<p>cptofthehouse, Thanks, yes, I learned that by reading another forum. Lots of things have to come together in order to make this work. It may or may not happen but as they say on the Service Academy Forum “your chance of getting a scholarship is zero if you don’t try”.</p>
<p>My friend’s son never got a scholarhsip. He did all 4 years of ROTC and never qualified for any of the awards. He did get a stipend of a few hundred a month–I don’t know when it started. He did get through the SFT. He did become a commisioned officer and go through training but got RIFed after a few years. He was Air Force. He’s happy now that it happened because he did not get pilot’s spot and that was what he wanted to do. He’s a commercial pilot now.</p>
<p>Confused - keep in mind the post by ArielsMom above only refers to Air Force ROTC - Army ROTC is very different. In AFROTC, if you are not selected for SFT after sophomore year that is essentially the kiss of death (with a couple exceptions). In Navy ROTC, you can join as a “college programmer” (i.e. non-scholarship cadet) for the 1st two years but must secure a scholarship by your junior year in order to continue in the program.</p>
<p>In Army ROTC, now and even more so going forward - most cadets are not on scholarship, and there is no requirement to be in order to commission. Your son can join his freshman year (joining = signing up for ROTC MSI classes) and continue through the program all 4 years, graduate and commission, assuming he meets the requirements (physical, PT, academic).</p>
<p>If he is on a 4-yr scholarship, he will sign a contract as soon as he passes his DoDMerb physical and passes a PT test - typically within the 1st week or two of fall semester. He is still under no financial obligation to the Army until he steps foot on campus for his sophomore year.</p>
<p>If he has a 3-year scholarship, he will still participate his freshman year, but not contract until the beginning of his sophomore year. His PMS (professor of military science) will have to validate that he meets the requirements (see above) in order for his scholarship to be activated.</p>
<p>If he ends up with no scholarship, he can still join. He will participate Fresh and Soph years, then contract at the beginning of his junior year / commission upon graduation.</p>
<p>If your son finds he is too late to secure a scholarship , another option he has is SMP (simultaneous membership program). He enlists in the National Guard and goes to basic and AIT (may have to delay school a semester). Then he joins ROTC and can contract at the beginning of his soph year. Depending on the state, he may receive full tuition from the Guard. He is under no obligation to be in the Guard after graduation. He can go active duty if that is his wish and is ranked high enough to do so. If he does prefer Guard or Reserves, the GRFD (guaranteed reserve forces duty) scholarships are typically pretty easy to come by but lock you into reserves with no chance of transferring to active duty. You need to be 100% you do not want active before signing this contract.</p>
<p>Army cadets must contract by junior year in order to commission. As the Army is downsizing, the number of contracts per battalion is also being reduced. as a non-contracted cadet, one should always strive to be at the top of the battalion OML (order of merit list) in order to secure an available contract. </p>
<p>Once contracted, a cadet is eligible for a monthly stipend ($300-$500 depending on class level) and eligible for optional summer training like Airborne, Air Assault, etc.).</p>
<p>Sorry this ended up being so long, but feel free to ask any other questions you may have.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Jcc, what stipends do non scholarship Army ROTC participants get and when do they start getting the monies?</p>
<p>The stipend is not tied to the scholarship - it’s tied to the contract. As soon as you contract you begin receiving the stipend. If you’re a 4-yr scholarship winner, that’s freshman year. 3-yr or SMP cadet = sophomore. 2 yr or any other cadet - beginning of Junior year. </p>
<p>The stipend will begin as of the date of the contract and be prorated. Say, for instance, you’re a freshman 4-yr scholarship winner. You pass your PT test and contract on Sept 10th. If your HR folks are on the ball, you could receive a check the 15th, but most likely the 30th of Sep. for 3 weeks. Cadets receive direct deposit 2x per month.</p>
<p>The stipend amounts are:
Fresh - $300 per month
Soph - $350 per month
Junior - $450 per month
Senior - $500 per month</p>
<p>And, this is ROTC class level, not hours…my son is an MSII (2nd year in ROTC), so receives $350 per month even though hours-wise he is a junior.</p>
<p>jcc - Thank you very much. That is very helpful information. since he is so late and the chances of getting a scholarship are low (not because he is late, just in general), it is very helpful to know what his alternatives are.).</p>