AROTC Questions

[jl13]

Hello, I'm an incoming freshman student at George Washington University this fall and I'm interested in the ROTC program that's offered through Georgetown University. Unfortunately the email addresses their site offers are not valid and I haven't been able to contact any member of their cadre. I was wondering if anyone could explain the ROTC scholarships for in-college students. Is it mandatory to start freshman year? As a member of the university honors program I know I'm going to have a heavy course load and I wanted to take some time to get acclimated to college life before potentially joining ROTC. Is it possible to start second semester of freshman year and still be eligible for a 3 year scholarship? I don't know if it would make any difference but I've seen a few threads that were related to this; I wouldn't mind going to the reserves afterwards, it would actually work out better for what I would like to do. Would being open to the reserves/signing an agreement to go make any difference in my chances at a scholarship?

[Marist College ROTC]

Originally Posted by jl13

Is it possible to start second semester of freshman year and still be eligible for a 3 year scholarship?

It all depends on your Battalion. Each Battalion is different.

3 or 4 years ago, joining ROTC was like shopping at Walmart. There was always a space available. Many ROTC Battalions are being "right-sized". Fewer available contracts and increased interest in ROTC has created intense competition for the remaining slots available. Your battalion may have 6 slots available for your year group right now. If you wait until January, those slots might be gone. Even if your Battalion has plenty of slots available, waiting makes you a new face competing against known quantities.

If you want to join, join now.

[scutrules]

Agreed, join now instead of waiting. You'll miss a semester of valuable information and it will be very hard to join second semester, be held to the same standards as everyone else, and not know how to iron your uniform or what rank corresponds what each insignia.

Contact the to unit ASAP (since you can't get ahold of them via email, you could try calling the school and they might have updated information they can give you). Discuss different scholarship options, including the 4 year scholarship, which you can still apply for as a freshman (just not an ROTC freshman). If you apply before you join, you're ok to apply for the national scholarship. There are also side load/3 year/2 year scholarships you can apply for through the unit. For those, however, you'll want to be a part of the unit already as the officers themselves recommend you/fill out the application and if they don't know you, they won't send in an application.

[clarksonarmy]

There is no "application" for campus based scholarships in Army ROTC. You need to be enrolled to compete, so take the class. The worst that can happen is you find out it does take up too much of your time, and you drop the class.
http://rotc.georgetown.edu/about/contacts/

[kinnem]

I agree that you need to sign up for the fall semester, otherwise you will fall behind on the basics and not catch up. To do that you need to contact the unit NOW and determine if the classes will fit your schedule and sign up for them. Also, you don't want to miss freshman orientation if your unit has one.

[scutrules]

ClarksonArmy, I was referring to Navy ROTC, but I guess I should have been more specific. I also didn't know OP was looking at Army (I don't know if GW only has Army ROTC and the OP didn't specify). My bad.

[clarksonarmy]

No bad here...I assumed that since JL13 talked about reserves that Army was the program. Either way OP needs to contact the unit and enroll!

[dunninla]

^ good assumption... Threat Title reads: AROTC, though OP might have edited the title after the fact...

[jl13]

Sorry for the confusion, I was referring to Army ROTC, the title is original but I should have specified in the post. While GW has an NROTC unit on campus, I'm more interested in the AROTC offered through Georgetown. And thank you clarksonarmy, that was not the page I had found and the information must have been outdated. I will contact the cadre immediately to discuss my options