<p>^^^
Get a grip. The military isn’t going to prevent you from having a girlfriend. I’d love people to post the names of all the “someones who said…” so we can gag these people.</p>
<p>No need to be mean. I was quoting someone from this very thread who thought that might be true.</p>
<p>Someone said one isn’t allowed a girlfriend. Is that true? You can’t have relationships when you’re in ROTC? >></p>
<p>We got married while DH was in ROTC. You cannot get married while at the academies, but you can have a girlfriend.</p>
<p>
Perhaps you could include the quote from the someone in this very thread that thought it might be true about ROTC? Were you also going to ask about whether if you join ROTC you will be required to live in a prison, not be able to listen to loud music or watch TV or should that only be of concern to those interested in attending the USMA?</p>
<p>Why are you so aggressively angry that he misunderstood the guy?</p>
<p>^^^
Not angry…just disgusted.</p>
<p>To OP - first of all, the AF gives four-year scholarships too, not just three-year ones:</p>
<p>[U.S</a>. Air Force ROTC - Scholarships - High School Scholarships - Scholarship Types](<a href=“http://afrotc.com/scholarships/high-school/scholarship-types/]U.S”>High School Scholarship Types | Scholarships | U.S. Air Force ROTC)</p>
<p>Second of all, the Navy also offers scholarships. They aren’t as competitive as AF ones and you are more free to select your major outside of the technical fields the AF favors, and the Navy has a special nurse scholarship program as well for those interested in that.</p>
<p>You can drop out after your first year without a commitment, but it’s not a good idea. Not just for ethical reasons, but also for the simple fact that your financial aid package will likely be better if you apply as an incoming freshman and not a sophomore who suddenly needs aid. The best aid goes to freshmen. It honestly doesn’t sound like a good idea for you, because as others mentioned, ROTC scholarships are best for those who were already interested in service and/or a career in the military (whether it be short-term or long-term) and just need to pay for college, and not for those who need scholarship money desperately but aren’t sure or don’t think they want to serve.</p>
<p>To answer the question about life - I don’t have direct experience (I didn’t do ROTC in undergrad) but I had a lot of friends in undergrad who were in NROTC. They seemed to have a pretty normal college life - they hung out with us at parties on the weekends, studied with us for classes, took the classes they wanted to take (with diverse majors). They had to do PT twice a week and do other duties (like guard duty for the NROTC unit) and they wore a uniform twice a week. But they participated in lots of other on-campus activities - one of my friends was on our residence hall executive board my first year, another of my friends was actually our senior resident assistant in my building (and that’s a huge time commitment - I was an RA under her).</p>
<p>You can be disgusted, but now you’re just being an ass. Feel free to talk down to me for not directly quoting something from the previous page. Lord knows that I’m an idiot.
I’m trying to find more information on serving my country. I want to know the little things. I didn’t put things about prison because that was clearly an exaggeration. If you could calm down, maybe you’d understand that.</p>
<p>
Times have changed since you were in college. If the NROTC scholarships aren’t as competitive as the AFROTC scholarships…it has become very close. Also, the Navy awards approximately 85% of it’s scholarships to Tier 1 and 2 majors which are… technical fields. </p>
<p>From the Navy website:
“In structuring our academic programs to meet these challenges, undergraduate academic majors for NROTC Navy option midshipmen are divided into three categories or tiers: Tier 1 - engineering programs of Navy interest, Tier 2 - other engineering, math and science programs, Tier 3 - Foreign language and remaining academic programs. In order to keep pace in this high tech and diverse environment, approximately 85% of Navy Option NROTC scholarships offers will be awarded to students interested in completing a Tier 1 or Tier 2 academic major.”
<a href=“https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/scholarship_criteria.aspx[/url]”>https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/scholarship_criteria.aspx</a></p>
<p>
I’ll have to agree. And you are welcome for the link I provided on your other thread.</p>
<p>I’m speaking to a twelve year old. There’s no point in continuing this.</p>
<p>well one thing to think about when considering any ROTC program is NO name-calling. I mean really. Do your research; the service academy forum has a wealth of information not only regarding the service academies but also with the ROTC programs and many other military-related topics. </p>
<p>It is probably very good advice to not resort to name-calling at least until you know who you are dealing with. There are many people who have experience with military service, ROTC and Service academies both on CC and other forums. These people are willing to share experiences and advice, however it really really serves the thread originator well to do some research and then ask “intelligent” questions. </p>
<p>I think perhaps aglages is probably irritated by the “they said/someone said” syndrome- when CC posters post without really researching or thinking through questions and then get annoyed at the answers received, and then comment that “they said/someone said- not me” yes, it is you when you are typing/saying/ repeating stupid information. </p>
<p>Use some degree of intelligence and reasoning first and then be amazed by the help/advice you can get from many sources available on CC.</p>
<p>
Thank you. Well said and excellent advice.</p>
<p>For he record: You can be in ROTC and have a very normal college life, with plenty of fun, even though you will be a little busier and have some more commitments than average. You will also be more mature and responsible, and hopefully develop the leadership, honor and integrity expected of commissioned officers. This last part seems to me to be something which many people seem to have forgotten in recent years.</p>
