Frequently Asked Questions

If you do Army ROTC, you will generally have more options upon commissioning.  We can commission you in the Active Duty, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard.  Air Force and Navy ROTC cannot commission you into the Reserve or National Guard.  This allows more options for you because if end up with an incredible opportunity on the civilian side (new start-up company, fortune 500 company, your own business), you can now branch into the reserves or national guard, and then continue your civilian career. 

The Army allows you to branch into the Active Duty, Reserves or National Guard and will usually provide you more options, and more places to be stationed around the country and in some cases overseas.  With the Army scholarship, the first year is “free of charge” – meaning you can try it out, and if it is not for you, then you can decide to go another route.  With that though, you then assume all financial responsibilities.  There are also more specialties inside the 17 branches inside the Army.

The balance is easy and a multitude of current Cadets are playing D-1 and D-3 sports, clubs, and intramurals.  Look at it this way, if you can manage it in High School, then it can be managed in College because we do most of our activities that required attendance outside of the sports windows for this particular program.  You must attend at the very least Military Science Class or Leadership Lab once a week, but attending both is preferred.  This usually applies only during the freshman and sophomore year because by that time, you will probably have figured out time management and will be able to balance academics, ROTC, extracurriculars, and personal time.  We are very accommodating!

The PMS interview can be conducted by the PMS or the ROO and on rare occasions the APMS.  With that said, this is not something that needs to wait until the last minute.  Show us that you are proactive – get your application filed out get your fitness test from your local P.E. teacher at your high school and get the PMS interview scheduled out.  If you decide to try and schedule the PMS interview the day of the deadline, it probably will not be accommodated due to others already having reached out and scheduled it.

For freshman and sophomore students, you can bank on ~10 hours of committed ROTC time each week, and that encompasses commute time.  Physical Training is three times a week (3 hours total), Military Science Class is 1 time a week (2 hours on Wednesday afternoon) and the Leadership Laboratory is following MS class on Wednesday afternoons (2 hours).  Commuting from outside schools as well as the outside “homework” and meeting will also take up some time.  As a junior and a senior, you are looking at about ~12 hours of ROTC time per week.  Each semester a Field Training Exercise is also required and that is a Friday – Sunday in the Fall and a Thursday thru Sunday in the spring.  There are tons of Color Guard and volunteer opportunities spread throughout the semester that are not required but also available.

Transferring the scholarship is super easy – request the transfer in the portal, upload your acceptance letter to the school you want to transfer too and write and upload a 1-paragraph reason of why you would like to transfer.  Work with your scholarship advisor/technician you were assigned and be sure to inform them that you want to transfer.  You can also email the ROTCScholarships@army.mil email and it will eventually get picked up by one of the technicians for action.

Many will receive an AF and Army scholarship and the AF/Navy waiver is already approved.  With that being said, the Army as a whole is much larger and has thousands more applicants and waivers to go through and that takes time.  This is not something to be alarmed, and you need to choose the service that attract you more based on options, opportunities and what profession you would like to serve in. The Army ROTC is generally much more lenient than the other services so if your waiver was accepted by another service, chances are it will be accepted by the Army.

Of course, simply email the “Contact Us” tab and either the Director of Scholarships or the PMS will reach out to you and set up a call. They can also put you in touch with current cadets in the program.

This can get complicated but you need to have the required documents all filled out correctly, medically DODMERB qualified, and have passed a physical fitness test.  If you have a waiver still outstanding, we must wait for that to come back before we contract you.  Additionally, you will need to start your security clearance and get a military Common Access Card (CAC) to pay for your scholarship as well in the Army IgNited system.  The goal of the New Cadet Orientation is for you to provide us all your documents, take an ACFT and become contracted as soon as you can to get the benefits you earned.

