In College ROTC Scholarship?

First off, I'm not wanting to apply just because of them paying for college (although it is a perk). I'm a newly married woman and mother of a baby boy and I want to improve our lifestyle and our future. I have always considered the Air Force, I've just been put down by a lot of people around me because I'm a 'girly girl'. So, I kind of pushed it on the back burner and have been attending college for the past year.

I don't have any outstanding high school GPA, varsity letter, etc. Nor did I take the sat or act because my parents thought it was 'unnecessary'.

Now that I'm on my own and finally able to make my own decisions, I'm starting to look into the AF with my husband's support. I have a 3.2 GPA at a regional campus of Ohio University and I volunteer at a local hospital when I can. I'm physical fit and I would consider myself a smart individual with pretty good leadership skills.

With all that being said, should I try to go for an AFROTC scholarship/program at my university starting my junior year. Or without a 4.0, varsity letter, or any outstanding performance record; should I just forget about it? (I just don't want to get excited about this idea, only to have it be completely unrealistic, if you can understand?)

Eh, thanks..

ccoleman9 said:

I have a 3.2 GPA at a regional campus of Ohio University...

With all that being said, should I try to go for an AFROTC scholarship/program at my university starting my junior year.

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First you need to determine whether your regional campus of Ohio University offers AFROTC. I know the main campus does, but I am unsure of whether your regional campus will or not.

If they do, your best bet is to contact the AFROTC Detachment at your college and discuss your hopes/plans. This is a VERY difficult time to apply for an In-College AFROTC scholarship because the Air Force is currently in the process of reducing their number of officers. That is not to say that you do not have a chance, just to realistically let you know it is a bad time for anyone that is considering AFROTC and/or a scholarship. Your odds might be better with the Navy or Army if those are options that you'd consider. Either way...GOOD LUCK!

Have you been involved in ROTC prior to your junior year? The scholarships normally go to upperclassmen with a demonstrated commitment to the ROTC commissioning process. I know for NROTC that the Navy is also reducing the number of 2 and 3 year scholarships, and if midshipmen do not receive a scholarship or advanced standing, they are not allowed to continue the program even if they have been in NROTC since the beginning of freshman year.

Before I address the ROTC issue, I would like to address the bigger picture issue. Do you and your husband understand the long term commitment that will be required of you as soon as you accept ROTC and/or pin on butter bars as an O1?

First off, there is no way to be anything, but blunt about this, forget about adding a sibling to the family for the next 5 yrs. You don't want to be pregnant in ROTC, and I don't even know if they allow it. So you need to plan for that.

Secondly, ROTC is not just labs and PT twice a week. If you want your dream job in the AF you may have to fight for it within the Det. That means having additional duties, which demands more hours at the det., less hours to study, while you will be required to maintain a specific gpa. It is definetly doable, but you will have moments where you will want to throw in the towel.

Thirdly, as a cadet 200 you may or may not go to summer training for 4 weeks, you need to figure out how this will work if currently you have decided it is doable because you will work/school on opposite schedules for daycare purposes.

Finally, there are no guarantees on where you will be assigned to for your first assignment, additionally if they send you to a school that is 5 months long, the AF considers this temporary, families can come, but it is very hard to find a 5 month rental, and since it is a temporary assignment, household goods are not shipped, it is basically what you can fit in the car. In your situation you will have an additional issue, because by that time your child will be in elementary school, and it is difficult to disenroll them and then re-enroll them, then dis-enroll again (i.e. school starts Oct for you, but aug for the baby, school ends in Mar for you, but June for her). This will then be followed on with a move to wherever the AF wants you to go, that could be Langley, VA, Wright Patterson, OH, S Korea or Minot ND.

Now that I have finished being Janie raincloud. I will say that our DS had a very strong academic background, but he was never in AFJROTC. None of the JROTC students received a scholarship, the only one given out was to our DS. In other words, JROTC helps, but it is not the be all end all factor. They look at the whole applicant.

I 1000% agree with aglages, contact the det for that school because they will not only have a better idea for chances using ICSP, but they can discuss with you what it will be like in realistic terms for being in ROTC, in school, married with a child. They may say, join the ROTC det., but try for an OCS/OTS slot. Yes, I know they canceled this yrs OCS, but hopefully in 4 yrs they will have it up and running again.

I do not want you to confuse this with don't go for it, because I think you should. Afterall, the only 100% guarantee I can give you is that there is 0% of getting a scholarship if you don't try! I am just saying that you walk in with your eyes wide open. The worst thing to ever do in your life is living a "WHAT IF". I say go for it, because at least you know will never say WHAT IF I tried!