<p>ROTC cadets typically enjoy the same experiences as their non ROTC classmates. It is an additional time commitment. ROTC class and lab may take 3-5 hours per week. There is a requirement to attend PT sessions unless the cadet is also a college athlete. Field Training exercises take up 1 or 2 weekends a semester. </p>
<p>The time commitment for ROTC is probably more than your average class but less than a varsity sport. It is probably on par with a highly technical class like chemistry or engineering.</p>
<p>ROTC should be viewed more as a competitive internship than as a class. Each cadet is guarranteed employment upon completion of an ROTC program. Starting pay for a new officer is over $50,000.</p>
<p>My youngest son is interested in ROTC or a service academy; he is also interested in participating in a varsity sport (crew).</p>
<p>I am somewhat familiar with both ROTC and Service Academies – however, I am concerned about the time commitments for ROTC. If he has an ROTC scholarship, he won’t have to have a work study job – so that seems like a good trade-off as far as time goes. Varsity Crew is a huge time commitment – 2-3 hours a day, 6 days a week and travel to competitions (usually fall and spring season with winter conditioning). Will he be able to work his ROTC commitments around his sports commitments? Would he still be required to do PT if he is on crew?</p>
<p>He is thinking of Engineering – which is also a huge time commitment! What happens if he needs 5 years to graduate and is in ROTC?</p>
<p>Admittedly, varsity sports are a huge time commitment, and I know this is very true of crew. I believe he could manage ROTC and crew, but he will be very busy. ROTC is typically two class periods per week plus one period of drill or leadership lab, but you sould check with the particular service and college ROTC department. I was in ROTC with a high jumper who later went on to the Olympics, so it can be done. They may or may not exempt him from PT, it is for leadership and bonding as much as for fitness.
As for a five-year program, I feel pretty sure they would wait for him to finish his degree, then commission him. You must have your degree to get commissioned.</p>
<p>To answer the question about the 5th year, if you have a 4-year scholarship, you get 4 years to complete your degree. They require you to have a full 4-year plan from day 1 and expect the student to keep to plan. </p>
<p>If they walk on (without a 4-year scholarship), they can apply for a 3-year scholarship (if available - somtimes there are some others not) when they have 3 years remaining in their degree.</p>
<p>As to varsity athletics, goaliegirl will be doing both. It does take cooperation between coach and Unit. As mentioned, cadets who pass their physical fitness test and are varsity athletes are usually excused from PT. Coaches have to be flexible with field exercise weekends (usually one in the fall and one in the spring) and certain other unit committments. Since the class and lab are considered class time, they generally excuse athletes from practice when a required class cannot be rescheduled. </p>
<p>The best advice I can give is to be upfront with both coaches and unit officers about your son’s plan. We did not receive any negative feedback at any school we talked to. And several of them had Canadian coaches who really didn’t have a background with ROTC, but did appreciate the committment to country it represents.</p>
<p>Being a varsity athlete also helps with the scoring that is done on all cadets when it comes time for branch selection.</p>
<p>One other thing to consider is school selection when contemplating the combination of varsity athletics, ROTC, and engineering. It is not necessary to pick a reachy type school, as the Army (or any other branch for that matter) doesn’t care where your degree is from when it comes for branch selection. They care about your GPA, EC’s, LDAC score, PT score and leadership within your unit. Once he has a degree and a few years of military experience, (given that he decides not to be a career soldier/sailor/airman/marine) the work experience will be more valuable to employers than the school, so school becomes rather unimportant.</p>
<p>Goaliegirl is going to a school where she won’t be overly challenged, which should allow her to do a good job in all phases of her life and not stress out. </p>
<p>Another thing to consider, ROTC scholarships are becoming very competitive, especially at highly competitive schools (and even some moderatly competitive schools). I saw a remark on a board from a recuriting officer at Clarkson saying that when he has 90 applicants for 9 scholarships, he tends to favor those who show demonstrated interest. So, if your son is a junior (I forgot which grade he is in), I would recommend start visiting units this summer and start on that application now. First Army boards are in October with a cutoff 3 weeks before the board. If your son is a standout in the schools he is applying to (safety), he will more likely get selected first for the scholarships available, so there is some “chances” advantage in applying to safety schools.</p>
<p>Best of luck and feel free to PM me if you have more questions.</p>
<p>"To answer the question about the 5th year, if you have a 4-year scholarship, you get 4 years to complete your degree. They require you to have a full 4-year plan from day 1 and expect the student to keep to plan. "</p>
<p>Not entirely correct. There are a few technical majors, such as engineering that it is possible to extend a scholarship to a 5th year. It may vary by branch of service. My son was able to get his AF Type II 4 year extended for a 5th year for Engineering. I would recommend talking to your Cadre.</p>
<p>Not only are ROTC scholarships competitive, there were many on AF scholarships that weren’t selected to attend field training this year due to force shaping. This effectively ended their AF career after two years of college. The way to prevent this from happening is to ensure that you’re not ranked in the bottom third of your unit. Maintaining good grades are important in your ranking regardless of your major. Unfortunately, they don’t weight Engineering higher than somebody majoring in Basket Weaving.</p>
<p>
Are you sure that everyone that was not selected to attend field training after their second year has lost their AFROTC scholarships? Or am I misinterpreting your “effectively ended their AF career after two years of college” statement?</p>