Comm College Transfer Credit Option to stay on-track for NROTC *Around Cortramid and Summer obligations

Herman_Snerd

Herman_Snerd

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I see some threads about keeping on-track to graduate and commission. Just wanted to point out that, to stay on-track or even finish early, some NROTC / ROTC students may benefit from exploring taking winter or summer courses at a local community college, and transferring those credits back to their school. This could be done for example in a 3 week Winter course or sessions of summer courses that start in Mid-May and early July, that run for either 6 or 10 weeks at some schools. These can be done around Cortramid or other summer commitments. Especially for students who are paying their own way for any combination of tuition, room, board, fees (some programmers and yes some scholarship winners do pay for room and board for example), or those from a school that will not pay more than 8 semesters (check with the school), it may be a MUCH cheaper option to take courses while on-break from fall or spring semesters to stay on-track, or to finish early if you prefer.

You may have to pay for these courses out of pocket, but potentially that may be a much cheaper option than tuition/ room/ board for an extra semester or year. If you can negotiate the school covering an additional semester, and don't mind starting your commission later, then great.

Another benefit on this is if you have difficult courses like for Calc/ Physics remaining, you could also take these in a more focused window when you're not "distracted" by all of the wonderful activities of college, classes, and ROTC training.
 
A word of caution about this though. Check with your unit and school prior to doing this to be sure the courses will be accepted. My DS have several students planning to do this, but were told by unit staff that the calculus and physics courses had to be taken at the university where the unit is located (or cross town affiliate) to be accepted. I believe the reasoning was to control the quality of the course instruction.
 
I’ll echo @ProudDad17 ‘s comments! Same thing happened to some of my friends. I would HIGHLY recommending doing this if you are a Tier 1/2 major and have a packed schedule. Many of my friends who were engineers did this with their humanities and social science requirements allowing them to have a more manageable schedule throughout the school year. Even 1-2 classes help a lot
 
DD is in Middle College currently so she will have around 30 CC credits at the time of HS graduation. She's going to try for Air Force or Navy ROTC scholarship and will start college in either sophmore or junior status depending on how many credits she ends up with. Will that be ok for these scholarships? She would miss the first year or two of ROTC instruction as well as the Navy summer tour if she gets the Navy ROTC scholarship. What happens in these cases?
 
elwha22 said:
DD is in Middle College currently so she will have around 30 CC credits at the time of HS graduation. She's going to try for Air Force or Navy ROTC scholarship and will start college in either sophmore or junior status depending on how many credits she ends up with. Will that be ok for these scholarships? She would miss the first year or two of ROTC instruction as well as the Navy summer tour if she gets the Navy ROTC scholarship. What happens in these cases?
Click to expand...

Please see requirements at following link:

30 semester hours is right at limit to compete for national scholarship.
 
Also, keep in mind that, just because she earned that many CC credits in high school, whatever university she attends may not accept them all for credit. So if she earns too many credits she may not be eligible for the scholarship and may also not be able to use all of them. Many students who enter the ROTC program with college credits, either from AP or CC still take 4 years to graduate, especially if they have engineering or other technical majors. Those credits can help lighten the load over the 4 years or allow the student to pursue a minor or other classes that interest therm. There's plenty of time to go out and be an "adult". Enjoy these college years.
 
I would also say that both of these programs expect you to be in college for 4 years as that's how their training program, revolving around leadership billets, is structured. I've known someone who completed NROTC over 3.5 years, including a semester abroad, by doubling up and he was a truly outstanding midshipman. One shouldn't count on that though as permission needs to be obtained.

Summer training is generally required of contracted cadets and midshipmen. By that I mean that you might be excused one summer but you better have a very good reason and first obtain permission. For NROTC, the summer training between junior and senior year is absolutely required. I do know of one midshipmen who was excused from Marine OCS due to an injury, but he had to complete it after graduation and did not commission until he had completed it.

Bottom line, I would not expect someone to get through the program in less than 4 years. One would be denying themselves of leadership opportunities and training by doing it in less time. Doing the program in fewer than 4 years can be done but it's the exception and not the rule.
 
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Go Dores! said:
Please see requirements at following link:

30 semester hours is right at limit to compete for national scholarship.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Does the fact that its concurrent enrollment with HS make any difference? Also, is the National Scholarship the only type there is? Or is there something else also? That link said to check with the Naval officer on other opportunities. Is it also the same for Air Force ROTC? I couldn't find anything on their website about it.
 
If the college accepts all the credits then it's no different from credits earned in high school. I believe the intent of the 30 credit limit is that they expect you to spend 4 years in college. As I said earlier youu might be able to do it in 3.5 or less but that's definitely an exception. There is really only one Navy National Scholarship. What changes is the way you apply for them. As a freshman you can reapply for the high school scholarship. As a sophomore in NROTC you can apply for the scholarship and only be competing against other midshipmen at that point. There are also other paths to a commission including OCC and for Marine Options, PLC.

I'm not sure what you're asking about for Air Force.... is what the same? I don't think there is any scholarship application process initiated by the college student for Air Force, but I would defer to someone more experienced with it in any case. I believe scholarships earned in college for Air Force and Army are awarded by the unit's cadre based on performance as a cadet.
 
elwha22 said:
Thanks. Does the fact that its concurrent enrollment with HS make any difference? Also, is the National Scholarship the only type there is? Or is there something else also? That link said to check with the Naval officer on other opportunities. Is it also the same for Air Force ROTC? I couldn't find anything on their website about it.
Click to expand...
Yes, it does make a difference. As the website mentions, and in terms of applicant eligibility, the college credit does not count until HS graduation and a term of college complete.

As @kinnem and @ProudDad17 have highlighted, this is a 4 year program. If DD applies and receives the scholarship, you can’t just decide that she’ll enter as a sophomore or junior. Program doesn’t work that way.
 
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