Join through CEOTP or NCM and finish degree part-time as schedule allows?

[rjs]

My situation is this... I'm 26 but still working on a degree. I've been working an office job for a while and attending school at the same time but I've bounced around a lot. I've always thought joining the army would be kinda cool but I always assumed I'd do something more lucrative. What I've realized about the last few years is that nothing really interested me in civilian life to the point that I really put all of my energy in to it. A big part of the of reason that I kept changing programs is that I'd lose interest after a while. It took me a while to reconcile that with my aspirations. I'm also bored out of my mind and sick of sitting in front of a computer screen at work. I want a job that gets me out of the office (or lab). At this time I just don't see myself being able to maintain a sustained interest in any normal job.

About a week ago I started to think about joining the Army. I'm not sure what set it off but I started reading and the more I read, the more I want to join and the sooner the better. I've started eating properly and getting in to shape because I know that right now I probably couldn't cut it (I've been inactive for years). I don't want to forsake my education, and I'm wondering whether it would be realistic to finish a degree while being employed in the regular infantry? If so I'm just going to apply as a NCM and work on my degree over the next 3 years as time allows. Otherwise, I guess I'll have to apply through CEOTP, although I would really prefer to enter as a NCM so that I could have a job that doesn't involve office work for the time being. Long-term I want to do Int Ops or Int Officer, but I want the soldier experience and tours overseas first.

So is it a realistic expectation that I could finish a degree as a full-time soldier? I don't want to put my faith in NCMUTP since there's no guarantee that I'd be selected for it any time in the near future.

 

[misfit]

Hey I'm in pretty much the same boat. I took a stab at the university degree for a few years and worked in an office when I wasn't in school. I was studying computer science and doing a lot of work on the computer.  I hated sitting in an office looking at the computer all day. I also didn't like the program I was in.
From what I understand, you can join as an NCM and work on the degree through correspondence from RMC. However, this is supposed to be difficult and probably impossible for about the first year while you're going through training. It sounds like you basically have to work full time and then study when everyone else is relaxing.

As for CEOTP, I'm not really sure. I think you are an Officer Cadet until you finish all your school.

I'm joining as an NCM and will hopefully get a chance to start working on credits once I'm finished the initial training. I'm pretty excited for my trade though and not really caring about school too much at this point! I start BMQ 7 Aug. , 2006.

Get going with your application...it takes a while.