oldsalt said:
The application asks what your status will be when you start school.
There's the answer. You are not contracted until AFTER the start of school, it maybe 2,3, 7 or more days later, but when you start, even with a scholarship in hand you are not contracted.
DS went to SFT as an AFROTC cadet, which is akin to a Navy cruise, or LDAC. For those 4 weeks he was on orders. He had to sign up for life insurance, medically covered, received per diem, was on orders from the time the wheels left the runway on his way to Maxwell, to the time the wheels hit back down on the runway from Maxwell. Once back he was an AFROTC cadet. Health insurance was gone, priority on space A was gone, basically he was under AFROTC HQ's world again, not ADAF world.
That being said, when it is comes to the common ap, what I think they are looking at when that question is asked is from a Financial Aid package, i.e. GI Bill, TA, or other programs for soldiers that have or are serving currently.
Your link won't allow access, but just from what you have stated, the fact still doesn't change, until they officially contract they are not anything. The contracting can happen weeks after school starts, and the common ap. stated when you start. I get the fear of it coming back to bite your child, but I think you are looking too deep into this issue. When he starts the 1st day of college, he is not contracted, end of subject, period, dot. He owes not a penny to the military, nor one minute of his life. Common ap is looking to see if they owe a penny or a minute.
The one scenario I think that would be a player is someone like Ohio's DS. I am not an AROTC parent, so I don't want to be flamed for my understanding of SMP.
The way I understand it is, these cadets are tied to the AD world as cadets. They go to basic training prior to the start of the yr. That would mean when you stated:
The application asks what your status will be when you start school.
They would say Guard or Reserves. Again, I will leave it to Ohio or Marist, Clarkson, or anyone else to explain SMP. That is just my guess why it is on the common ap.