<p>Another friend, another student, another question.</p>
<p>A friend's son is taking a "gap" year before college. He is working in a nursing home as an aide/orderly and really like working there. He is seriously considering taking up nursing as a career. The nurses and others at the nursing think the world of him; they say he is a "natural" for nursing and have promised recommendations to nursing schools.</p>
<p>To pay for his degree, the young man is thinking about the various ROTC programs. He has always had a bit of wanderlust in his soul and his parents think the travel opportunities offered by the armed services would be a big plus.</p>
<p>The young man is wondering which branch of the service he ought to apply to. To be honest, he will probably apply to all three branches; what branch he picks will probably be determined by any scholarship offers and which schools he gets accepted to.</p>
<p>However, we were all thinking, given the possibility that he could get scholarship offers from all three branches, which branch of the armed services would be the best.</p>
<p>Other friends have told me that Naval ROTC is probably the most demanding, but the nursing track is different that the traditional officer track. Some say Air Force ROTC is the least demanding. Some say the Army would be the best for a career path, others say the Navy.</p>
<p>Again, I ask for any and all advice that CC forum members can give. I thank you all in advance</p>
<p>Think long and hard about whether you are ready to serve in Afghanistan or Iraq before making this commitment. If you are not committed to the Armed Services--if instead you are looking at ROTC as a way to finance college--think again. My niece is being shipped to Afghanistan at the end of her sophomore year in college; she has no choice in the matter and is not being given the chance to finish her degree (which we all assumed she would be able to do before serving). She was essentially told "too bad--we have a shortage of women in Afghanistan>"</p>
<p>^^I think it's reasonable to assume that if you are a nurse in the armed services, you'll be expected to care for the injured people where they are being injured.</p>
<p>Masquemom, Are you certain your neice is not in National Guard? National Guard gives you money for college too but is totally different than the ROTC program. ROTC students are not pulled out of college to serve before graduating unless they are also members of the National Guard. My S is a senior NROTC midshipman.</p>
<p>OP, tell your friend to have her S apply for scholarships to all three branches right away. The process is not a quick one. He will have plenty of time to research the branches while he's waiting. Also, where he is interested in attending college could be a factor in his choice. Every school does not have ROTC for all threee branches of service. In our state there are only three. Some states have less. He will find that there are more schools with AROTC than NROTC or AFROTC. Get the scholarship apps. going and research as he goes along. He can start by checking out the ROTC websites of all three branches of service. The scholarship apps are found there.</p>