Army Advanced ROTC

Callmewojo

Callmewojo

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Jan 18, 2015
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I'm going to be a senior this year and I've always had the goal of being an officer. I've applied for all the military academies but as everyone knows it takes a lot to get accepted into those schools, so I started looking for other ways to get a commission. My father is a retired E-9 in the Air Force and he is convinced that the only way to get a commission is to either get accepted on an ROTC scholarship, go to a prime military school like The Citadel or Norwich, or go to a military academy. I have great academics and pretty good physicals. I live in Florida, and while I would love to go to The Citadel or Norwich, those schools can get a bit pricey. Today my Key Club adviser told me that there is another way. She said I could go to any college that has an ROTC program, such as UF, and after I do my first two years I can sign a contract with the Army and I will do the second two years of ROTC called Advanced ROTC and I will be a guaranteed a commission on graduation. How common is it for someone in an ROTC programs such as UF's to sign one of these contracts and where does it place me on the totem pole in terms of job selection? (I want to do infantry) I don't mind the money at UF, I just want the guarantee of being an officer. She also told me to contact the school's Professor of Military Studies, but I want to know that I'm not getting fooled into something.
 
I think one answer to your question is you can do ROTC without a scholarship and still commission at the end of your 4 years as long as you get contracted or achieve advance standing.
 
Yes, but my question is how does the contract signing work and how common is it. Would I need to be top 5 in my class or can anyone sign a contract and will the contract guarantee active duty. I'm just worried that ROTC at a normal college will make earning a commission very difficult as opposed to going to a military school (which are very pricey).
 
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How it works is if you complete both the MS1 and MS2 classes and want to continue with AROTC and commission then they would either offer you a 2 year scholarship or a contract. The contract allows you to get monthly stipends the last two years. Whether you get a contract or a scholarship is largely based on your efforts and performance both in AROTC and in the schoolroom. Also money at the battalion comes into play with getting a scholarship or contract. Some schools may not have a big budget for your class so they may offer more contracts versus scholarships. I would disagree with the whole idea of SMCs like Citadel or Norwich having a higher likely hood of getting a contract or scholarship. One of the cadets who showed me around Norwich when I was deciding where to use my 3-year scholarship said about 350 cadets are MS1s in AROTC. So that's a lot of freshmen competing for scholarships and contracts, whereas UT the battalion where I will being doing AROTC next year has on average a MS1 class of 25-30 freshman.
 
Idk about the frequency of cadets at UF getting contracts or scholarships that's something to ask the ROO at UF. It will not put you on the low end of the totem pole with branching (job selection) because the branching process is a national competition that uses the national OML. So a cadet at VMI and a cadet at UF are viewed the same when it comes to branching. Now if it's a matter of getting active duty vs reserves/national guard that's a different thing all together. Also infantry is a top branch for cadets and is very competitive to get just food for thought.
 
Generally to get a contract or scholarship you'd need to be ranked high in your battalion OML so yeah being top 5 would help with getting a scholarship or contract. No contract or scholarship will guarantee you active duty. You have to be high enough on the national OML to get active duty. Now if you go to one those pricey military schools like Citadel or Norwich and complete AROTC through a scholarship or through a contract and get the recommendation from your professor of military science then you'll get active duty even if you are below the active duty cutoff of the national OML. The key thing is getting the recommendation from the professor of military science.
 
It is really not a contract OR a scholarship. Even if you are awarded a scholarship, you must contract. At any college, SMC or other, you can be offered a scholarship at pretty much any time. So if you enter without a 4 year National scholarship, they may offer you a scholarship when you get there, which could be a 3.5 year even. Those scholarships depend on how much money the Battalion has, which varies.
It is no longer "guaranteed" (never really was) that you will get AD at the SMC's.... as the needs and finances of the Army change, and the need for officers lessens, the competition for AD increases, so the thought is, that not as many below the AD cutoff at SMC's, even with PMS recommendation, will make AD.
I am not sure on the stats for commissioning at a regular college vs SMC. To contract and then commission, you have to keep your PT scores in the passing range and your GPA, and remain medically qualified. Maybe I am wrong, but my understanding is that if you sign the contract and fulfill the terms of the contract(which includes not doing anything stupid, like getting arrested), you commission - you may not get AD (that is OML dependent).
I would definitely go sit down with the Recruiting Officer (ROO) at the school you are interested in, or if that is too far away, go to a local school. They can explain the whole process, including the likelihood of scholarships. Don't worry, they will not sign you up on the spot, but will explain the process, and also other options like the SMP and NG.
Also, look at the thread called "Cost of Tuition" in the Public and Private Military Colleges section - it talks about how to cut the costs at the SMC's.
 
