Posted on May 3, 2020
SPC Enlisted
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I am an Army reservist with over 11 months active duty from an overseas tour. I am about to enter my senior year of university and will begin applying to graduate schools this year. I am also interested in commissioning through ROTC mainly because it will give me a chance to pursue my Masters at the same time and without breaks, so OCS is my plan b at this point. My question is how likely is it for me to get contracted by ROTC if I am in the reserves? I am not interested in scholarship. Id be glad with SMP non-scholarship since I use my GI Bill.
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LTC Jason Mackay
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Edited >1 y ago
Recommend you walk in with a list of questions and ask them. That is what the ROTC staff is there for.

It's not like randomly wandering into a Recruiter's office.
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SPC Enlisted
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By “easy” I mean is it something that can be done(rotc in grad school and if contracts can be earned this way). I am barely entering my senior year of undergrad in August and applications don’t start until October. So I thought this was a good time to begin researching and asking people on here that now a lot more about this than me. I have two schools in mind and will talk to them to see if it it likely to get contracted ASAP(i.e. at the start of the school year).
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LTC Jason Mackay
LTC Jason Mackay
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SPC (Join to see) - dude. You're talking to the ROTC department and you don't know that/haven't asked? Short answer yes, but you have to get guidance from ROTC. You'll contract off the bat and your next two summers are gone.

You should have joined this year as a MSII. Relative 'ease' would be the ROTC route

If all that sounds 'hard' you should give up immediately. I am not trying to scuff you up, but you waited too long to follow up on this. Violent and immediate action by you is required right now. Otherwise you can roll the dice on the OCS route or do nothing. Dipping the toe in the water if over.
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My school does not offer it. And the closest school is over an hour drive away... I didn’t want to ask them straight up if I’ll get a contract because it didn’t seem appropriate. But if you say I’ll contract right off that bat then that’s a good sign. I’ve also kept this to myself. I don’t want to tell people at my unit or my family about me wanting to contract then not get it because if something completely out of my hands. This is why I wish I never enlisted and just shoulve done rotc right out of high school.
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LTC Jason Mackay
LTC Jason Mackay
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SPC (Join to see) - what you tell other people is up to you. Not sure this warrants the Scarlet Letter treatment, but what ever. Ask the area ROTC program if they' are cross enrolled with your school(s), your schools are an extension center, or some other recognized vehicle for supporting ROTC. You don't enroll, you can't do the program.

The commute is the commute. How bad do you want it? Rhetorical. Good luck. There is not anything I can help you with here. I've tried to frame the issue. You have a decision to make. The rest is supporting tasks.
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CPT Intelligence Analyst
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Also, don’t use your GI Bill unless you have three years of active service if you’re trying to get the full amount covered. You’ll barely have 60% covered.
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SPC Enlisted
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Sir, Ive been using it for my undergrad. I kind of have to. I go to a private school that charges over 20k a semester. But I also have SLRP in my contract.
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My ROTC school of choice is San Jose state. Im planning to move in with my brother and even at 60% BAH will be over 3k a month. Ill think about it hard but I think its worth it.
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CPT Intelligence Analyst
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SPC (Join to see) I see. I don’t know if that contract would change if you were to do ROTC. Sounds like a question for a career counselor.
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SPC Enlisted
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Makes sense. I heard bonuses don't change, SLRP is kind of like a bonus and ill be over half way done with my contract by the time I begin ROTC. But ill have to dig deep. I have time.
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CPT Intelligence Analyst
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You can do ROTC in graduate school. You’d just have to do the junior and senior level courses during grad school.
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