Tough Choices and Worried; Advice Greatly Appreciated

[patentesq]

washingtonrunner, you are getting some awesome advice here. Follow it. I just have a couple of comments:

1. The main objective is earning a commission as an officer in the armed forces of the United States. So many people get distracted that scholarships or service academy appointments are the real objective. If you get either of those, that's great. But the real prize that will materially change your life forever -- whether you make a career out of the military or not -- is having the word "Officer" on your resume (and all the management experience that comes along with that). Going the enlisted route will get you that same experience, but it takes years before you are in a leadership position if you go that route. Many people get commissioned every year who are not scholarship recipients and serve in the military to gain management experience, etc. When they finish their service commitment, they use the GI Bill to pay for graduate school. The GI Bill is not competitive like ROTC scholarships, but it has equal value in terms of sheer money.

2. Apply for everything and EVERYTHING you can. Fate has a way of carving out your destiny for you. For example, you may dream of being an Army officer, but the Navy offers you a full ride to a college degree. When you ultimately reach those forks in the road, you'll have to decide which path to take. And once you do, don't ever look back and question your decision.

3. You should do everything you can to improve your record as much as humanly possible (there is no one without a blemish on his or her record). And if you aren't selected at this point for a scholarship (perhaps because of unfortunate timing because of budget cuts, etc.), just know that your day will come. There are many, many, many Generals in the Army who did not receive a scholarship.

4. Don't pick your major in college to match what you expect what might be best for a scholarship. Your major will follow you your whole life, your scholarship won't. Also, if you don't receive a scholarship, do the best you can as a walk-on ROTC cadet -- if you do well, your cadre will take care of you.

5. Finallly, thank you for your desire to serve our country and keep us safe. As you will find later in life, our country will reward you for that effort (e.g., VA benefits, GI Bill, etc.). But you've demonstrated to everyone here that you are a special person.

Good luck.

 

[Pima]

I agree with everything patentesq stated, but especially number 2 and 4.

Yr after yr there will be candidates on this forum and other forums where people feel their chances aren't good, based on stats that posters see from other candidates. Yet, lo and behold they get the scholarship. Conversely, there are candidates that everyone believes is a shoe in for a scholarship and get the TWE. It happens. It is as patentesq., stated FATE.

You need to do everything you can to be the best you can, but for some it just isn't their path. That doesn't mean they will never be an officer, it means they will take a different road, and that their path will lead them to commissioning if that is what they truly want.

Number 4, is also important, but IMPO for the reasons others have stated. The fastest way to lose the scholarship is hating the curriculum for that major. 4 yrs of 30 weeks a yr taking classes that you would rather have a root canal done daily equates to misery.

Misery = cutting classes. Cutting classes = failing. Failing = loss of scholarship and kicked out of college.

The same can be said for selecting colleges. Just picking a college because you believe for A/NROTC you may have a better shot of getting the scholarship, but getting and keeping are 2 different things.

People walk into this process thinking it is easy. It isn't. I commonly refer to the process for scholarship and SA appointments as a roller coaster ride. For ROTC candidates it is not only a roller coaster ride, but you have to juggle 4 balls in the air at the same time.

Ball 1: College
Ball 2: Scholarship
Ball 3: ROTC unit
Ball 4: Major

It also becomes harder if your dream school can only be obtainable if you have a scholarship.

Additionally, as a wife of an AF O-5 (retired) that did AFROTC, and a Mom of an AFROTC cadet, unless that major is really tied to your career field you won't use. DH and DS had 2 divergent majors.

DH was aero engineering with a physical science minor, he NEVER had a job that was directly tied to engineering. In other words he flew planes, but didn't design them. An engineering degree will not help you regarding how to handle the stick (flying), or lead a platoon.

DS is a dual major poli sci and govt major, international relations minor and military history core concentration. He has a UPT slot. His major for AF will def. not be tied to his career field. It does hurt him from a career perspective, and he understands that. For AF, and I believe Navy is the same. To get Test Pilot School, you are required to have an engineer degree. DS has no desire to go to NASA, thus it was never an issue for him.

Bullet and I were also cognizant that getting a UPT slot wasn't a given, but serving ADAF was, thus we wanted him to have his back up plan for AF career. For him it was trying to get a JAG slot or at least Intel. Thus, he was able to attend college on scholarship in a major he loved with the ability to cover all of his career choices. He has only missed the Dean's List 1X out of 6 semesters. Loving what you study will be directly correlated IMPO to your gpa.

Again, when you discuss the military, IMPO, you should always plan 2 steps ahead regarding what if. 20 yrs as a military wife, Bullet would select a PCS assignment with the knowledge that he chose it for the opportunity offered after the assignment. He could have taken a job at Hickham because it is a beautiful place, but it would have killed his career for promotions, so instead he took a less desirable location, but a better vis job. If you whittle it down it is like this process, you need to think about everything.