What's my best pathway for the army?

Gabriel said:
This is some good advice, thank you. However, I'm probably still going to have to stick with the third board given the fact that I'm not all that great with standardized testing and will probably have to stick with the February board. If they give out a 3 year scholarship, that's absolutely fine by me, I even think someone mentioned before that scholarships can get extended like AROTC Dad here mentioned.
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My daughter had a 25 ACT, 26 superscore, with I think 4 attempts. She started early. She did receive a 3 year 3rd board, but did have her application in for the 2nd board. And yes, there are cases of scholarship extensions, this happened to my daughter as well. However, some areas of the country (seems to be based on the brigade) has not had 3.5 years for a couple years now, so that might not happen. As long as you have a 24 ACT (gets you maximum points on your interview)you should apply, and then just keep adding scores as they come in. There is actually an example of kid that had a 23 ACT last year and I believe a 3.4 GPA and got a 4 year the first board. Remember, there are less applicants on the earlier boards too. If possible, get in for the second board. I wouldn't worry about the 19 pre-test, scores should be out soon and then you will have a better idea how to proceed, however, ACT is a knowledge based test, so in theory with 2 years of school under your belt, you should automatically do better. Good luck, and keep us posted.
 
Make sure you explore not only options, but also differences between AD ARmy and FT ANG.

Career opportunities vary greatly, especially with regard to the different pathways in the Army/Army Reserve/Army National Guard.

Straight up Post 9/11 GI Bill is awesome, but a longer path towards commissioning.

Accession to a commissioning program from the enlisted side from all services is possible but not a guarantee (I went to USNA via USN enlisted service prior to NAPS).
 
Hey guys, I'm back!

And with good news.... :)

So yesterday I got the word I was accepted to American university!! As far as finances are concerned, the school will cover all but 5500 per year, which will amount to around $22,500 USD of debt after 4 years. I'm more than fine with that.

Now that I know where I am going to college, I figured I would return here to gather advice for my next step in my army pathway. Currently, I plan to visit campus and meet with the ROTC battalion commander to get an image of what the program is like. After that, my next consideration is getting in shape and signing up for rotc as a freshman.

If there is any advice you have on how I should proceed with my next step, i would be happy to learn more.
 
Gabriel said:
Hey guys, I'm back!

And with good news.... :)

So yesterday I got the word I was accepted to American university!! As far as finances are concerned, the school will cover all but 5500 per year, which will amount to around $22,500 USD of debt after 4 years. I'm more than fine with that.

Now that I know where I am going to college, I figured I would return here to gather advice for my next step in my army pathway. Currently, I plan to visit campus and meet with the ROTC battalion commander to get an image of what the program is like. After that, my next consideration is getting in shape and signing up for rotc as a freshman.

If there is any advice you have on how I should proceed with my next step, i would be happy to learn more.
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Congratulations!
  • Your AROTC program is headquartered through Georgetown University, so you will want to get all the details about how best to handle the cross-town aspects of AROTC participation.
  • Here are the contacts for the Hoya Battalion: https://rotc.georgetown.edu/about/contacts
  • Start preparing for the APFT.
 
Gabriel said:
Hey guys, I'm back!

And with good news.... :)

So yesterday I got the word I was accepted to American university!! As far as finances are concerned, the school will cover all but 5500 per year, which will amount to around $22,500 USD of debt after 4 years. I'm more than fine with that.

Now that I know where I am going to college, I figured I would return here to gather advice for my next step in my army pathway. Currently, I plan to visit campus and meet with the ROTC battalion commander to get an image of what the program is like. After that, my next consideration is getting in shape and signing up for rotc as a freshman.

If there is any advice you have on how I should proceed with my next step, i would be happy to learn more.
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AU is part of the consortium in DC Metro, so AU AROTC students head over to Georgetown U as the host school. You would be a cross-towner. That's where you would visit to learn more.

http://www.american.edu/life/ROTC.cfm
More info at various links.

The schools are about 5 miles apart. No doubt the AU cadets have it all figured out the easiest, fastest and cheapest ways to commute.

Nice to see your AU acceptance.
 
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Gabriel said:
Hey guys, I'm back!

And with good news.... :)

So yesterday I got the word I was accepted to American university!! As far as finances are concerned, the school will cover all but 5500 per year, which will amount to around $22,500 USD of debt after 4 years. I'm more than fine with that.

Now that I know where I am going to college, I figured I would return here to gather advice for my next step in my army pathway. Currently, I plan to visit campus and meet with the ROTC battalion commander to get an image of what the program is like. After that, my next consideration is getting in shape and signing up for rotc as a freshman.

If there is any advice you have on how I should proceed with my next step, i would be happy to learn more.
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Gabriel, congratulations on getting into AU! Did you finish your AROTC scholarship application?
 
Gabriel said:
Hey guys, I'm back!

