NROTC program

[Airyk17]

I've got the NROTC scholarship but havent been accepted to a college yet. I was wondering how much harder college life is with the NROTC program. I was also wondering when do you go to bootcamp and how hard that was. I wrestle so i'm in pretty good shape and I do pushups and work out everynight and run in the mornings plus i'm memorizing my general orders and creed so from what I've heard i'm on the right track anything else I need to do?

thanks

 

[ea6bflyr]

I've got the NROTC scholarship but havent been accepted to a college yet. I was wondering how much harder college life is with the NROTC program. I was also wondering when do you go to bootcamp and how hard that was. I wrestle so i'm in pretty good shape and I do pushups and work out everynight and run in the mornings plus i'm memorizing my general orders and creed so from what I've heard i'm on the right track anything else I need to do?

thanks

Keep checking with the schools to which you've applied. The scholarship is to only one school.

NROTC will add about 15-20 hours extra per week....depending on which NROTC you attend.

No boot camp for NROTC...but there is usually a FRESHMAN ORIENTATION. Most schools have them to get you in step with the rest of the Midshipmen in the Battalion. This takes place about a week prior to the start of school.

Which school/NROTC did you get the scholarship?

-ea6bflyr

 

[KnightNArmor]

My ROTC experience was just that... an experience.
To drag on the coat tails of ea6...
Freshman Orientation for me was a week of silliness. It's going to seem like a kindergarten version of boot camp/ocs. I think the bigger point was to get all of us together and make us start working as a team before we ever started school.
Once I got to the university, we PT'd 3 times a week. And we had an overzealous AMOI who said that if you didn't run a 285 pft, then you'd be PTing 5 times a week. So, I PT'd 5 times a week. Which sucks when you have a 0800 class and PT ends at 0700.
The extra classes that I had to take weren't really all that bad. "History of Amphibious Warfare", "Leadership Ethics" are two that I remember. It was basically one course each semester. Then we had "Leadership Lab". It was a 2 1/2 hour block, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons where we'd learn drill, rifle manual, and whatever they wanted to teach us from OCS.

One of the nasty truths to get ready for... I thought they were going to take care of everything. But, I still walked out of school with about 15,000 in student loans. ROTC won't pay for meals, housing, etc... And (unless things have changed recently) they only gave me $800 for books... which will barely cover the damages.

Questions, comments...???

 

[whalepelt]

It sounds like you're preparing yourself rather well. As ea6bflyr said, there's no bootcamp for Navy guys. If you're going Marine Option, you'll have to go to OCS after your Junior year. If you're worrying about whether ROTC will keep you from having a life, don't. Your experience will be different from the civilian students, but its not like Academy. (Unless you decide to go to VA Tech, Texas A&M, VMI, etc.)

EDIT: Now stand by for Academy folks to tell you how schools with a Corps of Cadets are nothing whatsoever like Annapolis.

 

[sbpilot]

Its not that large of a time commitment, but as people said it all depends on where you go. I really enjoy the stuff we do, but I highly recommend not rushing a fraternity in your first quarter of college.

 

[Airyk17]

thanks guys,
ea6bflyr I got into the UNC-Chapel Hill unti

 

[DanMa1156]

thanks guys,
ea6bflyr I got into the UNC-Chapel Hill unti

Congrats! Not sure if you also mean you now know you have been accepted to UNC, but if you haven't, I don't think it could hurt to ask admissions to update your file to reflect the fact that you earned that scholarship to their school. Just my $.02.

 

[HH-60H]

EDIT: Now stand by for Academy folks to tell you how schools with a Corps of Cadets are nothing whatsoever like Annapolis.

Yeah, because Academy guys are the instigators around here. Just stick to what you know.

 

[phrogdriver]

The minimum time committment per week when I was there--we had a low stress NROTC program:

Navy:
3x1hr naval science classes
1x2hr drill period
1x1hr PT

Marine:
Same as above, except 3 PT sessions/week. Also, we went to the field about twice a semester.

Those are the mins. If you had a leadership billet, or were involved in a midshipman club, like Semper Fi Society, band, etc, there was more.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

NROTC will add about AT LEAST 15-20 hours extra per week....depending on which NROTC you attend.

Fixed!

 

[P3 F0]

My ROTC experience was just that... an experience. Freshman Orientation for me was a week of silliness.

Don't bash that week too hard... I was CP and signed up for it the day I got to my campus, which was after orientation. They had me sign a bunch of forms, threw a load of uniforms at me, and let me go on my merry way. Then drill rolls around and I had to figure out what "summer whites" were and how to wear it. When they pulled me aside to ream me out for looking like a clown, I couldn't even tell them what squad or company I was in. That led to much more reaming out. All in all, not my best day. So there is some benefit to orientation.

Anyway, ROTC was good. They took me to Mardi Gras twice, which was a blast, and a few other good deal trips. Aside from the extra class every quarter, it didn't add much that much more time to my week. A couple hours for drill, maybe another few hours over the week for clubs and studying. We didn't have mando PT, although I'm guessing most places have it nowadays. And even though the extra classes pushed me into an extra quarter of school, the program actually helped keep me focused and on track.

 

[P3 F0]

Fixed!

Jeez, you guys got screwed.

 

[gotta_fly]

Check with UNC, but some schools offer you a 'Dean's Scholarship' type of deal. For example, students at Holy Cross on full Navy scholarship get room and board free as well. Even better, students (like me) at WPI that are in the Holy Cross BN on full scholarship get room and board free OR a refund thereof to live off campus.

WRT books, I think I get about $300 a semester, but I can't be sure since it's never on time and never all at once.

Also, I wouldn't worry about memorizing too much knowledge material before you get there. If you let on that you know more than everyone else you're going to make yourself into a target for the mid instructors. Good luck, and have fun- NROTC is a great program!

 

[BlackBearHockey]

If you let on that you know more than everyone else you're going to make yourself into a target for the mid instructors. Good luck, and have fun- NROTC is a great program!

I didn't think it was really about knowledge, but rather if you acted like a smug bag of dousche or not. We had kids who knew quite a bit, some of them just answered, then other kids kissed asses and thought they were God's gift to the military. The latter will make you a much bigger target IMO. Good on you for being prepared, but don't be that guy.

 

[ea6bflyr]

The minimum time committment per week when I was there--we had a low stress NROTC program:

Navy:
3x1hr naval science classes
1x2hr drill period
1x1hr PT

Marine:
Same as above, except 3 PT sessions/week. Also, we went to the field about twice a semester.

Those are the mins. If you had a leadership billet, or were involved in a midshipman club, like Semper Fi Society, band, etc, there was more.

At Penn State, we required our freshmen to log 6 hours per week at NROTC study hall....so, if you add it up, it comes to about 12 hours, but going into realistically, you can expect a bit more. If your GPA dropped below 15 hours, then you were required to log 15 hours a week in NROTC study hall which is still very low. You should be alotting 2 hours of study/per week per credit hour. If you are taking 15 credits, you should be studying about 30 hours per week to get the A. Hopefully you get this info during your freshman year.

-ea6bflyr