Changing College Major

Northerner

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DS has accepted a 4yr AROTC to an IS university. He is thinking about changing his major from Business to Political Science. From the university standpoint the process is very simple and can be done with an email any time before May. He does not want to risk his scholarship, but was told months ago by the ROO if he ever decided that he wanted to change his major that it was no big deal. Is this consistent with what you all have heard?
 
DS has accepted a 4yr AROTC to an IS university. He is thinking about changing his major from Business to Political Science. From the university standpoint the process is very simple and can be done with an email any time before May. He does not want to risk his scholarship, but was told months ago by the ROO if he ever decided that he wanted to change his major that it was no big deal. Is this consistent with what you all have heard?

Have your son contact the ROO and the HR person at the school, the HR will probably be the one that will handle his 104R form. There should not be a problem changing from business to Pol Sci since neither is an Engineering major but keep them informed and consult with them before you make any changes. He should be OK
 
For AROTC it doesn't really matter unless they are nursing or not going to graduate on time. I can't speak for other branches or if there have been some very recent changes. My roommates changed their majors 2-3 times....
 
Thank you very much for your replies thus far. I will make sure that my son contacts his ROO and HR to make sure they know what he is planning - but obviously they cannot do anything until the school grants him the change. But thank you again for your input.
 
DS has accepted a 4yr AROTC to an IS university. He is thinking about changing his major from Business to Political Science. From the university standpoint the process is very simple and can be done with an email any time before May. He does not want to risk his scholarship, but was told months ago by the ROO if he ever decided that he wanted to change his major that it was no big deal. Is this consistent with what you all have heard?

Even if they are typing scholarships this year (I know they are looking at intended major now - a new thing - but now sure what they are doing about it), the switch between Business and Poly Sci shouldn't be a hurdle as they are primarily looking at changes out of STEM.

Historically speaking, they don't really care what you majored in as long as you completed it on time. If he hasn't started and isn't changing to a 5-year plan (like architecture), they he should be OK as long as he follows procedure (get your 104R approved promptly).
 
DS has accepted a 4yr AROTC to an IS university. He is thinking about changing his major from Business to Political Science. From the university standpoint the process is very simple and can be done with an email any time before May. He does not want to risk his scholarship, but was told months ago by the ROO if he ever decided that he wanted to change his major that it was no big deal. Is this consistent with what you all have heard?
My DS's letter AROTC award letter specified his selection status, scholarship status (full tuition), academic discipline (generalist), and college/university. There was nothing in the accompanying material from cadet command that addressed the selection of a major. Per the paperwork, he is free to select and change majors at will as long as he meets the GPA and physical requirements and graduates on time.

If it is AROTC, look at the academic discipline specification.
 
Here is the Academic Discipline Mix chart. http://www.uccs.edu/~armyrotc/docs/ADM List.doc

PoliSci is ADM1 "Generalist", and Business Administration is ADM2, "Technical".

There is a NEW POLICY from CADET COMMAND. AROTC going forward requires either Brigade or Cadet Command approval (don't know which since the policy enforcement is new), starting with Year Group 2016, for a scholarship Awardee to change from a higher numbered ADM category to a lower numbered ADM category. This new policy was explained to me by a PMS in June of 2011, to be enforced starting in August, 2012 for new MS1 Scholarship Awardees.

My daughter's scholarship last year stipulated Generalist (ADM1), since somehow they thought she was interested in Public Health Administration = Institutional Administration on the ADM list (must have been a typo on the original Application) but she changed to Neuroscience the first week of college (ADM3), without any approval needed since it was an upgrade (two levels of upgrade) in ADM.

What did your son's scholarship award letter specify -- Generalist, or Technical?
 
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Here is the Academic Discipline Mix chart. http://www.uccs.edu/~armyrotc/docs/ADM List.doc

PoliSci is ADM1 "Generalist", and Business Administration is ADM2, "Technical".

There is a NEW POLICY from CADET COMMAND. AROTC going forward requires either Brigade or Cadet Command approval (don't know which since the policy enforcement is new), starting with Year Group 2016, for a scholarship Awardee to change from a higher numbered ADM category to a lower numbered ADM category. This new policy was explained to me by a PMS in June of 2011, to be enforced starting in August, 2012 for new MS1 Scholarship Awardees.

My daughter's scholarship last year stipulated Generalist (ADM1), since somehow they thought she was interested in Public Health Administration = Institutional Administration on the ADM list (must have been a typo on the original Application) but she changed to Neuroscience the first week of college (ADM3), without any approval needed since it was an upgrade (two levels of upgrade) in ADM.

What did your son's scholarship award letter specify -- Generalist, or Technical?

His reads: Academic Discipline: Technical
 
There's your answer. He needs approval to downgrade to generalist.
 
You always need permission to change your major. The last couple years permission was seldom denied. Current situation, it's not going to be automatic. Business to Poly Sci shouldn't be an issue, but it still requires a request.
 