Nothing is better than getting paid to work out and stay fit.  ROTC will allow you to exercise your leadership traits while staying physically, mentally, and spiritually fit thru rigorous academic means as well as bringing the inner spirit of one’s self out.  Below we provide a great 12-minute workout to prepare for the upcoming year.  Do each exercise for 1 minute, with 30 second between exercises:

-       Jumping jacks

-       Wall Sit

-       Push ups

-       Abdominal crunch

-       Box/chair jumps

-       Stationary squats

-       Kettle Bell Swings

-       Triceps Dip on chair

-       1-min Front plank

-       ¼ mile run

-       Stationary Lunges

-       Left side plank

-       Right side plank

-       Lunges

Simply put - 96%.  Over the last several accessions season, the MIT Army ROTC program is 87-90 Cadets receiving one of their top 5 branch choices of the 17 available branches.  Additionally, the program is 89/90 cadets receiving their #1 component of choice – Active Duty, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard.

The scholarship covers the Tuition and Fees in total OR the Room and Board of $6000/semester flat rate.  In addition, if you take the Tuition and fees scholarship it will also cover the health care provided by the university.  All scholarship cadets will receive a $420/month stipend and a $1200/semester for books.  If you do not select the room and board scholarship, you must pay for Room and board our of pocket.  Also, be sure to check with the university financial aide and see if the university offers a better deal.  You can still participate in ROTC regardless of school is financed.

Show up to the new cadet orientation, fill out the paperwork and start coming to classes.  Once that is done, we will enroll you on the back end. 

Your commitment will vary based off the branch and component you select.  For Active Duty service it is 4 years active and 4 year in the Inactive Ready Reserve, basically 4 years.  For reserve or national guard, it is 8 years.  For branching cyber, the commitment is 5 years active, 8 years reserve and for Army Aviation, the commitment is 10 years after the completion of slight school, so realistically, it would be a 12-year commitment.

No. To commission into the Army, you can concentrate on any major you would like to. 

Yes- 100% and it is encouraged during the Freshman or sophomore year.  It is advised against in the Junior or sophomore because during the Advanced course, you are preparing for Cadet Summer Training and Commissioning as an MS4.  If you chose to do study abroad, you will have to work out with your instructor on how you are going to make up the work.  With that though, you do get additional accessions points to go toward the branch or component during the accessions process.

The Army allows you to attend a specialty school to become a Lawyer, Chaplain or Doctor – to include a specialty doctor like a veterinarian or dietician.  Through this process, which starts in the spring of your junior year, you will put together a packet and submit it to higher headquarters who will hold a board to decide if you get selected.  For this to happen, you must branch into the active duty force.  The Army does not pay for your specialty education, but in many instances the university you attend will end up giving some financial aid to assist in your attendance.

1. Be a U.S. citizen

2. Be at least 17, and under 31 in year of commissioning

3. Have a high school diploma or equivalent

4. Have a high school GPA of at least 2.50, unweighted

5. Have taken the SAT or ACT

6. Take the Physical Fitness Assessment

20. How do I become competitive for a scholarship?

Scholar, Athlete, Leader – Extracurricular activities, Varsity sports, Community service and/or a job. Some examples are listed below.

1. BETA Club

2. Boy/Girls State and Nation

3. Civil Air Patrol

4. Boy/Girl Scouts

5. NHS

6. Band/cheer/chorus/debate/Drama

7. Class Officer

First off, it is simply the opportunities within our program and the visibility of a national draw school.  Multiple general officers, business CEOs, and highly successful people will stop by and want to talk to you, interact with you or hire you out of college.  Second, within the ROTC we have the Hackathon (SOCOM Ignite), STEAM Ahead, Ranger Challenge, and Military Strategy Initiative Clubs.  These are only offered here (except Ranger Challenge) and provide an outlet for you to explore.  Additionally, we will send you to leadership conferences, military and civilian internships, and provide you the best instruction across the country. Finally, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity -only offered to ROTC Cadets – with the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) creates a paid or credit gaining opportunity for you, something nowhere else offered to work with nanotechnologies with the world’s greatest researchers. 

Yes. We will accommodate your desires because all that stuff gets you accessions points to get the branch you want.  Only on Wednesday afternoons is ROTC a hard requirement.  But even with that, we have made exceptions to this, allowing students to take a class or attend an academic requirement or sport.  It really just comes down to open communication between you and your instructor.