frenzy,
In the end I think the trend you will see here from posters that have been involved in this system is that they all realize many kids do not stay with the program.
~ ROTC allows you to walk for free your freshmen year with no payback. Many take them up on the offer.
Basically, either these posters as cadets or parents of cadets can tell you that they know at least 1 person that did walk.
~ That meant they either had to scramble for money to stay or resign themselves to the fact they would leave their dream college.
What you will also see from posters that have been here for several years is the OMG heartbreak story. Gojira's is the one most people think about. 6 weeks prior to commissioning, (her DS had his career assignment in hand), they told him he was being disenrolled for being 6 lbs over his max weight. There was no enlistment option, instead they wanted the 143K back in a lump sum. They even hired a military attorney to fight it, but SecNav said no. They came back and said you can pay it back in 4 years...they fought that too. It was eventually taken to a 10 year repayment.
There was a story here last year, if I recall it correctly, the cadet had stated on their original DoDMERB they used marijuana 1x, but later on (2-3 yrs later) came out with the truth that it was 3 or more times. It was sent up AFROTC chain, but HQ said....no waiver, disenroll. They were a POC scholarship and came down and slapped them with a bill.
Final story was during PSU Sandusky issues. There was a riot at PSU, and a NROTC scholarship mid went downtown and got caught up in. He was arrested along with hundreds and hundreds of students, the charges were reduced to basically nothing, or maybe even dismissed, but the damage was done. He was disenrolled and slapped with the bill for the scholarship.
Don't even get me started with drinking underage. Or depending on which ROTC program you will go, in regards to your major.
~ AFROTC if you say Tech, and on scholarship, but decide to go Non-tech, your scholarship will probably not be converted. No disenrollment, but loss of the scholarship. AFROTC is 2+2. If not selected for SFT after your sophomore year they can disenroll you...it happens.
The point that we are all making, you go in hoping you will commission, but who knows if you will. No kid impo goes in and says I will be one of them, but many will become one of them.
This is something you need to sit down with the folks and say...what if, I get there and hate ROTC, but love the school, can we swing it, or will you say I have to transfer?