I want to join ROTC and am not sure if I should join SMP. What are some reasons to join/not join SMP?

Plus: Military training you won't get on a college campus. Extra pay and tuition waivers possible.
Minus: Your SMP contract might force you into the USAR or National Guard for a few years after commissioning. If you want to go Active Duty after graduation SMP might be a roadblock. Also, you would most likely have to attend Annual Training with a unit over Summer and not get Airborne or Air Assault slots that ROTC hands out to its cadets.

I would recommend it. You get experience while you are in the reserve/guard while making a little extra money. Also, the time I spent at the various ROTC leadership camps and labs went toward my MUTA requirements. For example, I did not have to participate in the unit AT because I was going to be at LDAC for ROTC.

You should not do SMP if the commute is extreme, if the unit will not allow you to participate in ROTC training that conflicts with their schedule, or if the ROTC PMS and/or unit commander will not work with you.

Lilly,

Great question. A lot of my peers joined SMP because they were waiting on their ROTC contract and needed tuition assistance. The NG helped them with tuition assistance, and it also gave them a leg up on other cadets because of all the extra training they got. The downfall is that sometimes you are only offered Dedicated guard or reserve contracts. If your end goal is to go active duty, I would really look into how going SMP would effect that.