19 y/o looking to join marines after school, medical concerns (specifically related to allergies)
I'm currently a junior at a college studying CS + Econ with a minor in math.
Long story short I want to commission and join the Military post grad for a few years. It's kind of a personal reason (I'm a legal immigrant + naturalized citizen and I'm thankful to the US for everything it's given me. (I know look at the naive kid ha ha ha)). Anyways I have a few friends at school who are vets and I've gotten the summary of what it is, good and bad. I'm still interested in joining for Infantry / Combat Arms. Preferably the Marines, but also will look at the Army / Navy.
Physically I'm pretty skinny but I ran Varsity long-distance XC / TF in HS, I practice brazilian jiu jitsu, and I lift weights consistently (6 times a week). I'm going to begin specifically training to crush the fitness tests and gain more mass so that I have the best chances of getting through OCS applications once I graduate.
I have two major concerns.
- I have a GPA of 3.2, massive upward curve here, I had a really tough first quarter and I'm hoping my school's status (T10) will help. I'm on track to achieve a 3.4/3.5 by the time I graduate. Is this up to academic standards?
- Medical (real concern): I have a minor tree nut allergy, A VERY MINOR ONE (unfortunately it's in my records for when I went to see an allergist as a 16 year old (I was applying to USMA before I received the offer at my current uni)). For reference, I am technically allergic to only some tree nuts, mainly only hazelnuts and walnuts. However I eat nutella sandwiches every other day (I love nutella) and the most major symptom I have is mild sneezing / light throat itch. My records show a shellfish allergy when I was 9 but by the time I turned 16 I kind of just grew out of it and it disappeared when I had another skin bump test. I eat shrimp / lobster just fine nowadays and it seems it's getting that way for the tree nuts as well (regularly eat protein bars w/ tree nuts and such). Walnuts I don't really eat a lot of but it's the same situation (throat itch).
How screwed am I? Am I absolutely toast for MEPS / will I have to go through the waiver process? I do experience symptoms (however minor) and I was wondering what I can do right now to try to make the process easier for myself upon graduation. (I would want to commission as soon as possible).
Thank you all for your help!
Posted Nov 2, 2023, 1:28 AM UTC