since i was already accepted to Purdue, i’m searching for ways to pay for my college. (out-of-state), many of my friends are doing navy ROTC for virginia tech and purdue, i’m wondering if anybody can tell me ANYTHING about ROTC, specifically navy and airforce. Also, i read posts under business school that talks about west point graduates getting into top MBA programs. does anybody else know anyone who did ROTC and after 4 yrs of service he/she got accepted to a top MBA program? any information is appreciated, thanks 
<p>bump, bump, bump!</p>
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i'm searching for ways to pay for my college.
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<p>That's why I don't want to help you.</p>
<p>I know that the dropout rate for Air Force ROTC is somewhere around 40% - meaning 60% of the original cadets actually complete the program. </p>
<p>I'm doing Army myself...</p>
<p>AFROTC is good if you want to go into science and engineering. I was in AFROTC for a year but didn't continue. If I had stayed I would have gotten a $15,000/year scholarship just for being an engineering major. However, if you use ROTC to pay for your education you better be sure to finish the program and your commitment to the military. It wouldn't be nice to have to pay that money back. I knew some cadets who were in ROTC for the scholarship money (the school cost $30,000/year). As a result they were not very enthusiastic about the ROTC experience. It seemed to be more of a nuisance for them.</p>
<p>the only thing with afrotc is that if you want to fly when u get into the airforce, your commitment jumps up by a few years (i dont recall exactly how many). and personally, i dont see the attraction of the air force if you arent flying (thus im going for army rotc).</p>
<p>Commitment in USAF for pilots is 10 years after pilot training. So if you want to be a pilot you will be in it for the long haul. </p>
<p>The ultimate purpose of the USAF is to send those planes into the air but there are thousands of other support personnel needed to make that happen. The USAF needs pilots but you also need mainentance, MPs, engineers, combat controllers, SAR teams JAG, medical, etc. An aircraft carrier is similar analogy. All those people are needed just to send that one pilot off the deck. My point is that the USAF offers many other opportunities other than being a pilot. But if you have your mind set on being a pilot, nothing else will be appealing, regardless if it's the Air Force, Navy, etc.</p>
<p>i wanna do electrical engineering in college, so i'm wondering if attending air force ROTC or navy ROTC will help me to bulid up more experiences for the future use, such as working for a big coporation like IBM. also, does anybody know whether or not ROTC helps a person to get into a good MBA program? and the 4 yrs service after graduation, is that a pleasant experience?</p>
<p>I had a quick question I posted somewhere else:</p>
<p>If you want to do ROTC in college, do you apply to the college and add a note saying you want to do ROTC or something so they know in advance or do you just wait until the fall and enroll in the courses as you would a normal college course...</p>
<p>because I've sent in a few apps, and I definitely want to do AROTC, and I'm not going for the four-year scholarship (I might do the two- or three-year one though). Like what do I need to do to make sure I can start Army ROTC in the fall, as a freshman, so that I can graduate in four years and be commissioned as a 2LT? (besides physical prep and that kind of stuff, which I'm doing)</p>
<p>And to answer your question (kindof) crazyforee: I've heard from numerous servicemen that their time in the Army has been the best X number of years in their lives. You create friendships and skills that last a lifetime. Granted, some don't like it, but I think the majority of people who serve time in the military gain immeasurably from the experience, and have a pretty decent time while they're at it. Seriously, how can you NOT have fun when you've got millions of dollars of technology and weaponry?</p>
<p>CamKerr,</p>
<p>Contact the ROTC detachment at the school you are interested in or will be going to. I joined ROTC as a sophomore after talking to one of the cadets. I called the captain, who was the admissions officer, and he set everything up. I attended orientation program right before the beginning of the Fall semester but I can't remember if it was required. </p>
<p>Also, if you want to join as a freshman why not try and get a 4 year scholarship? I don't know the process for getting a 4 year scholarship. What was nice in addition to the main scholarship is the montly stipend you get. The good thing about waiting a year for a scholarship is that as a freshman you get to see what kind of grades you can earn. The bad thing is that the number of scholarships change every year. When I was cadet the USAF was giving out more scholarships to engineers. And there was actually some talk about getting rid of cadets who were not engineering majors. I don't know if anything ever happened with that.</p>
<p>So I should just say that if accepted to that school I plan to do ROTC? And they will tell me what I need to do and stuff?</p>
<p>They should, unless they require that you actually be accepted first.</p>
<p>the 4 year ROTC scholarships require a separate application that can be found on any of the three ROTC websites (army, navy/marines, air force- each has a different one). contact the school's military science department and speak with them.</p>
<p>btw, accepting a scholarship automatically requires a 4 year service commitment, whereas not accepting one means you wouldnt have to commit until junior year (to 3 years of service). a decent percentage of people choose the 3 year scholarship during freshman year, because theyre not prepared to make the commitment until they see what its like, which seems like a well-reasoned approach.</p>
<p>also, i didnt mean to sound like i was denigrating the non-pilot air force crews, i just personally would rather drive a tank than fix a plane. navy, marines and army do have flight options, though the army is all rotary wing (helicopters), and flying results in increased commmitment in all branches.</p>