ROTC Scholarship, changing branches and repayment

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CadetDad703

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Hello all,

We are unfamiliar with the ROTC Scholarships if one were to change branches while in college. We tried looking on the ROTC sites but my specific questions wasnt really addressed clearly. I have found some dated info on the internet but not sure if that info is still the case.

Here is the situation.

My daughter is a senior attending college this coming fall. She decided a lil late that she wanted to go military and we are trying for an ROTC Scholarship.

She really wants an Air Force ROTC scholarship but we realize that those are very competitive and she may not get one her first year, or at all.

If that happens, her plan is to apply for an Army ROTC scholarship for her first year (deadline is soon). If she were to get that, she would still hopefully try to get an Air Force ROTC Scholarship her second year and change branches.

If that were the case and she was awarded an Air Force Scholarship for her second year, what happens as far as repayment of the money her first year from the Army ROTC Scholarship? Would we be required to pay anything back to the Army program? We are not even really sure how much money the Army ROTC Scholarship would entail.

Does it matter if the switch happened her second year or third year(still having the two years for the advanced program)?

If it matters, we are Virginia residents, going to an in-state school. Even in-state tuition is high. We have reach out to the POCs for the ROTC programs at the school but have not heard anything back yet.

Thank you in advance.
 
So a couple of thoughts.
Good that she is applying to multiple branches - why not apply to Navy as well - see where she gets in, and then choose?
  • There are 4 and 3 year scholarships awarded to AROTC applicants. If your DD received a 4 year, she could take the first year free as a AROTC participant, and then walk away, not owe monies back as long as she quits in advance of the start of her sophomore year. See the AROTC site AROTC official page for what the scholarship will cover - it's all there. Please also research which schools cover room and board or allow you to use merit/ financial aid monies toward those expenses.
  • Please read the details on HSSP (High School Scholarship program) and ICSSP options for AFROTC. AFROTC ICSSP (in college) is not an application- like it is in other branches or service academies where people reapply - people join AFROTC without scholarships, as college programmers and get selected for scholarships for their remaining time in college sometimes. All branches take college programmers - not all branches allow one to formally reapply for the scholarship while in their first year of college. Again see official Air Force Site for details.
My son was awarded all three scholarships, and after completing his due diligence and learning more about the possible roles of where he might commission, he chose Navy. AFROTC does this thing where you have to be invited after 2 years to continue, and last year exercised that option for a number of people who despite solid GPAs were done-zo after their sophomore year. Also, the backup roles (what if you don't get your dream role or second choice) were less ideal for AF than Navy, then Army for him. Encourage your DD to learn as much as she can about each branch of service, the paths / ways to serve, and to keep an open mind as to which branch might provide the best fit.

After being with the Army "team" for a year she may find herself adapted and interested to stay. Army does have guaranteed (as long as you meet all requirements) aviation contracts, as do the marines. Navy and AIr force ROTC do not. Most officers in the Air Force are NOT pilots.

Good luck and hope any part of the above helps you.
 
Something to consider because of how ROTC scholarships are decided and distributed:

Scholarships for high-school seniors are done via national selection process, taking into account the candidate’s high-school record.

Scholarships for college students are done via local selection process, i.e. based on the candidate’s performance at that college and in that college’s ROTC unit.

Now, I’m no expert on AFROTC (DD and DS applied for AROTC and NROTC scholarships only). But it might seem strange to the college’s AFROTC cadre to consider a soon-to-be sophomore’s scholarship application in light of them having spent freshman year participating in AROTC. The candidate may be expected to participate in AFROTC as a sophomore programmer (i.e. sans scholarship) to prove worth and commitment before being awarded a two-year scholarship. This route would require giving up the AROTC scholarship for sophomore year, so one year will have to be paid for out of pocket.

Again, I might be off for AFROTC. But it seems, based on what I know of AROTC and NROTC, that this would be an issue. The competition for that three- or two-year sideload scholarship will be candidates who’ve spent the past year in AFROTC, displaying their worth and commitment to the Air Force — not in AROTC and to the Army.
 
Just a bit more food for thought.

Treat ROTC scholarships as academy appointments. There are only a limited amount and a lot of competition for all of them. Taking an Army slot with the intent to switch may be taking away one from a candidate who has the utmost desire to serve in the Army.

My advice: If Air Force is your calling, do everything for Air Force. Campus scholarships exist, and I’m not sure of the specifics behind AF scholarships, but I think that going through with AF fully (even if uncontracted for a year) would be best.
 
Saying that the Air Force scholarship is more difficult than getting the Army scholarship is not true. Both are very competitive and it's not a walk in the park for both of them. Why would you try for a scholarship for Army if you're not going to commission into the Army? That's the one thing that boggles my mind. If you want Air Force and only Air Force then just apply for AFROTC. If you don't have the opportunity to get a scholarship, then just join non contracted. If you're not sure which branch to join, on the other hand, just apply for both! When you make it for both of them, then make the decision on which to choose. Sorry if I sound very rude, but I don't enjoy someone who is taking the chance of another great candidate away just for them to switch out of the branch and the scholarship is gone.
 
