I've got some personal experience to share with this thread, maybe it'll help. I did one year of college after high school, then decided to enlist. I'm currently one year into my contract with the Navy, and my cousin is in his third year of army ROTC.
If you want to go the ROTC route look into the SMP program (Simultaneous Membership Program) my cousin did that. He started doing ROTC in the fall his freshman year, then he took spring semester off to go to boot camp and AIT. He did about 6 months worth of training and got paid active duty pay, then when he went back to school they put him in a reserve status. He's getting E-5 pay for going to drill 1 weekend per month and doing 2 week of training in the summer.
Becoming an officer though, you have to keep a very high standard for yourself, they hold officers in high regard and expect a lot out of you. You need to keep your GPA up, and your fitness standards. You can go out and party, he goes down to the bars almost every weekend, but you need to stay away from trouble, no drinking and driving, absolutely no pot, and avoid fights.
I went the other route. After getting a look at just how much debt I was in after just one year of college I decided I wanted that GI bill before I got any further. Military life is pretty cool, I've been all over the US in just the last year and I'm getting enough college credits through my training for an associates in applied science. They do tuition assistance so if you want to knock out a few college classes after work you can go online or to a school near where you are stationed. You get a nice steady paycheck, learn a lot about people, and get a lot of working experience.
Right now I really have no idea if I want to make a career out of the Navy, but if I did, I'd do the STA 21 program (Seaman to Admiral). You start off as enlisted, then request it, you go back to college with full tuition assistance and E-5 pay, you have to finish off a major in 3 years, but once you're done they'll send you to OCS. you'll be higher up on the pay bracket because you already have experience, and being an 0-1 without knowing much about enlisted life can be pretty rough, it's always a struggle for respect in the workplace. I feel like STA 21 is the best option if you want to make a career out of the military.
