Why are most ROTC cadets Criminal Justice majors?

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Buckwheat1998

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Did anyone else experience this while they were in. It's easy for them but sucks for STEM majors
 
You are wrong to assume that most xROTC Cadets/Mids are in what are considered easy majors.

Others more qualified than I will fill in the blanks for you, but generally speaking the service branches run the gamut of preferring for STEM majors to not caring about one's major.

At least with the Army, one's GPA is slightly less important than it was several years ago in determining one's eventual preferred Branch. This was the impetus behind choosing less time consuming majors. Now, the system is more geared towards matching the needs of the Branch with the strengths/talents/interests of the newly minted 2LT.

I can tell you one thing. You should try to match your own interests and strengths to a chosen major, rather that trying to match the major to what you believe will provide the easiest path to a scholarship.

I'll tell you a second thing. If you are STEM major and display any kind of sucky attitude, you will be unhappy.

My AROTC DS was a STEM major and his closest pal was an Exercise Science major. Listening to these guys trash each other was always amusing, since it was always in good fun. I always took his pal's side.

Wherever you end up, best of luck and Merry Christmas!
 
Services are different. I'm Navy.

Some communities really don't care about major. If they don't, high GPA = high OOM = better chance at service assignment and (something I didn't understand as a MIDN) potentially earlier promotion to O4 later on.

Some communities do care about major. And majoring in Criminal Justice will close doors.

Some communities require STEM M.S. degrees for career progression. And you end up paying for the lack of STEM exposure in undergrad.

I think it was 65% of NROTC scholarships must be Tier I or Tier II majors. Same at USNA, 65% must be Group 1 or Group 2. Subject is not true for Navy.
 
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I don't know where you are getting this from. Assuming you are talking about AROTC, which your post isn't clear about, while STEM isn't as important for scholarship purposes as it is with NROTC and AFROTC, I don't recall knowing a single criminal justice major. (In fact, that wasn't a major at my school.)

But, yeah, majoring in a field that you don't like is probably not a good idea, whether or not a ROTC scholarship is tied to the major.
 
Sure, you can refine the subset but “most ROTC Cadets” does not.
 
USMCGrunt said:
Sure, you can refine the subset but “most ROTC Cadets” does not.
Click to expand...
Probably correct. But a lot of AROTC and NROTC-MO cadets and mids take non-STEM majors. I would guess the majority. Of Course AFROTC and NROTC are mostly STEM majors.
 
The Marine Corps will teach you everything you need to know. They will also issue whatever you must have.
 
OP, I see a theme in many others' posts over the years wherein those with harder majors seem to look for acceptance to get a lower GPA or complain about how others with “easier” majors have an easier path. Like many people I see a group who lower the bar for themselves and their GPAs and attitudes and performances show it. I see this at work too where people define “why we can’t” excuses instead of “how we can” alternatives and pivot to achieve results. They are often late, with errors in their work product. Like a disease, that acceptance of a belief it's not possible attitude spreads, and it can impact people from achieving their best. Just be aware of what limiting standards you and others around you are setting, and it’s impact. Listen for “it’s not at all possible to do better” excuses among groups who coddle with such comments, and decide to accept or reject those limitations. There are indeed people at top programs who have a 3.8+ even in impossible majors at top schools. If you can't get there focus on yourself instead of looking over at others on other paths as a problem. You're not a victim - find something you're passionate about. Define your own standards and work as hard as you need to to reach them.
 
My DD went in as a STEM major. She spent this first semester miserable and constantly worrying about her grades, and really hated her time. She is currently in the processes of changing to what her heart is in...a language with global studies. Not sure the other services, but AF ROTC, the process to change from a Tech to non-tech has been a pain, but she is determined to be happy and has been working with ROTC (her Detachment and WINGS) and the language department at her university. After her last final (Chem 2) she was a different (HAPPIER!) person! She is on scholarship and we assured her that going from a Type 1 to Type 2 wasn't a deal breaker (instate tuition is like $19K so it's not a burden on us).
 
If a person is weak in Math they should NOT pursue a STEM major just for the scholarship. They will be miserable. In my family we have a couple of literal math geniuses. They breezed through Civil and Electrical engineering. Then there are the rest of us, who have no math ability. For me to pursue a STEM major would be putting a square peg in a round hole.

DS, a high school senior, is like me. No math ability or interest. I have urged him to major in whatever he wants to major in. Unless you’re an engineer or an accountant you’re not gonna use much of what you learn in college right away anyway. All my DS needs is a college diploma and his personality. He can take it from there. He can always go to grad school and get an MBA or Law degree, or other. If his major coincides with the needs of the service, great. If not, we will find a way to get him through undergrad without significant loans. If he wants to commission, great. If not, maybe PLC, or JAG Corps after law school. Or maybe even enlist is the Coast Guard and push for OCS. Who knows. My point is, I have stopped pushing him in any specific direction. His future course is his own to steer. And his success or failure will be up to him. I have given him all the “maps” and gotten him to the “launching pad.” He in control now.
 
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I just checked the stats from the Statistical Analysis and Retrieval System (STARS) website which can create demographic summaries of U.S. Air Force officers. It reports data based on the highest education level reached so I filtered for BA/BS only. Here are the stats for active duty:

Commissioning SourceCriminal Justice/Criminology (%)All Other Degrees (%)
AFROTC7.492.6
OTS5.594.5
USAFA0*100

*USAFA doesn't offer a criminal justice/criminology major
 
When my son was commissioned through AFRotc, they had a ceremony for the AF officers but the school also had a ceremony for the combined Rotc cadets who commissioned. While the Army, Navy and AF students had majors from history to Engineering, i notice those who became Marine Officers pretty much all majored in Law and Society which i just looked and see its Criminology
 
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