really appreciate this. i am sure i am worrying about nothing, just dont want to get my hopes up too high. The only concern i have really is the fact that I need a waiver for some juvenile arrests (when i was 15, I am 24 now). They were pretty cheesy offenses, shoplifting, mal mis, etc....Think I will get that waiver? In all there were 3-4 incidents and everytime the charges were dropped...