I need advice

So let me give some background. I won a 4 yr scholarship and I’m very excited about that. My parents really pushed me to do this because they think it will be good for me but I’m not sure about that. They said I should Atleast give it a semester. If I only do rotc for a semester and I contract in the next few weeks am I able to quit? And if so how do I do that?

talk with your ROO

If you pass DoDMERB and you pass the APFT, you may then contract. Then your contract will be valid and the scholarship will pay for your freshman (MS-1) year with no military or payback obligation. However, if you show up for the sophomore (MS-II) fall semester and subsequently quit, you are then fully obligated for payback and/or enlistment, as per the contract Form DA 597-3.

To answer your question, if after the first semester (or anytime before the first day of the MS-II year) you decide to withdraw, you only need to inform your cadre (ROO or PMS) and complete the dis-enrollment process.

Here is a copy of the 597-3 contract:
https://armypubs.army.mil/pub/eforms/DR_a/pdf/A597_3.pdf

A piece of advice:
If the only reason you are doing this is to please your parents or for the money, then please don't do this. It is not a good reason to become an Army officer and be responsible for the lives of a platoon of soldiers.

+1 to AROTC DAD. I will say if you are somewhat interested then my advice is to go all in for the first year and see if you like it . If it’s not a fit you will at least be able to look yourself and your parents in the eye and say with absolute certainty it was not your passion. Earning a 4 year national scholarship is no small feat. You clearly had the stats and someone saw something in you to believe you would make a good officer. Who knows you may end up liking or even loving it. Best of luck in your journey.

You got one year to figure it out. If you decide to quit at the end of the one year mark, you are all good and you dont have to reimburse the scholarhip. If you start your second year, you will be committed and will either have to finish and serve reserve or active duty or will have to reimburse the scholarship. So if you quit after one semester, you wont have any issues.

There is a good reason that Cadet Command gives you (and the Army) a "free one year trial." There is nothing to lose by giving it a try for the first year. Everyone wins if it turns out to be a great match.

Everyone still wins if you find out in the nick of time that it is not for you.

AROTC-dad said:

There is a good reason that Cadet Command gives you (and the Army) a "free one year trial." There is nothing to lose by giving it a try for the first year. Everyone wins if it turns out to be a great match.

Everyone still wins if you find out in the nick of time that it is not for you.

Click to expand...

everyone except the next guy in line who really wants to serve - he kinds gets shafted

CitadelN88 said:

everyone except the next guy in line who really wants to serve - he kinds gets screwed

Click to expand...

Yes and no.

My DS was one of those "next guys". Back in 2015, he was nominated but turned down by USNA very late in the game. He was accepted to The Citadel, but did not receive an NROTC scholarship and being out of state it was cost prohibitive to attend El Cid without aid.

He ended up being a "walk-on" for Army ROTC at a local state university. In the first semester he busted his butt and earned a 3 year campus based scholarship by November of the fall semester. Before the Spring semester they extended his scholarship to 3.5 year. I asked him later that year if he wanted to reapply to the SA's and he told me no. He had bonded with his battalion and his goal was to commission as a military officer in four years. Reapplying to an academy would put him behind schedule.

So was my DS screwed because someone at USNA or NROTC/MO took advantage of the "try before you buy" program?

Maybe, but those mids applied for and earned those appointments and scholarships fair and square. Those first two years at an SA and one year at ROTC is designed to determine if the perception on both parties is true to the reality.

My DS did not get an appointment or a four year HS scholarship, but he still found a way to achieve his goal.

Regarding the OP, I do have a problem for someone who has absolutely no intention of commissioning and still goes through the process and takes up a slot.

On the other hand I have no problem with someone who is not sure if they will love it or hate it, to give it a try.

Everyone above is, of course, correct that you can try it for a year. I'd give it an entire year mainly because you probably will not be given any leadership roles until at least the second semester. The program is primarily about leadership, so I don't think you can say you tried it out until you've had the opportunity to lead. Just my 2 cents.

