<p>Hi! So here's the deal. After touring Duke, my heart is set on them, and I don't think I'd be happier anywhere else, but I'm afraid that even if I do make it in, I won't get enough financial aid to go. I've considered ROTC at Duke, I'm just not sure if it's right for me. It's not that I wouldn't want to fulfill the requirements after graduating, but when I toured Duke, I didn't see any ROTC members (and a lot of the students didn't even know there was an ROTC) and I just don't know what kind of atmosphere it is like for them. Are Duke students generally accepting of ROTC students? Also, how much extra time does it entail? Would I have time to be active in other clubs and be able to stay on top of school? I'm just trying to figure out if ROTC at Duke is the right decision for me before I apply. I'm SO tempted to apply to Duke ED, but terrified that they won't meet my financial needs without letting me back out. Advice?</p>
<p>Don’t apply for ROTC as a way to pay for school. Serving in the military as an officer is a calling. Students that are successful in ROTC have their #1 to be an officer. Students that don’t have that don’t make it in my experience and either end up leaving school because of the cost or having to pay back the military in full.</p>
<p>If you are going for one of the ROTC scholarships, that is not a something one should pursue without getting all of the info on becoming a career officer in that branch of military. That is whole other issue apart from college choice. It’s not an incidental decision at all but a life style one that will consume a lot of time and thought. And that’s regardless of where you end up doing your ROTC. The college becomes incidental when you apply for one of those scholarships as getting one and choosing the place where you can do your service becomes an issue. Just from your post, it is pretty clear, you haven’t done the research. Really, you need to want the scholarship first, and then pick the college, or it’s going to be a tough go.</p>
<p>Yes, Duke will let you out if you cannot make it work with the financial aid package they offer. Seriously though, if you can’t do it on what they offer you, finding a better aid package at a selective would be very difficult as they do tend to be generous. However, you would probably get a lot other options at schools not as selective and if money is an issue, you should not apply ED since, yes, you might do better elsewhere but not not know without all of the offers on the table.</p>