I'm not sure if you ever received any solid information. They are
right, you need to ask your Recruiter these questions. I can fill you in
on a few things but they are only from my experience.
- If becoming a Pilot is your goal or dream then you have to decide
which route is going to work out best for you. You have a choice of
getting your Bachelors degree and going straight to Officer Candidate
School, or signing a
contract and serving Active Duty for a while. I highly recommend serving
a few years as Enlisted. The main reason is you learn so much about the
Marine Corps and it will only help you in your attempt to become an
Officer. Now, depending on what kind of job you do will determine whether
you're going to have enough free time for college. I'm in Aviation and my
hours are not set in stone, but I have a very good Supervisor that's all for
Off-Duty education. The way it works for my Work Center
is, if you have a class then you would secure around 1630 and go to your
class. Also, many bases offer classes on base. Don't get me wrong,
getting a Bachelor's Degree is a lot of hard work. You can plan on having
enough time for 2 maybe 4 classes at the most during each Semester. I
know from personal experience that 2 classes are about all you're going to want
to take the first few Semesters. You can CLEP out of many classes by
taking a special test. It alleviates having to sit through the entire
Semester. These CLEP tests are often given on base or through the college
itself.
- Another route would be this; you can start out on Active Duty, and after a
few years put in your MCEP package. If by then you are a Squared Away
MARINE, you should have no problem passing all the acceptance
requirements. This would be your "easiest" route, because once
you leave for college the Marine Corps will pay you Active Duty pay to do
nothing but go to college. I believe you have to get your degree in less
than 4 years or you would be dropped from the program and forced to serve the
remaining time on Active Duty in a Non-guaranteed MOS.
Like I said before, this is from my personal experience. I am no
expert on the subject. I highly recommend you go sit down with a MARINE
recruiter. I strongly feel you should start out Marine Corps rather than
any other branch. The Corps will give you the best training, and help
prepare you for your travels to becoming an Officer.