ROTC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not Minot?

Given the choice, most people would select North Dakota over Hawaii, Germany, Iceland, Japan, etc.

[Anonymous]

Air Force Rotc revoked scholarships b/c too many officers retained?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have experience with ROTC and how it dovetails with admission to highly selective schools? We can afford to pay for school but just wondering if ROTC would be good to explore for the leadership experiences, no debt and five years of guaranteed job out of school.

You are aware that this “guaranteed job” will require your kid to go wherever they tell him, including combat zones? Your kid won’t always be able to come “home” for thanksgiving and other special holidays. Your kid could get assigned to a base in Germany or Korea or Guam; your grandchild could be born and raised there, making it hard for you to visit often. It’s a lot more than just a “guaranteed job.”

You think most just out of college kids are going to have leave to travel home for Thanksgiving and “special holidays”? I wouldn’t want my child to produce grandchildren right out of college, either.

We live in an area with lots of military officers and while yes, there are some tough deployments, we also have friends who’ve moved from here to England, Belgium, Japan, Norway, DC (that’s the worst) and Germany. Not exactly hardship posts and they and their extended families get to see each other often. Also lots of retired military parents at little kids’ school in their 40s and 50s collecting military pension and working for contractors. It’s not a bad life. They usually get a year here or there to do (paid for) masters degrees while active duty too.

OP, my childhood friend’s husband did ROTC as an engineering student, became a pilot, and is now a base commander. FIL was orphaned as a kid and did ROTC at UVA to pay for college. Studied electrical engineering and was stationed in Florida testing missles during Vietnam.

Parents of "little kids" while in their 50s is definitely not common among military active duty/retirees.

NP: It's fairly common around us to have military retiree parents in their 40s/50s with prek-6 aged kids. Esp folks who got married after military retirement or 2nd marriage. Those seem to be the majority of dads who volunteer in ES.

How much of your preretirement salary does a military retiree get? I've been surprised at the super young (under 50) retirees in this area who don't actually start up a new job after retirement. I guess one can do that in some parts of the country but the DMV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have experience with ROTC and how it dovetails with admission to highly selective schools? We can afford to pay for school but just wondering if ROTC would be good to explore for the leadership experiences, no debt and five years of guaranteed job out of school.

You are aware that this “guaranteed job” will require your kid to go wherever they tell him, including combat zones? Your kid won’t always be able to come “home” for thanksgiving and other special holidays. Your kid could get assigned to a base in Germany or Korea or Guam; your grandchild could be born and raised there, making it hard for you to visit often. It’s a lot more than just a “guaranteed job.”

You think most just out of college kids are going to have leave to travel home for Thanksgiving and “special holidays”? I wouldn’t want my child to produce grandchildren right out of college, either.

We live in an area with lots of military officers and while yes, there are some tough deployments, we also have friends who’ve moved from here to England, Belgium, Japan, Norway, DC (that’s the worst) and Germany. Not exactly hardship posts and they and their extended families get to see each other often. Also lots of retired military parents at little kids’ school in their 40s and 50s collecting military pension and working for contractors. It’s not a bad life. They usually get a year here or there to do (paid for) masters degrees while active duty too.

OP, my childhood friend’s husband did ROTC as an engineering student, became a pilot, and is now a base commander. FIL was orphaned as a kid and did ROTC at UVA to pay for college. Studied electrical engineering and was stationed in Florida testing missles during Vietnam.

Parents of "little kids" while in their 50s is definitely not common among military active duty/retirees.

NP: It's fairly common around us to have military retiree parents in their 40s/50s with prek-6 aged kids. Esp folks who got married after military retirement or 2nd marriage. Those seem to be the majority of dads who volunteer in ES.

How much of your preretirement salary does a military retiree get? I've been surprised at the super young (under 50) retirees in this area who don't actually start up a new job after retirement. I guess one can do that in some parts of the country but the DMV?

