How to handle 5 years?

DS recieved a 4 year engineering scholarship. Hawving been through engineering school myself, I know it is difficult to accomplish in 4 years, especially when adding the ROTC load. That being said how is the 5th year handled? And if the answer is that he pays it on his own, can he take care of year 1 now and start the scholarship next year? Thanks to some of you more expereinced folks.

I was wondering the same thing. DS rec'd a 4 year Eng. AROTC scholarship. When we visited the school on Friday all of the seniors were 5th year. When we talked to the AROTC office they said that no one was an engineer major. She aslo told us not to schedule classes on Friday and did he think about changing majors? How does he go about doing all of that around ROTC if classes are on Friday's? They also do PT every morning at 730, what happens if he has class at 8am?

NewCollegeParent said:

DS recieved a 4 year engineering scholarship. Hawving been through engineering school myself, I know it is difficult to accomplish in 4 years, especially when adding the ROTC load. That being said how is the 5th year handled? And if the answer is that he pays it on his own, can he take care of year 1 now and start the scholarship next year? Thanks to some of you more expereinced folks.

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you need to call the Det at the school you intend to attend and ask. I've been told by the AF ROTC det at the school my son would attend that if engineering student gets his academic advisor to come up with a plan that goes for more than 4 years and turns that plan into the AF ROTC detachment, it will be evaluated and is almost always approved and AF will pay for the 5th year if on scholarship. The student will still do everything with their peer group the first 4 years as far as cadet rank, summer required military activities, filling out their dream sheet, getting their post grad assigment, etc.

FWIW,
This may be entirely school specific, but when my DS met with AROTC at U of Ark he was strongly encouraged to declare Engineering if it was even a consideration.

The reason given was that as an Engineering major he would receive
a 5 yr scholarship, which could be downgraded to a 4yr if he changed majors.
But he absolutely could not 'upgrade' to a 5 yr scholarship
if he switched from his other choice to Engineering after his curriculum was approved.

Most likely the engineering major of choice is a 5-year approved degree.

As long as during the 5th year of study your child is still taking classes that are required for that major, the Air Force can continue to pay through that fifth year.

This also offers an advantage when getting selected for field training. If your child is on the 5 year plan and doesnt get selected for field training after his sophomore year, he can apply again his junior year because he will have his senior year and super senior year to continue on in POC.

Get a 5 yr plan going with your academic advisor, then bring it to your detachment cadre and they will know exactly what to do from there.

NewCollegeParent and jagabiti,

My older son started AROTC fall of 2008, He was originally a Civil Engineering Major. One of the first things they do when they start school is fill out a DD104R form. This form is a plan filled out with the students advisor that shows the classes that they will take to obtain their degree. When my son filled his out for Civil Engineering if was a 4 1/2 year plan. This was submitted back to the ROTC office and approved with full funding with no problem. The only difference is that he would spend one more semester at school and commission in December.

Now, one thing to remember, if your DS/DD decide to change majors at some point, and the new major is a 4 year, they will need to be done if the 4 years required. My son switched to History at the end of his freshman year and had to fill out a new 104R to show he would graduate in four years.

Jagabiti,

I am surprised they told your son not to schedule classes on a Friday, my son has always had classes on Friday. PT is usually held at 6:00am and done by 7:00am, just makes sure he gives himself enough time to get to the first class. I am really surprised they asked if he would consider changing majors, That really isn't even there place to do that. During his freshman year he will only have one MS class and one MS Lab per week, PT is usually MWF. Did they tell you a reason why not to schedule classes on Friday.

Now, one thing to remember, if your DS/DD decide to change majors at some point, and the new major is a 4 year, they will need to be done if the 4 years required. My son switched to History at the end of his freshman year and had to fill out a new 104R to show he would graduate in for years.

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JCLEPPE - I'm curious to know what the "powers that be" thought of your son switching his major from a technical to non-technical degree. What are your thoughts on being a history major within the realm of the military scholarship situation? My son desperately wants to become a Marine officer but he is quite insistent on majoring in history or military science even though is quite capable of an engineering or technical degree. As it has been said here before, this is my son's dream - I'm just here to facilitate...and finance : )

This whole situation is new to us, and these threads are so informative. I truly appreciate everyone's input and advice. What a great bunch of people here!

Any news on the Marine Option NROTC results?

enived2 said:

JCLEPPE - I'm curious to know what the "powers that be" thought of your son switching his major from a technical to non-technical degree. What are your thoughts on being a history major within the realm of the military scholarship situation? My son desperately wants to become a Marine officer but he is quite insistent on majoring in history or military science even though is quite capable of an engineering or technical degree. As it has been said here before, this is my son's dream - I'm just here to facilitate...and finance : )

This whole situation is new to us, and these threads are so informative. I truly appreciate everyone's input and advice. What a great bunch of people here!

Any news on the Marine Option NROTC results?

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I sent you a PM (Personal Message)

Scheduling

Some Colleges allow early, priority registration for all 4 year of classes when the student is in the ROTC program.This is a important question to ask the school the DS/DD will be attending, not all schools offer this.
The planning process for the ROTC student is done freshman year so the courses are pre- determined, no room for easy classes like PE.Since the classes are planned out ROTC will allow 4.5 years but rarely allow a full five. . DS/DD are getting paid a stipend for their efforts. Remember this is a four year scholarship and a commitment to service.

dad2015cali said:

Some Colleges allow early, priority registration for all 4 year of classes when the student is in the ROTC program.This is a important question to ask the school the DS/DD will be attending, not all schools offer this.
The planning process for the ROTC student is done freshman year so the courses are pre- determined, no room for easy classes like PE.Since the classes are planned out ROTC will allow 4.5 years but rarely allow a full five. . DS/DD are getting paid a stipend for their efforts. Remember this is a four year scholarship and a commitment to service.

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Batallions may have different methods of dealing with the class schedules. Every year the cadets at my son's school are required to fill out a new 104R form. Some classes you have listed the previous year may not be available the next, some just won't fit schedule wise and the student needs to rearrange things. Some cadets may drop a class they are having trouble with and take it the next semester. The 104R that my son has now looks nothing like the one he completed his freshman year.

Not sure about the comment about no room for easy classes, a lot depends on your major. Some schools and some majors list the MS classes as part of the related fields for certain majors, this actually leaves more room in the students schedule to explore some different and yes, fun classes. At most schools the MS classes count toward at least electives. The only requirement is that they graduate in the perscribed time alloted, be it 4 or 4 1/2 years depending on their major.

Thanks

Sorry should have said thank you for the input earlier. My son did speak with bot airforce and army. Air Force did indicate engineering scholorships were ussually longer than 4 years, but I don't think we asked the question of Army. We"ll get specifics as things unfold for us in the next 2 weeks.

Again, thank you for your info.