NROTC w/o scholarship

[Beefalo]

I know an NROTC scholarship is pretty compeititive but what about participating in NROTC without one? What are the chances of getting in and are you automatically commisioned as an ensign after graduation?

I have about 2 years left of college and wouldnt mind taking out a 30,000 loan if I was guranteed to become an ensign after graduation.

 

[Flash]

You can do sign what is called an Advanced standing contract, at least that is what it was called when I did it. You sign a contract saying that you are commiting yourself to serve, I did mine at the beginning of my junior year, and you get a commision when you graduate.

EA6bflyer is a NROTC instructor and would probably give you better info, but the best people to talk to is your NROTC unit staff. Best of luck.

 

[bch]

If you start right away as a freshman, you will have an opportunity each year to apply and pick up a 3 or 2 yr scholarship. If you cannot get the scholarship, but your command still feels that you would make a good officer you can get advanced standing. What this is.... You get to go on a 1/C summer cruise, get a small but nice pay check your last year of college and get to get commissioned. You will still have to pay for your own schooling though.

It is not a bad deal at all, and as far as I could tell, there is no difference when it comes to selection between scholarship mids and advanced standing mids.

Call and talk to the units recruiting officer for some more info. They should be happy to help out.

 

[Fly Navy]

There tends to be some higher respect level for advanced standing mids too, at least in my unit there was. They have no scholarship and don't need to be there. We always thought pretty high of them.

 

[Jolly Roger]

Here is a question for you. Did you have to fill out an application, a phyiscal, and a uniform chart as a basic college programer or did you do that once you got into advanced standing? The LT, the the unit I am trying to join, said that I needed to fill all that out after my transfer had been accepted and those were formalities because the unit CO had approved my entrance to the unit. He also said that if I did not transfer in as a first semester sophmore, then I would I have to send an application to Pensecola. I haven't asked him this question, yet because I have bombarded him with a dozen others and I do not want to tax his patience.

 

[zab1001]

As a former advanced standing guy (i.e. no scholarship, NROTC, commissioned in '98), I'm curious if NROTC units are doing away with the 'College Program' in order to reduce the output of J.O.'s.

Anybody know?

 

[Fly Navy]

As a former advanced standing guy (i.e. no scholarship, NROTC, commissioned in '98), I'm curious if NROTC units are doing away with the 'College Program' in order to reduce the output of J.O.'s.

Anybody know?

That would only make sense, along with cutting the scholarships down. We can't do something that would make sense.

 

[Beefalo]

So what steps what I have to take? Im still at a community college and know I will have to transfer into a college with an NROTC unit. Do I get accepted and then contact the NROTC unit or is better to contact the NROTC unit first then apply? It would suck to go to a college and not get accepted into the NROTC unit at least for me. NROTC would be a big motivation for me to finish school.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Beefalo,

I would contact 2 or 3 NROTC units at the schools you are interested in attending. If you're only interested in attending one particular school, great....still contact a couple other NROTC units to get their take on your question as well. Also, some units may be pretty full and not want or need any more, whereas other units may jump over backwards to get you to come to their unit/school.

If you want the lowdown, make direct contact with these people. Each unit has an officer responsible for recruiting. Not always, but is typically the freshman adviser.

 

[Beefalo]

Ok thanks I took your advice and emailed about 5 different NROTC units at various colleges. Honestly as long as it is an accredited university thats enough for me. The big thing would be to get accepted into advanced standing college program upon admission. Could I be guranteed advanced standing before setting foot on the university assuming I had already been accepted into the university?

 

[Crowbar]

If you start in the fall, I would highly recommend you do the Freshman Orientation program at your new school. Freshman or not, it's very beneficial if you are new to the program and not prior service. And fun. Heh heh.

 

[semperfimelissa]

Freshman Orientation

I was invited to freshman NROTC orientation at UC Berkeley after I asked the recruiting officer about the college program. What exactly do they do at freshman orientation?

 

[Beefalo]

I talked to the ROTC unit at my local university and they said Id have a great shot of being in the college program. But I think the Army is in need of more officers right now then the Navy. Only 2 schools in my state offer NROTC and there packed full of students.

 

[Crowbar]

Freshman Orientation is an intro to the program. It (in theory) gives you the basics of what you will need to know to succeed in the NROTC program.

 

[jai5w4]

As a current College Programer, having been selected this past summer for advanced standing, I can speak with some knowledge on the subject. :icon_wink It is getting more competitive for both advanced standing (they took 27 of us nation-wide this past summer, not including 2 of my best friends ) and for scholarships. I have not heard of them removing the C.Program from NROTC, but anything's possible. Pay starts your junior year after you get picked up for Advanced Standing. Oh yeah, another perk of being a C.P'er is you do not have to take Calculus or Physics to graduate if it's not in your major! :icon_smil Come out of the gates strong and you can maybe pull in one of the CO's 2 scholarships he has for each school year. Then apply at every chance you get for a national one, then apply for Advanced Standing.

As for getting more respect b/c I am a college programer...haven't experienced that at our unit. The scholarship folks are looked after VERY well by the staff and we are kind of second class citizens (atleast until advanced standing is achieved). Oh well

Take Care,

~John