questions regarding the scholarship money

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biggoalssmallpockets

5-Year Member
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Dec 27, 2012
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I've already gotten into college, and I'm working on my ROTC application. I just had a questions on how it works once I've been accepted into ROTC:
What happens to my scholarship money if I drop out before I finish my first two years of college?
Obviously if I get in I don't plan to drop out, but I don't want to be in a financial bind if I decide that ROTC is not the right thing for me.
Thanks!
 
You didn't tell us which branch, but there are similar implications for each of the branches if you don't fulfill your part of the contract. Here is an oldie but a goodie regarding the Army ROTC contract.
http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-contract/
Bottom line is if you leave before the beginning of sophomore year, you won't owe anything. If you leave after that time the contract will tell you that you will either pay back the benefits you received, or you will serve as an enlisted soldier when you graduate. You will most likely be told to pay back what you received.
 
I would hurry and get that application done because you are running out of time. I am sure you will be boarded, but depending on the branch certain units might be filled before you are boarded. The importance of that is you may get the scholarship, but not necessarily to your top pick college. That would mean you would have to request the branch to transfer your scholarship to another college, and that doesn't occur usually until April/May. Meanwhile, at the same time the college is going to ask for deposits and the "YES, I will accept" box to be checked. AFROTC is the only branch that the scholarship is not tied to the college and the cadet/mid, so if you are doing AFROTC only ignore the prior statement, but still it is a limited pot of money and with every board, the pot is getting smaller.

The other factor is if there is a medical condition that pops up from your DoDMERB exam. You can still move forward as you await the waiver, but if they don't give you the waiver, the scholarship would be revoked. Thus, if the only reason you can afford to attend is the ROTC scholarship, financially you will be out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars.
 
You stated that you were accepted to college. Does that college offer the ROTC program that you are interested in ? If so, you should contact them as soon as possible and inform them of your intent to become a Cadet in their program in Fall 2013. Most likely they will be able to help you accomplish your goal.
 
I agree with Marist, but beware many dets go on skeleton crew while the college is closed down, (take leave), you might not be able to connect until they are settled back in after the 1st of the yr.

For 2018 candidates, be cognizant that the scholarships for ROTC will open up for you in the next few months. You will see come late July/early August many posters will say they have completed their applications. The way the system works is it is a queue system, those submitted before you will be boarded before you. If the no later date is I.E. Sept 1st for a Sept 15th board, and you submit 8/31, everyone who submitted prior to you will be boarded before you. Therefore, the pile keeps getting bigger and bigger the longer you wait.

I don't know about AROTC and NROTC, but AFROTC does not take your sr. yr into account, so it is to your advantage to submit during the summer, UNLESS, you want to take another SAT/ACT. Again, I don't know about the others, but AFROTC does not superscore these tests, thus if you are waiting to Sept/Oct. make sure you study. AFROTC's 1st board is not until Dec. They only meet 3 days, 8 hrs a day. You can see that if you wait until that close date for the Dec. board, in all likelihood you will not be boarded because they have been getting applications for @4 mos. The pile is going to be high. You may not find out until several boards later.

~~~ The AFROTC HQ will send you confirmation if you were boarded or not. It usually comes out in 1 of 4 way the same time results are released via snail mail...or that was how they did it in yrs past.
~ Congrats we would like to offer you a ....
~ At this time we are unable to...you will be re-boarded
~ Received your info, but were not reviewed during this board you will meet the next available board...key word available, not next. In other words, when your name comes up in the queue.
~ At thus time we are unable to offer you a scholarship.

AFROTC has over 5K qualified applicants for @900 slots, and only 4 boards.That is a lot of packets to go through, not including the re-boarding.

They have it easy compared to their sister services where they also must decide which college to award to for every applicant. It is a giant jig saw puzzle that they create every yr., hence why re-boarding many times, as heart wrenching as it may appear at 1st is a great sign that good things may come to pass in the end.

This is a marathon, not a sprint.
 
OBTW, biggoals, you do realize that even if you drop out after freshman yr and owe nothing to the military, it still leaves you in a financial bind regarding how to find the money to pay for college.

The hardest part for kids that take this path based on financial need is they can get stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They need ROTC to pay for college because they love the school and the program, yet they don't want to be in the military (rock), they stay in the program to pay for college and they will owe many yrs upon graduation/commissioning serving at the needs of the military whenever they beckon (hard place). It is very hard emotionally to leave a school after freshman yr when you are doing academically well, and have made friendships, but can't afford to stay because you cut the strings to the monetary source.

Colleges typically have risen 10% per yr in costs, so you need to place that into your financial equation too.

DS1 commissioned last May. He entered in 08 and it was 28K, and left in 12 and it was between 41-43K. 4 yrs and it went up 50% from the day he started. He was an OOS student at the flagship public college.
~~~ Meanwhile as an AFROTC cadet, the amt they pay for tuition never increased over the 4 yrs., to this day for Type 2 or 7 it is still locked at 18K. That is now 6 yrs.