If you can, try to give it the whole first year as a trial. My daughter was uncertain first semester, but felt more confident going in second semester. There were still some things she didn't like, but all in all, she decided the advantages outweighed the negatives.
Also, there are some summer programs/travel experiences you can apply for - CULP is only available for contracted cadets and the application happens early in the fall.

So I am an MS1 that received a 4 year scholarship. I have contracted and I have all of my gear. I absolutely hate rotc I just am not a military person at all and it is not for me. My parents were all over me about me doing it because they were both in the military. I do not want to do more than a semester at most because I dont want an F on my transcript. I don't want my parents to be ashamed of me. I know they wont listen to me if I say that I just hate it because its not for me. What are some good ways to show them its not for me? And also would it be bad if I talk to other cadets or cadre about me being 1 semester and done. Ive already contracted and I dont want to be screamed at everyday for the next 3 months.

I'm just going to accept your statements at face value and say if you were my son or daughter, I'd tell you to go talk to your cadre about the process for dis-enrolling from the program. If you were my son, who went to a reasonably priced college, I'd tell him to start looking for a job to supplement his income. My daughter chose a college that was $50K+ a year which is more money that we could ever budget for so I'd try to convince her to at least finish out the semester on scholarship before withdrawing from the school....and then start looking for a more reasonably priced university to attend going forward.

First, I'm not sure why you started a new thread, you asked the question regarding dropping ROTC on a previous thread and were given some good answers.

That being said, have you past the Drop/Add for classes deadline, if so have you past the deadline to drop classes and have a W (Withdrawl) on your transcript. If you have passed both of those deadlines then sticking with the classes for the first semester would be prudent.

As far as your parents are concerned, you're an adult now and can make decisions on your own, don't continue something that you're not remotely interested in. Now, the decisions you make will come with some consequences. College is not free, the scholarship you received would pay for a large chunk of your college costs, this will need to be a part of the conversation you have with your parents since the money will have to come from somewhere. If your parents were both military then they should understand that someone that does not want to be an officer in the Army will make a terrible officer and that would not be fair to anyone under your command. You need to have this heart to heart with your parents. When you have this conversation make sure you have a plan on how you will pay for the college costs the scholarship would have covered.

In regard to talking to your cadre or other cadets, there is no need to start that conversation just yet, give it a month or two and then see if your feelings have changed. If you still feel this way when you are getting closer to the end of the semester then talk to the cadre about how to drop the program, since it's your first year it won't be complicated. If by chance you are able to drop the ROTC classes without affecting your grades then you can start the process now, check with your advisor to see if you can drop the classes.

If my son was in your situation, I wouldn’t respond well to “I hate it”. I would want to hear a convincing argument on why you don’t have the required feeling of commitment to serve. It’s not fair to you or the military for that matter if you’re not going to be the best possible officer.

Good luck

If you were my son I would tell you to finish off the year so that you can make sure you really dont like it. Sometimes something new is hard the first couple of months becuase it is different. I am sure the newness of going to college doesnt help either. As a practical matter, I wouldnt mind if my son or daughter got their first year paid by Rotc.

What school are you at where you are getting screamed at every day. That is not normal. Might want to have a chat with the ROO or MS 1 instructor about your feelings.

Agree with @clarksonarmy. My DS has never been yelled at since his freshman year. He recalls one cadet was yelled at because he mishandled a live firearm at the range.

I would say that you are two weeks into the first semester and perhaps you don't like it so far, but you definitely have not given it a fair chance. Is there a possibility that you are rebelling against doing ROTC, just because it is what your parents want for you? This wouldn't be an atypical reaction for someone of your age and experience.

The scholarship is worth a good sum of money, so I would give it a fair chance before you decide to throw it away - one semester, at least - and a full year would be even better. My DD was not sure it was a fit for her, either, but she felt differently about ROTC from 1st semester to her 2nd semester. Does she love absolutely everything about ROTC? No, she does not. However, when all is said and done, she has weighed the pros and cons - and decided that the benefits, for her, outweigh the disadvantages. Fortunately, we have other means to pay for her college education, so my DD was able to think about her fitness for and value gained in being an ROTC cadet, without the money issue playing a big part in her decision.

