college junior seeking ROTC openings

drastic

5-Year Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Messages
3
I am a college Junior with roughly 2 years left on my degree. i am a computer science major with a 3.2 gpa. I'd really like to get into an rotc program that would allow me to commission in 2014. I called around to some local programs but all of them are full for 2014 and 2015. I was just seeing if anyone on this board might have any idea of openings in CA.
 
Your a college junior who is just randomly looking for a school to enroll in that has room in their Sophomore Army ROTC class? And you're looking here on the SA forum. Good luck...you're going to need it.
 
Your a college junior who is just randomly looking for a school to enroll in that has room in their Sophomore Army ROTC class? And you're looking here on the SA forum. Good luck...you're going to need it.

Well, the poster is actually in the ROTC forum, so I can understand why he would post here.:smile:

Anyone have any ideas on the best way for drastic to search for a school?
 
The problem is CA is a big state, and I am sure you want to stay at your current college. I doubt that if you are at Stanford an opening at UCLA will be ideal for you.

The more pertinent info you give the more people can assist you.

I would think right now you have contacted every college you are willing to go to for AROTC with getting the same result; No room at the inn.

You may have to think about going through OCS after graduation.
 
Drastic - since you're looking to commission in `14, I assume you are trying to find a school to transfer into for next fall, correct? My suggestion is to go to http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/find-schools.html and search for schools that are in your geographical preference area. This website will show you both the host school, and all the satellite schools the host serves. You didn't mention what part of CA you're from, but for instance, the Cal State Fullerton listing gives the phone # and all the schools you can attend while taking ROTC there.

"California State University - Fullerton(714) 278-3007
School Type : Hispanic-Serving Institution
This school offers the following additional incentives to students taking Army ROTC :
Academic credit for ROTC Courses and offer a Military Science minor. Priority registration for contracted cadets.
Students at the following schools can take Army ROTC classes through the program at California State University - Fullerton :
Biola University
Cerritos College
Chapman University
Cypress College
Fullerton College
Golden West College
Mount San Antonio College
Orange Coast College
Rancho Santiago College
Vanguard University
Whittier College

Please contact the California State University - Fullerton at the number above for more information about this program."

You'll just need to call and talk to the schools you're interested in. Your biggest obstacle is the fact that transfer application deadlines have already passed for the majority of California public universities. In the example above, the Cal State deadline is past, but Chapman's deadline is 3/15. If you're serious about this, you need to get on the stick and start making calls, etc. You have zero time to waste.
 
The term "grasping at straws" comes to mind. Drastic...please keep in touch and let us know how things work out for you. If nothing else, I'm betting you will be a cautionary tale for those who follow. This process is only getting harder.
 
This may not be what the OP wants to read, but here goes.

Clarkson is being as polite as he can, IMHPO. I have a sneaky feeling what he wants to really say, is being tempered by 100%. I think right now he is at his desk doing this: :bang::bang::bang::bang:

It is hard enough in this current military to get a scholarship as a freshmen, it is hard enough to join as a sophomore, but you are talking about jr yr., which is like finding a needle in a haystack.

I am not saying give up. I am saying that blowing smoke up your arse and telling you this is easy is unkind to you, because that is is a lie.

Finally, you need to understand the military. They are like any business out there. They have long term strategic planning including personnel. 2014 goals were set back in 2009. The big drop for all ROTC programs occurs prior to jr yr. Once a jr these cadets/mids are ALL IN.

In case you missed this, here is why for you as an AROTC hopeful is in an uphill battle.

From Bloomberg:
Today’s budget proposal fleshes out the cuts for each of the military branches.
Army forces would be reduced by less than 1 percent to 1,115,300 in 2013 and then drop to 1,048,200 in 2017. That’s still far greater troop strength than in February 2002, a year before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, when the Army numbered about 480,000 on active duty.

Notice 14 would be a yr in the zone where they are trying to go down by @ 75K or @ 7% personnel over a 4 yr span. You are entering when they are cutting.

Honestly, a 3.2 computer major is not going to WOW them unless you say it is from Berkeley or Stanford. Maybe, if you were majoring in Chinese with a 3.2, they would feel differently.

Sorry this post is long, but I feel it is important that you understand the thought process.
 
This may not be what the OP wants to read, but here goes.

Clarkson is being as polite as he can, IMHPO. I have a sneaky feeling what he wants to really say, is being tempered by 100%. I think right now he is at his desk doing this: :bang::bang::bang::bang:

It is hard enough in this current military to get a scholarship as a freshmen, it is hard enough to join as a sophomore, but you are talking about jr yr., which is like finding a needle in a haystack.

I am not saying give up. I am saying that blowing smoke up your arse and telling you this is easy is unkind to you, because that is is a lie.

Finally, you need to understand the military. They are like any business out there. They have long term strategic planning including personnel. 2014 goals were set back in 2009. The big drop for all ROTC programs occurs prior to jr yr. Once a jr these cadets/mids are ALL IN.

In case you missed this, here is why for you as an AROTC hopeful is in an uphill battle.

From Bloomberg:


Notice 14 would be a yr in the zone where they are trying to go down by @ 75K or @ 7% personnel over a 4 yr span. You are entering when they are cutting.

