TOUGH CHOICES!!!

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Wcyeung123

5-Year Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
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164
Hello everyone,
I wish I was here posting something wonderful, but one can only hope. I have a bit of a dilemma; it is about college costs. By the beginning of Fall I will be attending VA Tech and it's Corps of Cadets. I chose NROTC thinking I could get the scholarship but didn't. After long thoughts about it I want to be in the Navy for sure.

The problem is paying for college as I join as a college programmer. I want to best leave my parents out of the paying as much as possible. I am reapplying for the scholarship with better stats. I gues the question would be if my parents helped me out with tuition and all, would it be worth it as I pursue the scholarship? I just would like someone who has been in this similar situation to say that it'll be alright. Would it just be beneficial to enlist? One of my friends did after a year of university. Please advise
 
As your thread title states, these are tough choices. I don't know that anyone here can give you a very good answer, because no one but you and your parents know your unique situation, especially your financial situation. I have no idea what the VA Tech costs are or what kind of financial aid package you have been offered. It all comes down to what you and your parents feel comfortable with taking on in debt and what you and they feel are realistic chances of earning a scholarship in the future, either through re-applying for the 4 year or by earning a 3 or 2 year side load. My best advice would be to do your research and know what your options are then sit down and have a heart felt conversation with them. I applaud you for wanting to do this on your own as much as possible, but keep in mind that, as parents, we want the best for our kids and want to help them in any way we can to achieve their dreams. We also have to be realistic about how much we can afford to take on and give our best advice to our kids about how much they should be willing to go into debt while getting their degree. Good luck on finding your best path.
 
Hoping to get scholarship is not a plan. If you can come up with a plan to attend VA Tech without the scholarship (perhaps including student loans) then you have a solid plan. Winning a scholarship would be gravy at that point. Starting there but not being able to stay four years because you cannot pay would be a tough thing to deal with.

I endorse everything @ProudDad17 said. I would also add that no one here can answer what it's worth to YOU. Only you can decide if it's worth it. I imagine much would depend on your major as well on the off-chance you are unable to commission, perhaps due to injury or inability to achieve advanced standing.

Good luck wrestling with this. It's a decision you're going to have to reach as a family. What do your parents think?
 
Hello, thank you for replying. I know this is very muck personal and apologize, just feeling anxious as I am now realizing that my chances for being an officer is dimming down. All my mother wants is for me to get an education as she did not, I will be first generation America in my family to go to a university. I know that she will give up her life for me to go through college and I thank god for her, I don't know why but that is how I feel about joining the military. I talked to her time and time again about this situation but she does not understand the ROTC aspect as many of you do. In her home country the military and civilian life is separated, from jobs to schooling. I applied for the service academies but did not get in, and she thinks I'm wasting my time at ROTC because she still has that separation mentality. But I'll find a path in the military, and hopefully she can understand.
 
I think everyone here supports your being an officer but you have to find an affordable way to do it. If you can afford VA Tech, great! If not, perhaps another plan would be wiser. No college is cheap though. That's the times we live in.

I agree with Capt MJ about NUPOC. If you're looking at the Corps you might pursue the Platoon Leaders Course. There are also some great videos on Youtube about NROTC. I pointed to some in another thread (Help with Parents?) and perhaps viewing them might help with your Mom.
 
Thank you all. I will make contact with whoever is in charge with the NROTC in VA Tech and get more info about other programs and opportunities.
 
College is very expensive, have you thought of taking a year off to work & enroll in a local community college(take rigorous classes). Maybe apply a year later to the SA or NRotc? You might get in to a SA and/or get a 4 yrs scholarship? You can tell VATech you wish to take a leap year. One year off to improve yourself & attend college debt free is worth it:)
 
Just to add on here that you do not have to attend one of the Senior Military Colleges to participate in ROTC. Most state schools have some sort of ROTC and the cost of attendance is considerably less. While being in the Corps at VT has some advantages everyone who completes ROTC and gets commissioned is a new 2LT/Ensign. I know it is late in the process but there are still many options for you.
 
