ROTC Scholarship or enlist?

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spatti33

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Nov 20, 2019
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Hey guys, I just won a 4 year army scholarship to the university of Colorado Boulder. While I’m excited about it I don’t know whether I should take it or not. I have been going back and forth between taking it and commissioning versus enlisting after high school and trying out for the 75th.
Do you guys have any thoughts, opinions, or experiences of which may be a better decision? Thank you!
 
Do you want to go to college? If so, accept the scholarship. My advice (not knowing anything about you or your current situation) is to accept the Scholarship and give ROTC and UC Boulder a shot. If you don't like it you can always enlist. Once you enlist its tough to go back.
 
I can count on half of one of my hands the number of my children, their friends and schoolmates who are doing the exact thing they though they were going to do from their 17/18 yr old selves. Soooo much can and will change. Your current perspective is one from a K-12 education, living at home.

I would advise my own to accept the scholarship, and then reassess before showing up your sophomore year. That first year is free! Even if you ultimately enlist, you will have saved a years tuition. One year won’t even show up as a blip on your life radar.
 
justdoit19 said:
I can count on half of one of my hands the number of my children, their friends and schoolmates who are doing the Eva t thing they though they were going to do from their 27/18 yr old selves. Soooo much can and will change. You current perspective is one from a K-12 education, living at home.

I would advise my own to accept the scholarship, and the. Reassess before showing up your sophomore year. That first year is free! Even if you ultimately enlist, you will have saved a years tuition.
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This sounds like very smart advice. You can't go wrong with going to school for a year for free, getting as fit as you can in the high-altitude of Boulder (for Ranger Challenge ROTC team or if you decide to enlist) and then making a decision before sophomore year.
 
EEBTTF said:
Do you want to go to college? If so, accept the scholarship. My advice (not knowing anything about you or your current situation) is to accept the Scholarship and give ROTC and UC Boulder a shot. If you don't like it you can always enlist. Once you enlist its tough to go back.
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Thank you for your advice, that sounds like a smart plan.
 
justdoit19 said:
I can count on half of one of my hands the number of my children, their friends and schoolmates who are doing the exact thing they though they were going to do from their 17/18 yr old selves. Soooo much can and will change. Your current perspective is one from a K-12 education, living at home.

I would advise my own to accept the scholarship, and then reassess before showing up your sophomore year. That first year is free! Even if you ultimately enlist, you will have saved a years tuition. One year won’t even show up as a blip on your life radar.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your response. So if I chose to take the scholarship and decide I dont like it during my first year, I can leave without having to pay back the army and without getting in trouble for breaching the contract of the scholarship?
 
The older you get, the more difficult it is to go to college. Life gets in the way. If you ultimately want to have a college degree, go now. If you want to pursue a different career, for example, you want to be a helicopter mechanic/technician, then college would not be for you. It just depends on what you want in the long run.
 
NJDadofDSUSMA2024Hopeful said:
This sounds like very smart advice. You can't go wrong with going to school for a year for free, getting as fit as you can in the high-altitude of Boulder (for Ranger Challenge ROTC team or if you decide to enlist) and then making a decision before sophomore year.
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Thank you for your response. I guess I'll pose the same question to you: if I chose to take the scholarship and decide I dont like it during my first year, I can leave without having to pay back the army and without getting in trouble for breaching the contract of the scholarship?
 
NJROTC-CC said:
The older you get, the more difficult it is to go to college. Life gets in the way. If you ultimately want to have a college degree, go now. If you want to pursue a different career, for example, you want to be a helicopter mechanic/technician, then college would not be for you. It just depends on what you want in the long run.
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Thank you for your advice, that makes a lot of sense to go now while I have the opportunity and the time rather than trying to fit in night or online school while I would be enlisted.
 
spatti33 said:
Thank you for your response. I guess I'll pose the same question to you: if I chose to take the scholarship and decide I dont like it during my first year, I can leave without having to pay back the army and without getting in trouble for breaching the contract of the scholarship?
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That is precisely my understanding...you get 1 year to decide. Once you start your sophomore year, if you back out then you would have an obligation.
 
Read about it. Yes you can walk away after one year. I don’t know the nuances of that so you should research yourself: opinions here on the forum, and actual rules within the high school scholarship application website. I’m also a NROTC mom, not army. But worth looking into!
 
spatti33 said:
enlisting after high school and trying out for the 75th.
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I agree with most everything said here, but a few things have not been said. Enlisting and going infantry (which is probably what you would do) is not the same as earning a Ranger Tab and earning a Ranger Tab is not the same joining the 75th. There are any number of events or changes in your goals that would leave you without a Tab and in a place you would otherwise not want to be.

NJROTC-CC said:
The older you get, the more difficult it is to go to college. Life gets in the way. If you ultimately want to have a college degree, go now.
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Not necessarily the case. DS's Battalion Commander (highest ranking cadet) wore a Special Forces tab, which means he served at least 5 years before entering college.

Then there's this guy:

en.wikipedia.org

Jonny Kim - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

I think the bottomline is that you need to focus on where your passion lies today and commit to it. If you don't have that passion, go to Boulder, embrace all that ROTC has to offer and I promise that passion will avail itself.

Congratulations and best of luck!
 
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spatti33 said:
Thank you for your response. I guess I'll pose the same question to you: if I chose to take the scholarship and decide I dont like it during my first year, I can leave without having to pay back the army and without getting in trouble for breaching the contract of the scholarship?
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Correct. Freshman year is “free” so to speak
 
+1 to above. I would add having some excellent leadership training isn't a bad thing either.
 
cb7893 said:
I agree with most everything said here, but a few things have not been said. Enlisting and going infantry (which is probably what you would do) is not the same as earning a Ranger Tab and earning a Ranger Tab is not the same joining the 75th. There are any number of events or changes in your goals that would leave you without a Tab and in a place you would otherwise not want to be.



Not necessarily the case. DS's Battalion Commander (highest ranking cadet) wore a Special Forces tab, which means he served at least 5 years before entering college.

Then there's this guy:

en.wikipedia.org

Jonny Kim - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

I think the bottomline is that you need to focus on where your passion lies today and commit to it. If you don't have that passion, go to Boulder, embrace all that ROTC has to offer and I promise that passion will avail itself.

Congratulations and best of luck!
Click to expand...
In the words of Samuel L. Jackson, Jonny Kim is one "bad motherf--er."
 
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