ROTC Competition at schoolsD

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NJ_Dad

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A few questions.
While my DS works his WP process this year as he is a junior he is looking at schools from DC up threw Mass and west to PA. Can competition at a school have a baring on ROTC scholarships. Example He is interested in Catholic Univ in DC but their detachment is I believe GW or Georgetown and at Univ Delaware it is directly on UD campus. Does that help or hurt in the end.

Second question is a friend of his who is graduating HS this year was told by a NJ college ROTC that he would put into the reserves vs active army branch. And truth to an action like that
 
I won't touch the first question. If I understand the second question someone told a friend that doing NROTC would put him into the reserves vs active duty army. In general, the answer is no. One can still go active duty doing ROTC. However, there is a national Order of Merit List for all commissioning ROTC cadets. Everyone above a certain number on the OML will be offered active duty and everyone below will go reserves. The number varies each year depending on the needs of the army. Hope this is clear.
 
NJ_Dad said:
A few questions.
While my DS works his WP process this year as he is a junior he is looking at schools from DC up threw Mass and west to PA. Can competition at a school have a baring on ROTC scholarships. Example He is interested in Catholic Univ in DC but their detachment is I believe GW or Georgetown and at Univ Delaware it is directly on UD campus. Does that help or hurt in the end.

Second question is a friend of his who is graduating HS this year was told by a NJ college ROTC that he would put into the reserves vs active army branch. And truth to an action like that
Click to expand...
I believe each school, depending on the year and major has so many slots to fill with scholarship winners. You might not know how many slots they have in advance, so I would concentrate on finding the best school to fit your son. That being said, our daughter knew she did not want to travel to another school for ROTC so she only choose schools that had ROTC directly on campus. Also, every school she looked at we made it a point to meet the ROO.
 
To answer your first questions, preference of school does not affect the ability to get a scholarship. Each applicant is given a board score based on their application and interview, and those above a certain cut line get a scholarship, those below do not.

Same goes with getting Active Duty, their is a national OML they are placed on based on their evaluations.
 
Off topic, but on topic. Think long and hard about how he places these schools. You speak of Catholic University. In the DC area commuting to the host college can be a big factor. It might be only 15 miles away, but at 6 a.m., that commute can be 45 minutes plus. That means if PT is 6 a.m. he may have to be up at 4:45. (30 mins to get ready, and 45 mins to get there)
~ People here in No VA are on the road at 6 a.m. The traffic is so bad that they have their own version of legalized hitch hiking (SLUGGING).

On top of that he needs to think about his class schedule. If he gets done at 7, and gets back to the dorm at 8. He can't do the 8 or 9 a.m. class because he will want to shower and change. He will want that float time to make sure.

Most dets will have a system where cadets can travel together, so it can cut commute time, but impo he should place that into his equation when he lists his schools.
 
+1 Pima....
Some cadets/mids do fine with a cross town ROTC host. It all depends on how robust the satellite program is. Many satellite programs maintain their own local morning PT and meetings. The use of technology makes access to the cadre easier as well. But not all satellites have this, and driving to the host three times a week can get very old, very fast.

Clearly, there is an inherent advantage of having your cadre and administrative resources right there on campus. My DS has benefited from more face time with his cadre. This is not an insignificant difference.

Talk to the cadre and speak with cadets from both types of programs before making a decision.
 
AROTC-dad said:
+1 Pima....
Some cadets/mids do fine with a cross town ROTC host. It all depends on how robust the satellite program is. Many satellite programs maintain their own local morning PT and meetings. The use of technology makes access to the cadre easier as well. But not all satellites have this, and driving to the host three times a week can get very old, very fast.

Clearly, there is an inherent advantage of having your cadre and administrative resources right there on campus. My DS has benefited from more face time with his cadre. This is not an insignificant difference.

Talk to the cadre and speak with cadets from both types of programs before making a decision.
Click to expand...
The ROTC programs we spoke to that had cross town detachments all required just one day a week at the cross town school (PT was allowed with another service's ROTC who was on the campus my daughter was interested in). One day a week is manageable since college kids typically don't have classes every day of the week.
 
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