text: i am considering joining the marines i want pros and cons from people who are in the service? i want to join the marines or the army. i am in college so i would join the reserves for the time being. after basic training i think i would try to go to ranger school. give me some advice. is there alot about the marines that they dont tell you when you sign up? do they screw you out of anything? is it worth it? i want serious answers, because this is a serious question. there are a lot of good reasons to join the military.  you get the opportunity to travel, meet people from backgrounds that are very different from your own, learn and continuously practice self-discipline, be part of a team, serve your country, hold a job where the ultimate goal is to defend our country versus make a corporation money, and to constantly push yourself and your limits further.  there are the benefits like health and dental care, a steady dependable paycheck, and money for school (even grad school).  the only cons are that to receive these things you need to be willing to sacrafice.  you will sacrafice a lot of your personal time (this isn't a 9-5 job).  you will sacrafice some of your personal freedoms, you are expected to live by certain rules and codes (all of which is completely achievable).  you will have to sacrafice always  being comfortable, a lot of what the military expects you to do isn't fun when you are going through it (it is the experiences that are the hardest when we are doing them that we learn the most from and are the most proud of later).  in my opinion it is 100% worth it and i have never been "screwed out" of anything in my time (i haven't always gotten what i've wanted, but that is life).    if you are currently in college, you have a couple of different options.  you could go through rotc and consider a commission as an officer.  there is nothing wrong with the option of enlisting and is just a different choice (and is certainly one to be respected).  rotc is for the army although there is seperate commissioning program for the marines (i would look on their web site if you are interested).  if you really want to go to ranger school you need to join the army and make sure they put it in your enlistment contract.  if you go in as officer it is a different process.  whatever decision you make, army or marines, officer or enlisted, i wish you luck and hope you decide to join.