ROTC scholarship (problems) for a tough major?!

So I'm planning on majoring in Computer Science or Civil Engineering, and from what I know the ROTC scholarship only covers 4 years and takes up most of your summers.

Would this be a problem with a very difficult major? I've talked to people studying both fields, and both claim that most of the time the Bachelors degree takes longer than 4 years to get. Would this be a problem?

Also, many programs offer summer internships that give you valuable hands on experience? Would this conflict with ROTC summer training? Or do MS Professors allow you to do that stuff if you have a technical major?

Thanks!

Nick0726 said:

Would this be a problem with a very difficult major?

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No.

A bacholars degree takes 4 years to earn. Any longer than that is due to students unable to afford the costs of college at the time or maybe other commitments or obligations.

I am a Mechanical Engineering major with a 3.5 year AFROTC Type 2 scholarship. It is just that, 3.5 years. I got it after my first semester and it will take me up until the end of my 4th year, even though I will go 1, maybe 2 more semesters. That's just the nature of the beast. Beggars can't be choosers.

Frankie said:

No.

A bacholars degree takes 4 years to earn. Any longer than that is due to students unable to afford the costs of college at the time or maybe other commitments or obligations.

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Or maybe the class load is very difficult and you need to spread it out more? It's 4 years without ROTC classes. You basically are adding a minor. Earning a Computer Science degree in 4 years without ROTC is extremely rare, let alone with Rotc. There is absolutely no shame in going 5 years these days. If you graduate from a public university in 4 in any major, you are an exception.

You need permission from the unit to do it in 5 years as opposed to 4. I can't swear to this but the required summer training are just that... required. Not to say you cannot work an internship around it.

Think of other options to finish in four years.
Do you have any AP credit to transfer from high school AP classes and tests?
Can you take a community college class during the summer? You would probably have to pay for it yourself but they sometimes have more flexible schedules that could work around summer camps and training.
Some internships may also work around your summe schedule and also provide credits needed for graduation
Also, plan your academic schedule carefully. Don't take just any class, but see if a class may satisfy more than one requirement.

Unless you are in a specific 5 year engineering program (that often includes an internship) then you CAN graduate with a BS in engineering in 8 semesters. Make sure your academic advisor knows that you NEED to graduate in four years and take a full credit load.

Good luck!

Nick0726 said:

So I'm planning on majoring in Computer Science or Civil Engineering, and from what I know the ROTC scholarship only covers 4 years and takes up most of your summers.

Would this be a problem with a very difficult major? I've talked to people studying both fields, and both claim that most of the time the Bachelors degree takes longer than 4 years to get. Would this be a problem?

Also, many programs offer summer internships that give you valuable hands on experience? Would this conflict with ROTC summer training? Or do MS Professors allow you to do that stuff if you have a technical major?

Thanks!

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To better understand, which ROTC program are you talking about.

aglages said:

Unless you are in a specific 5 year engineering program (that often includes an internship) then you CAN graduate with a BS in engineering in 8 semesters. Make sure your academic advisor knows that you NEED to graduate in four years and take a full credit load.

Good luck!

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+1

1. You can do it, but it has to be planned ahead. If you are a high school junior, you should plan on a hefty load of AP's next year and possibly a college course during the summer after senior year. The point is to open holes in your schedule and add flexibility for things like ROTC. It is the only way my DS was able to make AROTC work with ChemE.

2. The issue with any Eng degree is that there is a large number of hard requirements and many of them have to be taken an inflexible sequence. A history major will have the choice of "The Tutor Kings" of "The Ming Dynasty" when ever he/she wants. The EE major has to take "Y" before "Z", but only after completing "X" first. Many of these classes only offer one section per semester and are not offered in the summer. Adding in the hard requirements of ROTC only makes the pieces harder to fit.

3. I know that its against the grain of this forum to admonish high schoolers who dream big. But I will do it anyway. You better do really well in calculus and/or be comfortable with the tedium, if you are going to study engineering and do xROTC. Once, in high school, DS had to race from a tennis match to a class at the local university. One of the dads, a serious guy who is universally considered the smartest banker in town, asked "Where is ***** off to?" I told him he is taking Calc III at *****, to which he replied, "Oh, that's why I dropped engineering."

