Army ROTC scholarship/ No Marine ROTC scholarship

4YRRECIP

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I was fortunate enough to receive a 4-year army ROTC scholarship. Although I am very happy and proud of my accomplishment, my original goal to do NROTC (Marine option) did not work out. Is there any way I can switch from Army ROTC to Marine ROTC my freshman year?
 
You certainly can switch to Marine Option NROTC, as long as your university has that option. You won't, however, be doing it with a scholarship unless you earn one later on.
 
You certainly can switch to Marine Option NROTC, as long as your university has that option. You won't, however, be doing it with a scholarship unless you earn one later on.

How would I go about earning a scholarship? I can't pay for my college without one...

Can I switch to Marine ROTC one semester in?
 
You should be able to switch on day one, but it might take a year or more to earn a scholarship, or even never. Some years they don't award any.

As a side note, I'd be wary of attending a school that you can't afford with an ROTC scholarship. The potential for things not to end up the way you envision is high.

An option would be to start in Army ROTC, and see if you like it. You have until the beginning of your MSII year to change your mind.
 
How would I go about earning a scholarship? I can't pay for my college without one...

Can I switch to Marine ROTC one semester in?

There is no "switching" of scholarships. You would simply turn down the AROTC scholarship this spring/summer and then join the NROTC Battalion as a College Program Marine option at the start of the fall semester at the university which you will be attending; obviously, the university has to have an NROTC Battalion for this to be possible. You would reapply for the Marine option NROTC scholarship starting in the fall, but if you earned it, it would not kick in until Day 1 sophomore year. So, bottom line, with this path you are paying for tuition your freshman year. If that is not a possibility for you, you may want to consider moving forward with AROTC. Again though, you can't morph your AROTC scholarship into an NROTC scholarship.
 
There is no "switching" of scholarships. You would simply turn down the AROTC scholarship this spring/summer and then join the NROTC Battalion as a College Program Marine option at the start of the fall semester at the university which you will be attending; obviously, the university has to have an NROTC Battalion for this to be possible. You would reapply for the Marine option NROTC scholarship starting in the fall, but if you earned it, it would not kick in until Day 1 sophomore year. So, bottom line, with this path you are paying for tuition your freshman year. If that is not a possibility for you, you may want to consider moving forward with AROTC. Again though, you can't morph your AROTC scholarship into an NROTC scholarship.

Can I apply for a NROTC scholarship while doing Army ROTC?
 
Can I apply for a NROTC scholarship while doing Army ROTC?

I guess you could, but you wouldn't like the experience, and the staff at both of the units would see this as very suspect. I would strongly recommend against this. Plus, without being in an NROTC unit as a College Program student, you're limiting your chances of being selected for a scholarship. The Navy and Marine Corps wants folks who want to be Naval Officers, not people who want to use an Army scholarship for a year and then maybe change course before sophomore year. If you want to be a Marine Officer, you need to pursue NROTC from day 1, period.
 
How would I go about earning a scholarship? I can't pay for my college without one...

Can I switch to Marine ROTC one semester in?

Consider switching to Plan C, a school you can afford without any ROTC Scholarship that has NROTC MO. Have you filed FAFSA?

Participate in NROTC MO and compete for a scholarship or compete for a commission without a scholarship.

No ROTC plan will be a fulfilling or a successful experience unless you are fully 'vested'.
 
I agree with the above advice. If you decide to accept the Army ROTC scholarship, you owe it to yourself to be all in. That means you let go of the Navy Marine option and work towards being an Army Officer. If you cannot do that, then decline the Army scholarship and try Navy ROTC and work towards earning a scholarship there, with no guarantee.

It is a tough decision and I know not what you want to hear, but it is what adult life is going to look like, sometimes you have to choose the best option you have available, not the option that you wanted.
 
I would ideally like to be an intelligence officer. I understand that it is a selective MOS, however.

I know it is for the Army. My neighbor (female) was a career intelligence officer with the Army. She loved it. It is a branch available directly out of school. Navy is more limited on the number of those that select intel. This year's USNA class has 19 intel (I believe all Navy). Not sure is Marine Intel is restricted to males only. More common one goes to fleet and transfers to Intel after a tour (say SWO).

The Marines are a much smaller organization. It is a much flatter organization. Therefore opportunities may be less. But given the current cutback mode, who knows what each branch will look like. Good news is you have four years before you get commissioned so things could change as many of the old timers here will tell you. West Point had 89 branch MI for c/0 2015.

The other question you need to ask is what does an intel job look like in the Army vs Marines.
 
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