BDCP and NROTC

[frcabot]

Hello,

I received a 4 year NROTC scholarship to UCLA but the value of my scholarship (since tuition is so cheap) including stipend is about $10K/year or about $40K for 4 years.

BDCP for 2 years taking into account BAH rates for Los Angeles, BAS, and base pay would be about $50K/year or $100K/2 years. Obviously BDCP is much more lucrative than NROTC, although the NROTC scholarship is supposedly a higher honor.

Here's what I would like to do ideally:
Take NROTC for 2 years, then transfer and do BDCP for the remaining two.

Is this possible? Are NROTC midshipmen or former midshipmen eligible for BDCP in any way shape or form?

What would y'all do if you were in my shoes? How competitive is BDCP? I'm scared of declining my NROTC scholarship because I may end up with nothing at all.

Jason
Class of '08
UCLA

 

[bch]

Allright man, stop trying to game the game. First off, only your first year is committement free for NROTC. After that, you drop, you serve as enlisted or pay back tuition.
You get paid as an E-3 as a BDCP, you are not going to make 50k a year. Your NROTC scholarship will provide 4 yrs tuition, fees, books, stipend (450buck a month) and most importantly, TRAINING TO BE AN OFFICER. Let's think about this... Whom do you think is going to be better clued in, someone who spends 4 yrs, taking leadership, naval history, and participating in a military training environment, while during the summer (1 month a summer) going out to the fleet to see what the ACTUAL navy and its communities are like.... or someone who spends 13 weeks in OCS????

Take the NROTC scholarship, without a doubt.

Not to mention, that if you want to fly, NROTC and Academy have a lot more SNA slots than OCS. OCS is meant to fill the gaps not covered by NROTC and USNA

 

[NozeMan]

Jason,

I'd say youre taking a big gambe if you decide to turn down an NROTC scholarship for the hopes of someday picking up the BDCP deal. Obviously BDCP has more monetary benefits, but NROTC is almost a sure thing to getting what you want (granted that you perform, etc).

As far as doing 2 years on scholarship then switch....don't count on it. Plus, if you do freshman and sophomore year on the scholarship then decide to drop. You will have to pay back the costs of your sophomore year anyways. I wouldn't be suprised if there is some part of the BDCP contract that says something along the lines of not being able to have any previous college assistance from the navy. But I don't know much about BDCP, no doubt that someone who has more knowledge will answer that one for you.

Make sure you get all the facts before you decide. Congrats on getting the scholarship!

Noze

 

[frcabot]

Thanks.

I'm pretty much decided on NROTC anyways seeing as how I cannot come up with the funds for the first two years of college by myself.

BTW, NROTC Stipend is not 450/month (no where near it, lol)
It's:
-$250/month Freshman Year
-$300/month Soph Year
-$350/month Junior Year
-$400/month Senior Year.

I called an officer recruiter who made it pretty clear that if I took even one dollar from NROTC I could forget about BDCP, so the only thing I was pretty much considering was turning down the NROTC Scholarship and applying for BDCP at the end of my Sophomore year.

The reason I bring this up is not because I want to cheat the Navy out of money but because I have been emancipated since age 14, have significant debt and could really use the money.

 

[bch]

well I know I got 450 for 2 yrs, b4 that it was just 150 for all.