I am interested in doing JROTC freshman year. I would not take it any other year because I am interested in other electives and there aren’t many good electives for freshmen. If I took JROTC, I would have to drop art and theater. I’m not interested in being part of the military. I am interested in schools like Caltech and MIT. What are their opinions on JROTC? Could I get a scholarship from doing it freshman year only? Would you recommend for me to take it or not?
Are you asking about freshman year in high school? JROTC is a high school program, not college.
Yes, I am asking about high school.
I don’t think that participating in JROTC for high school freshman year only will have much, if any, impact on an application to the schools you mention. I also can’t imagine that a college scholarship would be available based on only freshman year JROTC. If you want to do it for just freshman year, do it for reasons that really matter to you; not for trying to better present yourself on a college application.