<p>My son, joined ROTC this year- a complete surprise to me and his father. Although I knew he has always had an interest in the military I had previously encouraged him to go to college first. The school has offered him a 4 year or 3 1/2 year scholarship which I know comes with the commitment of 4 active years and 4 reserves after college. He has decided to accept it although again I asked him to wait a year or two. Money for college is not an issue (although the scholarship will amount to more than 35K a year).<br>
what experience has anyone had as either a parent or ROTC student? Is it an honor to receive the scholarship? Of course I want to support him but I am concerned if he is making the right decision. He is 18.</p>
<p>First of all congratulations. Yes it is a tremendous honor...thousands of kids compete for these scholarships every year. </p>
<p>ROTC is very demanding but rewarding. It will lead to a commission in the military. I am sure you may be apprehensive given our current world situation. I suggest you read through a lot of the threads where you can get some perspective on the whole experience.</p>
<p>Good luck and again congratulations.</p>
<p>SueC,</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son and to you for supporting him. I think if you'll read some of the posts here you'll find several originally shocked parents. Once we did our homework and learned more about the programs - ROTC or service academies - I think many of us came to the conclusion that we are tremendously proud of all of these kids. There was a young man posting here last year whose father was extremely opposed to his son beginning a military career. This young man posted months later to tell us that his father came around and was very proud. The point I'm trying to make is that many of the parents here on cc came looking for some information and began a journey.</p>
<p>ROTC is a marvelous option that will give your son a "normal" college experience as well as incredible leadership training and discipline.</p>
<p>SueC, My S is a soph. in NROTC on a 4 year scholarship. It is an honor to to receive the scholarship. You should be proud of your S. Which branch of the service is the scholarship for? I'll be glad to answer any questions about NROTC. Don't really know much about the others.</p>
<p>My son is a HS senior and received a 4 year NROTC scholorship. He's also received an appointment to a Federal Academy. The folks at NROTC told him to accept the scholorship {even if he does not intend to use it}. Does anyone know why he should accept the NROTC if he intends to go to a Federal Academy? Totally confused here!</p>
<p>Suzannegra-</p>
<p>Good question! My boy is in the same boat!</p>
<p>Son received AFROTC scholarship packet in yesterday's mail.</p>
<p>The packet said he is free to take his scholarship to ANY school he wishes. He can major in any of the Tech majors on the list. Which is good, the boy has been bouncing between Comp. Eng. and Chemistry. Any has been leaning back toward Chem. Of course all of the schools he has applied to and he was admitted into the engineering college :p So I guess we will be making phone calls soon.</p>
<p>Read the paperwork on the ROTC offer you find something in there that will surprise you.</p>
<p>Of course if he get's an appointment.......</p>
<p>Could the idea behind accepting the ROTC scholarship even though you have an appointment be that you might change your mind? You read all the time about a handful of kids getting to the academies for plebe summer only to decide after a short time that it's not for them and dropping out. Since that summer training starts in late June, they could drop out and still use their ROTC scholarship at a civilian university starting in August. Although it does seem somewhat of an unfair way to do it since holding that scholarship and not using it means there might be a qualified kid out there somewhere who really wanted ROTC and didn't get it.</p>
<p>You can't do both. The minute you accept an appointment you are withdrawn from your ROTC scholarship. You can hold both offers to the last minute.</p>
<p>suzannegra:
[quote]
Does anyone know why he should accept the NROTC if he intends to go to a Federal Academy? Totally confused here!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Your son should accept the NROTC scholarship as an insurance policy in case he becomes injured or something disastrous happens before I-day. He will be required to mail in his final decision by 1 May 2007. Wrap the kid in bubble wrap after 1 May 2007 if he is planning to attend a service academy.</p>
<p>The Navy ROTC says if you report to an academy (even for 1 day or less) you lose your ROTC option.</p>
<p>I do have him in bubble wrap...lol...this is the first year since he was 10 that's he's not played ice hockey!</p>
<p>Congrats SueC. It is definintely an honor. My "D" received a 4-yr AROTC scholarship. It hasn't been easy for her, but even she has admitted she has done things she never thought she could do. Just having to get up early 4X a week for PT IS NOT easy. At least for the NROTC the PT is a little less strenuous. At least at her college it is. I don't know about others. AROTC PT is brutal. :)</p>
<p>SueC:</p>
<p>Congratulations to you and your son. You do seem concerned that he may be making a mistake. My son received a few Army ROTC offers and ended up at West Point. I do remember, however, that if you accept the ROTC scholarship you can still drop out of the program by the end of your sophomore year and not owe any time to the Army. I'm not sure whether you have to pay back the scholarship money. You might check this out - it might make you feel better that he has a few years to assess his commitment to military service. BTW - these scholarships, especially the full 4-year scholarships, are very competitive and are an honor. I hope his scholarship is an Army one!</p>
<p>Yes it is an army scholarship. The contract says if you are disenrolled from ROTC the Secretary of the Army at his or her discretion can order you to active duty as an enlisted soldier (not an officer) or order you to pay back the scholarship with interest. During sophomore year you would be obligated to 2 years active duty, during junior year 3 years, during or after 4th year 4 years.
So you maybe can get out of duty or maybe not.
He is still waiting for the medical stuff to go through. He is very excited and honored to get the scholarship.
I am being as supportive as I can. I am proud of him but of course worried about whether it is right for him. One thing is it is keeping him on the straight and narrow as you must maintain some kind of good grades and behavior. Thanks everyone for the support and advice - it really helps.</p>
<p>I'm sure AROTC is probably different from NROTC but with Navy the rule is that you have your freshman year and the summer afterwards (when you attend your first Navy training for a month). You can quit with no penalty up until then. When you attend the first day of sophomore year, you have to sign a contract. From then on you are obligated to serve at least 4 years active and 4 years reserve (possibly more depending on which career path you choose). S has a friend who went Navy all 4 years but was disappointed that he didn't qualify for SEALS so he left Navy and joined Army to be a Green Beret. There was no penalty from Navy since he joined another service branch.</p>
<p>My son has received a 4 year AFROTC scholarship, which he has worked very hard for in preparing for over a year. He went for his DODMERB physical yesterday and the doc said he has a heart murmur. He is DEVASTATED and convinced he is disqualified now. This has been his dream and his future... Anyone else out there had an initial exam with a heart murmur? He is in excellent physical shape and shows NO symptoms of this. What are the chances of getting a remedial or waiver on this??</p>
<p>Would recommend you go over to <a href="http://www.serviceacademyforums.com%5B/url%5D">www.serviceacademyforums.com</a>. There is a person who worked for DODMERB who answers those questions. There are many topics over there including some on heart murmurs and it is not all bad.</p>
<p>Some folks find that is was an error or it not a murmur. Tell him it is painful to go through this stuff but all isn't lost.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement, afa81. And thank you for the link to the DODMERB thread. It was helpful. I'm starting to feel better, but still impatient!</p>
<p>The initial exam indicated a heart murmer for my daughter. She had an echocardiogram which cleared her to attend West Point.</p>
<p>An echo (they have the dopplers w/them, now) should be the final determining factor.</p>