To Stay or Not to Stay in AROTC (On Scholarship)

[arosu13]

Hi all.
I received a 3 year AROTC scholarship and am currently 3 weeks into the program. I've always wanted to serve, but in the past year my feelings have been wishy washy. I wound up not applying to West Point and instead settling for ROTC. But now, I'm not even too sure this is for me. I feel like certain factors may be influencing this, including:
1) My dad and brother have served, so I feel obligated in part to continue the legacy
2) I have a medical disqualification for my hearing, and I've been trying to get it overturned for a year now, to no avail. This is after sending in all of my paperwork, etc. I've kinda lost hope at this point.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should consider before deciding to keep going with ROTC or not? Mind that I am well-rounded enough without it, as I am involved with club sports, other leadership programs, and am going pre-med. So, I wouldn't just be sitting around doing nothing if I were to drop it. Thanks in advance- this is definitely one of the bigger decisions I've had to make.

 

[xyz321]

If you are committed to medical school, you should be aware that it is very difficult to go directly to medical school. You might have to serve first. It might be wise to talk to your leadership about how medical school and ROTC work together. If you choose not to stay, and you still want to serve, consider the health professions scholarship program. The service pays for medical school and then you serve as a doctor. Financially advantageous, as medical school is often more expensive than undergraduate

 

[MidCakePa]

@abbyrosu, it comes down to a very simple question: Do you want to be a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army? Because ROTC is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

If you answer “yes” and you quit ROTC, you’re essentially down to one commissioning path, and that’s OCS. Perhaps you could also drop ROTC, finish college, proceed to medical school, and then commission after becoming an MD. (But going by how you feel now about ROTC and USMA, I wonder if the military is really for you.)

If becoming a commissioned officer isn’t your primary goal following college, then certainly drop ROTC, lest you owe Uncle Sam time and/or money. (By the way, one does not “settle” for ROTC. ROTC graduates become officers just like USMA and OCS graduates do, and they perform just as well once commissioned.)

 

[xyz321]

If one’s goal is to serve as a physician, the most reliable and efficient way to get there is tithe HPSP referenced above. This program is a bit analogous to a rotc for undergrad, but has fewer military requirements during school. Physicians take a specialized version of OCS and commission as Captains

 

[GoCubbies]

Hi all.
I received a 3 year AROTC scholarship and am currently 3 weeks into the program. I've always wanted to serve, but in the past year my feelings have been wishy washy. I wound up not applying to West Point and instead settling for ROTC. But now, I'm not even too sure this is for me. I feel like certain factors may be influencing this, including:
1) My dad and brother have served, so I feel obligated in part to continue the legacy
2) I have a medical disqualification for my hearing, and I've been trying to get it overturned for a year now, to no avail. This is after sending in all of my paperwork, etc. I've kinda lost hope at this point.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should consider before deciding to keep going with ROTC or not? Mind that I am well-rounded enough without it, as I am involved with club sports, other leadership programs, and am going pre-med. So, I wouldn't just be sitting around doing nothing if I were to drop it. Thanks in advance- this is definitely one of the bigger decisions I've had to make.

Keep in mind if you want to go through medical school via the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) or attend the USUHS, you will have to go through DODMERB again. If you were DQ for ROTC via DODMERB, then you will probably be DQ for HPSP and USUHS also.

Let's say your hearing keeps you from doing ROTC, HPSP, or USU but you really want to be a military physician. There may be a couple ways to do it. One way is to finish college and go through medical school on your own dime. You will then do a residency. Once you've completed a residency, you can then come into the military as a direct commissionee. The military may be a little more lenient with the accessions guidelines and give you a waiver at that point knowing they are getting a fully trained doctor (especially if you're an anesthesiologist, neurosurgeon, general surgeon, etc).

The other potential option is applying for HPSP and USU anyway. They may use guidelines for waivers that are less strict than that used for ROTC or the SAs. I don't know if what I just described is the case, but it's possible.

How bad is your hearing anyway? What is the cause of it? The reason you have bad hearing is also another potential cause of a DQ in addition to having bad hearing itself.

As for the Army, I have never met anyone in the Army who went through ROTC and didn't get an educational delay when they requested one AND got into medical school. In other words, I've never met anyone who got into medical school and the Army didn't give them an educational delay from ROTC.

I do know a couple ROTC cadets who got an educational delay but ultimately did not get accepted to medical school so they had to access into the regular Army.

Let's face it though... if you have a 3.2 GPA overall and 3.1 science GPA with a 490 MCAT (you will have to submit your MCAT scores when you apply for an educational delay), the Army will probably not give you a chance to go to medical school. If you've got a high GPA and good MCAT scores so you've got a fighting chance for medical school, you will probably get an educational delay coming out of AROTC. It's not like NROTC where you can get a 3.9 GPA out of Duke and 520 on the MCATs and the USN will still say (and rightly so)... we want you in Nukes!