Army ROTC

My HS senior son just submitted AROTC application. Also in process for NROTC and officer interview upcoming.

What is the typical size of college AROTC units?
Can he start and continue in AROTC classes past freshman year even if he's not awarded scholarship?
What college GPA needs to be maintained for scholarship?

Thanks

Roxymom said:

My HS senior son just submitted AROTC application. Also in process for NROTC and officer interview upcoming.

What is the typical size of college AROTC units?
Can he start and continue in AROTC classes past freshman year even if he's not awarded scholarship?
What college GPA needs to be maintained for scholarship?

Thanks

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Regarding AROTC

1. The size depends on the size of the school and battalion, some large schools have large battalions and some smaller schools have smaller battalions. Some schools that are not the Host school have very small numbers. Sorry I can't be more specific.

2. Yes your son can continue all the way to graduation and commissioning without a scholarship. After his first two years he would then need to be recommended for the Advanced Course (Junior and Senior years), but yes he can continue without a scholarship.

3. The scholarship cadet needs to maintain a Min. 2.0 to keep their scholarship, non scholarship cadets must also keep this minimum as well. Be aware that Active Duty in the Army is not a guarantee, if the cadet is at just the minimum, they can most likely count on not getting Active Duty and be forced Reserve or National Guard. This is true for both scholarship and non scholarship cadets.

Thank you

SAT verbal / math is 1300 and GPA 3.8. He has volunteer hrs, varsity swimming 4 yrs, school club leadership plus NHS.

It seems like chances are better for army ROTC as compared to NROTC?

Thanks -I was able to get more info from NROTC website.

Roxymom said:

Thank you

SAT verbal / math is 1300 and GPA 3.8. He has volunteer hrs, varsity swimming 4 yrs, school club leadership plus NHS.

It seems like chances are better for army ROTC as compared to NROTC?

Thanks -I was able to get more info from NROTC website.

Click to expand...

For NROTC a lot will depend on his choice of major. 85% of scholarships are awarded to Tier I and II - Navy looks for tech. NROTC Marine Option doesn't care what your major is. BTW DS unit at University of South Carolina is about 100 MIDN including MECEPs. Navy also follows what Jcleppe said. You can do all 4 years of NROTC without a scholarship but must be chosen for the Advanced Course between Sophmore and Junior years to continue past Sophmore year. My DS is in his sophmore year of NROTC MO without the scholarship. He's thriving there. BTW his stats were similar to your son's but he is a Tier III major.

I would agree that chances are better with Army if for no other reason than they have higher manpower needs. Good luck to your DS.

army ROTC college majors

His planned major is tier 1 mechanical engineering for NROTC.
When looking at career choices for army though, it looked like civil engineering might fit army better?

We are new to this so just need to clarify abbreviations. MIDN -midshipmen?
MECEPS?

Greatly appreciated. (Univ of South Carolina is on both his lists)

Roxymom said:

His planned major is tier 1 mechanical engineering for NROTC.
When looking at career choices for army though, it looked like civil engineering might fit army better?

We are new to this so just need to clarify abbreviations. MIDN -midshipmen?
MECEPS?

Greatly appreciated. (Univ of South Carolina is on both his lists)

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Yes, MIDN is midshipman. MECEP is Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program... where enlisted Marines go to become officers. The Navy has a similar program, STA (Seaman to Admiral). MIDN in both of these programs are members of the unit where they attend school

I would think your guesses on better fit for each service are correct. But I wouldn't suggest picking a major to get the scholarship. Instead, pick the major you want. GPA is a key success factor in any ROTC program, and being in a major one is passionate about is key to a high GPA. Your DS may not care which major it is, but these majors are fairly different even though they both have engineering in the name. (Aside: A major is all about the questions you will ask the rest of your life. A Civil Engineering major will ask "How do I lay the foundation for that road so it drains properly?". A Mechanical Engineering major will ask, "How to I properly gear that machinery to get the proper amount of power as opposed to speed?". And a Psychology major asks, "Do you want fries with that?". )

University of South Carolina has an excellent NROTC unit. I know that 2 years ago they had 100% of their Marine Option MIDN successfully complete OCS. I don't know about the Army unit but I would assume they're of comparable quality, despite the things my son says which I simply attribute to healthy inter-service rivalry.

Don't know where you live, but with current budget constraints the odds of your DS getting a scholarship is probably better at an in-state school. Also, if you don't live in South Carolina, I know the alumni of the Navy unit there offer a scholarship to all MIDN who successfully complete Freshman Orientation (no small feat) which brings tuition almost down to in-state costs for college programmers (those without a NROTC scholarship). In financial effect, its the same as the Woodrow Scholarship that South Carolina offers and which you can learn about on the University's web site.

Once again, good luck to your DS.

Thanks much. My son has wanted Mech engineering now since last year.

To me - not sure how that would fit with army.

