Reserves Help or Hurt Chances?

bdaMom

5-Year Member
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Dec 17, 2009
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Our son is enlisting in the Army Reserves (he does testing in a few days) so he can do SMP if his scholarship doesn't come through (his application has been complete since September, so this is Plan B.) Is joining the Reserves something we should try to get added to his AROTC scholarship application? Will it help or hurt his scholarship chances, or not make a difference?
 
Double check but he can't get a AROTC 4 year scholarship if he is in the Reserves. Being enlisted in the Reserves allows one to qualfiy for other educational benefits.

I do know that AROTC scholarship cadets cannot be in SMP - they have to turn back their scholarship if they go SMP.
 
Double check but he can't get a AROTC 4 year scholarship if he is in the Reserves. Being enlisted in the Reserves allows one to qualfiy for other educational benefits.

I do know that AROTC scholarship cadets cannot be in SMP - they have to turn back their scholarship if they go SMP.

The recruiter said if the 4-yr scholarship comes through in April or May, the commitment to the Reserves is void and he can take the scholarship and commit to ROTC. He said it's still the Army, just a different path, and ROTC takes precedence over Reserves. Our son had to sign-up now in order to get a basic training date that fits between high school graduation and the start of college (he is doing split-option, so AIT will be the following summer.) The recruiter also said he could apply for the 3-yr scholarship next year and again, if he gets it, Reserves stops, and he's just ROTC. He thought his chances for a 3-yr scholarship might be better since he would have already showed his commitment by joining the Reserves. SMP doesn't start until his sophomore year. At that point SMP might be a better deal than the scholarship?
 
Good. Whew. Just wanted to make sure you were all on the same page.
What you just said sounds good.

SMP - I am not sure but in the Reserves all the scholarships might be just for those who will commission into the reserves not AD. So, he needs to be careful there.
You might ask about tuition assistance.
Those who SMP in their National Guard might come out alright if they attend a state school since many states have tuition programs. All National Guard soldiers are eligible for tuition assistance of $4500/year - you might want to ask if that applies to Reserves.

Other benefits of SMP-
Once they contract ROTC their drill pay and all summer training is paid at an E-5 rate.
If certain schools are desireable - Air Assault, Airborne - it might be easier to get as a Reserve SMP than ROTC cadet, simply because there are more spaces available to Reserve Soldiers.
In the future - his "time in service" begins when he joins the Reserves. Hence, when he commissions he will be paid as an O-1 with 4 years. This is a nice increase in pay over his ROTC scholarship (and USMA) cohort.

The intangibles - he gets to drill every month and summer training. He may feel like he is actually "in the Army". When he gets to his college, he will meet with his ROTC instructor. They can map it out and weigh the pros and cons of both.
 
Yes, $4500/year tuition assistance is offered for Reserves as well. They also quoted $329/mo for SRMGIB and $200/kicker = $529/mo. Add monthly drill pay to that and whatever ROTC might give, and it's not a bad deal. The big difference for my son is he will need to go to an in-state school to make the tuition affordable. He's good with this though, since being in the Army and going to college are his goals in the end.

Thank you for all your input and information!
 
The recruiter said if the 4-yr scholarship comes through in April or May, the commitment to the Reserves is void and he can take the scholarship and commit to ROTC. He said it's still the Army, just a different path, and ROTC takes precedence over Reserves. Our son had to sign-up now in order to get a basic training date that fits between high school graduation and the start of college (he is doing split-option, so AIT will be the following summer.) The recruiter also said he could apply for the 3-yr scholarship next year and again, if he gets it, Reserves stops, and he's just ROTC. He thought his chances for a 3-yr scholarship might be better since he would have already showed his commitment by joining the Reserves. SMP doesn't start until his sophomore year. At that point SMP might be a better deal than the scholarship?

Wow, didn't know you could do this...might be a definitely considered Plan B to an academy.
 
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