<p>I am a senior in high school, in Florida. Boston College is one of my top picks, but coming from an upper middle class, can’t afford it, yet don’t qualify for financial aid. I got a NROTC scholarship and want to know about life as an NROTC student, can you still be involved in student life (club sports, clubs, etc.). I also have always aspired to go to Medical school, and want to know what the chances are for going straight from undergraduate to medical school in ROTC. Thanks for any input.</p>
<p>You should be able to still get involved in school but for med school youll have to talk to your ROTC instructor because i believe the Navy has 25 spots in the nation for med school after commisioning and its really competitive. Also BCs NROTC is based out of Boston U and I believe you have to go to BU for classes and PT. I know that Army has ROTC on campus at BC but I do not know about Navy.</p>
<p>There is NROTC on campus at College of the Holy Cross which is another top Jesuit college like BC, 30 miles west of BC.</p>
<p>i know it is based at BU, i’m cool with that (= i just wanted experience from others who are involved at BC and in NROTC.</p>
<p>yellowbird, right now if you want to be a “military doctor” and go to medical school from NROTC it’s possible but very hard. There are only a few medical spots across the country for NROTC, and those who do get accepted have phenomenal grades.</p>
<p>This is actually going to change in the future, right now there are only Navy scholarships, Nurse scholarships, and Marine scholarships. Soon, big NROTC in Pensacola is creating NROTC medical-dental scholarships where you go to school knowing you have a medical/dental contract and then immediately go to medical school as a commissioned officer after graduation. (they are mainly starting this program because DoD did a study and found out there’s going to be a big decrease of doctors/dentists in the late 2010s. </p>
<p>I strongly strongly suggest taking the NROTC scholarship for the first year. It’s no obligation, meaning you can quit NROTC after your first year and not owe anything to the Navy (money or military obligation). Once you start your second year, you now can’t quit because you get contracted. With this first year, not only will the military be paying your tuition, but it will give you an opportunity to figure out if you think you want to be in the Navy or Marine Corps, and if you want to stay at Boston College. (if you have a horrible experience at both you can always transfer out to a school with better financial aid with your freshman college credits and without paying a dime). I have a friend who’s lifelong dream was to be a doctor, but instead of doing the military-doctor route, he is just going surface warfare and getting out after 4 years and taking advantage of the new GI bill for medical school. If you become a military doctor, you owe lots and lots and lots of time!</p>
<p>Lastly, you’ll be able to get involved in student life just like everyone else. I’m not in BC, but in my school in NROTC there are tons of midshipmen that are in frats, student organizations, varsity and club sports, study abroad, etc. Your navy commitment will be at least: taking a naval science course each semester, most likely going to two physical training sessions a week in the morning, wear your uniform once a week, and during that day your wearing your uniform take a approx. 2 hour naval science leadership lab. Shoot me a message if you have any other specific questions.</p>
<p>Dear yellowbird : This semester, we were able to watch first hand an entering freshman (not from our family) as a participant in the NROTC program and “commuting” to Boston University for classes and programs. Note that on many days, this has meant starting at 5:30am/6:00am to get to a training program with ample time for breakfast and such. As the weather has gotten colder, this student has reported the effort as getting harder and harder. While we cannot tell you if the program is right for you, our personal recommendation would be against needing to commute to another campus in order to fulfill your ROTC requirements. Unless you truly have a passion for both Boston College and the NROTC program, you will find the going to be very difficult over the long haul.</p>