Interesting because AFROTC scholarships stipulate 4 yrs, obviously AD because they all go AD. There is no 4 yrs Reserves.
Of course, the fine print that people rarely understand is 4 yrs does not start the day of commissioning, it starts the day you report for duty, which can be 6-9 months later. Thus, it can be more than 4 yrs from graduation.
They also rarely understand that if you take a school that requires a longer payback, i.e. UPT/UNT/ABM, the payback does run concurrent with the original, but it actually does not start until you finish that school. For ex: UPT is 10 yrs commitment. If you go 9 months after graduation; for 2012 that would be 2013, and graduate a yr later in 14. You will be committed until 2014, hence really 12 yrs. not 10.
Of course during that time they will offer you a bonus to stay to 14, and promote you to O4 which incurs more time, so many end up being able to bounce for the 1st time at 15. Of course by that point they say what the heck, if I stay 5 more yrs I get retirement pay for the rest of my life. Hard to pass up when you are married, have kids, mtgs and a steady paycheck.
Devil is in the details.
There are many who can and do leave at the 4 and door, but many more stay because timing isn't right. My point is if you enter thinking well I just owe 4 and can start my life, realize life gets in the way.
We are not even discussing getting your Masters or in the case of the g forbid, STOP/LOSS. The military has a very intricate system and when you go down this path of going in with serving 4 yrs an leaving, you maybe very disappointed.
The biggest roadblock IMPO to doing the 4 and 4 only is you may not be assigned to a place you want to live after you leave. It is hard to interview for a job in CA if you are stationed in Korea or even NY. That means you will need to decide do you walk away with no job offer in hand or do you stay. Also another reason we are seeing retention rates so high right now, because even if they wanted to walk, it is not a hiring market. 4 yrs AD is great, esp. if you have an MBA, plus a TS clearance, but you will be competing against someone else that has the exact same thing.
Which now brings us back to why selecting the college and the unit are equally important. If you intend to leave after 4 yrs AD, that undergrad degree is going to carry weight still compared to someone who leaves at 20. However, the ROTC program matters because you need to get that AD job to make you also competitive after 4 yrs. as employment experience. You need to balance/juggle academics and ROTC plus your personal goals. When you have figured out all 3, you won't need our advice because the amount to select from for you personally will be very few.
OBTW, go to
www.collegeconfidential.com it is a great resource for colleges. The posters there will give you the real info about chances of acceptance, academics, student life, etc from a parent/student/alumni perspective just like this site. For big name ROTC schools... Notre Dame, PSU, VT, NCST, etc. there will always be a student/parent/alumni there that has personal/anecdotal experience with the unit or are willing to connect you with someone that does have a connection.