I am currently a rising sophomore at a private university and was thinking about joining the AROTC program that is offered at my school. I was wondering how competitive receiving the 3-year scholarship is and the requirements needed to receive such a scholarship. I have gotten in touch with the Army National Guard Recruiting Officer and have set up an appointment with him, but would like to have an idea of what ROTC and its scholarships are like. I am not extremely familiar with how things work with ROTC programs so any information will be greatly helpful!
3-Year Scholarship
- Thread starter grk
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You don't say what branch ROTC. If you are speaking of Army ROTC, I can tell you that my son joined Army ROTC without a contract or scholarship at a large public university with a medium sized Battalion as a freshman and was successful at earning a 3 year campus based AROTC scholarship by his third month in the program. The following January, they added another semester making it a total of 3 1/2 years.
Was it easy? Not exactly. He did keep a B+ average while carrying 20 semester units, plus he was one of the top cadets in the battalion on two of the three APFT metrics (lousy runner) and volunteered for lots of EC's. His cadre looked at effort, attitude, grades, SAT/ACT, and APFT. It may have helped that he had already passed DoDMERB when he originally applied to the SA's.
The bottom line though is that if you are seeking to join ROTC just for the money, it is NOT a good idea. The work can be a high stress grind on top of a lot of time demands. This combined with the service commitment will challenge the majority of students who seek strictly a financial benefit. My son went in to the program thinking that it would be relatively easy. There were times on LDX when he was lugging a full ruck plus an M-240 with ammo uphill that he was driven close to tears. He nonetheless pushed through it and he is glad that he did.
People who truly thrive in ROTC are those who are determined to serve their country first and the money is just a bonus.
It doesn't hurt to enroll in the program, and get a feel for it. If you are enrolling as a sophomore you will likely need to attend CIET in the summer to get caught up on what you missed in your freshman year. AROTC offers campus based 2, and 3 year scholarships. The first two years is called the Basic course. Anyone can enroll in the Basic course. the Junior and Senior years is considered the Advanced course which you must qualify for. Also there is no military obligation until you are offered a scholarship or contract.
Good luck!
Here is an excellent link to one campus based AROTC website from UC Davis. It answers a lot of FAQ's about enrolling without a contract or scholarship:
http://milsci.ucdavis.edu/eligability_faq/index.html
Was it easy? Not exactly. He did keep a B+ average while carrying 20 semester units, plus he was one of the top cadets in the battalion on two of the three APFT metrics (lousy runner) and volunteered for lots of EC's. His cadre looked at effort, attitude, grades, SAT/ACT, and APFT. It may have helped that he had already passed DoDMERB when he originally applied to the SA's.
The bottom line though is that if you are seeking to join ROTC just for the money, it is NOT a good idea. The work can be a high stress grind on top of a lot of time demands. This combined with the service commitment will challenge the majority of students who seek strictly a financial benefit. My son went in to the program thinking that it would be relatively easy. There were times on LDX when he was lugging a full ruck plus an M-240 with ammo uphill that he was driven close to tears. He nonetheless pushed through it and he is glad that he did.
People who truly thrive in ROTC are those who are determined to serve their country first and the money is just a bonus.
It doesn't hurt to enroll in the program, and get a feel for it. If you are enrolling as a sophomore you will likely need to attend CIET in the summer to get caught up on what you missed in your freshman year. AROTC offers campus based 2, and 3 year scholarships. The first two years is called the Basic course. Anyone can enroll in the Basic course. the Junior and Senior years is considered the Advanced course which you must qualify for. Also there is no military obligation until you are offered a scholarship or contract.
Good luck!
Here is an excellent link to one campus based AROTC website from UC Davis. It answers a lot of FAQ's about enrolling without a contract or scholarship:
http://milsci.ucdavis.edu/eligability_faq/index.html
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My son won a 3yr advance designee scholarship from the second board.
His stats were not great but pretty good across the spectrum.
His first choice school was an SMC, he was awarded to his first choice and his in-state school.
He is going to the SMC.
His freshman year is considered a "validation " year. He needs to obtain a minimum GPA and pass the PFT.
His AROTC unit will consider him a scholarship cadet unless he proves otherwise.
His stats were not great but pretty good across the spectrum.
His first choice school was an SMC, he was awarded to his first choice and his in-state school.
He is going to the SMC.
His freshman year is considered a "validation " year. He needs to obtain a minimum GPA and pass the PFT.
His AROTC unit will consider him a scholarship cadet unless he proves otherwise.
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Do not sign anything at the recruiter's until you've spoken to the AROTC cadre at your campus. The recruiter's goal is to recruit National Guard enlisted personnel. They have a quota to meet. You may or may not get the straight skinny from them.
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If your coming to my school we aren't even going to talk about scholarship until you are signed up for the class, showing up regularly, and seem like you are more viable than any of the Cadets I already have in the program. That doesn't mean you don't have a chance, just means don't expect to be considered until you show us what you've got, and measure yourself against the other Cadets waiting in line.