<p>No I’ve applied to about 10 schools already I saved up about $1000 this summer just for applications & thanks to some waived application fees I’ve only spent about 350 so far. I’m not asking you to do any research for me (please don’t actually, you’ve already done enough.) but off the top of your head do you know of any generous-aid-giving schools in the east coast (prefer northeast but not limiting myself) good for business, (accounting) and reachable with stats of a 1950, 3.4, and decent-good ECs?</p>
<p>I just stumbled upon the possibility of military service and found out that Fordham has nrotc. Can anyone answer these questions or direct me to a forum that may answer them for me in layman’s terms?
how exactly does nrotc work? Do I train then serve and then possibly get a low-priced/free education? (Or is the scholarship a completely different thing & not attainable for an average student?) or do I study while training and then serve, getting a low-priced/free education along the way? (Again if the scholarship is attainable.)
can I study accounting if I get the scholarship, or do I have to study something related to a military career? (In which case I am wasting my time, I am set on majoring in accounting.)
my third question is mentioned within the other two bullet points, with a 3.4 GPA & a 1950 SAT (with good sports & world affairs oriented ECs) do I have a shot at the scholarship? & how does that scholarship work?</p>
<p>Two points. 1) You do not qualify as independent for FA. 2) NROTC is for students whose #1 goal in life is to serve as a Navy officer. It is not a means to pay for school. It is now one of the most competitive scholarships in the country. And only 15% of the scholarships are available for non STEM majors. You’d still have to take a year of calculus and a year of calculus based physics even as a non-STEM major. And all of the Naval Science classes as well. </p>
<p>It is a moot point anyway. While technically you could still apply the reality is that you had to have your application completed and interview done by 9/1 for the best chance. The Navy realizes that people applying this late only want to pick up the $. With so many early applicants to choose from they don’t take a chance on someone who just wants the $. The few of those that do sneak through inevitably wash out early.</p>
<p>Have you applied to SUNY’s? They’d be within your price range.
West Chester is a safety for you: you should apply early for the best scholarship and the Honors Program (check it out fast, it may have a dec 1 deadline).
Marist is a reach for you but run the NPC on it. Lots of colleges in NY State and PA, look at them - take “Best colleges for B students” and one among “Princeton Review’s Best colleges”, “Fiske Guide”, or “Insider’s guide to the colleges”</p>
<p>Do you have close relatives in the military who can tell you about life in the armed forces? It’s not easy, though it is just right for the people who choose it. My brothers have told me stories. Even in peacetime it’s a dangerous life. Imagine being on a Japanese mountainside when the typhoon hits and hut doors locked from outside so they don’t blow off. Then a gas tank tips over, a spark, and the platoon just downhill from you is gone in minutes. My brother said after one big open sea drill, they had a big celebration because nobody was critically injured or killed during the exercises.</p>
<p>If you go for one of the 4 year scholarships, they have 8 years of your life after you graduate, 4-5 active duty and the rest reserve. During college you take classes every quarter in military stuff, in addition to your major and gen eds. You have weekend trainings and some summers there are mandatory assignments. </p>
<p>For accounting, you’d be more likely to get the scholarship from regular army ROTC. NROTC reserves most of its scholarships for engineering/science type majors. You’d have to start now. Final deadlines are in Feb. and kids who are really interested in this have been working on their apps since junior year.</p>
<p>The scholarship is full tuition plus a book stipend and a monthly stipend which may be enough to cover the bd part of rm/bd. If you get the scholarship, no guarantee it will be at your top school. You list several schools on the app and the scholarship is school specific. You can ask to have it transferred, but they may or may not be able to do that.</p>
<p>If you quit the program, depending on when you do that, you either have to pay back scholarship or serve part of the term of duty.</p>
<p>Oh, and Iron Maiden is right. You can’t just declare yourself independent, though you aren’t the first to have thought of this. You have to BE independent and prove it and it’s not easy even when it’s true.</p>
<p>It’s not a matter of BEING independent there are rules to it. You have to be 24, married, supporting a dependent, or ex-military. Even if you are financially independent in reality you are still dependent for FA purposes unless you meet one of your above criteria.</p>
<p>Celeste there are several inaccuracies in your post. 8 year commitment with 5 years active duty is the minimum. If the officer is in aviation the 8 year clock does not start ticking until winging which can be 2 years. So a 10 year commitment. </p>
<p>There is active duty training every summer for at least a month.</p>
<p>The monthly stipend is $250 during Freshman year (only during the months you are in school). The stipend goes to $400 per month Sr year. None of this is enough to pay room and board.</p>
<p>…or have both parents deceased, be homeless, or a foster child, or have a judge declare you emancipated.</p>
<p>Iron Maiden,</p>
<p>I mentioned the summer activities. I did not give adequate emphasis to them, sorry about that.</p>
<p>I didn’t say room and board. I said, possibly enough for the board part of rm/bd. The army stipend is somewhat higher than the Navy, as is their book allowance. I wasn’t thinking so much of Navy for em as the scholarship outlook is not good for accounting.
This is the army ROTC scholarship at Fordham(cut-and-paste):</p>
<pre><code>100% tuition and mandatory fees
A $1200 per academic year book allowance
A tax-free stipend based on academic status ($300/month - freshman, $350/month - sophomore, $450/month - junior, $500/month - senior)
</code></pre>
<p>Army ROTC obligation is 4 years active plus 4 years reserve. Marine/Nurse obligation in NROTC is 4+4. Only Navy is 5 active. To me that looks like 4-5 active duty and 8 total. Em hadn’t mentioned a desire to be pilot, so hadn’t even thought of aviation. </p>
<p>The Fordham Army ROTC page says this:
Obligations of scholarship recipients:</p>
<p>A total of 8 years of military service upon college graduation which may be satisfied in any of the following ways:</p>
<pre><code>Serve 4 years on Active Duty, plus 4 years on Reserve Duty (active Army Reserve or Army National Guard or Inactive Ready Reserve)
Serve more than 4 years on active duty plus whatever remains of the 8 year obligation on Reserve Forces Duty
Serve all 8 years on Active Duty
Serve all 8 years on Reserve Forces Duty (for individuals that receive a Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty scholarship or are assigned to the Army Reserve or Army National Guard when commissioned)
</code></pre>
<p>Getting any ROTC scholarship this late is very, very unlikely. And it is not a way to pay for college - it is a way to become an officer.</p>
<p>OP needs to look at other options.</p>
<p>That may be, but it is generally more convincing to present the picture, comment on pluses/minuses, and let soon-to-be-adults decide for themselves, than it is to declare unilaterally about someone you don’t know that he isn’t suited and should do something else. I wouldn’t have pegged any of my brothers as military types, yet 2 apparently are. One flies missions in Afghanistan and elsewhere, while the other did tours in Marines AND Navy and loved it, only left after a bad experience with running sub aground near end of 4 years soured him. Ok, in retrospect, the one DID read a lot of war history books as a kid.</p>