Joining the USMC before college or after? I've been thinking about joining and I was wondering if a military service record would really affect the college process for the better. The only reason I can see for joining the military before college would be for the tuition, but I feel that I should finish my education first before serving, what do you think?

This depends person to person. Joining the USMC requires hard work and dedication throughout. It's rigorous, physically and psycologically. If you have a drive to serve for the country, then go for it, but if you're only doing it to have that extra edge for your application, this might not be the best way. There are other programs out there like ROTC which allows you to train in high school and college as you please and from them they provide you tuition aide should you decide to go on for four years with them. With the ROTC track, it also requires you to serve post college.

Of course, any leadership roles you take with the USMC and other programs would be crucial in distinguishing yourself from a leader to a follower. But before you enroll to binding programs just for the edge, explore other possibilities that will let you be more yourself.

At the end of the day, it comes down to why you wish to join the USMC.

If its for the tuition, then obviously before college is what you want. But if its to serve your country first and foremost, then enlisting (assuming you're talking about enlisted service) and being discharged after your service is obviously very attractive to colleges.

And, of course, there's always the possibility of doing both. Whether through the Service Academies (USMA, USAFA, USNA) or through ROTC, graduating college as an enlisted officer is a great career move.