That said, I agree with other posters' advice, that once you have given it a fair chance and are certain this is not right for you, then it would be best for you and the military to part ways. Best wishes!

First, this is essentially a duplicate thread so I merged them both here.

As input to the OP, you initially were excited about receiving the scholarship, and suddenly less than 1 week later it's absolutely not for you. I certainly don't understand a transformation like that and can't imagine what may have happened to so turn you off. I certainly would expect some yelling the first week or so and would take it as something to persevere through. This is especially true if you have an "active" freshman orientation. You should at least give it a semester and I would give it a year, to help alleviate the financial implications of funding college without the scholarship if nothing else. It's way too soon to consider dropping IMHO.

A little story. My son's NROTC unit had a 5 day NROTC freshman orientation before anyone else had reported for school. It was lead by former Marine Drill Instructors. Orientation was hard. They definitely got yelled at. You can see it here:
The PNS spoke with the parents and the new midshipmen before carting the new midshipmen away to start their orientation. He then spoke with just the parents as a group and took us through what the kids would be doing that week. He made a point of mentioning that one goal was to get every kid to question whether he or she belonged there. The midshipmen were not allowed to speak to one another for 3.5 days, and could only speak to cadre when spoken to. 2:00 minutes per day were allowed for personal hygiene, etc, etc. On the last full day of orientation they went to a lake for a cookout, swimming, sailing, and were finally allowed to speak to one another. The PNS was right. Each kid found out that everyone there had thought about leaving. DS considered it Tuesday night while on fire watch but decided he would stick it out and show them he could do it. However, of the 45 kids who started, 15 dropped that week. BTW, the cookout is where the new class of midshipmen bonded as a group.... just the result the PNS was after.

I suspect you may still be in the "do I belong here" stage. I don't know which group you belong to... those who drop, or those who persevere. I do know that participation in the program isn't going to kill you, and whichever group you are in you will learn lessons about yourself, while participating, that will be useful the rest of your life. I hope you are able to persevere and get to where you can see the beneficial aspects of all this.

Hope you decide to persevere.

EDIT: I bet you admire your parents. Care to guess where at least some of their good qualities come from?

I echo everyone above. Especially the financial part. This really is a legitimate element of this decision.

My addition to the discussion is this. College is SUCH a transitional year, whether in a military program or not. First time away from home. Living on your own. Choices. Decisions. ADULTING!! Your WHOLE world that you have known your WHOLE life is different. I have 3 of my own who have now gone on to college (or Not College, as in DS #3’s case). Freshman year anywhere is a time of transition. Being scared, or uncomfortable, or unsure is normal. For everyone. What I have told my kids when they have questioned or struggled is “this, too, shall pass”. As in tomorrow is a new day. New outlook. And probably a new perspective. In waiting it out...trudging forward with simply the next small task, they have gotten through their challenges without ‘giving up’ or ‘quitting’ (we all have to get through ‘stuff’. May not be ROTC, but daunting challenges are not unique to ROTC. And getting through ‘stuff’ is a life skill everyone needs...). And this especially true your freshman year! BC your whole life has been turned upside down. Sure it all sounds FUN (wahooooo...no more parents around. I can do whatever I want!!!), but the reality is that it ISNT all fun. You may be having an emotional reaction and not even know it. We don’t make our best decisions when emotions are involved.

So what I would advise my own child, is to NOT quit after only a few weeks. As already discussed. You really haven’t given yourself, school, fellow ROTC mates, your leadership a fair chance. Simply not enough time. I would advise to stick it out the first year. On your radar of life, a year won’t even register. IMO, it’s not even POSSIBLE to make an informed decision about this after only a few weeks.

For sure, if you eventually would decide it isn’t for you, then yes...time to go. I would not want someone who isn’t 3,000 pct sure in charge of my child. That’s not safe, smart, or fair to those you lead. But to question what in the world you are doing, at this point, is normal IMO. A normal part of adulting as we call it.