We are in PA and in state schools on list. For NRoTC Pitt would have to go over to CM.

Thanks again. This site is wonderful.

Roxymom said:

Thanks much. My son has wanted Mech engineering now since last year.

To me - not sure how that would fit with army.

We are in PA and in state schools on list. For NRoTC Pitt would have to go over to CM.

Thanks again. This site is wonderful.

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I have said this a thousand times and I'll say it 1,001:

You don't join a ground branch (Army, Marines) to "use your XXXX degree." If you want to sit around and sniff test tubes or design the better earplug, the Air Force does some of that jazz. You join the Army or Marines because you want to lead soldiers and Marines, respectively.

Some of your education can be useful in daily tasks, but the idea that this or that engineering degree would "fit" the service better is incorrect. I was an economics major with a mech engineering minor. My peers in my unit were everything from nuclear engineering majors to forensic anthropology majors (he did the Body Farm at UT-Knoxville, cool stuff). So we all learned to be different things. Economists, engineers, Crime Scene technicians, school teachers, etc. That means nothing in our daily careers in the Army.

Amen...from a broadcast journalism major who led Infantry and Signal Corps soldiers.

Mechanical Engineers have a couple good fits in the Signal Corps, Ordnance Corps, and Military Intelligence. Field Artillery, Aviation, and Armor branches would be reasonable fits, but Scout is dead on.

PS...I know a really good engineering school with a pretty good ROTC program

Dear Roxymom:

I have learned a great deal from lurking around here for a number of years and there are a great many folks who know a great deal and are willing to share it. My purpose in posting the information below is not, repeat not, to say one school is better than another. It would be the height of folly for me to suggest that a young man or woman go to one school as opposed to another – particularly if I’ve never met that person.

If you son is seriously considering pursuing a technical major he may wish to consider looking at Texas A&M, see www.tamu.edu . There are advantages and disadvantages to a large school versus a smaller school. Smaller schools may well provide better access to professors particularly for freshmen and sophomores. Students at smaller schools also have less of a risk of being lost in the crowd so to speak. That said, TAMU (and I never attended A&M but our daughter is now a sophomore there), is a big school, which offers some unique advantages:

Why Texas A&M?
• Texas A&M enrolls over 50,000 students, including over 9,400 graduate students. More than 4,600 international students from more than 130 countries attend classes here.
• The average SAT score for incoming freshmen is 1220 (Verbal + Math).
• 25% of the freshman class are first generation college students.
• The family-friendly atmosphere makes Texas A&M a favorite not only of students, but their parents as well.
• More than 800 student organizations, including a uniformed Corps of Cadets, Greek Life, and The Big Event - the largest one-day, student-run service project in the nation.
• Bryan/College Station is located within easy driving distance of four major metropolitan areas — Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas/Ft. Worth — making it easy to go home, or get away, for the weekend.
• See more at Aggie Bound.

The engineering school at A&M is well regarded. http://engineering.tamu.edu/

If you son is considering Army ROTC or one of the other branches, A&M is one of the six Senior Military Colleges. For Army RTOC graduates than can mean a better chance for an active duty assignment following graduation. Out of state cadets at A&M pay Texas in-state tuition regardless of whether or not they are “contracted” or have an ROTC scholarship. To learn more see http://corps.tamu.edu/

Best of luck:
Lawman32RPD

PS: Sent you a PM

I 'll sa it again -this site is great. Thanks for all info. My son already has 2 privates on list. ERAU Daytona and Drexel. (Our neck of the woods). 2 out of state public - and 3 in state public.
Would love to go to Daytona.
Really appreciate the direction and PM.!!

Roxymom said:

SAT verbal / math is 1300 and GPA 3.8. He has volunteer hrs, varsity swimming 4 yrs, school club leadership plus NHS.

It seems like chances are better for army ROTC as compared to NROTC?

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The NROTC has a more technical orientation. This makes sense if you consider that if an Army hut/tent/building burns down, a new one is put up later that day. Navy lives 24/7 inside of an extraordinarily complicated machine... either surface, or subsurface. Navy must maintain those extraordinarily complex machines at all times. It helps if every Navy officer understands technology, computers, systems, and has a decent chance of working through technical obstancles. Army lives alongside, and uses technology. Navy sleeps inside of it, and sailors might not make it home if the fire or hull breach or reactor malfunction can't be fixed quickly.

Having said that, 1300 and 3.8UW is on the lower side for NROTC scholarship awardees. It is a little above the middle point for AROTC scholarship awardees. To be honest with you, depending on the breakout of M/CR, 1300 it might be on the lower side for most top 75 Engineering schools. If his scores are 730/570, then nevermind, that is a decent Engineering college score. However any M score under 700 usually raises concern in Engineering admissions.

Because of that, combined with that fact that there are more AROTC scholarships awarded than NROTC scholarships, your DS has a better chance of earning an AROTC scholarship. But he has a decent shot at both.