You always need permission to change your major. The last couple years permission was seldom denied. Current situation, it's not going to be automatic. Business to Poly Sci shouldn't be an issue, but it still requires a request.

Who should he contact? Cadet Command or his future ROO/HR person?
 
Question is this... DS rec'd a 4 year majoring in Aerospace Eng and Mechanical. He just called today and said he DOES want to talk to his ROTC command about changing it to Aribic studys and Poly Sci. Is that going to be an issue? WIll he lose his scholarship? This is a huge issue for us and if they ok the change how fast can it be done because he wants to sign up for summer classes to catch up. Any help would be great. Thanks
 
Question is this... DS rec'd a 4 year majoring in Aerospace Eng and Mechanical. He just called today and said he DOES want to talk to his ROTC command about changing it to Aribic studys and Poly Sci. Is that going to be an issue? WIll he lose his scholarship? This is a huge issue for us and if they ok the change how fast can it be done because he wants to sign up for summer classes to catch up. Any help would be great. Thanks

From your previous posts I assume your son is a MS1 Freshman.

My older son did close to the same thing halfway through his second semester as a freshman, he switched from Civil Engineering to History....decided on possible Law School over working with a Calculator. At that time wich was the Spring of 2009 it was not much of an issue, he changed his 104R and was approved, I hear it may be tougher to switch from a Tech to a Non Tech these days.

My son first approached the ROTC HR department to find out what forms he needed to complete, the new 104R will be required, he then talked to the PMS about the procedure. Son also met quickly with the advisor in the History Dept. to see how the classes with the new major would fit with what he had already taken. One thing the Army will not let him do is take longer then the 4 years to complete the degree, that is even if they gave him extra time for the current engineering major. Your son will be required, if he is allowed to swith majors, to complete everything in the 4 year time frame even if he has to take extra classes to catch up with the new major.

The swith will need to be approved, I believe by cadet command. The first thing he should do is contact the ROTC HR and also at least email the PMS with what he wants to do, this will get things moving.

My son did all this at school and all I can do is relay what he told me about how he completed the process.

Good luck to your son.
 
Thank you for your help. Yes he is a freshman who just got his TWE from WP today so all in all nota the best day in ouor house. He just came back from college tonight and had thought about changing majors over Xmas break and decided to stick with it but said he can't do a terrific job in both ROTC and eng. and he loves ROTC. Hard choice but I will advise him to email his ROTC commander this week or when he gets back? I also told him we want a plan of action for summer school to catch up if needed. hard choice to make, we just hope things go his way so that he keeps his scholarship. He contracted already. The stree is killing us because we know what a loss it would be if he loses it and isn't in ROTC anymore. Can he give thipem a few majors he would like or does he have to have a specific one picked out or have the army pick one of the 2? I think it's best if he has a plan in place for classes all lined up when he talks to them. Thoughts?
 
It's bot clear if he wants out of engineering per se, or if its because of demands of ROTC. If he would really like to stick with engineering is doing college in 5 years an option. Would that address his issues? I know NROTC sometimes allows this but I expect year 5 is on your dime. Don't know about AROTC.
 
I think only ClarksonArmy or MaristCollegeROTC, both of whom currently are ROTC cadre, can answer your question about what Cadet Command's policy is THIS fiscal year, which runs through Sept. 30.

I believe, please don't quote me, that it is not until this Fall that changing major to a lower ADM category will require approval above PMS level (Brigade or Cadet Command). So, now is the time to switch from ADM4 to ADM1 (PoliSci or Arabic). Don't wait until Fall. Deal with this request immediately.
 
Thank you for your help. Yes he is a freshman who just got his TWE from WP today so all in all nota the best day in ouor house. He just came back from college tonight and had thought about changing majors over Xmas break and decided to stick with it but said he can't do a terrific job in both ROTC and eng. and he loves ROTC. Hard choice but I will advise him to email his ROTC commander this week or when he gets back? I also told him we want a plan of action for summer school to catch up if needed. hard choice to make, we just hope things go his way so that he keeps his scholarship. He contracted already. The stree is killing us because we know what a loss it would be if he loses it and isn't in ROTC anymore. Can he give thipem a few majors he would like or does he have to have a specific one picked out or have the army pick one of the 2? I think it's best if he has a plan in place for classes all lined up when he talks to them. Thoughts?

Your son's timing is almost exactly that of my son's he should have swithced at the semester but waited until the midterm of the second semester. It would be nice if he could give them the major he wants to switch, it would also be a good idea to contact the advisor for that major as well as look over the classes on the college website and see what classes are required. This would give him a good idea of what the class load would be and how he could fit the classes into his schedule. The first step now would be to contact the Cadre and HR to get there take on the situation, then contact the advisor to set up a meeting before things get busy with next term registration. One good thing is if he needs to take any freshman level classes to catch up he will be registrating as a sophomore so he will get first pick at those classes.

Check with the school about online classes, my younger son is able to take a few of his humanities online, the nice part is that they give them the entire year to complete what would be a semester class traditionaly. Something like this might be able to spread the class load out a bit.
 
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