soccmomer said:
It is really not a contract OR a scholarship. Even if you are awarded a scholarship, you must contract. At any college, SMC or other, you can be offered a scholarship at pretty much any time. So if you enter without a 4 year National scholarship, they may offer you a scholarship when you get there, which could be a 3.5 year even. Those scholarships depend on how much money the Battalion has, which varies.
It is no longer "guaranteed" (never really was) that you will get AD at the SMC's.... as the needs and finances of the Army change, and the need for officers lessens, the competition for AD increases, so the thought is, that not as many below the AD cutoff at SMC's, even with PMS recommendation, will make AD.
I am not sure on the stats for commissioning at a regular college vs SMC. To contract and then commission, you have to keep your PT scores in the passing range and your GPA, and remain medically qualified. Maybe I am wrong, but my understanding is that if you sign the contract and fulfill the terms of the contract(which includes not doing anything stupid, like getting arrested), you commission - you may not get AD (that is OML dependent).
I would definitely go sit down with the Recruiting Officer (ROO) at the school you are interested in, or if that is too far away, go to a local school. They can explain the whole process, including the likelihood of scholarships. Don't worry, they will not sign you up on the spot, but will explain the process, and also other options like the SMP and NG.
Also, look at the thread called "Cost of Tuition" in the Public and Private Military Colleges section - it talks about how to cut the costs at the SMC's.
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Soccomer you bring up an interesting point. I wonder if anybody has the % of cadets that commission and go AD from SMC as opposed to non SMC schools.
 
sheriff3 said:
Soccomer you bring up an interesting point. I wonder if anybody has the % of cadets that commission and go AD from SMC as opposed to non SMC schools.
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From what I saw from last year the percentage was still close to 100%, there were a couple posts that indicated that there were a few that did not go AD. I agree, from what has been written the PMSs at the SMCs will be giving a harder look at those that fall below the AD Cutoff. The fact that there were 105 SMC cadets that were accessed AD that were below the AD Cutoff may have something to do with that.

Last year 78% of the total cadets that wanted AD received AD.

If you were to remove approx. 500 SMC Cadet from the figures, about 75% of the cadets from traditional school ROTC programs made AD from those that wanted AD.

I would imagine those numbers will drop a bit this year, but from reading the Army Personnel Budget it doesn't seem like it will be a big drop.
 
Callmewojo said:
Yes, but my question is how does the contract signing work and how common is it. Would I need to be top 5 in my class or can anyone sign a contract and will the contract guarantee active duty. I'm just worried that ROTC at a normal college will make earning a commission very difficult as opposed to going to a military school (which are very pricey).
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If you come to school prepared both physically and academically, pass your APFT and keep your grades respectable, you should have no problem getting a contract. Do well and you will be in the running for a Battalion Scholarship if you are not awarded one through the National Application Process, that is if you apply.

For cadets that average to above average it is very common to be offered a contract. It can be more competitive at a large popular battalion, smaller programs will be less competitive.

As it was said above, Branching is on a National level playing field, attending a SMC gives you no upper hand in branching, neither does attending a large well known school/battalion.

Both my sons went to a smaller state school with what can be considered a smaller program, both branched Aviation. There were 7 cadets that commissioned this past May. All that wanted AD received AD and they all but one received their #1 branch choice, the one got their second choice which was Infantry (first choice was Aviation). Two cadets received Aviation, two Infantry, one Engineer, one MP, and one Ordnance/EOD. Not bad for a small program, so you can see that you do not need to attend just certain schools to succeed in ROTC.
 
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