Rotc?

ConfusedMominMA · 10-11-2012, 04:33 PM

In April my son was considering going directly from High school to the military. We continued with the college search and application process so that all options would be available to him and now he has decided to go to college directly from high school and join ROTC.

It is important to him that he:

1.)pays for his own college
and
2) does service for the country

Anyone on here have experience with ROTC? I couldn't find a forum that included ROTC.

Thanks!

katwkittens · 10-11-2012, 04:54 PM

Try the Service Academy forums on CC, they can all help with ROTC questions!

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/...ice-academies/

Kat

ConfusedMominMA · 10-11-2012, 05:00 PM

Thanks! will go check them out.

ucbalumnus · 10-11-2012, 05:30 PM

Of course, they can also tell you about the military service academies, which also fulfill his goal of college + military service.

cptofthehouse · 10-11-2012, 06:07 PM

If he is going for ROTC scholarships, he is running late, and you and he had better getting moving. If he wants to take ROTC at college without an award, he can just join, from what I have seen. To make it easier for him, there should be a unit right at his college; otherwise commuting to it can be a pain.
http://us.mc394.mail.yahoo.com/mc/we...jsrand=4531114
ROTC is not likely to pay for the entire college experience unless he has a scholarship. It gives a set "salary" and pays for books. It 's about what a state college tutiion might be, Look up the numbers. If he want to go way for college, it isn't going to do it.

Icarus77 · 10-11-2012, 08:09 PM

S did this.Must be accepted by the school and the unit. Pays tuition books and fees if on the full scholarship.Does not have to be in state.Some colleges share assets i.e. crosstown schools.different services have their own units and not all schools have all services.Call recruiters get started now. There are many other options like PLC the Reserves and the Guard.Talk to more than one recruiter both enlisted and officer, research will pay off.

GRITS80 · 10-11-2012, 09:12 PM

My son is in his senior year of Army ROTC at an out of state university. ROTC is paying his full tuition, fees and books plus a small monthly stipend. We are paying his room and board. I agree that you should start talking to the recruiters now as scholarships are limited.

ConfusedMominMA · 10-12-2012, 06:25 AM

Thanks everyone. I did alot of research yesterday after posting this. I agree, we better get moving! didn't know!

PackMom · 10-12-2012, 06:28 AM

My S did NROTC (scholarship). If your S is a h.s. senior, he should get started right away on the ROTC scholarship application. What military branch is he interested in?

Navy and Air Force are pretty restrictive on majors. Something like 80% of the scholarships are for those majoring in engineering or other hard science i.e. physics,Chem., etc. If he's looking at Army or Marines, his intended major doesn't matter.

The Marines PLC program is good United States Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course

S's friend went to a school that didn't offer ROTC so he did the PLC. It doesn't pay for tuition,books,etc. like ROTC but does pay for the summer training.

Iron Maiden · 10-12-2012, 07:20 AM

Very, very late to start this process. The app and interviews should have been completed by 8/31 in order to maximize the number of times the app is seen by the review board. Apps that come in this late are viewed as coming from kids who are using ROTC as a fallback to lay for college. Severe disadvantage.

Packmom is correct on Navy ROTC except that the figure is 85% of the awarded scholarships are mandated to go to Tier 1 or 2 majors. You can Google the list of majors. And no, you can't apply with a Tier 1 scholarship and then change to Tier 3 after. You lose your scholarship.

Also the OP needs to research the medical requirements. They are unbelievably strict. You can get the scholarship but have it taken away almost immediately for failing the physical. Past injuries, asthma, ADHD, certain meds, etc are all automatic DQ.

ADad · 10-12-2012, 08:09 AM

Many DQs can be waived, the waiver process is very slow.

SteveMA · 10-12-2012, 08:23 AM

We had a couple friends go through ROTC and it worked out very well for them. One was Air Force, graduated at a time where they had more candidates then needed, put on inactive reserve, had to get a physical once/year and that was the extent of his post-grad commitment. Another friend when through UG and Med School thanks to the Army. By the time he was done with his internships, fellowship, etc. he only had to serve 2 more years to retire with a full pension so he stayed in for that long and is now in private practice. His time in the Army was mostly spent in the US and his pension is paying for their cabin

.

Back when we were in school, a lot of people starting ROTC sophomore year either because they didn't really know about the program or whatever. They were able to get scholarships, etc. then. Not sure if that has changed or not.

We briefly discussed this with DD since she is thinking about going into medicine. A couple ad comms talked to her about it as well since it's a good way to get through school with very little debt if any. She isn't giving it serious consideration but hasn't ruled it out completely either. Her boyfriend is in the armed services so she is learning what it is all about through him.

ConfusedMominMA · 10-12-2012, 09:04 AM

He is interested in Army and is intending to major in Engineering. I know we are late in the process, have figured that out by doing research but can't help that now. Just have to go forward from where are at the moment.

He has braces and needs eye glasses to drive. That's it for physical problems.

cptofthehouse · 10-12-2012, 10:04 AM

TO make it clear, Getting ROTC scholarships is a highly competitive thing. I don't know what the % is for those who apply and get one, but it is no slamm dunk. Certainly get moving on it, but it is not something you can count on getting.

Joining ROTC without a scholarship is doable on a much less selective basis. You find a ROTC unit associated with your school (I think one right on campus is preferable for scheduling and logistics reasons) and you join, doing everything the scholarship kids are doing. Scholarships do come up at times and your son may get one, but, again, no guarantee and you might want to ask what the chances are. Until then, you and your son are on your own in terms of paying the college costs just like any student at that college. I don't know the current rules and amounts, but ROTC does pay some stipends, but they may not be until the commitment papers are signed, there may be a wait period--you had better check. Stipends alone are not going to pay for tution, room, board, expenses at most any school. Even the full scholarship pays for the tution, fees and books but not room and board , but full scholarship kids get a stipend right from the onset. I don't think non scholarship kids do.

So in addition to getting hopping on the ROTC scholarship application process, you need to also consider the possibility that he does NOT get one of the awards, and how you and he will pay for college if that is the case. So make sure you have some affordable colleges on the list if that happens. If he does well in his ROTC unit and in school once he is there, with an engineering major, he will have a high chance for an award, but those inital awards are very competitive and absolutely not something to be considered a given.

toblin · 10-12-2012, 11:09 AM

Army ROTC offers 4, 3 and 2 year scholarships. And they are all getting harder and harder to get. All the military services are in a force reduction mode and many active duty people are being separated involuntarily.