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Should I earn Bachelor's before joining Air Force?

I am currently finishing my last 2 semesters of college and plan on joining the Air Force as an E-3 with my associates degree. I have always heard that officers make much more than enlisted but i did not know how much the difference in pay was until i recently looked online. I really hate school but i plan on making a career out of the air force being active duty and officers earn a pretty nice living, However, i am aware that having a 4 year degree does not guarantee i will become an officer. Please give me your opinions. Is it worth being miserable and forcing myself through 2 more years of school, or should i just join with my associates as an E-3. I am not joining for the money but i would still like to earn nice paychecks.

Also wondering, for the most part do enlisted still live pretty comfortably even though they make much less than officers?

6 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    The Air Force is by far the most selective main branch when it comes to officers. If you don't have a 3.8 or higher un-weighted GPA in an Engineering or Math related major, play at least 1 sport, and volunteer a lot, you have no hope of becoming an officer in the Air Force.

    Currently, about 50% of people who are already officers in other branches would be rejected if they applied for the Air Force with the same credentials they had when they became an officer.

    The easiest branch to become an officer in is the Army because they need the most people, the hardest is the Air Force, second hardest is Navy, third hardest is Marines.

    Coast Guard isn't even possible. Seriously. They only accept like 150 new officers per year and nearly all of them are the children of other Coast Guard officers who got in due to family connections. An average person has no chance to compete with that.

  • Daniel
    Lv 7
    5 years ago

    A lot more goes into getting picked up by an OTS board than simply having a degree. Just like getting into USAFA, or getting a contract or scholarship from AFROTC, they look at the whole person. They are going to look at what you did in college (and afterwards), your GPA, major, etc. Having a 3.0 in Gaelic Drinking Game Studies isn't going to get you into OTS.

    If you wanted to be an officer, you should have looked into AFROTC. That is the biggest commissioning source in the AF.

  • 5 years ago

    Earning your degree means you will be on the officer track. With that said, if you hate school so much, I have a feeling you're going to like being in the military far less.

  • TedEx
    Lv 7
    5 years ago

    Look at it this way., NOT having a 4 year degree guarantees you WON"T become an officer.

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  • 5 years ago

    well if your degree is in a STEM major and you graduate with a 3.5+ gpa

    then you can think about being an officer

  • 5 years ago

    ow, guess you aren't interested in the green berets?

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