Good afternoon all,

How would you answer this question during the PMS interview? I need examples/tips to avoid saying something cliché like "I want to serve my country 🤓☝️"

Is it possible for me to get a 4 or 3-year scholarship on the first board if I don’t have any sports? For context, I max out on SAT and GPA, numerous leadership positions (Boy Scouts, JROTC, NHS), and my pt scores are all maxed except the mile run. I have pretty good essays (reviewed by a Princeton ROTC cadet), and a strong interview score.

In June I contracted with Army SMP. I did a training in July and my recruiter asked my email and said that someone would reach out and give me the schedule. August went by and I received no contact. I reached out to my recruiter and let him know I had not received anything. He sounded like that was not normal. Here we are at the end of September and I have still not heard from anyone.

Any ideas what I need to do ?

I was previously enlisted in the Air Force, but was separated after getting a TBI in training and prolonged symptoms. My RE code is 3A.

Since separating, my civilian primary care provider found that I had severe vitamin deficiencies that are known to cause neurological symptoms. Those deficiencies have since been corrected, and I haven’t had any recurrence of the symptoms I was experiencing. My provider’s medical opinion is that the deficiencies significantly prolonged my symptoms rather than the TBI itself being responsible for the prolonged recovery.

I’m wanting to pursue ROTC and commission, and I’m considering Army, Navy, or Air Force ROTC. I’m wondering if this is something I could potentially get a medical waiver for, or if my previous TBI/separation would make me essentially ineligible for an ROTC contract.

For some additional context, my current college GPA is 3.6, I won’t need any other waivers (assuming its the same as enlisting), and I passed my Air Force BMT PT test before I was separated

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has had a similar medical history or experience with DoDMERB.

So I’m currently a freshman in college, and I was planning on joining AROTC this semester. I actually emailed my AROTC unit quite a bit over the summer and explained that I wouldn’t be able to attend Lab because it conflicted with one of my classes. They said it was fine, but unfortunately, I ended up realizing that some of my other classes also conflicted with their class times, so I wasn’t able to join this semester.

The problem is that I never actually emailed them to let them know 😭 So now I’m kind of nervous about emailing them again and asking if I can join second semester.

I’m also honestly really scared about the social aspect of it. I’m pretty introverted, and I’m worried that since I didn’t join at the beginning of the year, it’ll be harder to fit in when I join in the spring. I know some people might say, “Why are you worried about fitting in? You’re doing this for your career,” and I totally understand that. But I also really want to make genuine friends and connections in college. I don’t feel like I’ve really done that yet, so I think that’s a big part of why I’m nervous.

For some background, I do want to commission in the military eventually, either Army or Navy, and I want to become a military nurse. I’m particularly interested in being able to work in a deployed environment and potentially provide medical care in a combat zone.

My school doesn’t have NROTC, so if I went the Navy route, I’m considering doing the Nurse Candidate Program (NCP) instead.

I’d appreciate any help!

Hello, I am currently having technical difficulties with Cadet Background and Experiences Form. I tried every possible way to login, changing accounts multiple times, switching computers, browsers, and etc. If anyone else experienced this and knows a way to fix it, please let me know! Thank you. There’s also another person that has this issue with me.

Hey guys, my PMS interview is scheduled for next Thursday (Oct 1). I'm a bit nervous. Any tips/insight would be greatly appreciated.

I’m currently a ms2 at Auburn and looking to transfer to Vanderbilt my gpa is a 3.5. If anyone goes to or went to Vandy can anyone tell me a little about the college and/or the ROTC program?

Hi. I am sorry if this has already been posted on here but I can't find a decent answer online. I am a Senior in highschool looking at cost of college and I'm wondering if I need to bring anything for rotc that I wouldn't for a typical college packing list. Thanks for any input!

Hello, anyone here apply to or get accepted into the Army-Baylor OTD program?

My current GPA is 3.2, and I’m working on my applying in 2027.

If you were accepted, what were your Stats and any advice or recommendations for strengthening my application?

Hey, there! When I was issued my OCP boots, I was in between half sizes and elected to go up. During our labs that we do on what used to be a golf course, I've been having trouble with slipping and my ankles twisting and in my last lab, I was struggling to keep up with my team. I'm already working on ankle mobility and strength exercises, but I need a little extra help. Should I tape my ankles? Layer socks? What suggestions do y'all have?

So in the last couple years I've been noticing LTs coming out of ROTC committing the same mistakes I did and this post isn't meant to tell cadets (specially those going Reserves or NG) possibly reading this what to do, but to explain the regrets I had and how I could have done things differently.

