   Go to college or into the service
  I have a choice to go to a really expensive private school and pay off loans for a long long time, become a programmer, and probaly lead an unhealthy lifestyle. Or go adventure in the service fight some bad guys and lead a more healthy life style but forgo an education for 4 years.What would you do?  
  College. No question. Considering how things are going with the military how do you know they will let you out in four years? Also, if you do college first you can enter the military as an officer.   "The paths of glory lead but to the grave." - Thomas GrayA Collection of zede''s montages (made without his knowledge or consent);  Go to a private school to become a programmer? Why not go to a public school? Cheaper.well, I were you, I''d take the service, but still educate myself while I am there (read thick DirectX/AI books before sleep for example). ;  Go to a public school, become a programmer and life a healthy lifestyle. ;  Go to college, then join the military and let the government pay off your loans.  "The executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war." -- James Madison--Father of the Constitution ;  Join the peace core.  Dont become a worthless pawn in a game of evil. ;  Join the military, get a more worldly view than most of the people around you, and come back to school with a full free ride and a new perspective on life.   ---------------------------------------------------laziness is the foundation of efficiencyretrospiral.net | llamas! | megatokyo | gamedev.net | googleTiffany_Smith fanboy;  I wouldn''t recommend the military until you''ve considered how much trust you''ve got in the national leadership. "fight some bad guys" is likely a very abstract notion for you right now. You don''t want to wait until you''re taking fire thousands of miles from home before you start to wonder how cheap the decision-makers consider your life to be.  ;quote:Original post by griffenjam  Also, if you do college first you can enter the military as an officer.   *IF* you get in.  Its a lot harder to get in as an officer than enlisted.  I wouldn''t recomend betting on that as a way to pay off your loans.If the military interests you at all, either do it first or go talk to an officer   recuiter.  Find out how much demand there would be for your field, assuming everything stays the same as it is now.  Don''t talk to an enlisted recuiter, because they have to try a lot harder to meet quotas and will just try to talk you into joining now.CM ;  As having been in the service myself, I can say that having at a minimum, an associates degree is needed to become an officer, at least in the army. Then there is other criteria I''m sure. Other branches might have rules that vary greatly, I do not know. Personally, I would say to someone that joining the military is a good thing if they have no other option. Sure, the idea of joining seems great, with all the patriotic hoopla and the thought of being gung-ho, but the military is hard work, and you have to put up with a system that sometimes seems unfair or plain stupid. In the end, its up to you. I guess all I would say is pick something and give it your all. 