I spent 2 years in a community college flight program, and transferred to my current university after that. Going into it, I really had no plans to get on scholarship and I initially turned down an offer from my LT to take a nuke scholarship. Basically, don't let them sell you into something that you will regret later. Spending my freshmen year in the college program was really good for me because it allowed me to experience the program without any real obligation. Another thing that people don't always talk about is the difference academically between community colleges and universities. From my experience (and other transfer students I know), it is noticeably harder. If you initially have a so-so term grade-wise, it is nice to be on college program because typically your adviser (NROTC) will likely be a little easier on you. A bunch of freshmen in my class (including myself) did poorly that fall, and while the scholarship mids were getting XOI's, college program mids like myself were just getting study hours and a warning. Not fun either way, but its something to think about. After that little bump, things smoothed out for me and balancing ROTC and good grades became easier. Spring term I decided that it was what I wanted to do, and almost to my suprise I picked up scholarship last June. So, just get into the school you want, talk to someone at the NROTC units at schools you have applied to, and then get the paperwork filled out. My guess is that you will pick up scholarship sooner or later if you are doing what is expected of you anyways. If you need to be on scholarship financially, then this is a different issue I guess....