ROTC Concerns

T

tmoore99

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Oct 7, 2017
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Ok, so I'm interested in doing ROTC in college, but I have a few concerns. I value education, I don't want to have to miss months of school. Also, I want to go to medical school. I have read that after you graduate you have to serve atleast four years active duty. What will I be doing during that time? Can anyone give me any real, factual insight into how this work please?
 
Probably lots of info on the ROTC forum where a search of should address your concerns.
Have you contacted the ROTC Admissions Officer for your area? Nothing like speaking to the source.
After you graduate med school you will have to serve more then 5 years in the military, probably 9. The AF wants to take advantage of the education they paid for & you get experience, probably more then you bargained for. Think you come out of Med School as a Captain, so by the end of your active duty time, assume you would be a Lt. Colonel. If you think of that as bad news, then possibly the good news would be having no loans for med school, $ in the bank, & now in private practice by your early 30's. USAFA only has 1-2 slots for med school/yr so probably not a good fit. Good luck.
 
My son goes to AF Rotc so I can only go based on his experience. I have to imagine all of the other Rotc are more or less the same. First you dont miss one day of school. Rotc classes are just another class during the day. I think he has two Rotc classes a week, does PT every other day around 630 in the morning and has one day of drill instruction which I think is included in the other days I have mentioned. So instead of having four classes a day, you have five classes a day. Any other activities are done after school hours and on the weekends. All AF cadets, assuming they are selected, go to AF Field Training (Alabama) the summer before Junior year and prior to that they attend a 2-3 day weekend event at a nearby AF base where they get the flavor of living on a base. In neither case, do you lose any school time. The only school time my son missed was when he had to go to Wright Patterson AF base to get medically checked in order to be a pilot.

Next, I dont have much knowledge about the medical field in relation to the military, but from what I read here, if your plan is to go to medical school, I would avoid Rotc. Once you graduate and commission, I dont think you can call a time out and attend medical school. You are going to have to serve for a minimum of four years or around 11 years if you are a pilot. I would imagine that after the four years and only if you qualify for their program, would they then send you medical school which you would then have to serve an additional number of years. The problem is that you wanting to go to medical school and the military need for you to go may not jibe. As someone else posted, the AF academy only send 1-2 kids to medical school every year. Are you going to risk your medical career on what the military wants. The military doesnt even need you as a doctor. There are people who go to college and medical school on their own dime and then apply to the military where they are commissioned.

As for what you will do, it all depends on what you want and what they want you to do. It also depends on your major. I dont know which branch you would want to serve in. Each one has it owns types of jobs so who knows what you would do
 
Thank you all for the helpful replies! After thinking all this over, I'm reconsidering my options. I'm also talking to a recruiter soon. Thanks!
 
tmoore99 said:
Thank you all for the helpful replies! After thinking all this over, I'm reconsidering my options. I'm also talking to a recruiter soon. Thanks!
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All I can tell you is to go to college and do ROTC assuming the medical school isnt an option anymore. I wouldnt enlist
 
Wishful said:
USAFA only has 1-2 slots for med school/yr so probably not a good fit. Good luck.
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Actually, USAFA sends 15 -18 to med school every year, if you look at the graduating class' statistics
 
Capri120 said:
Actually, USAFA sends 15 -18 to med school every year, if you look at the graduating class' statistics
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Unable to find the link, would you please provide provide it? Thank you.
 
Still searching for the pdf that had actual stats for the 2017 graduating class, but here are a couple of links showing more opportunities for post-grad med school out of USAFA.

One is the Curriculum handbook where on page 70 it talks about the slots available in the health professions:
https://www.usafa.edu/app/uploads/CHB.pdf

The second is a news release about the 2017 graduating class showing 25 or so going into post graduate education for the health professions:
http://www.usafa.af.mil/News/Articl...s-of-class-of-17-grads-bound-for-grad-school/
 
No biggie, I am happy to see that there are more slots than I was aware of.
 
tmoore99 said:
Thank you all for the helpful replies! After thinking all this over, I'm reconsidering my options. I'm also talking to a recruiter soon. Thanks!
Click to expand...

For Army, if you are interested in the Army, do not go talk to a recruiter. Recruiters (at a recruiting office) are going to try to sell scholarships related to National Guard or Reserves, because that gets the student to enlist in one of those programs. Recruiters recruit, that is what they do. So contacting the appropriate person through ROTC is a better strategy. Contact the ROO, Recruiting Operations Officer at a school you are interested in or have easy access to at a nearby school. Ask your questions. I know as of two years ago during orientation the ROO at my daughter's school said one of the only reasons that cadets get education delays are biology or similar students going to medical school. So while highly competitive it is possible.

Good luck.
 
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