Advice on accepting Army ROTC scholarship

[Currahee17]

This is my first post on this forum. I greatly appreciate its existence and the ability to access such great information so quickly. My family is truly in a quandary over how to handle the ROTC acceptance letter. My son is 3q'd with 3 nominations to West Point and we are in the midst of the waiting game with many others. He has been awarded an Army ROTC scholarship to his Plan B school; however, in the interim between applications and interviews, the Plan B school offered him a full four year academic scholarship. My question, and please forgive me if this is stupid but we have NO military experience in our family, is why would he accept the ROTC scholarship if he already has a no-strings full ride to that same school? He doesn't want to take money from someone else who needs it and feels that to accept would be dishonorable. He's hopeful for West Point (or civil prep) with a full ride to Plan B. Can someone tell me why he would/should accept the ROTC by the deadline in February? Thank you for your time!

 

[2018Class]

I am new to the boards, so am not very knowledgeable. However, I have read that some scholarships can be used to pay for room and board if they are not used for tuition. I think that the scholarship is taxable if used for room and board. I am sure that someone who knows about these things will be able to explain.

 

[Trackswagggg]

This is my first post on this forum. I greatly appreciate its existence and the ability to access such great information so quickly. My family is truly in a quandary over how to handle the ROTC acceptance letter. My son is 3q'd with 3 nominations to West Point and we are in the midst of the waiting game with many others. He has been awarded an Army ROTC scholarship to his Plan B school; however, in the interim between applications and interviews, the Plan B school offered him a full four year academic scholarship. My question, and please forgive me if this is stupid but we have NO military experience in our family, is why would he accept the ROTC scholarship if he already has a no-strings full ride to that same school? He doesn't want to take money from someone else who needs it and feels that to accept would be dishonorable. He's hopeful for West Point (or civil prep) with a full ride to Plan B. Can someone tell me why he would/should accept the ROTC by the deadline in February? Thank you for your time!

The Army ROTC scholarship can be used for room and board also. But it is also a great opportunity because if he definitely wants to be an Army officer, he is guaranteed a job as an officer in the Army if he keeps qualified (GPA-2.5, PFT). I say he should use it for room in board! He deserves it! Y'all wouldn't have to pay anything! It would also pay for books and fees. The Army ROTC scholarship isn't just a scholarship, it's an awesome opportunity. Also, it isn't necessarily set in stone until sophomore year. You don't sign a legally-binding contract till later in the game. I know a lot of friends who signed the notification of intent and are still waiting on Westpoint, AFA, etc. Good luck!


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[Currahee17]

Thanks so much for the information! Great things to know and consider! This path can be overwhelming and I appreciate your help!!

 

[Pima]

The question here is what they consider a full ride. To me a full ride includes everything, tuition, and R & B, it not just tuition.

JMPO, I would call the FA office tomorrow.
~~~ Our DS was what some here are calling full ride (AFROTC). They paid his tuition, nothing else. AFROTC pays only tuition. His merit scholarship picked up the R & B cost. I doubt they would have a problem if it is a true full ride by just picking up what AROTC won't pay for I.e. R&B or tuition.
~~~~ Honestly, can you see them saying:
We offered 45k per year, but you would like us to just pay R & B at 22k, and let the Army pick up the remainder? Sorry, either take the 45k or nothing. If that is their answer you have to ask bigger questions, especially when most colleges increase by 10% per annum.

More questions regarding the details.
1. Is full ride to you a dollar sign?
~~~~ I.E. offered 160k. Currently it is 39,800 to attend. The problem is come next year if they do just 5% increase it would be over 41k, multiply by 4 with no increases, and you are out of pocket. Add in 10% 2018 it could cost 59k a year....no longer a full ride. That last year could become tens of thousands of dollars. Now add in the monthly stipend and book allowances, and it is even more. I don't know the exact stipend for AROT, but assume it is 250 fresh, 300, soph, etc, plus 900 a year for book allowance. The total for ROTC with stipend and books tallies into tens of thousands. None of this is taxable. R&B ROTC is.

Again they may say, we will give up to 160. AROTC scholarship will be paid first, we will pick up the remainder. The idea/assumption you can only take one or the other and not use both can be a huge mistake. They may say it is 100% full ride regardless of tuition inflation.

2. Is it all merit, or also other things.
~~~~ IOWs is part of the package work/study? If so that might be hard to juggle as a ROTC cadet.

