Hi, I am currently 22 years of age about to turn 23 next month. I have finished about two years of college. I was captain of everything in high school, great student, great grades. I was playing football in college until the girl I had been with since Junior year in high school decided to destroy my life. Anyways she ****ed me up pretty bad so I quit football and I moved away from my hometown to Vegas with my two friends from high school. Five months later I am broke, more depressed than ever, and searching for something new. I have always had interest in the military and have recently been considering joining. I would like to become an officer in the military. I understand that the MECEP program is very difficult to get into. In my first year of college at a private, very academic oriented university, I had good grades but my second year of college at a State school my grades got worse and worse as my personal life started to fall apart even though the schooling was much easier. Eventually I stopped showing up to classes and withdrew from school. Now I sit here and wonder what to do with my life. My pops was in the Marines and so I am interested in joining. I feel like if I dont become an officer than I am wasting my time, talent, intelligence, and god-given leadership and athletic ability. The thing is that I don't have the money right now to finish school and do not know if I really want to at this point. I know that I can score very well on my ASVAB, I know that I can do very well on all of the Physical training and tests. What are my options for enlistment. I enlist, excel, and then what happens when they see what I have to offer in boot camp. Will i have to decide what I want to do or what I will do before i enter boot camp? With high scores on everything and proven ability in boot will I be "recruited" or offered positions that other not as qualified privates will have? What are other ways of becoming an officer in the military for me right now? Is there anyway to join the reserves, get the remainder of my school payed for and then become an officer? How likely is it that I will get into MECEP? Also, I was looking into becoming a Warrant Officer in the Army due to the fact that you can be an officer before finishing school, I guess. Going to WOFT seemed like a decent option for me. How likely is it that I get accepted to WOFT? Anyways, any info, suggestions, and advice is welcome. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Dear Abbey, UP!

Here's what I got from your post...

You're a quitter and not as intelligent as you think you are.

Stay away from the Marine Corps.

quote:

How likely is it that I will get into MECEP?

That's hard to know seeing that you're not a Marine yet!

All the people I've know that said they were going to try for MECEP BEFORE Boot Camp never did. Why? They looked too far ahead and they had all these expectations and when they weren't as they thought, they said forget it!

There's nothing wrong with looking ahead, but when you think of point D before even starting point A, you're in for a lot of disappointments.

So how likely is it that you're going to get into MECEP? You be the judge based on what I've told you.

(I'm sure there are Marines out there who said the samething and fulfilled what they planned, but they most likely slowed down and analyzed what they had to do, which is take it one step at a time. But so far, again, I haven't met that Marine Officer yet.)

quote:

Also, I was looking into becoming a Warrant Officer in the Army due to the fact that you can be an officer before finishing school, I guess. Going to WOFT seemed like a decent option for me. How likely is it that I get accepted to WOFT?

Provided you're qualified, your chances are good at this point.

But tell us one thing, why do you want to be an officer? Commitments and hard work seem to be a challenge for you:

quote:

The thing is that I don't have the money right now to finish school and do not know if I really want to at this point.

The money part is understandable. But questioning whether you should finish or not raises a red flag. It's better to say, "I'll finish at a later date."

quote:

Anyways she ****ed me up pretty bad so I quit football and I moved away from my hometown to Vegas with my two friends from high school.

I don't know what happened to you two, whether she was at fault or you were (and I don't need to know), but there are ways to deal with what you went through w/o quitting things and running away from your problems. As an officer in any branch you can't do that.

My advice before you talk to any recruiter or commit to any program is to figure what your priorities in life are. The military can definitely help you, but you need to fix somethings first.

Don't join the military to get away from something - a bad living situation, bad marriage, not happy where you are, etc. Unless you really have the desire to be in the military, you're essentially trading one set of circumstances for another which could very well be worse for you. Yes, some people have taken that route when they had nothing else and done well, but most I've seen have not.

I'm certainly no Dr. Phil, but don't EVER let a woman (or a man, for those of you reading this who happen to BE women) ruin your life. Don't put all your emotional eggs in one basket. Recognize the fact that if you get dumped, that's life. It's happened to most people - the difference is that most people get back on the horse and get on with their lives. You will, too.

But it seems to me as though you're looking at the military as an escape; as a quick fix to a bad situation. I'd give yourself more time and a lot of targeted thought, trying to figure out if the military is right for you.

Good luck

First off drop the Emo 'tude. It will get you nowhere. My girl dumped me on a deployment, oh F-ing well suck it up. Theres a lot worse things out there than being dumped. And like SgtLtUSMC said, if you enlist wanting to do MECEP, and find out you don't want to do it you are just going to get out after 4. My advice if you want to be an officer is finish school, and go to OCS. Good Luck with your decision.

You have been given some good advice,but don't think for minute that any talents you think you may have will be waisted if you go and stay enlisted.

As far as the WOFT; There is a thread just for that on the Army forum, with lots of good information. Plus,there are a couple Army pilots floating around here that are prior Marines, they may answer some questions for you.