What does she want to do for the Air Force? Many join AFROTC with the dream of flying, without realizing that it is SIGNIFICANTLY harder to select pilot through air force ROTC, as company to Navy pilot or NFO selects. This cannot be stated enough, the majority of AF ROTC people do not get to fly. While I generally agree she should not "take up" someones scholarship if she is applying the Army route if they are truly trying to just switch it out after and has no inclination to want to do army, it will not harm them at all to apply Army/Navy ROTC which deadlines have not passed **if** she is truly open to serving in any branch.
 
Our DD did not decide to go AFROTC in time to compete for a scholarship so I cannot speak for the scholarship portion. She is now POC non-rated, non-tech. However, PLEASE keep in mind that AFROTC is nationally competitive and scholarship is only the 1st part of a 4 year ranking system. Just because one gets a scholarship does NOT mean that person will get an enrollment allocation (EA) to attend field training. Without earning an EA, you cannot commission and the scholarship will be gone after sophomore year. Acceptance for AFROTC EA last year was about 55-60% and cadets are rated nationally against one another based on GPA, commander’s ranking, and fitness. Major also plays a part in who gets an EA (which is something I didn’t know). AFROTC scholarships are more money for the first 2 years with the Air Force Option for the last 2.

Like mentioned above , I would encourage you and your child to look at all scenarios: scholarship requirements, likelihood of commissioning, preferred job(s) by branch etc. Best of luck!
 
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Also, at DD’s Det at least, it was more common for EA non-selects to transfer to AROTC than the other way around.
 
almondqqq said:
Saying that the Air Force scholarship is more difficult than getting the Army scholarship is not true.
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Not necessarily true, your right both scholarships are competitive and look for candidates that have the "Scholar Athlete" Profile but AFROTC scholarships overall are actually more competitive. The Army is the biggest branch in the Armed Forces so their need for officers will be greater, thus having more scholarships. While the Army does place emphasis on STEM Majors, the Army at the end of the day won't care too much about your major.

Air Force ROTC on the other hand does place heavy emphasis on STEM majors. AFROTC Cadets also have to take the AFOQT which is heavily focused on STEM topics. The Army does not have a similar test. So while they are both competitive, Air Force ROTC is a bit more competitive to get scholarships for.
 
Anguswarrior112 said:
Not necessarily true, your right both scholarships are competitive and look for candidates that have the "Scholar Athlete" Profile but AFROTC scholarships overall are actually more competitive. The Army is the biggest branch in the Armed Forces so their need for officers will be greater, thus having more scholarships. While the Army does place emphasis on STEM Majors, the Army at the end of the day won't care too much about your major.

Air Force ROTC on the other hand does place heavy emphasis on STEM majors. AFROTC Cadets also have to take the AFOQT which is heavily focused on STEM topics. The Army does not have a similar test. So while they are both competitive, Air Force ROTC is a bit more competitive to get scholarships for.
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I was just trying to emphasize that both are not easy to get and one shouldn't be thought up as a "backup play" But yea Air Force is more on stem and less on leadership experience while Army is the opposite. Someone who doesn't have as much leadership experience but is great at STEM would have an easier time getting an AFROTC scholarship, while I think it is the opposite where if you have tons of leadership experience, but no stem quality, it would be much easier to get an AROTC scholarship. While both needs of them need the two aspect, that is what I think they reflect on. The army is larger and they give out more scholarships, but there are more applicants so it evens out the competitiveness as well. In 2018-2019, around 5000 people applied for AFROTC and 2300 scholarships were awarded. 7000 people applied for AROTC and 2500 were awarded. It shows that it is actually harder to get a scholarship in AROTC by statistics but not by person. I don't know how it would've change in the past 2 years, but I don't think it is that drastic, but thank you for informing me!
 
AkaMa said:
Our DD did not decide to go AFROTC in time to compete for a scholarship so I cannot speak for the scholarship portion. She is now POC non-rated, non-tech. However, PLEASE keep in mind that AFROTC is nationally competitive and scholarship is only the 1st part of a 4 year ranking system. Just because one gets a scholarship does NOT mean that person will get an enrollment allocation (EA) to attend field training. Without earning an EA, you cannot commission and the scholarship will be gone after sophomore year. Acceptance for AFROTC EA last year was about 55-60% and cadets are rated nationally against one another based on GPA, commander’s ranking, and fitness. Major also plays a part in who gets an EA (which is something I didn’t know). AFROTC scholarships are more money for the first 2 years with the Air Force Option for the last 2.

Like mentioned above , I would encourage you and your child to look at all scenarios: scholarship requirements, likelihood of commissioning, preferred job(s) by branch etc. Best of luck!
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I was going to say this as well. My DS earned a 4 yr AFROTC scholarship and was not selected for FT last summer. Within a week, he began the disenrollment process and spoke to AROTC. He signed his contract at the beginning of the school year 😃

So, the OP needs to know that a commission is not guaranteed even if selected for a scholarship.

Good luck!
 
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