ok so i'm enlisting in the national guard this summer. i'm a freshman in college, and not in rotc. next year (when i'm a sophomore) i will join army rotc, and be in the national guard at the same time (i think this is called SMP?) anyways i'd prefer to go active duty after rotc, so how will that work? does that mean i have to enlist in the national guard for only 3 years, not 4+? also more questions about rotc, my gpa won't be too good this semester, but by the end of next semester it will be around 2.8ish, how competitive is active duty after army rotc? and even if i keep a gpa below 3.0, will i still be guaranteed national guard or reserves officer? thanks
army rotc, national guard, smp questions?
- Thread starter imscrewed
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Unless you take GFRD money most likely not, you can do SMP without having to go NG or reserves. Contracting as a cadet pretty much nullifies your NG contract and makes you un-deployable.
2.8? You better be a stud at LDAC or your PMS just adores you because that MIGHT get you the tail end of AD in a branch you probably don't want.
Why can't you get above a 3.0? What's your major?
SMP has been discussed numerous times on this forum. Do a search, I am 99% sure your questions will be covered.
You need to realize a couple things.
Joining the NG this summer and starting ROTC your sophomore year will not guarantee you a contract with ROTC. It is very likely you will be competing with other non scholarship and SMP cadets for a limited number of available contracts. Your 2.8 GPA will not help you in that regard, you had better be at Max. or close on your APFT.
Make sure you have some very honest conversations with the ROTC battalion cadre and ROO regarding SMP and your chance of getting a contract. There are some battalions that have more cadets the they have contracts available.
Have you talked with the NG yet, are you planning on attending BCT this summer, do you have a ship date set? Things are very busy in the enlisted ranks, getting a ship date that will fall between the end and the start of school.
so when do they look at your gpa to give you the contract? like will i sign before i enlist, or after for smp? and do they look at your gpa after sophomore year to see if you'll be active duty or not? b/c i'm sure i can get my gpa above 3.0 by the end of sophomore year
You really need to make an appointment with a ROO at a local ROTC Battalion, sit down with them and have them explain how the process works, you can ask questions of them as well. It is clear that you don't have an overall picture of how all this works, talk with the ROO, get a grasp on the basics, then come back and ask more specific questions.
the GPA that Army ROTC uses is taken straight off of your Official Transcript. Whatever the school uses to compute Cumulative GPA, ROTC uses. They don't change anything.
The good news is that ROTC classes and Labs count as grades at most schools. Since most cadets earn A grades in those, they can really help pull up a Cumulative GPA. For example, 6 units of C, 6 units of B in non-ROTC classes would yield a GPA of 2.5 (30/12). However, adding 3 units of A from ROTC would create a GPA of 42/15, or 2.8. Huge difference. This only matters if your school counts ROTC grades on the transcript, and I think most do.
As to when? I would presume either late in Spring Semester (in which case the Official Transcript will have 3 semesters worth of grades) or early in Summer, in which case 4 semesters will appear on the Official Transcript.
The good news is that ROTC classes and Labs count as grades at most schools. Since most cadets earn A grades in those, they can really help pull up a Cumulative GPA. For example, 6 units of C, 6 units of B in non-ROTC classes would yield a GPA of 2.5 (30/12). However, adding 3 units of A from ROTC would create a GPA of 42/15, or 2.8. Huge difference. This only matters if your school counts ROTC grades on the transcript, and I think most do.
As to when? I would presume either late in Spring Semester (in which case the Official Transcript will have 3 semesters worth of grades) or early in Summer, in which case 4 semesters will appear on the Official Transcript.
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The reason I keep saying "Talk to the ROO" is that you are starting out behind the eight ball so to speak. You will be starting ROTC as a sophomore, SMP cadets usually get contracted the beginning of their sophomore year. The issue is that you will not have been part of the battalion your freshman year, the Cadre does not know you, or what kind of a cadet you will be.
You will only have your sophomore year to make an impression. The battalion will already have a list of cadets they plan to contract based on their freshman year. You will now be competing with these cadets. If there are other SMP cadets in the battalion, which I'm sure there will be, they will most likely me contracted early in year, leaving very few if any contracts for SMP cadets that year. If you are not offered a contract by the end of your sophomore year or over the summer, you will not be allowed to continue on to the Advanced Course starting your junior year.
There are a lot of issues you should talk to the Cadre and ROO about before you sign on the dotted line to enlist.