If my high school doesn't have a junior ROTC program, can I still apply for the ROTC scholarship?

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Permalink Reply by Altaica103 on May 13, 2008 at 7:11pm

if you are talking about a straight ROTC scholarship to pay for college that is NOT true, you do not have to be in JROTC to apply. if you are talking about the ROTC nomination for an academy that IS true, you must be in the JROTC of that academy or a distinguished unit. ROTC is going to be just a normal class with labs and extra commitments outside of class. Basically you will live a "normal" (if such thing exsists) college life. An academy will be a "boot camp" like lifestyle 24-7. There are differences but basically it is simiply a matter of what are you looking for in your college experince.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Trubilla on May 14, 2008 at 1:22am

Altaica103 is correct. You do NOT have to be in JROTC to apply for a ROTC scholarship. I'm not sure about the requirements and how JROTC helps with academy applications though...sry.

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Permalink Reply by Sara Mc on May 14, 2008 at 4:45pm

Thanks for the information! I appreciate it.

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Permalink Reply by Anthonio Saw on June 16, 2008 at 3:08pm

Actually, there is an ROTC Scholarship to the college of your choice(you have to get accepted to that preferred college) by which you would have to coordinate with your local recruiter in order to get more information on it, but, like any other ROTC or academy, you are obligated to serve five years in that specific service unless they allow a cross-transfer. In addition to that, for the ROTC Nomination, you have to be in the JROTC Program of your school(if you have one), but this type of nomination falls under the Service-Connected Nomination. It also helps if your JROTC unit is an "Honor Unit with Distinction," by which is the highest designation a JROTC unit can attain. (There are three different types of JROTC unit designations: White Star(Lowest), Blue Star(Honor Unit, Middle), and Yellow Star(Honor Unit with Distinction, Highest). But these are probably one of the most competitive nominations(much harder than congressman or senator) to attain because they only give out 80 in the entire United States and, remember, that 80 is comprised of Service-Connected nominations so that means it includes JROTC, siblings of family in the service, people in the actual service, and other military variables.

Referring upon the difference between ROTC and academy life, they are two entirely different things. ROTC is a class where although you are trained with the basics and you do commit to military matters, it is not a 24/7 commitment which means you can still enjoy your normal college life while, in academy life, it is a 24/7 military lifestyle all around and they are more in depth with your military, academic, and physical education.

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Permalink Reply by Sara Mc on June 17, 2008 at 10:42am

Oooooh ok. I just re read this. so there is the ROTC scholarship, and then an ROTC nomination? I didnt know there was a nomination. Now i get it. Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Thomas on January 8, 2009 at 6:40am

No, I'm pretty sure you can still apply for the ROTC scholarship. A couple of kids who graduated from my high school last year got full rides for Army ROTC and our school doesn't have a JROTC program.

Benefits of ROTC would be just an overall more relaxed lifestyle. There's not as much physical stuff as the academy and you also get to have a somewhat-normal college experience. The end result is the same, so it's really up to you if you want to go ROTC or academy

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Permalink Reply by Thomas on January 8, 2009 at 7:20pm

Ha wow, definitely did not notice there were already comments... Future USAFA cadet material right there.

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Permalink Reply by Sara Mc on January 8, 2009 at 10:53pm

hehe

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Permalink Reply by WC on January 9, 2009 at 4:01am

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Permalink Reply by Jake Lillehaug on April 27, 2009 at 3:57pm

I was an official candidate at USNA and USMA, but after joining the Army National Guard I chose to not finish applications to the academies and got a full 4 year scholarship to a private university. I chose to go full time after I graduate from flight school. The scholarships pay for everything except flight time. Fighting Saints Battalion!

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