I enlisted after college. Have degrees in Sociology and Phylosophy...which explains why I couldn't find a job.
No, seriously. I did two years of law school as well before I decided it wasn't the direction I wanted to go. I can't say I enjoyed it all the time, but it was a good experience overall.
Two things you could consider as far as joining. Definitely get a commission unless you really don't want to do that. For the job I wanted to do, enlisting was the better choice as far as what I knew I'd be doing. Officers generally don't get a whole lot of time working with Soldiers (I was in the Army, so when I say Soldiers I actually mean enlisted personnel). They get about a year being a Platoon Leader and then another year and a half or two years as a Company Commander, and then its administrative B.S. or staff duty. I personally wanted to work with the Soldiers. Teach them what they should be doing...make sure they'd do the right things when needed and be there with them when the hard stuff was going on.
There's nothing wrong with the officer rout though. The pay's better. You generally don't have to deal with the (insert expletive here) duties...although they still have their share of BS they have to deal with. You can also finagle it so you could probably finish your MS while you're in.
As for the Air Force. I worked with lots of people in the Marines, Navy and Air Force and the Air Force guys always had it the best. They were generally happier. Deployments are shorter. Their treated more like "professionals" for lack of a better word. Posts and living accommodations are generally better (both in the US and overseas). If you're not looking to be "hard core" that's definitely the way to go.
No matter what you decide to do though, you'll still be part of a fighting force--and treated accordingly. Its a very different experience being in the military from civilian life. Along with the obvious 12 or 20 mile marches and weapons training, there are lots of little things you probably aren't even thinking about right now...from being accountable to your superiors all the time to acting in a certain way no matter where you are.
Just be sure to talk to a lot of people and get a good idea of what you're signing up for. The only people I really ran into that were completely miserable from the actual job were the ones who didn't know what they were getting into in the first place.