DD is not ROTC, but attends IS at VT. She entered in 10 and her bill was 15.8K, it is now as a jr. IS 19.6K. 20% increase, and I am sure by next yr, it will be 22K+. That will be a 35% difference over 4 yrs.

I only state that because when DS1 got his scholarship, we were yippy skippy, and assumed between his merit and AFROTC scholarship we were not paying a dime. We didn't look into the details.
For example:
~~~ College only guaranteed 2 yrs on campus. He moved off campus his jr yr. Key words in his scholarships were UP TO. AFROTC says UP TO 18K for tuition. Merit stated X amt of $$$, it was not a check, and if he didn't use it all, to them all the better. It could be used for R&B or tuition. It was divided over 4 yrs.
~~~ Our kids tuition as you can see has increased dramatically over 4 yrs. When he entered his fresh yr. his AFROTC scholarship covered the tuition, merit paid R & B; no out of pocket. By his sophomore yr., with the university increases we were out of pocket several thousand to cover R&B. By his sr, yr. it was much more than we could have ever imagined out of pocket.

Just food for thought when you select a college. I don't know if A/NROTC operates the same way as AFROTC, regarding increasing with tuition increases, but if they don't, than be prepared to revisit how you will pay for college as a jr or sr. without finding more FA.

The Devil is in the details.
 
Pima said:
I don't know about AROTC and NROTC, but AFROTC does not take your sr. yr into account, so it is to your advantage to submit during the summer, UNLESS, you want to take another SAT/ACT.
Click to expand...

Please forgive me if I am wrong, but what's wrong with submitting over the summer, while continuing to take standardized tests in Oct/Nov?

AFROTC allows you to submit all your documentation, but still allows for you to update and upload new scores AFTER submission of the application.

... unless we are talking about two different things.
 
There is nothing wrong with that.

However, what I was speaking of was regarding grades and ECs. AFROTC only takes into account what you have accomplished through the end of your jr. yr. Hence, why it is to your advantage to submit early, also why I said UNLESS.

Additionally, AFROTC does not superscore, only does best sitting. Most people after taking the SAT 2-3 times will not see a dramatic best sitting increase. If you take every SAT/ACT in the spring of your jr. yr., it is highly unlikely that come Sept., when you have been out of school for 3-4 months you are going to see a huge bump UNLESS you have been prepping all summer.

AFROTC 1st board is Dec., unlike NROTC which starts boarding in Aug/Sept or AROTC. Thus, again the UNLESS comment because you could take the Sept SAT. and still meet the 1st board.

I have stated to many posters keep taking that SAT/ACT even if it means spring sr. yr. because for SFT in AFROTC that is part of the score. Scholarship recipients usually have a 1250+ best sitting...not superscore, and they are going to be your competition for SFT. If you only have a 1200...keep taking it, not only for the scholarship, but SFT.

NO SFT = NO POC NO POC = NO Commissioning.

I would love to say a 1200 is safe, but realistically it isn't. You need solid 600's on each to feel the slightest bit safe. To feel really safe you want high 600's and low 700's. AGAIN BEST SITTING....1 shot test. Not 1 from 1 test and 1 from another. The avg Type 1 score is 1300+. The avg Type 2 is close to 1300. The avg Type 7 is 1260.
 
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