And with good news.... :)

So yesterday I got the word I was accepted to American university!! As far as finances are concerned, the school will cover all but 5500 per year, which will amount to around $22,500 USD of debt after 4 years. I'm more than fine with that.

Now that I know where I am going to college, I figured I would return here to gather advice for my next step in my army pathway. Currently, I plan to visit campus and meet with the ROTC battalion commander to get an image of what the program is like. After that, my next consideration is getting in shape and signing up for rotc as a freshman.

If there is any advice you have on how I should proceed with my next step, i would be happy to learn more.
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Are you convinced Army is where you want to commission. If you are at all considering Navy Nuclear, the Navy NUPOC program would be a perfect fit for your current scholarship situation. You would come out of school making money!
https://www.navy.com/joining/college-options/nupoc
https://www.serviceacademyforums.co...er-candidate-program-nupoc.51941/#post-512000
 
Typical active duty contract is 4 years active duty, 2 years IRR.

Service of minimum 3 years active duty makes you qualified for Post-9/11 GI Bill, which essentially means 4 years free college tuition plus handsome E5-level housing allowance and another $1K/year for books. Even private colleges are within reach with the Yellow Ribbon Program.

And college students who've served in the military beforehand are well known to perform academically superior to their non-service civilian counterparts.

But if you're truly aiming to get an officer's commission, this may not be for you.

West Point, ROTC, SMP or even OCS are all fine routes to the gold bars. Service academy, private military college, private or public college - it doesn't matter. Once you're commissioned as a 2nd looey, the enlisted personnel under your command will still regard you as an idiot, regardless of your commissioning source.

Oh - and as others have pointed out, ROTC scholarship winners typically are 4-and-4. Four years active, four years IRR. Though the reserves and National Guard are hard up for officers, from what I gather.
 
Congratulations Gabriel!!!!

Or should I say "sir"? Okay, maybe that's premature.

And don't resign yourself to $22,500 in school loans. A summer job at $10/hour for 40/hours per week from June-August will earn you about $5K. Part-time jobs during school year aren't impossible.

You could very well find yourself with a bachelors degree, no college debt & a commission in the US Army by June of 2021!
 
Thank you all for the kinds words.

I'm very excited to enroll into ROTC at AU. I went ahead and made contact with the ROO this morning and will be submitting an ROTC questionnaire this morning. I don't have much left on my mind since I'm towards the end of the road now, but I do have a few questions regarding finances and my major.

• Since I'll be going to college, I'll likely need to find a job at some point for basic necessities. I've been told that ROTC offers stipends for ROTC students but ONLY scholarship recipients receive this for Freshman and Sophomore year. Is this accurate/inaccurate? I was wondering if I could use the money to keep myself afloat.

• How common are educational delays for prospective Law/JAG Core students? I'd like to get into law, but would hate to have to wait 4-8 years until I return from active duty to achieve my higher education. I've been informed that reserves/guard could help me out. What would be the best way for me to proceed?

• The SMP program has somewhat sounded appealing to me since it offers cadets experience, training, and money for their service. However, I was also told that enrolling as an SMP (unless I get a contract early) will automatically opt me out for a possible educational delay. Are there any benefits to going SMP or should I scratch this idea altogether if I want to go career in the army?

• How beneficial is the National Guard for civilian life? If possible, I'd like to see about going active duty within the guard as an army officer. As I've been told, the guard (like the reserves) offers people opportunities to go to school and still be in the service simultaneously.

• Will joining ROTC be able to help me fund my graduate education? I'm worried about going to much in the hole if I want to pursue a law degree which could cost 3 years of tuition at a costly price.
 
Gabriel said:
Thank you all for the kinds words.

I'm very excited to enroll into ROTC at AU. I went ahead and made contact with the ROO this morning and will be submitting an ROTC questionnaire this morning. I don't have much left on my mind since I'm towards the end of the road now, but I do have a few questions regarding finances and my major.

• Since I'll be going to college, I'll likely need to find a job at some point for basic necessities. I've been told that ROTC offers stipends for ROTC students but ONLY scholarship recipients receive this for Freshman and Sophomore year. Is this accurate/inaccurate? I was wondering if I could use the money to keep myself afloat.

• How common are educational delays for prospective Law/JAG Core students? I'd like to get into law, but would hate to have to wait 4-8 years until I return from active duty to achieve my higher education. I've been informed that reserves/guard could help me out. What would be the best way for me to proceed?

• The SMP program has somewhat sounded appealing to me since it offers cadets experience, training, and money for their service. However, I was also told that enrolling as an SMP (unless I get a contract early) will automatically opt me out for a possible educational delay. Are there any benefits to going SMP or should I scratch this idea altogether if I want to go career in the army?

• How beneficial is the National Guard for civilian life? If possible, I'd like to see about going active duty within the guard as an army officer. As I've been told, the guard (like the reserves) offers people opportunities to go to school and still be in the service simultaneously.

