To all new AROTC scholarship recipients.

[sheriff3]

First off congratulations on earning your scholarship, your hard work has paid off. Take the weekend and enjoy yourself. (But not too much ) You are about to embark on a great journey. Keep on mind this is a marathon, not a sprint. Getting invited to this party is much easier than staying for the end. For many of you DoDMERB will be your next hurdle. If you anticipate an issue start gathering medical records to help with any remedials or waivers. Stay focused on what brought you here.
Do's
Keep your grades up.
Work out like crazy!
Google Sf-86 and start to complete. You will likely need some help from your parents.
Be smart about athletic events and avoid getting hurt.

Don'ts
Alcohol will be your biggest temptation. DON'T DO IT! One MIP will likely cost you a $100k plus scholarship!
Check your driving ... excessive tickets,points or certain infractions could be a major issue.

I'm sure other posters have additional info as well. Heed this advice. If you have been on this board for any period of time you have seen scholarships revoked due to the above items.

Thank you for your commitment to defend our great nation and best of luck.

 

[Jcleppe]

Excellent post and Great advice, follow it.

As hard as it's been to wait for the results to come, this is just the beginning. As Sheriff3 can relate to watching his son go through 4 years of college and ROTC and then commissioning and the same for my two sons, the waiting never ends. There will milestones all through ROTC, Summer Training slots, Advanced Camp, waiting for the release of Components, Branch selection, BOLC dates. There will be a waiting time for each and it will seem like it takes forever.

The ROTC Scholarship is unlike other scholarships, it's actually more of a Loan then a Scholarship, paid back by your service. You will need to be diligent all through the next 4 years following the advice Sheriff3 gave you. Active Duty is not a guarantee, you will be competing for the AD slots so keep your grades up, your AFPT high, stay fully involved with ROTC. Remember that if you don't abide by the contract you sign and are disenrolled from ROTC after the start of your sophomore year you will owe that scholarship money back to the Army. Remember that commissioning is only the first step, you still have to complete 4 years AD service or 8 years Reserve/NG to fulfill your obligation for the scholarship.

Your first goal now is to get contracted right away if you have the 4 year scholarship. That means showing up to school ready to pass the APFT (You would be surprised by how many will fail their first attempt) The APFT is graded by strict Army standards, you may think you are ready only to have most of what you do not count, so follow Sheriff3's advice and work out, a lot, be ready to do more then what to think you need. Get DODMERB completed soon in case there are issues that come up.

Take each day one at a time and stay focused on the endgame. As Sheriff3 said, "It's a marathon, not a sprint.