JROTC - Worth It?

I am a rising freshman in high school, and deciding whether or not to take JROTC. I understand if a leadership position is attained, it can look very good to West Point. However, I am worried that I will not be able to take other academic classes I wish to take due to lack of room in my schedule. Any insight on whether or not JROTC is valuable to admission to West Point is appreciated. Thank you!

Focus on building a strong curriculum and doing well in difficult courses. If taking part in JROTC would compromise your course choices, don’t sign up for JROTC. I’ve sat on 3 congressional boards. There are a lot of ways to demonstrate leadership Boys State, student government, leading an EC club. It’s also very hard to get into West Point and you are better off having strong credentials for any selective college and that you enjoy than doing something just for West Point

@Wje9164be Thank you for the response. I’ve heard rumors that if one does JROTC, they are far less likely to be accepted to a more selective college such as Stanford, Berkeley, etc. Is this true? Or would this just be a result of taking on-level classes and not participating in other EC’s?

That might have been true in 1969 when ROTC and anything remotely military might have been looked on poorly by many colleges. It is possible that a college like Stanford might not understand that being a JROTC battalion commander, for example, is a big deal but I don’t think they would treat it differently than any other leadership position. If it were me and I was considering a service academy but might also be interested in applying competitively for admission to a highly selective college I would probably not sign up for JROTC simply because it can be a significant time commitment. Interestingly, I grew up in California and my choices were between West Point and UC Berkeley

@Wje9164be Next year I can either take PE full year to complete my required PE credit, or I can try out JROTC (3 semesters is required to satisfy the PE credit). Based on the information you gave me, I don’t know if I will do JROTC, but also think this may look good to West Point/other SA’s. I am thinking it would be good to achieve a leadership position within it, since I am not interested in student government anymore after this year’s experience with it. In high school, I plan to join Model UN, NHS, and possibly Interact or Red Cross Club, and achieve leadership positions in those. Also, I plan on doing Girls State in my junior year. Also I will be doing varsity sports (swimming and either cross country or track). I am just worried this will not be “enough” for West Point.

It is enough for any college provided you enjoy these activities and make an impact