I'm now 1 Trimester into my Junior Year and am starting the whole college application process. I took my PSAT's this morning  and also sent my information to a college review board which will solicit colleges offering for me to visit the campus, talk to rep's, apply, etc.

I also got an information packet from the Army that I requested but it had almost no information about ROTC (It was all about enlistment options.) I may be visiting some campuses that I am interested in attending soon and I heard that meeting with the Military Science Department Head is a good idea. How do I go about this? Do I need to start thinking about scholarships right now? Any info would be a big help, thanks in advance.

"I Know in my heart that Man is good, That right will always eventually triumph, and that there is purpose to each and every life."

-Ronald Reagan, November 4, 1991 at the Dedication of the Reagan Library

PSAT's Suck, oh and bump.

"I Know in my heart that Man is good, That right will always eventually triumph, and that there is purpose to each and every life."

-Ronald Reagan, November 4, 1991 at the Dedication of the Reagan Library

WTF? Who's Mr. Pillow Pants? - Clerks 2

To meet the Professor of Military Science, or PMS (yeah, I know, funny) I'd get his contact information off the internet, your potential colleges should list the ROTC Dept numbers in a faculty directory.  Recruiters will refer you directly to ROTC departments too, so talking with a recruiter (as mentioned above) is a good idea.

ROTC Scholarships are available in 2, 3, and 4 year timelines.  Going scholarship ROTC is a good thing for all the obvious reasons, but in addition to having school paid for and some extras, you could be sent to Army schools like Airborne and Air Assault during your summers, which is very cool.  The only thing about scholarships is that you have to maintain your grades and physical fitness at a certain level, otherwise you could lose it, which I'm sure you wouldn't do.

SMP (Simultaneous Membership Program) is a non-scholarship option.  What you do is join a local guard or reserve unit, not as a soldier but as a cadet.  This time counts toward the reserves as an officer and pay if you're active duty, which is great.  But last I knew, you can't do it until you receive your cadet contract, which is usually in your junior year.  When you get ready to graduate, you get discharged from the reserves in order to take your commission, but you don't go to basic training or AIT.

Don't forget that if you don't get a scholarship right now, you can still enroll in ROTC.  It's just an elective class until you receive a contract to become an officer.  And, you can apply for those 2 and 3 year scholarships while you're in school and attending ROTC, so if you don't get the four year one now, that doesn't mean you can't score one later.

I was an ROTC commissionnee, but with no scholarship and I did SMP with a local guard unit.  Being a scholarship or non-scholarship cadet has no bearing on becoming an officer, so take ROTC either way.

"I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman!"  -Homer Simpson

Thank's everybody, I already knew that you could attend Airborne or Air Assault Schools during summer if you were an ROTC Cadet. (Which is great news cause I want to get through Jump School as soon as possible.)

ROTC Sounds like a great program, and I doubt I'd have any trouble keeping my grades up and staying in shape. Right Now I'm running on my school's Varsity Cross Country Team and have a 3.8 GPA so I'd just be continuing with that into my College years. I definitely intend on going through ROTC no matter what (scholarship or no scholarship.) College Money isn't the reason I'm joining, although I won't deny it would be a nice plus if I could get it. How challenging is it to get a scholarship?

I had never heard of SMP and really appreciate the information about that. Sounds like a worthwhile program, am I correct in understanding that I wouldn't go through something like IOBC if I went that route?

Thanks again.

"I Know in my heart that Man is good, That right will always eventually triumph, and that there is purpose to each and every life."

-Ronald Reagan, November 4, 1991 at the Dedication of the Reagan Library

These links should point you in the right direction, if you haven't seen them already.

http://www.goarmy.com/rotc/index.jsp

http://www.rotc.monroe.army.mil/scholarships/fouryear/

As for how challenging is it to earn a scholarship, it depends on how good you are.  It sounds like you surpass the minimums in GPA and extracurriclar activities, but evidence of leadership ability and a good SAT score is a must.  You need a combined 920 to qualify, but trust me you will be competing against people with 1200-1500 on their SATs.  The minimum to apply will not get you the scholarship.  That said, as Blacksmith 6 told you, you don't need the scholarship to earn the Gold Bar.  I did my first 2 years as non-scholarship, but was fortunate enough to earn a two year that covered junior and senior year.

The following data gives an average leadership, extracurricular and athletic activities profile for a scholarship winner for school year 1999-2000

President of student bodies of senior class . . . . . . . 6%
Other class officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39%
National Honor Society members . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59%
Varsity letter winners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79%
Varsity team captains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  54%
Junior