Which makes a soldier stand out more from his peers: a 300 pt score or a Bachelor’s degree?

Neither one on it's own. These things matter when it comes down to the promotion and points. 40% of promotion points are weapons and APFT score, all other items to include civilian education is accumulated to the remaining 60%. In all things considered, a high APFT score is great, but not impressive. A BS or BA from an accredited school means more in the long run. At the end of the day, you score 300 once every six months, you will always be a college graduate no matter what once you complete the degree. After 18 years of service; I can tell you this, when is time to create a resume for a career after the Army, what do you want listed? "300 APFT score" or "BS from such and such university with a 3.8 GPA"? Don't take me wrong, apft is the most important thing to do every morning, but is not the only thing you do all day.

Having a 300 APFT is going to be a thing of the past with this new Army Combat fitness test because, in my belief, you'll want to conserve your energy and just do the minimum so you have enough energy for the 2-mile Run. I am a soldier that has been in the Army for over 20 years and I have attained a 300 APFT for half that time. I would say the bachelor's degree is more important because with that, you can get the promotion points for NCO or you can get into officer candidate school and become a commissioned officer. If you don't want to be an officer, the bachelor's degree will do more than the 300 APFT. We have less than two years before the old APFT goes away. Do your best to stay in shape, stay away from stay away from cigarettes and chew. Why get mouth cancer? You can stay awake in other ways. This is just my opinion but I used to be a specialist (E-4) prior to being commissioned. Those are 300 APFT could help you out on the order of Merit list, once we go to the new Army Combat fitness test oh, it's going to be a totally new animal. In the meantime, do your best for the APFT. I have one next Thursday and I am trying for a 300 though most likely I will get a 295 because I can't run as fast as I used to. I am also 56 years old.

This is not an either/or situation. One if the principles of leadership is to know yourself and seek self improvement.

The answer is to develop yourself physically and mentally. Doing anything less makes you less than your potential.

A leader is both a scholar and a warrior, so go to the gym as well as the education center. This will make you stand out.

When I retired, I had a masters degree as well as a string of maxed PT tests.