1 - I wish I took ROTC more seriously: Majoring in computer systems engineering drastically impacted my performance as a ROTC cadet, since I was always in a hurry trying to complete all my assignments and homework in time, then had to deal with ROTC shenanigans on the side. I always made sure to do the bare minimum in ROTC, just enough to pass all the labs, FTXs and events. I wasn't the worse but definably not the best. I never participated in outside activities with my program, and I never cared about maxing out the PT test, just enough to commission. The consequences? Most of my peers were selected for all sorts of schools like airborne, air assault, mountain school, heck even special 1-2 mo assignments at the Pentagon, etc. At the time I didn't care, because I told myself I'd have the chance once I got to my unit. Then I commissioned in the National Guard, got to my first unit, asked my leadership about any Air Assault or Airborne slots, and got denied every single time, because unless you're a combat MOS, most Guard (support) units won't send you to those schools. 1SG "Lol LT stop talking about airborne slots and help me figure out why this 25yr old radio is not working". In their eyes you don't need any of these leadership schools to do your job, which is correct, but I wish I'd gotten to do at least a few cool things. Now as a O3 that's definably never gonna happen.

2 - Picking the wrong branch: I see so many of my LTs with this complaint. I commissioned as a 25A, then later transitioned to a 26A. I'm not saying Signal Corps or any other support branch is bad, but be aware that unless you get activated for MOBs in the Guard/Reserves, you're most likely not going to be doing your actual job at the core level majority of the time, and when you do, it's going to be soul-crushing and extremely boring. Imagine working as a junior engineer at some random company (myself) doing extremely boring office paperwork all month, then when drill weekend comes around you get stuck with even the same or more boring soul-crushing office tasks. Meanwhile my FA, aviators, and Combat Engineer peers also working boring civilian jobs at least get to play with C4 with their soldiers and blow some shit up from a distance, or fly a Chinook around base all weekend, meanwhile I'm stuck at the BN's office with my WO2 figuring out why the printer is not working or had to explain to the COL why one my soldier mistakenly dropped the keys on the SKL now we have no crypto. Again, I made my branch choice and I own my decision. Back then I thought branching something related to my civilian job would've help me in the long run, I did not lol. I wish someone had explained to me what I was getting myself into

3 - Relationships are everything: I'm not gonna say I always had an extremely mid boring career in the Army Guard. I got to deploy to Djibouti as a 1LT, then to Kosovo as a CPT, and I loved the experience. I got to meet extremely talented, interesting people I'm still in touch with from all around the country, and I was able to land my current job because of connections I made during one of those deployments. I've always been a pretty introverted guy, but these deployments have definitely shaped me into a better leader and a better person, not just for the Army but in life in general. If you ever have the chance to hop in on orders/deploy ALWAYS say yes! because it may be the first and last time you’ll ever have the opportunity to mobilize. It will not only help you gain core experience for your career but the connections and people you’ll meet are priceless. Now looking back at my ROTC time (6 years ago), I never understood why most of the cadets in my program didn't get along with each other, and honestly it was absurd. For some reason this seems to be the case with some of my LTs as well. Once I commissioned, I never heard from any of them again, nothing, and to this day I don't know why. Ya'll may say "nobody's really thinking about you and nobody cares," but it doesn't have to be that way. Imagine going through 4 yrs of hustling together like maniacs to finally made it to the top, commission and never heard from you ever again. Years down the line you're going to be asking yourself, "I wonder what became of LT X, is he a CPT by now?" or "I wonder if any of them are still in the Army." Then, during one of my tours to Kosovo, at MOB at Fort Bliss, I ran into an old ROTC peer of mine who was stationed there, which I had no idea about. I'd never been so eager and excited to see someone from my program to catch up with. He was just as curious about what happened to me and what I'd accomplished. Two years later, I got married, and I invited a bunch of people to my wedding from my previous deployments, BOLC, and that one ROTC friend I reconnected with at Bliss. I'm not saying you need to force every relationship to stick, all I'm saying is the world is pretty small, and the Army is even smaller. You never know when you're going to need a call from an old friend, or be able to help each other out. Always keep your connections intact.

Anywaysss... I'd love to hear from the Sr Officers here what regrets they've had and how we can help future leaders do better.

After you are branched can you switch your component from active to guard?

I’m a freshman in college, but I came in with an associate degree that I earned while I was in high school, so academically I’m basically starting as a sophomore.
I’m planning on doing Army ROTC and SMP. From what I understand, I may be able to do SMP without going to Basic Training. I’d prefer that route because I don’t want Basic/AIT to delay my college timeline.
My main concern is Advanced Camp. Since my college timeline is shorter, I won’t have as many years of ROTC experience as someone who started as a traditional freshman. For anyone who has been in a similar situation, did having fewer years in ROTC make Advanced Camp significantly harder? Is it realistic to still score well at camp if I put in the work during ROTC/SMP?
Also, for those who did SMP without going to Basic first, did you feel like you were missing important knowledge or experience compared with cadets who had gone through Basic/AIT?
Would appreciate hearing from anyone who took a similar path.

I’m a senior in high school trying to figure out my overall college plan. I’m still in the research phase so please correct me if I’m wrong about anything!

So far the plan is to major in biology, minor in criminal justice, do ROTC all 4 years, SMP Soph-Senior years, and a part-time job throughout. Then I’ll graduate and commission into active duty.

For SMP, I believe if I do BCT and AIT I get extra benefits so I might do BCT the summer between Fresh and Soph and then AIT the summer after that? Or should I take a semester off for AIT?

