former marine here. assuming you don't unq at the rifle range, you will be gone for exactly 13 weeks. then you will come home for 10 days, then peace out again to either mct/soi, depending on your mos. are you going paris island or cali? i did paris island. i also did soi and not mct. soi/mct is WAY harder than boot camp. idk how old you are, but i was like 24 when i went in. the older you are, the easier bootcamp is, assuming you are in remotely decent shape still. just remember these few very important things in boot camp. 95pct of your time there, the drill instructors are going to be punishing the entire platoon for what they claim to be the fault of one person or a small group of people, or occasionally the whole platoon. it is just a game they are playing because, let's say it's 2:50. Everything is on a very tight schedule. If it is 2:50 and your next scheduled thing isn't til 3:00, they aren't going to tell you to just sit and chill for 10 minutes, they are going to make you all think you did something wrong and punish you for ten minutes instead. Don't get pissed at your platoon, they are going to punish you no matter what you do. the ABSOLUTE most important thing i can tell you is to do two things every single time, no matter what, and you will never have any problems in recruit training. every single time they ask you anything, or you have to say anything or request anything, ALWAYS scream as loud as you possibly can from the moment you pull into the island. i mean like veins popping out screaming as loud as you possibly can. there is literally nothing you can do that will impress them and get them off your case more than being the loudest person in the platoon. the other thing is moving fast. when they tell you to line up at the door, or to go grab something, literally sprint as fast as you possibly can every single step. i know it sounds ridiculous, but if you remember those two things, nothing else even matters. i graduated as one of three marines in my platoon to stand for the company commander's inspection at the end of training because of my confidence. no matter what, always be extremely confident with them. when they scream in your face, and they will literally be touching your face with ttheir hats, lips and spit, just stand there with a stone face and scream as loud as you can, "aye sir, aye sir, aye sir" as loud as you possibly can. they will immediately move on. if you hesitate in any way, you will be their focus until you learn to stand up through chaos. and all 3 of them screaming in your face while everyone is being punished and people are starting to have mental break downs all around you can be chaotic. but if you just stand there like you do not give a phuck what they do to you, you will be someone they respect and leave alone