We are new to this so sorry if it seems repetitive but this is all good advice. His merit scholarship was awarded to him and he has to maintain his GPA etc.. or he losses it and then he has to deal with student loans which is scenario one.
If he gets a ROTC scholarship lets say 3 years. If he decides when he's a Junior when he can commission he opts out. He would have to repay the 1 year of funds allocated to him for the school year. I'm assuming all money.. stipend books etc.
What's this non- contract ROTC stuff I'm hearing about. How competitive is it to commission as officer if he goes this route. What are the major significances if he does this route in school like Norwich. He' a already accepted in the core of cadets at Norwich.
Thanks-
If he decides to opt out his junior year he'll have to pay back all 3 years the Army paid for.
There is no such thing as non-contract ROTC commissioning. One's contract refers to their commissioning slot and their active duty/reserve/national guard obligations. Your contract is the piece of paper that says "you'll be in the Army for a few years, and in return we'll.....". Notice, I didn't explicitly state "we'll pay for your school", because this isn't always the case. An high school 4 year ROTC scholarship includes the "contract" and the "scholarship", they are two separate things. Once in college, you can obtain a contract without a scholarship. Obviously, the other way around isn't possible.
Obtaining a scholarship or contract while in school is fairly difficult, and getting moreso with the military downsizing. Granted it's not impossible (this is what I did), I don't really recommend this route because of a lack of certainty and significant competition. Lots of folks will want that guaranteed job with a good salary when they graduate.
Aside from not being on scholarship, though, there aren't many differences than to being your typical high school 4-year scholarship awardee. Not all of the summer training is available to non-contracts, but among contracted cadets, there's no contrast between scholarship and no scholarship.
And to respond to Bulls comment, Army SMC cadets are guaranteed by congress Active Duty when they graduate, as long as their PMS approves it. And unless you're all kinds of fat and stupid, it'll be approved. This has already been debated ad nauseam
-Love ya Bull, don't hate me!