Desirable Majors?

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Mom79Texas

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Does anyone know if your major selection helps your chances of getting the army ROTC scholarship? If so, is nursing in demand?
 
The Army doesn’t really care about your major choice. The Navy, yes.
 
For the USAF side, many more technical-degree (i.e. STEM) scholarships are given out than non-technical.
 
NROTC/Marine Option is similar to Army in that they don't care about your major, only that you love PT. (However, the Marine Corps relies on the Navy for nursing and medical).
 
AROTD DAD, Please forgive my ignorance, but I have a question regarding AROTC not caring what the major is. My DS has received a 3 year AROTC scholarship, majoring in civ. engineering. He received a TWE last May from USMA, (but is reapplying currently), but had 2 Noms, and a great GPA in HS. He's got a current 4.0, and his AROTC advisor mentioned to him that it really doesn't matter his major, as long as his GPA is great. Wouldn't it matter for re applying for USMA, and civilian life later on down the road?
 
USMA cares more that you took a rigorous plebe-like schedule — and excelled — than what your major is. As for what your major is once the active-duty commitment has been fulfilled, it doesn’t matter to most employers. The main attraction of SA grads is that they’ve been leaders and managers in high-stakes situations, with responsibility for personnel and material that far exceeds that of most other young college graduates. If the SA grad is absolutely bent on a certain profession in civilian life, and that profession requires a certain undergraduate career, then the candidate/cadet can decide accordingly.
 
Thanks for that insight. I appreciate your clarification. Do you believe the same attraction from employers is true of AROTC grads as well?
 
I do believe it to be very true. Remember that the real attraction of former active-duty officers is not what they majored in — whether coming through SA or ROTC or OCS — but the fact that they were leaders and managers at a much higher level than others their age.
 
+2 Midcake. It is extremely difficult for companies to find people who can manage well. Nothing is more difficult than getting a large group of people to do things they're not inclined to do.
This skill is much rarer than technical proficiency or analytical smarts.
 
The only thing I would add that in the tech sector, having a tech degree is needed even as a Junior Military Officer for certain roles when leaving the military for a civilian career. General leadership and management roles not as much, but technical leaders usually need tech degrees. As an engineering officer, I had more opportunities than some other JMOs because I had a tech degree including a professional engineering certification and advanced tech degree...I had offers from manufacturing, tech companies, as well as consulting and general management.

It really depends on what opportunities your DS would want in the civilian world which is hard to predict right now....so if he wants to pursue civil engineering, my belief is that it opens more doors than not pursuing a technical degree and opens more doors regarding careers in the Army - he can branch Engineering as well as combat arms or something else depending on what he wants to do. I've never heard from anyone that having an engineering degree hurt their career.
 
Just building on the theme of looking ahead on military and civilian careers, I'll share that the military will slot you where the military needs you, not necessarily where you want to branch. So if you for example want to be in a specialized field for the military and your career, I wouldn't count on getting that training from the military - great if it happens but be aware it may not. My DS wants to be a commercial pilot for example and it's not a guarantee that the military will train those like him how to fly. He'll pursue his licenses in school (not covered by ROTC) so that he will still have his military career (hopefully aviation, but maybe not) , and civilian career beyond of his choice. So each candidate should consider that as they decide what major to pursue in college. Exception on the "guarantee" branching rule as I understand it is branching aviation in the Marines. There you can lock it in as long as you qualify, and fyi likely will be flying rotary wing craft (Helicopters).
 
Mom79Texas said:
Does anyone know if your major selection helps your chances of getting the army ROTC scholarship? If so, is nursing in demand?
Click to expand...
Remember the scholarship for nursing is a different “bucket” for money than everything else. For Army, if you are granted a scholarship and selected nursing as a major, that is a nursing scholarship and you will be expected to become a nurse. If you change your major, you in effect lose your scholarship. (It is possible to switch, but not guaranteed and there are consequences) If you have any other major for Army, and want to change, it usually isn’t an issue, as all other majors are “line scholarships”, you still need approval, but the scholarship itself doesn’t need to be transferred like if you leave nursing you have to either have your nursing scholarship moved to a line scholarship or try to get a line scholarship. If you don’t want to be a nurse, don’t list nursing.
 
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