College Senior wanting to do AFROTC...options? Advice?

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blizzaia

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Hello, everyone! Long story short, I am currently a senior in college who has been very interested in ROTC and a career in the military since high school, but never really had the the motivation or (frankly) the courage to actually do it until this year. I've just been coasting through college on scholarship, with a "good" job waiting for me after I graduate, but...In this last year, I've grown a lot and realized that I will really regret it if I do not serve my country and better myself in the military like I have always wanted to, while I still have the chance.

Anyway, I'm just not sure what I can do with this desire and motivation from here. I'm pretty set on AFROTC since getting into OTS seems to not be an option now or in the near future, especially since I am not in a technical major. I'm a Econ and Japanese double-major with a 3.9 GPA, so I might be able to transfer somewhere and get an Express scholarship (provided that Japanese stays on the list of qualifying majors). But to do that I would also need something like 3 more years of undergrad left, apparently...Though I am still only 21 (not close to being too old or anything), I am bloated with credits from the last 3 years + AP classes in HS, so I'm not sure if I can even do that. I've done a ton of research and contacted an admissions officer, but I'm still not sure about all my realistic options. :confused:

Does anyone have any advice for someone in my position? Could I do AFROTC in grad school? Or would you still recommend trying for OTS? Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated. :) Thanks!!
 
The problem you are facing is that OTC is not an option for you since the pipeline is closed. I doubt you could do an ROTC scholarship in grad school, because ROTC is for undergrad. You would have to go back and repeat undergrad.

The only thing that I could suggest for you at this point is to enlist and then try for OTC from the AD world when they reopen the pipeline.

My other suggestion would be to bide time. Graduate and hope that OTC reopens next yr. If it does it would probably be right about now, since fiscal yrs run Oct 1 -Sept 30th. I know many people who went the OTC route, and they had careers before joining the AF. You are young enough so even if you went and got your Masters upon graduation you would have more than enough time left to go OTC and even flying if you want.

Good luck
 
According to the official website (AFROTC.COM), you are eligible to participate in AFROTC if you have two academic years remaining in a degree program, which can be undergraduate, graduate, or a combination of both. (Click on "Admissions", then "Requirements & Standards", and then "General Requirements".)

You obviously have strong academic credentials, and it appears that you are willing to tailor your graduate degree program to fit the needs of the Air Force. That being the case, I believe that you ought to continue to pursue the AFROTC route. Most AFROTC students are undergraduates, so it is possible that the admissions officer that you spoke with was unaware that graduate students are eligible as well. My suggestion is to speak to an officer at an AFROTC detachment that has responsibility for a school that you are considering for graduate school, as well as the AFROTC admissions representative for your region (you can find the contact info on AFROTC.COM).
 
I wouldn't enlist in the service unless you are prepared to live as an enlisted man. Not that there is anything wrong with being enlisted, but if you are keen to serve as an officer, I'd wait to enter the service until you had a clear path to that goal.

Do you have interest in any of the other branches? If not, I'd take the civilian job and keep checking as to when OTS opens up for applications. Or, as the other poster has noted, you could pursue AFROTC while enrolled in graduate school.
 
I would suggest you actually call Maxwell AFB. Maxwell is in charge of ROTC. AT our DS's det he doesn't have any ROTC students that are graduates. Maxwell is the go to for your path.

I do hope you understand a time commitment may be tied to this. The AF is not like corporate, you can't just say I quit and leave 2 weeks later.
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies and advice. I am currently talking with an AFROTC admission officer about to possibility of finishing off my undergrad degree and pursuing my master's (3 years total) while participating in the program. Unfortunately very few universities have master's degrees for Japanese; and of course, even fewer have AFROTC programs. But we'll see how things go. :)

sprog - Thanks. I considered but ultimately ruled out enlisting. I have considered Navy, too, though I've researched much less about it. Some officers came to an Econ major career fair at my school a year ago, so at least I know that Econ might not be a useless major to the Navy, haha...

Pima - Thank you. I may end up waiting and applying for OTS, whenever it's next possible. And yes, you are very right in pointing that out; but I do understand that in addition to ROTC if I ended up doing that, I would have to serve something like 4 years active duty. I like to think that I've given it at least as much thought as the average 18-year-old starting out in ROTC would have. ;) Nothing ventured, nothing gained, anyway.
 
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