Posted on Mar 19, 2018
For the Army, does it matter what academic discipline your degree is in?
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Let me introduce myself as this is my first post. My name is Quinton Shipley and I enlisted in 2017 as a 14 month senior for 11x and ship this summer. Now that is out of the way let me get to the point. I have gotten mixed answers on this. The answers I have been given from my recruiter and from my meeting with the Captain at the recruiters office. They both said without a doubt in their voice that your degree doesn't matter. So my question for you enlisted and officers is does it matter what your degree is (ex. History)? Confused on degree choices until I get this all figured out.
Officer
ROTC
Green to Gold
Enlisted-to-Officer
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 42
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The college major should not matter except when applying for very specialized fields.
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MAJ Vic Artiga
Nobody, and I mean, NOBODY, cares what you studied in college. I knew lots of people who studied engineering and served in the artillery and infantry. I have a criminal justice degree and served in the artillery. When my brigade was getting ready to go to Haiti in 1994, i volunteered to serve on the staff to assist with the development of the police forces there. Again, nobody cared about my academic background. I was even an enlisted MP! Instead, the brigade used field artillerymen to serve on the staff. I knew other people who had foreign language degrees and served as MPs in Colorado. Again, the Army doesn't care. Don't expect to use your degree as a military officer.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
MAJ Vic Artiga - Yes, absolutely correct. I have a degree in Journalism, but commissioned as an Infantry Officer and later branch transferred to the Engineers. While an Engineering Degree would have been helpful as an Engineer, the truth is that the Army will teach you what you need to know to function as an Engineer Officer.
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CPT Mike Wright
My degree was music. No one ever gave me a hard time about it. No one cared. Some of my commanders even thought it was cool. The more important questions were always, "Can you do your assigned jobs?" and "Can you accomplish the mission/task?".
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PFC (Join to see) If you want to be an Infantry officer the degree may not matter; however, all people must engage in critical thinking to solve problems. Make sure your chosen degree provides enough exposure to resolve problems using people and tools (mechanical devices).
West Point uses the philosophy of Engineering as the basis for their degree. Looking back at my career I would advocate for STEM or Engineering degree to provide the background necessary to get into specialized branches that require high technical competence.
You spoke with enlisted recruiters, you need to talk to the Officer recruiters, this is the ROTC department in any University around your location, even if you don't plan on going to school there.
If you go to the Air Force & Navy ROTC, the first question they will ask if what degree you are pursuing? If you say anything but Engineering, they will become luke warm or even stop recruiting you.
Army ROTC, if you are in Engineering then Combat Engineer, Aviation, Signal, ADA become much more open to you. We can use almost any degree, but your GPA and performance need to be as high as you can make it. The Army will compare you to thousands of other officers and there are only a so many active duty slots in Infantry and the West Point graduates will get first choice over you.
So while the degree may not matter, your choice of degree will have an impact and start to limit your options.
West Point uses the philosophy of Engineering as the basis for their degree. Looking back at my career I would advocate for STEM or Engineering degree to provide the background necessary to get into specialized branches that require high technical competence.
You spoke with enlisted recruiters, you need to talk to the Officer recruiters, this is the ROTC department in any University around your location, even if you don't plan on going to school there.
If you go to the Air Force & Navy ROTC, the first question they will ask if what degree you are pursuing? If you say anything but Engineering, they will become luke warm or even stop recruiting you.
Army ROTC, if you are in Engineering then Combat Engineer, Aviation, Signal, ADA become much more open to you. We can use almost any degree, but your GPA and performance need to be as high as you can make it. The Army will compare you to thousands of other officers and there are only a so many active duty slots in Infantry and the West Point graduates will get first choice over you.
So while the degree may not matter, your choice of degree will have an impact and start to limit your options.
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COL Dana Hampton
Concur. STEM is critial to success in today's environment. My regret, not taking more of these type of courses over the years.
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A1C Ian Williams
Very good advice, sir MAJ Alvin B. By completing the degree, you should have more competency in a skill and also know how your brain learns in order to gain new competencies.
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