It used to be 50% of highest salary for 20 year career and 75% for a 30 year career. Not sure what it is now.

[Anonymous]

My DD has two close friends one male, one female who are doing it and absolutely hate it and feel forced into it by their parents. One is planning on dropping out of school altogether this winter. I think it is crucial that it is the kid's choice and that you talk about how they can back out of it if it's not for them.

[Anonymous]

I am sorry to hear that your DD"s friends hated ROTC - it is a terrific option for many kids and, for some, the absolute best way to pay for college with no debt and a guaranteed job after graduation. Hard to explain to an 18 year old what significant student debt can crush economic success for years.

My neighbor's kids had a great experience with ROTC - one at Princeton and one at W&M - great group of kids, leadership lessons, physical fitness/confidence building.

[Anonymous]

Do all ROTC scholarship recipients end up on active duty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry to hear that your DD"s friends hated ROTC - it is a terrific option for many kids and, for some, the absolute best way to pay for college with no debt and a guaranteed job after graduation. Hard to explain to an 18 year old what significant student debt can crush economic success for years.

My neighbor's kids had a great experience with ROTC - one at Princeton and one at W&M - great group of kids, leadership lessons, physical fitness/confidence building.

Does being an ROTC scholarship recipient help with admissions at Princeton or William and Mary?

[Anonymous]

Do all ROTC grads go on to active duty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do all ROTC grads go on to active duty?

I think if they do not, after freshman year...they may have to replay scholarship.

See, "There is no such thing as a free lunch."

Here are more details

https://rotcconsulting.com/rotc-scholarship-contracts/

[Anonymous]

i was surprised how LOW these scholarships actually are.

If your kid is above average (not a superstar), they will get much more money from a second tier liberal arts college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have experience with ROTC and how it dovetails with admission to highly selective schools? We can afford to pay for school but just wondering if ROTC would be good to explore for the leadership experiences, no debt and five years of guaranteed job out of school.

You are aware that this “guaranteed job” will require your kid to go wherever they tell him, including combat zones? Your kid won’t always be able to come “home” for thanksgiving and other special holidays. Your kid could get assigned to a base in Germany or Korea or Guam; your grandchild could be born and raised there, making it hard for you to visit often. It’s a lot more than just a “guaranteed job.”

You think most just out of college kids are going to have leave to travel home for Thanksgiving and “special holidays”? I wouldn’t want my child to produce grandchildren right out of college, either.

We live in an area with lots of military officers and while yes, there are some tough deployments, we also have friends who’ve moved from here to England, Belgium, Japan, Norway, DC (that’s the worst) and Germany. Not exactly hardship posts and they and their extended families get to see each other often. Also lots of retired military parents at little kids’ school in their 40s and 50s collecting military pension and working for contractors. It’s not a bad life. They usually get a year here or there to do (paid for) masters degrees while active duty too.

OP, my childhood friend’s husband did ROTC as an engineering student, became a pilot, and is now a base commander. FIL was orphaned as a kid and did ROTC at UVA to pay for college. Studied electrical engineering and was stationed in Florida testing missles during Vietnam.

Parents of "little kids" while in their 50s is definitely not common among military active duty/retirees.

It is when they are on their 2nd family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do all ROTC grads go on to active duty?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some extremely selective colleges with ROTC programs. I understand getting the scholarship and gaining admission are two separate processes. But if my DC gets the scholarship, and X college is listed as his first choice, can the ROTC unit for X college help in any way with admissions? In other words, is there an admissions hook there, however slight?

Yes. And likely significant and HPY type schools where there’s less interest in ROTC.

[Anonymous]

My DS is considering ROTC. We can afford to pay for him to go to college, but would apply for the scholarship because we don’t see a reason why not to… Except, my understanding is the students don’t fully commit until their junior year. If that’s correct if DS were to decide a career in the military wasn’t what he wanted I’m assuming we just have to pay the scholarship back, correct? He wouldn’t have to leave school?