I appreciate your comments. I apologize for not mentioning my stats. I will be graduating with a high school diploma along with two Associate degrees, one in Science and the other in Arts. I would have done engineering but the CC I was dually enrolled in did not offer it, I mentioned it to some of the professors and they are planning to add engineering in a year. The high school I attend is an early college and is a five year program. I finish all my high school courses around 10th grade and the 3 years I would focus on college courses, my Associate degrees. I applied to all state universities with engineering and ROTC. I was rejected by the one university that had both. I'm not sure which courses would transfer, I'm finding out around this week.
 
I know many people with this same problem in my company. I'm a freshmen in the VTCC by the way. Are you in state or out of state? I know several out of state people who are going into a ridiculous amount of debt. My advise would be is that if you are worried about costs as an out of state student, then I would simply go to an in state school. This may not be what you want to hear, but you cant count on getting a scholarship. Best of luck.
 
tibreaker said:
I know many people with this same problem in my company. I'm a freshmen in the VTCC by the way. Are you in state or out of state? I know several out of state people who are going into a ridiculous amount of debt. My advise would be is that if you are worried about costs as an out of state student, then I would simply go to an in state school. This may not be what you want to hear, but you cant count on getting a scholarship. Best of luck.
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I really do appreciate your honesty and know that you are only giving your helpful opinion. I am an out of state, North Carolina, and I am looking into a BS in engineering. I know this sounds picky, but a wise mentor of mine told me that it isn't the next 4 years that matter but the next 40. VA Tech gave me that opportunity. I may sound even crazy but it feels right for me to do so. This has to work, and it will work. I will work harder than I've ever worked in my first year there, and maybe I will be given opportunities to stay, whether that is a ROTC scholarship or another outside scholarship.
 
Gee, seems like NC State would be a reasonable in-state option. Cheaper and they have a great NROTC unit.
 
If you want to get an engineering degree and become and officer, but don't want to financially burden your mother, then I would also consider joining ROTC at an in-state school that offers engineering.
 
I would have chosen NC State but they rejected me. Like I said, it has to work at VA Tech, I'll work harder if I have to.
 
Do what you want. I know a kid who is already 80k in debt and he's a sophomore. It would really suck to be in that situation. Did you get into any other schools? At some point you need to be realistic with regards to your finances.
 
tibreaker said:
Do what you want. I know a kid who is already 80k in debt and he's a sophomore. It would really suck to be in that situation. Did you get into any other schools? At some point you need to be realistic with regards to your finances.
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That's crazy. My son has a few D3 football offers but we didn't want him to end up with huge student loan debt by the time he graduated.
 
Hello,
I found a way to pay for the first year of my time in VA Tech. I tried calling the Corps but everyone is getting ready for commencement and commissioning of the graduating Cadets, they told me to ask my questions at orientation. I want to be in EOD. I know that is challenging and probably work harder than before to get in. Would my option be to seek out other ROTC side scholarships during my first year?
 
As a midshipman you would re-apply for the 4 year national scholarship the first semester of your freshman year. Of course it wouldn't be a 4 year if you won and would only apply going forward. If you fail to win that you would apply for a side-load scholarship during your second semester. You would be unable to seek scholarships in other branches to the best of my knowledge... in school or side-load scholarships are restricted to folks participating in their respective ROTC program.

Glad to hear you got the first year covered. Get excellent grades. Make great use of study hours. Work your tail off in NROTC. Volunteer every chance you get. Be in the best physical shape you can possibly be. Doing these things is the best way to position yourself for a scholarship. Good luck.

VT is a great school. It was on my son's list but he wasn't accepted. He ended up at his #1 choice though which is a good thing. He won a side-load Marine option scholarship during his sophomore year. If my son can do it, you can do it. You have the right attitude. Go get it!
 
Have you considered other branches? I know the army gives a lot of scholarships out. And I just got one from the Air Force. Or are you dead set on the navy?
 
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