If I Wanted To Join The Military, What Would I Have To Do?

[pochercoaster]

Originally Posted by Magus

Hmm, here I thought you Canadians lived in a utopian paradise in exchange for balls-freezing cold. Like some kind of galactic scale of justice. But I thought that the college was somehow cheaper than it is here in the U.S., do they have more grants for the really poor people than they do here or something? Is tuition just a little lower overall? Something?

I'm not sure if it's cheaper here as compared to the US. It depends on where you go- "colleges" that have more applied/technical programs tend to have shorter 2-3 year programs that are in the cheaper range (<10,000 year). Universities tend to have longer 4-5 year programs and are more expensive (>15,000), especially the more well known institutions, like University of Toronto. I'm not terribly familiar with it as I have never applied for post-secondary education, but depending on where you go and what kind of course you're taking it can run up to more than 25,000 a year. It can also be significantly cheaper, though, if you stick with the smaller colleges.

I'm not familiar with grants as compared to the US, either- the only thing I know of is OSAP, which is specific to Ontario, and it grants you money based on how poor you are. How much it gives the really poor people I'm not sure of, but I do know that OSAP has to be paid back.

Also: Everything Overcast said. That's basically how my boyfriend feels about the time he spent in the military.

[Magus]

BTW since when are they offering 8 year contracts? I thought they were all 2 years at a stretch? Who would want to sign up for 8 years at a time? Or is there a benefit to signing an 8 year contract?

[Eltargrim]

pocheros: University of Manitoba, $8000/year. 4 year program, B.Sc. That is tuition and non-textbook school fees. UBC is about $11000/year, again, tuition only.

University isn't prohibitively expensive between loans, scholarships, and bursaries, but it does cost a lot. I would call >15000 an outlier, however. Canadian Ivy Leage-esque, in comparison.

[pochercoaster]

Ah, I stand corrected. :P I do remember a representative from U of Toronto did a presentation at my school once and said that it costs the average student ~25,000- but, that was U of Toronto... And then there's, say, Georgian college which I was going to attend at one point, and the tuition was only 2,000/year. Regardless it's definitely not "free."

[Overcast]

Originally Posted by Magus

BTW since when are they offering 8 year contracts? I thought they were all 2 years at a stretch? Who would want to sign up for 8 years at a time? Or is there a benefit to signing an 8 year contract?

What most people know of contracts is usually the amount of time a person serves for active duty. This is the time you spend that your whole life belongs to the military, day in and day out. These can go anywhere from 2 to 6 years long. I had a 6 year long active duty run due to the technical nature of my occupation in the Navy and how long it would take for me to be trained as a basic technician. The remaining part is spent in one of the various forms of the Reserve. Where you are pretty much part time military. I get two years of that after my Active Duty stint.

[Magic_Marker]

What are the benefits of offered to Canadian servicemen? Before you find out what you should do, you got to look at the costs and benefits. Remember, you can learn a skilled trade in the military, somebody has to run the wire, keep the plumbing working, and make sure the cars turn over. With that training you can get yourself a job on the other side without being in combat as an infantrymen, if Canadians have educational benefits then you might have a good investment in a term of service. Just angle for a maintenance, health, or computer position instead of a combat one and your risk of injury goes down by a great degree.

If you go into medicine, maintenance or computers you not only have training for a job in civilian world, if Canada is like the States you also have education funding, and cheap medical care.

[Overcast]

But Magic it is Canada, they all have cheap medical care.

[Azisien]

I have a friend in the CF and he's in the computer division. He still gets regularly shipped off to Afghanistan and still does see some combat, if not direct. So yeah, you'll want to be ready for that.

Also good fuck western universities are expensive? I got two degrees from University of Ottawa and my yearly expenses were $5800-6500 not including textbooks, though who the fuck buys textbooks (or buys and doesn't re-sell them for 90% cost?)

[Shin Amakiir]

Don't freaking join the military. One of my old roommate's friends was in the military, and he had a constant odor about him. Like, month-old socks mixed with death-like feces.

That aside, get some roommates. Even just one. Living on your own is a lot easier, and it's a lot less lonely with a friend. Additionally, if you're low income you get $1000/semester in grants if you get a student loan, which pretty much counter-acts any interest (which only comes into play 6 months after the end of studies ANYWAY.)

I think I actually know you from high school, and if I do, you're a pretty cool and smart dude. Don't toss that away to the military. Get a student loan. The interest rates aren't murder. And don't forget scholarships, bursaries, etc. And there are a LOT of places for rent in town recently, so don't worry about finding a good place.

[Eltargrim]

Azisien, I totally misquoted the U of M. For some reason I thought $4000/term, when it's $4000/year. I don't even know how I got that one. My bad.