AROTC Nursing

[ENwifeArmyMom]

Dau is AROTC scholarship winner accepted to nursing school. Any words of wisdom nursing related:
1. Classes
2. Roommate Army vs Nurse
3. Summer Army training
4. General good advise

 

[k2rider]

I can give some vague answers on how things worked for my daughter (University of Portland / Class of 2014). If you didn't know, pretty much everybody in ROTC will complete a 4 year class "schedule" (there's an official form name which I forget) you will to make sure they are taking the right classes to graduate in (4) years. Engineers and maybe others get (5) years. The school also had certain "core" classes that all nurses must attend in the 1st (2) years and have a certain GPA in those classes to move on to upper division course.

My daughter had a fellow nurse roommate (my son, not a nurse, has all AROTC roommates). There was a brief moment where there was some concern about getting ready at 0530 (3) days a week and bothering the roommate which turned out to be a non-issue. If it were me and you had a choice, I'd go with an ROTC roommate so they're both getting ready at the same time.

Between the required nursing curriculum and what the Army requires nowadays, she'll most likely be busy EVERY Summer break. The Portland nurses go to CIET after their Freshman year (they didn't have this when my daughter went thru), whatever LDAC is called after their Sophomore year (normally a junior year thing but the school requires they do a nurses rotation that year) and then the Army also has a medical rotation they do their Junior summer as well where they could go anywhere in the US. My daughter went to Texas but some of her classmates went to Hawaii, Colorado and DC for the month.

The best advice I can give is work hard THIS summer and show up ready to kick some butt on the 1st APFT testing cycle. Study, study, study because those nursing classes aren't easy and make sure she knows what she has to do to move on to upper division. The majority of Nursing schools are competitive and they have some crazy points systems that give preferential points for a variety of reasons...and being in ROTC means pretty much zilch.

 

[USN16x]

Hey there I'm a current MSII and a nursing major. k2rider hit the nail on the head, but I'll add in my advice/experiences. I would suggest living with a nursing major, I have been doing it the past two years and it's nice to bounce questions of each other when studying/doing homework. Just be upfront about having to go to bed "early" for PT and waking up at 0530. My advice for classes is be aware of possible ROTC vs Nursing conflicts. Sometimes an ROTC lab or training event will be the same time as your class or clinical, communicate with your cadre and professors and you'll be all good. In my battalion nurses follow the Summer Training schedule as other cadets so: CIET summer going in to MSIII year, CLC and NSTP (nurse summer training program) summer going into MSIV year. Lastly enjoy the ride and make time for blowing off steam because it can get pretty crazy at times!

 

[ginko]

DS is a an MS1 at a smallish battalion. He won a 3year scholarship... nursing major. My #1 advice is to get good grades. So many of the cadets that started in the fall are gone because of grades. #2.My DS took A&P at the junior college the summer after senior year. I am a college biology teacher and I encouraged him to take it so I could help him study. Best decision ever. He went right into pathophysiology and did well because he had taken the time learning how to study in depth. These are both very tough classes that they have to do well in for nursing admissions. #3. Can you get a private room? We ended up paying the private room fee because the roommate issue was ridiculous. I just felt like it was too much of a risk, counting on the university to randomly pick a person that can deal with an ROTC cadet schedule. DS was too busy to try to find a good roommate. My son is at PT at 5:30 m-f and making good grades. No time for roommate problems. ROTC is a job and they need to perform well. #4 Prep your cadet for the fact that college life is lonely until you find good friends. ...and don't be afraid to be picky about friends. DS has good friends now but that first semester was rough. It was the same for my DS at USNA. It just takes time to find your peeps. #5 Remind your cadet about the importance of eating regularly and sleeping enough. Mine studied a lot but neglected his food and sleep. I had to remind him that he had a meal plan and he needed to use it. (This may be a boy issue.) After we got the roommate issue dealt with, these problems got better. #6 Get in good shape. They test for the APFT often and they run long distances at a fast pace. Your cadet should be ready for this. #7 Don't go out drinking and partying. My DS is at a top party school and there is no shortage of opportunity to lose his scholarship. Encourage your cadet to be strong.

 

[AROTC Parent]

Gotta second ginko's review of academics and roommates. There were no other female ROTC participants at her school so that was not an option.

DD studying chemistry got very very lucky with the same non ROTC science based roommate first and second year. She was great with maintaining a good study room and early to bed. DD just changed in a common area rather than in the room for PT departure at 4:30am.

3rd year not so much - signed up with the previous roommate but roommate was selected as an RA and reassigned to a different dorm. Despite being clear with housing any assigned random roommate had to be respectful of the early mornings....the roommate was up and in the room all hours of the night....despite a separate living room and kitchen in the apartment.

4th year - Pay extra for a single.