That being said there are reasons to opt AROTC if full ride to you means just one portion of the bill.
1. Our DS's merit scholarship was required to be at least 3.20 every semester, it was not cum. He got a 3.194 one semester and was placed on warning, because when they rounded it, it was 3.19. His cgpa was 3.43, but that didn't matter to them. He was top 7% of his class, had every AP he could take, dual enrollment, 1490 SAT M/V, 33 or 34 ACT, best sitting not super scored...iows not too shabby for hs)
~ ROTC is 2.5 cgpa.

Just like the ROTC scholarship, look at the merit scholarship fine print. The weight on our DS's academic shoulders was never ROTC academic fine print if he wanted to stay, it was the college scholarship picking up what AFROTC did not,

2. ROTC pays a monthly stipend and gives a book allowance. Most college merits do not.
~ If this is just a tuition only scholarship, than AROTC could be beneficial in more than just paying for r & b.

3. Some large universities do not guarantee housing for four years. Is there any special housing designation for either scholarship or ROTC students.
~ I.E, At our DS's school, the merit/scholars program were guaranteed housing for at least 2 years depending on the scholars program, and up to 4. The dorms were created for each program. ROTC cadets were only guaranteed one year, and scattered across the campus.
~~~~ Our DDs school guarantees on campus housing for ROTC {SMC}, but not necessarily merit recipients after the 1st year.

In the end it is the fine print.

Call the FA office ASAP.

 

[EDelahanty]

Congratulations to your son on his AROTC scholarship offer (3 years or 4?). In addition to the valid points made by the above posters, here is another thing to consider: If he does not accept the ROTC scholarship, it is possible he will not have the opportunity to contract until his MS3 (junior) year. True, he could still participate in the Basic Course (the first two years) and would not yet incur the obligation to serve, but by not contracting he could miss out on opportunities to participate in summer training such as CULP, Airborne School, etc. While the AROTC scholarship offer indicates the Army favorably views him as a potential officer, there is no guarantee that he would be offered a contract in the future.

Finally (and I am not up to speed on this) Cadet Command has been planning a new summer training program for cadets (following the MS1 year?). I don't know the status of this or whether being contracted would have any bearing on participation.

 

[USN16x]

Does anyone know how to use a merit scholarship for R&B? I was awarded a 4-year arotc scholarship and would like to use the merit that I earned for R&B. I called the school and talked to admissions, but they said I could not use my merit for room and board. Does anyone know how I can get around this?

 

[txpotato]

If your merit scholarship stipulates that it can only be used for tuition, then you could use your ROTC scholarship to cover R&B (assuming AROTC).

My experience is that policies vary from school to school. The University of Alabama, for example, puts all the scholarship money (merit, ROTC, etc) into one big pot and draws down from there. Our sons are able to have tuition and R&B paid for.

 

[Pima]

I agree with txpotato, it appears that the stipulation for your merit is to tuition only which means you will need to use the AROTC scholarship for R & B.

 

[Currahee17]

Thanks again for all of the great information and points to consider. I will definitely call the FA office, as my reading of the scholarship offer is for all tuition and student costs for four years as long as a certain GPA is maintained. There are only about fifteen of these awarded per year from my understanding and we've been told they are all inclusive. I guess my thought as a mom was if he already had a scholarship that covered everything, why would he agree to something that would bind him for 8 years, but a great point has been raised about what you can and can't participate in if you aren't on scholarship. I will call the FA. Thanks again!