Honestly, a 3.2 computer major is not going to WOW them unless you say it is from Berkeley or Stanford. Maybe, if you were majoring in Chinese with a 3.2, they would feel differently.

Sorry this post is long, but I feel it is important that you understand the thought process.

If the OP really wants to serve and perhaps even drum up some $$$ for college I would suggest looking at the USMC PLC program at this point.
 
I would think the OP has drummed up money already since they are graduating COLLEGE in 14.
 
I would think the OP has drummed up money already since they are graduating COLLEGE in 14.

Financial situations change. Not that its a problem but if my DS doesn't get a scholarship at some point I'm hitting up the 401K starting next spring or autumn at the latest. It has always been my financial backup plan for college funding once the savings specifically earmarked for college are gone. You never know people's motivations.
 
Getting back to the OP's situation...

I agree with Clarkson's wishing the OP good luck and needing it.

Going into the Jr year, most units know how many they will need to commission to make their targets and have a pretty good idea of specifically who those individuals are within their units. They've put a lot of time and effort into recruiting, developing, and retaining (sometimes through campus scholarships) these cadets. The only place where an opportunity might exist is where there is unexpected losses within a unit. Even then, the PMS will have secondary candidtates who might be acceptable to fill those slots. As an outsider (transfer student), the PMS has no idea of what the transferee will bring to the table.

As a potential transferee, the OP would need to sell him/herself as a Scholar/Athlete/Leader. The 3.2 in CS (unless this is from one of the top schools) is not necessarily anything above what he has already on his backup list. An athletic credential (varsity athlete or equivalent) would help. Leadership experience inside or outside of the school environment would be helpful as well. In underclassmen years, PMS's are known to talk to varsity coaches to see if they have any interested players. I know Clarkson has been looking to get more hockey players in his unit.

Point here is that even if OP contacts the ROOs at all the schools mentioned in an earlier post, if s/he doesn't have more to sell than a 3.2 in CS, the conversation is a non-starter - even if they need qualified candidates.
 
This thread got me to wondering about JC transfers into 4 yr. colleges. In California, this is a very popular route. Fully 30% of UCLA's graduates are transfers from a local JC. This is a route purposefully built into the CA higher education master plan.

For the sake of future readers,

- is there a way to participate in ROTC as a JC student prior to acceptance to a 4 Yr. college?
- If not, is there any mechanism within ROTC to accept a JC student into the Advanced Standing course as an accepted incoming student to a 4 Yr. college that has ROTC?
 
I agree it's getting harder then a few years ago. My son's battalion has 2 cadets that were transfers from Junior Colleges, they joined as Juniors after going to LTC. Granted the 2 are MS4's so this happened a couple years ago.

I also agree with goaliedad, battalions are finding themselves with more basic cadets then they have contracts available for. I would imagine getting a transfer let alone a LTC spot will be very competitive. OCS is an option but that is getting just as hard these days.
 
This thread got me to wondering about JC transfers into 4 yr. colleges. In California, this is a very popular route. Fully 30% of UCLA's graduates are transfers from a local JC. This is a route purposefully built into the CA higher education master plan.

For the sake of future readers,

- is there a way to participate in ROTC as a JC student prior to acceptance to a 4 Yr. college?
- If not, is there any mechanism within ROTC to accept a JC student into the Advanced Standing course as an accepted incoming student to a 4 Yr. college that has ROTC?

Navy has a program that accommodates rising juniors documented on their NROTC web site. Can't say how real it is or if its too late for OP to consider. Requires candidate to spend some portion of summer "catching up". Marine PLC would require 6 weeks over next two summers without a ROTC commitment but you better be physically fit.
 
First off. We have a hard cap on contracts now, so no sandbagging. The Army is as sensitive about over producing as under producing, so until further notice, it's going to be a race to the basic course finish line.

Some ROTC battalions have agreements with JCs, and their students can take ROTC classes. It takes a formal arrangement, and obviously proximity is an issue. Here in the North Country the closest JC is 1 hour away. I have gotten a few LTCers from there in the past, but unless there's room the chances for that path in the future have diminished.
 
At our DS's AFROTC det there are cadets that attend JC's so for them they will not skip a beat. The det sees these cadets like any other cadet attending a Xtown 4 yr college. Obviously, these cadets typically are not "contracted" just like other non-scholarship recipients, but because SFT occurs over the summer of their rising jr yr, they would be transferring to a 4 yr anyway.
 
I appreciate all the responses. I contacted just about all the schools I could in CA and none had any slots for 2014 and few had some for 2015.

Money isn't the issue, I just want to serve my country. I worked at a contracted lab through lockheed Martin and sat at a computer most of the time. Wasn't challenging enough for me so I recently looked into the military as something I could pursue after college. I saw how hard OCS was to get into so I thought I'd look into ROTC. Since I'm late in terms of getting into a program the likelyhood of getting into a mission set for my grad year seems impossible.

I will try OCS after school, but if that doesn't work out, I'll be enlisting.
 
On TV yesterday there was an elaborate commercial for the Marines aimed at college seniors/grads interested in becoming officers. It ended by directing the viewer to MarineOfficer.com.

It seemed a little odd in view of the announced cutbacks and could very well have been an ad created and ordered some time ago. Nevertheless, this may be an avenue for you to investigate.
 
Back
Top