Working while in the VT Corps of Cadets?

D

dashg16

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I am going to be a first year cadet at Virginia Tech and due to a lot of circumstances (it's a long story, PM me if you want the details) I didn't apply for an ROTC scholarship. Because of this, I am going to need to work in order to help pay for tuition. How hard is it to be in the Corps and have a job, while trying to do well with a pretty challenging courseload? Any suggestions or advice? Thanks
 
DS will be a first year cadet at VT this year also. With mandatory ECQ and Corps functions some evenings and weekends, it seems that is would be next to impossible to be able to work and be in the Corps.
 
Try contacting Financial Aid and see if there is any grants or loans that can help make up your shortfall. Sometimes, they have aid that was declined by other students that comes up available.

The other thing you can do is work at getting a sideload (NROTC) or on-campus scholarship (AROTC), by knocking the cover off the ball during the fall semester.

Good luck.
 
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Not VT, but at an academically highly-rated school, my DD worked about 10 hours a week on campus in the library during her first year. She was able to juggle it well enough to make the dean's list and earn a superior cadet award along with a 3 year scholarship. But she spent almost all of her free time studying. Getting up for 0600 PT after working until midnight the night before was no fun either. You may be able to work a few hours a week as long as the hours are flexible with your schedule. But I agree with AROTC Dad--in the long run focusing on earning a scholarship to kick in for the next three years may be more important than any part-time work you can do this year.
 
I'm in the VTCC. You can work but not your first semester of freshmen year. Many upperclassmen do work and you can even get formation cuts if there are scheduling conflicts.
 
I have friends in VTCC, they were in the similar sitatuion, what they did was they enlisted in the army reserves/national guard to help pay for tuition, the SMP program. AND
what some others did was they kept up their grades and reapplied for the service academies got in second try, so keep up your grades don't worry about money.
 
I'm also curious with the same question from the OP as I will also be a first-time freshman in the Corps for NROTC. For non-scholarship programmers, how do we support ourselves during the academic semester/year if we cannot get a job? I mean, I worked two jobs over the summer and saved a decent amount. Do I have to rely on that? I don't mind, but I like to know about the ones who didn't have that option.
 
As previously mentioned, you may want to look into the reserves/guard. They get monthly pay and have tuition assistance. My Cadet First Sergeant was in a similar situation. She's an army reservist even though she's in Air Force ROTC.
 
tibreaker said:
As previously mentioned, you may want to look into the reserves/guard. They get monthly pay and have tuition assistance. My Cadet First Sergeant was in a similar situation. She's an army reservist even though she's in Air Force ROTC.
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That is an interesting situation. So would she be commissioning in the army or Air Force? A lot of people do not really understand that process.
 
Air Force. Even though she's an enlisted army person, since she's in Air Force ROTC she'll commission as an Air Force officer.
 
tibreaker said:
I'm in the VTCC. You can work but not your first semester of freshmen year. Many upperclassmen do work and you can even get formation cuts if there are scheduling conflicts.
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Hello again, I was wondering if there was a situation where a freshman worked during the semester, whether fall or spring when you were a freshman. Would it be highly advisable to not work throughout the semester? Just trying to weigh in my options, thank you.
 
Wcyeung123 said:
Would it be highly advisable to not work throughout the semester?
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I would highly advise against working during the incoming frosh semester.

You will be getting acclimated and trying to compete for scholarships. If you fall behind at this point, it will be much harder to catch up, so it is critical that you get off to a great start. 99% of the time I advise against student loans, but this is the one time that I think most students need to have their decks cleared to focus on earning a scholarship.
 
Wcyeung123 said:
tibreaker said:
I'm in the VTCC. You can work but not your first semester of freshmen year. Many upperclassmen do work and you can even get formation cuts if there are scheduling conflicts.
Click to expand...

Hello again, I was wondering if there was a situation where a freshman worked during the semester, whether fall or spring when you were a freshman. Would it be highly advisable to not work throughout the semester? Just trying to weigh in my options, thank you.
Click to expand...
Working as a freshman in the VTCC, especially first semester is going to be near impossible, I don't know of anyone who has done it and I'm a senior. You will need to focus on academics and all other free time will be taken up by the Corps, freshman training, and ROTC.
 
Jordan2819 said:
Working as a freshman in the VTCC, especially first semester is going to be near impossible, I don't know of anyone who has done it and I'm a senior. You will need to focus on academics and all other free time will be taken up by the Corps, freshman training, and ROTC.
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Just at a curiosity, what types of stuff will I do in the Corps/ROTC during my free time? Not looking for a schedule of events but some examples.
 
What free time?
On the whole some of your training will be classroom/academic. (Your service) history, general military history, land or sea navigation, leadership, ethics, etc. etc.
Some of it will be normal PT.
Some of it will be in the field, applying what you learned in the classroom,
Then there are the mandatory study hours and rack time.
 
I did not mean to imply free time as leisure time. When they told me free time they said study hour, or Corps/ROTC activities, sorry for the miscommunication. I expected that I would be doing PT and Corps/ROTC labs but wasn't sure what other activities there were, like time to do group activities to get to know one another, community service, getting to know the cadre, etc.
 
No worries. My knowledge is limited to DS's visits to VT and his participation in NROTC elsewhere (VT was not for him).
I'm sure there will be time for group activities besides what I already mentioned. I don't know if VT does this, but if they don't they ought to - DS's unit had a permanent tailgate setup for the home football games and freshman midshipmen were required to attend. It was a great chance to get to know the cadre in an informal setting. Given what football is to VT I'd be surprised if you didn't have this opportunity in some form. Community service might be problematic given the small size of Blacksburg, but I expect there are opportunities.

EDIT: Once you've figured it all out, you should post here to answer your own question, from your own perspective, for future readers.
 
Looking over my schedule, it doesn't look good to have a job like everyone says. This is for VTCC, not sure about the other SMC's or universities with ROTC. I don't like to rely heavily on my savings, loans, or parent (especially them). I love them, but want to show them I'm grown up and it's somewhat embarrassing for my parents to lean in. But it is what it is, I didn't get a scholarship and could use the help.

For those parents out there who did pay for your children (whether first year or more), I applaud and respect you very much and don't mean to be insulting. Just expressing my concerns for not working while in the Corps.
 
Most of us are only talking about your freshman year. Once you have that down you will have a better gauge on what you are capable of.

My DS during his sophomore year made dean's list while working as a Snowboarding instructor and serving in color guard and other AROTC activities.

But during his freshman year, he focused on academics and ROTC only.
 
Wcyeung123 said:
Jordan2819 said:
Working as a freshman in the VTCC, especially first semester is going to be near impossible, I don't know of anyone who has done it and I'm a senior. You will need to focus on academics and all other free time will be taken up by the Corps, freshman training, and ROTC.
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Just at a curiosity, what types of stuff will I do in the Corps/ROTC during my free time? Not looking for a schedule of events but some examples.
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If you mean actual free time, like when you aren't doing Corps or ROTC things, you'll be doing schoolwork most likely or exercising on your own. If you mean what will you do for the Corps and ROTC, you'll find out in approximately 1.5 weeks. You really don't have "free time" to just do whatever you want. Everything you do will be scheduled because you will be busy. It honestly only gets busier as an upperclassman, just different proportions of where your time is spent
 
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