• Will joining ROTC be able to help me fund my graduate education? I'm worried about going to much in the hole if I want to pursue a law degree which could cost 3 years of tuition at a costly price.
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- ROTC stipends are only available to scholarship recipients and cadets in the advanced course (juniors and seniors).
- Educational delays happen, but are very rare.
- There are people far more expert than I about SMP, but I believe in many states if you go SMP you will not be going active duty in the Army.
- I'm not sure how your National Guard questions differ from going SMP. Perhaps someone else will chime in.
- Serving x amounts of years in the (active) military can at least help fund a gradate degree. Depending on how you go about completing ROTC (eg whether you win a scholarship while enrolled) you may have to serve additional years to achieve that goal after you complete your standard service obligation.

Hope this helps. One could probably write an essay on each of these topics. There are plenty of past threads on SMP and educational delays you could find and research.
 
If you want to be a lawyer first and a soldier second, you might want to forego AROTC, and pursue direct commissioning through OCS after graduating law school. This is because there is no guarantee of securing an educational delay upon graduation.

The needs of the Army come first.

However if you graduate law school, you can direct commission into a JAG position.

See the following:
http://www.goarmy.com/jag/about.html
 
Take the long view - people go to law school at all ages. You could serve as an Army officer, complete your obligated service and whatever you need for full GI Bill, then go to law school. Those years would not be wasted, as you would gain significant leadership and resource management experience, and you still wouldn't be teetering at grave's edge once you have law degree in hand.

Sort out whether you want to be an Army warfare officer, an Army JAG or a civilian lawyer later, and proceed accordingly.
When exploring Guard options, ensure you read all the fine print and understand requirements.
 
Dckc88 said:
My daughter had a 25 ACT, 26 superscore, with I think 4 attempts. She started early. She did receive a 3 year 3rd board, but did have her application in for the 2nd board. And yes, there are cases of scholarship extensions, this happened to my daughter as well. However, some areas of the country (seems to be based on the brigade) has not had 3.5 years for a couple years now, so that might not happen. As long as you have a 24 ACT (gets you maximum points on your interview)you should apply, and then just keep adding scores as they come in. There is actually an example of kid that had a 23 ACT last year and I believe a 3.4 GPA and got a 4 year the first board. Remember, there are less applicants on the earlier boards too. If possible, get in for the second board. I wouldn't worry about the 19 pre-test, scores should be out soon and then you will have a better idea how to proceed, however, ACT is a knowledge based test, so in theory with 2 years of school under your belt, you should automatically do better. Good luck, and keep us posted.
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That was my son that had a 23 ACT, 3.4 GPA and got a four year on the first board. He is thriving at the University of North Georgia.
 
AROTC-dad said:
If you want to be a lawyer first and a soldier second,
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Definitely a major point to consider, but there's no doubt I'd say army in response - law school for me can certainly wait. Fortunately, the wait shouldn't be so bad, as I recently found that non-scholarship ROTC cadets can serve for 3 years active duty and 5 years in Inactive Ready Reserve, which is also the 3 years requirement for 100% coverage under post 9/11 GI bill benefits. Of course, there are limitations since the "100%" only applies for coverage under in-state public colleges, and is capped for private universities unless the institution participates in the yellow program, which funding for each school varies.

I suppose at this point, it'll really boil down to saving money as an officer in the army, and utilizing all resources
that are available after my 3 year years are up. I suppose I could sign up for more AD years or go guard/reserve to save up for private school, but It'd be great to hear other opinions.

Service Obligation Link - http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/service-commitment.html

- Non-scholarship graduates may serve three years on Active Duty and five years in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR).
 
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DS graduated AU and commissioned May '16 thru Hoya Battalion. Don't sweat the commute, an MSIII will most likely be assigned to you as a mentor and the MSIII class arranges car pools for cadets without cars. My DS entered a class of 5 MSIs all non scholarship 4 received campus scholarships and 4 commissioned (5th was not a good fit). The battalion has a history of awarding campus scholarships the majority of your MSI class most likely will not have a scholarship (no guarantees of course). PM me with any questions, my son is AD at Ft. Benning and commissioned armor, I'm sure he'd be happy to answer any specific questions about the school or battalion. Congratulations!
 
Just realized that perhaps I'm getting way too ahead of myself thinking about grad school lol when I still haven't gotten out of highschool. Might need to settle down a little first. Sure a lot of this can still be answered later on. haha
 
Gabriel said:
Just realized that perhaps I'm getting way too ahead of myself thinking about grad school lol when I still haven't gotten out of highschool. Might need to settle down a little first. Sure a lot of this can still be answered later on. haha
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Not so far ahead. It doesn't hurt to plan at least to the level of making sure there remains a path to your goals. Of course you need to be prepared for plan changes as your goals change (if they do).
 
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