4. If you have an xROTC scholarship for engineering, good luck dropping engineering and keeping your scholarship.

I have no reason to question your abilities, but you need to know what you are getting into and what you're capable of. The best way to do that is press yourself senior year while your classmates are cruising. Take the AP's which are most relevant to the major your are considering. Don't wait for freshman year to gauge your tolerance for a tough academic schedule.

Best of luck!

I agree with cb's post about scholarship and dropping the major, especially for AFROTC.

If you get engineering, and decide you want out to major in International Relations you need AFROTC approval. In this current climate, chances are close to nil for the approval.

cb,

I also agree with the admonishment. The fact is many kids don't grasp the attrition rate for engineering majors.

The joke at VT is during finals week in the fall, the registrar sets up a table outside their building because so many drop, it just makes it easier for the school due to the numbers that quit engineering.

On day one of one of my my freshman engineering weed out classes the prof said look right, look left, one of you three will not be here at the end of the semester. I think he was pretty close. I clawed for a C but there were a couple of students that coasted to A's. If the OP is one of the latter type it won't be an issue.

To orginial poster, it is done in 4 yrs - my son is mechanical engineer, finishing in 4 yrs on navy scholarship. His scholarship was for 4 yrs. He has taken 16-19 hrs per semester. At least at VMI, the schedule for the 8semesters was spelled out at onset, not much room to fall behind. My son's class entered with 72 ME, come this May -graduating on time 22 cadets.
As I recall the other engineering programs had similar courseload.
So your choice of school, their advisor staff, and your commitment will all have a play in your outcome. Best of luck, larrys mom

If your major is in engineering, you can apply for a 5th year scholarship extension. That is what I will be doing. It is applied for later on, but you have to let them know early on. If you are AFROTC you will fill out a Form 48 (think in AROTC its called a 104R) 1st semester and every semester after that, it is a complete academic plan for the next 4-5 years of your life. If your planning on doing things during the summer, put it in, even if you have no idea what you'll be doing just then, put in a blank summer block to let them know you are planning it. You can fill in the details later.

As for being swamped during the summer with ROTC stuff, if you are in AFROTC then the only summer where you'll have to do stuff is summer after sophomore year and I think that AROTC only has LDAC summer after Junior(?) year. Of course, there are always other ROTC activities you can get into during the summer like the GO Project and such. I have an AROTC buddy who's doing Airborne this summer. But those aren't mandatory. Really, I think only NROTC does mandatory activities for more than one summer. If you're doing AF or Army there is definitely room to fit in summer classes or internships. Someone else will have to speak for the NROTC side.

Non Ducor Duco said:

If your planning on doing things during the summer, put it in, even if you have no idea what you'll be doing just then, put in a blank summer block to let them know you are planning it. You can fill in the details later.

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Could you specify what you mean by this?

I am starting freshman year this summer - is that something that needs to be approved by the cadre???

Thompson said:

Could you specify what you mean by this?

I am starting freshman year this summer - is that something that needs to be approved by the cadre???

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Don't worry about it until you need to fill out the form. What is being referred to is just including an empty block for some summer course.

Personally I think its a good idea to gang up with 18 hours a couple semesters or do a couple summer courses anyway... just so you can only carry 12 hours each semester your senior year... when presumably you'll most likely have a heavy load of responsibilities in your unit. But that's just my opinion. Although my DS has tried to get in some summer courses it hasn't proved possible, at least not for something he is interested in.

kinnem said:

Don't worry about it until you need to fill out the form. What is being referred to is just including an empty block for some summer course.

Personally I think its a good idea to gang up with 18 hours a couple semesters or do a couple summer courses anyway... just so you can only carry 12 hours each semester your senior year... when presumably you'll most likely have a heavy load of responsibilities in your unit. But that's just my opinion. Although my DS has tried to get in some summer courses it hasn't proved possible, at least not for something he is interested in.

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Funny how the programs are different.

For a lot of AROTC cadets they try to keep their class loads down sophomore and junior year, and take the bit heavier and harder load senior year. AROTC uses the CGPA for the OML up to the end of the junior year, the senior year GPA does not count in the equation.

Of course Engineering majors don't always have that luxury, for AROTC most engineering majors get at least a 9th semester, many get the whole 5th year, to complete their degree, which helps lighten the load a bit.