Hmm, there is quite some risk there. The scholarship contract section 3 (c) 1 has a payback obligation provision for cadets who are separated from the program for: bad Grades, misconduct, failure to pass PFT test, failure to maintain body fat % (height/weight table, or taping), Drop on Request by Cadet, etc. Not sure based on some recent threads whether a medical DQ incurs the payback obligation.I can't afford my #1 choice VMI without he scholarship .... !
So, if you end up deciding at the end of sophomore year (you can drop after freshman year with no obligaiton) that ROTC and the Army really isn't what you thought it was going to be, and you want to drop out of ROTC, or you're forced out for the reasons I wrote above, will you be able to pay the Army back that year's tuition, fees, book allowance, subsistence allowance (stipend), etc? At VMI I imagine that would be a $35,000 to $40,000 obligation. Or if you get a 4 year scholarship, then two years of those same amounts? On top of that, are you prepared to transfer to your home low cost school, b/c, as you say, you can't afford the school w/o the scholarship.
Are you OK with those risks? If so, proceed. If not, maybe you need to rethink accepting a scholarship to a school you can't come close to affording if you were to lose the scholarship. Or at least have a Plan B for transferring.
Last edited: