<p>I'm going to be a college freshman at Tulane University next year.
The total cost for everything is approx $50,000.</p>
<p>Thing is... I don't really have enough money. My parents make too much for me to get a substantial amount of financial aid; but, they will not help me pay for more than one semester.</p>
<p>I currently attend Valley Forge Military Academy, and I am only here because of scholarships.</p>
<p>One of my plans was to get a Marine, Air Force, or Navy ROTC scholarship, but I wasn't able to make the deadline because I was accepted to college very late, in May.</p>
<p>Many other scholarship deadlines have elapsed.</p>
<p>What is my best bet to get into an ROTC program as soon as possible?
What should I do? I'm pretty nervous about the whole financial situation.</p>
<p>Because you didn’t apply for a NROTC scholarship last fall, an option that you might try is to join the NROTC unit as a ‘college programmer’, which means that you join the unit, take the classes, do the physical training, and prove that you are deserving of a 3 or 3 1/2 year scholarship by being very involved with the unit. You’ll be responsible for your tuition/fees/etc until you are awarded a scholarship (which I understand is a very competitive process). I believe that the service commitment will be the same as for 4 year NROTC recipients. Why not contact the NROTC unit at Tulane and ask them about the ‘college program’.</p>
<p>My daughter did exactly what S1732 has suggested. It does happen ! I can attest to that. She joined RPI’s unit as a college programmer- worked her butt off and did in fact earn a 3 1/2 yr. scholarship for the remainder of her time at the school. RPI also picks up room and board </p>
<p>How to go about it? At this late of date- contact the NROTC Unit at Tulane and express your interest in joining the unit. They will forward you all the necessary information. Ask them about the success rate of college programmers earning scholarships once they are in their program. It is competitive but it is very doable. Many kids don’t want to put in the time and effort if they don’t think they will get something out of it. You will however have to be prepared to shell out for a semester, very possibly two, until hopefully you can get a scholarship. </p>
<p>Within the unit everything is exactly the same- no one can tell the difference between a college programmer and a scholarship midshipman. They are treated exactly the same.</p>
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