Requesting Marine Corps OCS-PLC Experiences

Day-Tripper

Day-Tripper

5-Year Member
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May 16, 2014
Messages
893
My history? Former UMC Terminal Lance from the Olden Days. Had 3 sons decades later. None wanted military. Oldest went Army OCS in 2017. Youngest is a college sophomore, asked me about USMC OCS a few days ago.

Any OCS/PLC experiences in here?

PLC easier? Or harder? Than OCS that is.

GPA? Does it matter?

College majors? Does it matter?

PFT scores? Height/weight. Runs. Pullups.

LORs?

Interviews?

Experiences with OSO? Good or bad?

Quantico stories? Is winter easier than hot, humid summer? Food? Cellphones?

Quigley? Liberty? Five paragraph stuff? Sleeplessness? Success/failure rates?

Everything.

My DS is not ready to sign up for this site (or others, like MARINEOCS.COM) yet & ask questions, advice, etc. But information is knowledge. He is set on USMC, though I've pointed out that Army & Navy are options. His GPA (2.9-3.0) kind of makes US Air Force kinda beyond reach. He wants Jarheads, though.

My DS? Former HS football captain. Ice hockey. Lacrosse. Baseball. Current finance director ("Leadership") of his fraternity. Likes his beer a little too much but, you know, "college". Comp Sci major. Loved being yelled at by football coaches - an OUTDOOR kid in many ways, if you know what I mean. 19 years old. No criminal record. No tattoos. No drugs. 6'0 tall, 220 pounds.

Any and all information is appreciated.
 
Have him check this link out:
www.marines.com

Officer Candidates School | Marines

Marine Officer Candidates School (OCS) determines who has what it takes to lead the Corps in battle. Discover the physical & mental strength of Marine Officers.
www.marines.com www.marines.com
 
PLC is OCS, just split over 2 summers.
GPA matters. College major does not.
USMC PFT test and scoring can be found online. Google it.
Winter and summer each present their own challenges. Cell phones are taken. After 2 weeks they can use their cellphone noon Saturday to noon Sunday while on liberty, or something like that.
He'll need to drop about 20 pounds to meet weight requirements, or pass a tape test. Height/Weight charts can be found online with google.
 
@Day-Tripper: as a Marine, you know that nothing is “easy” in the Corps. I would argue that none of the Officer programs is easier than the other. Unlike enlisted boot camp (San Diego or Paris Island) all Officer roads lead to Quantico so all Officers have the same shared experienced -and it ain’t easy.

Because I attended TBS and IOC in Quantico (8 months total) I got the pleasure of being there in the heat of the summer and the cold of winter. It was just as bas as advertised but there are much worse places. In fact, I fell in love with Virginia and the beauty of its woods. The Quigley is over-rated – not that big of a deal (to me).

There is tons of information on the Service Academy Forums that address all your questions. There is also a lot out there on the internet and official USMC sites.

Assuming your DS is interested in becoming an Officer (rather than enlisting), I would recommend PLC before OCS. PLC would be done during college and OCS (if available) would be after graduation.

Happy to help in any way.

Semper Fi!
 
Here are some videos you and your son might find interesting. The first is about the NROTC Marine Option Program and the second is focused entirely on OCS. They're sort of brochurey but interesting and I'm sure you both will learn something


 
Here's a link to a three part series by Christian Davenport. It follows three candidates up close during their time at lovely Quantico by the Potomac. My son is the candidate from Alexandria Virginia. I live just through the forest from Quantico and there is no best time to do OCS. Just a few days ago it was in the teens and raining ice, not snow. The TBS crowd was still popping off 81 mm and the M-2. Summers are hot and humid with plenty of bugs. I was at the PX yesterday and the polo and khaki crowd (OCS candidates) were enjoying some libbo. They looked happy.

 
Devil Doc said:
Here's a link to a three part series by Christian Davenport. It follows three candidates up close during their time at lovely Quantico by the Potomac. My son is the candidate from Alexandria Virginia. I live just through the forest from Quantico and there is no best time to do OCS. Just a few days ago it was in the teens and raining ice, not snow. The TBS crowd was still popping off 81 mm and the M-2. Summers are hot and humid with plenty of bugs. I was at the PX yesterday and the polo and khaki crowd (OCS candidates) were enjoying some libbo. They looked happy.

Click to expand...

I had heard that as bad as the winter session was, the heat casualties due to the heat/humidity of warmer weather sessions at Quantico (it's the South, after all) contributed to higher attrition rates.

I was going to also post questions about TBS, but one step at a time, as they say.

I'm sure OCS is equally miserable regardless of what month it is, though. At least that's what I'm telling my youngest DS.
 
kinnem said:
PLC is OCS, just split over 2 summers.
Click to expand...

To expand on @kinnem response, PLC for non-scholarship is split over 2 summers (PLC Juniors - summer after sophomore year then PLC Seniors - summer after Junior year). PLC for scholarship is only the Seniors session. OCS is after graduation and I believe is 10 weeks.

Day-Tripper said:
I'm sure OCS is equally miserable regardless of what month it is, though. At least that's what I'm telling my youngest DS.
Click to expand...

Best to prepare him for reality. My DS attended and graduated PLC Seniors during the summer. I remember sweating in the heat and humidity at graduation just walking from the car to the graduation area. He is in outstanding shape and said it was one of the toughest things he has ever done, but it's not just the heat (or cold if winter session) and physical stress, it's about the constant grind mentally and physically, lack of sleep and generally being pushed to your limit and beyond for almost the entire time. There was some attrition for his session. As I recall, a couple dropped voluntarily, a couple were dropped for various performance reasons and there were a few that could not continue due to injury or medical issues. I don't recall the actual numbers.

It definitely isn't easy, but your DS can do it if it is something he really wants. Best of luck to him.
 
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