It is important to remember that each of the 3 military departments runs its own ROTC program. There are different rules, different fitness approaches, and different priorities / criteria for their 4-year scholarships.

While I believe various posters are sincere, each is writing about the program they are familiar with. Other programs have been and remain different.

Students interested in ROTC ought to research and compare among the whole set of ROTC options.

Separate process is the way I understand it after going through with the whole process 2 years ago. However, I am reading from Reddit and other forums that some schools do give benefit.