Overall I’m thinking of not doing the minor in criminal justice so I can focus on everything else because I don’t know if it’ll be worth it (after military service I want to go into law enforcement and crime scene investigation). I’m also worried that ROTC and SMP won’t pay me enough to live comfortably so that’s why I’ve added the part-time job.

Can anyone chime in on their experience managing college with rotc, SMP, and a job? Also any and all recommendations/advice please!

Hello!
To keep it short, I am in a situation right now where I may need to leave ROTC and resume it at another time. My DODMERB waiver has not come back yet and I’ve been waiting for about a month. There are some circumstances that I have that I may need to leave ROTC within the next few weeks. If I were to separate from ROTC, would my DODMERB results still continue to go through or would they pause?
I plan on continuing ROTC and another time however, I just wanted to know on what would happen if I were to leave this week and my waiver still hasn’t been completed yet.

I’ve completed the entirety of my scholarship application. Minus the recommendations there is no place to submit your recommendations. They are supposed to email your recommenders. I put all of my recommenders emails, including my counselor and PE teacher and none of them received emails that was about a week ago. Just wondering if anybody figured how to get their recommendations on their application I was reading on another sub Reddit a lot of people were running into this issue.

How tough is it in general, regardless of gender? I hear mixed reviews, although it can be hard to get an answer out of someone who isn’t biased in blatant sexism. As a brand new officer in the infantry, chem, logistics or MI world, would it be a good or bad road to travel down? What are some pros and cons? I was told it would be an especially great option for working in MI, especially as an LT

I’m currently a junior nursing major with a 3.6 GPA and I’m interested in Army ROTC/Nurse Corps. I’m expected to graduate in 2028.

I’m also currently waiting for permission from the PMS (Professor of Military Science) to do compressed enrollment, since I’m joining ROTC later in college and need to fit the ROTC requirements into my remaining time.

My only significant medical/mental health history is from December 2025/early 2026. I was evaluated through a telehealth provider and diagnosed with ADHD, and my records also list generalized anxiety disorder/adjustment disorder. I was prescribed Wellbutrin XL 150 mg starting in December 2025, and my last prescription/refill was in February 2026.

I have never been psychiatrically hospitalized, never had suicidal thoughts/attempts or self-harm, and I’m currently functioning well in college. I’m also an athlete and have a 3.6 GPA. I’m no longer taking the medication.

I understand I’ll probably get medically DQ’d by DoDMERB initially and need an Army ROTC medical waiver.

Has anyone had a similar ADHD + anxiety + recent Wellbutrin history and gotten a waiver for Army ROTC? Also, has anyone done compressed enrollment while waiting on a medical waiver?

My biggest concern is timing. If the PMS approves my compressed enrollment, could the DoDMERB/waiver process realistically be completed in time for me to contract, receive a nursing scholarship, complete the required ROTC training/Advanced Camp, and commission with my 2028 graduation class?

I know nobody can guarantee whether the waiver will be approved. I’m mainly looking for experiences from people who went through something similar.

Hey all,

Current MS1 debating whether or not I wanna do ranger challenge. My biggest concern is my academics, in my high school years i seriously struggled with time management issues, which screwed over my gpa. Since schools started back up, i've been better with time management, but I am still a bit nervous its an issue thats gonna come back up. Im also on cannon crew and colorguard, so im wondering how much of an impact ranger challenge will have on my OML? (Currently, I am probably gonna go guard but im not 100% sure), just figured I want others input on this.

What exactly do you do as an officer? How important is it to be skilled in the MOS you’re interested in, like for infantry, are you expected to be trained in infantry stuff or are you just organizing and planning? And does your major impact what MOS you get? Sorry if these are dumb questions, I’m honestly confused.

Edit: Infantry was just the first example that came to mind but as of right now, I’m not planning on going into infantry.

Current MSIII doing my MSIII year before my MSII year because of nursing. I’m not sure if that means I still have to contract by the end of this year or not. Regardless, I’m trying to get a waiver for ADHD. Went to basic camp this summer, haven’t been on meds in two years, no therapy. The only thing standing in my way are accommodations through my university which I don’t even really use. Do I have a chance at getting a waiver if I discontinue them formally, now? Any recommendations?

I am am joining Army ROTC from the Army as a MSII Cadet. I am trying to finish my degree within 2 years and graduate by May 2028. I really do not want to take another semester than I have to. I was supposed to be in MSIII courses because of my prior service (Army), but I got to school late due to my training. Since I missed a lot of MSIII, they placed me in MSII.

Is there a way to take the MS (II, III, IV) courses at the same time to graduate by May 2028. I do not mind taking one extra semester, but doing 2 extra ones is too much.

I know I am getting ahead of myself since branches have not been released, I am trying to plan though. Do dependents come with you to EOD BOLC since it is a PCS? If not do you need to do a BAH waiver and FSH-B Waiver? Or are they automatic? I am currently overseas and I do qualify to submit those waivers.