4 year ROTC Scholarship- Army vs Navy

glen said:
So congratulations to your student for their hard work. I am more familiar with AROTC than NROTC. The NROTC requires certain math courses. If your student is not good in math, then a consideration is whether these courses will lower their gpa, and take time away from other studies in the chosen major. If the scholarship is suspended or lost - or student decides the military is not a good fit and drops ROTC - can you afford the college tuition? Ultimately, what does the student want to do for a career? The Navy has certain occupations that fiit well into technical majors and careers post Navy service. The Army does too - and maybe even broader areas. Both services have major initiatives in cyber security - a great field to prepare for a law career as I guarantee you lawyers will spend countless hours trying to digest cyber security issues for clients - I did when I practiced law.

Just a caution about law school after college. Deferrments to attend law school are few and far between - they are granted - but not many. The student may have to spend time in service and attend law school after 4 years of service. Somewhere on these forums is posted a chart from the various services showing the number of commisioned officers granted deferment to attend graduate or law school - very few. It can be done, but credentials need to be super good.
As for GI benefits after service. Recognize that there are minimum service periods needed to qualify for full GI Bill benefits like full tuition - and the minimum service obligation required for 2,3,4 year ROTC scholarships does not count. So to receive full tuition benefit for law school - need 36 months duty after completing the obligated tour of duty, etc. See: https://nvf.org/post-911-gi-bill/#:~:text=If you are an officer,qualify for the full benefits.
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Completely did not realize this - thank you for GI bill/tuition information. I really appreciate your response.
 
I will add about the Navy (jumping on soapbox). Ensure its something you want and not just doing it for the ROTC. Navy just as Army life I image is hard.

I can only speak to the Navy, but I was forward deployed on an Aegis Cruiser for 3 years. I was onboard for 36 months. I think we were in port 12 months total. Ships are made to go places and show force. Please dont go into the Navy and think you will be constantly be on Shore duty.

The whole we visit different countries and see other places is fine. But its like traveling with Mom and Dad everywhere. ;-)

I would weigh both options and see which one aligns better. (/soapbox)
 
I sent this in a PM to an applicant's parent who was inquiring about law school and thought it might shed some additional light on opportunities in all branches of service (the :

Most JAGs come into the services straight out of law school with no prior service and a lot of college debt. If they stay 10 years in public service of any kind, local/city, state, or federal, incl. military, and pay their monthly minimum, the balance of the student loan debt gets forgiven at the 10-year mark.

The absolute best program is the funded legal education program (FLEP), which each service has, and will pay the selected (up to 10 per year) service members their normal military pay/entitlements while also paying their entire cost of education. There are other programs as well, such as the excess leave program (ELP). My former boss was selected for FLEP at Univ of Houston but was also admitted to Michigan Law. When the USAF wouldn't pay the additional cost for Michigan (or even pay what they would have paid at Houston), he opted for ELP to attend Michigan.

Here is a link for a recent USAF article discussing it. https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Dis...rams-funded-legal-education-program-excess-l/

Army here: https://www.goarmy.com/jag/funded-legal-education-program.html

Navy: I couldn't easily find a relevant link, but they have it

Comparison: https://www.uwyo.edu/law/career-services/students/jag-comparison-sheet.fa2019.pdf

The best JAGs have prior service because they have a big picture view and, often, the operational experience most JAGs will never get except through osmosis.
 
TBVADAD said:
I will add about the Navy (jumping on soapbox). Ensure its something you want and not just doing it for the ROTC. Navy just as Army life I image is hard.

I can only speak to the Navy, but I was forward deployed on an Aegis Cruiser for 3 years. I was onboard for 36 months. I think we were in port 12 months total. Ships are made to go places and show force. Please dont go into the Navy and think you will be constantly be on Shore duty.

The whole we visit different countries and see other places is fine. But its like traveling with Mom and Dad everywhere. ;-)

I would weigh both options and see which one aligns better. (/soapbox)
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There are several jobs that are safe bets for shore duty. Think P-8 fliers, sever Intel/cyber billets, etc.
 
I think the option of branching Reserves or National Guard is a major plus for the Army. What if you get a dream job offer your senior year or meet someone and get married?
Maybe you might want to attended graduate school right away.
You can branch reserves and do both simultaneously.

That being said ships are pretty cool.
 
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