Posted on May 29, 2021
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I am in the Reserves(so I do not have tuition assistance like the NG). Deciding...because I already went to BCT and AIT. Could I save more money?
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SFC Retention Operations Nco
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Why do you think you don't get tuition assistance? USAR gets the same TA that Regular Army gets. It just doesn't come with the extra state specific perks that some states offer.
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CPT Daniel Cox
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I don't know how long the SMP program has been around. After Plebe Year ended in 1977, I left West Point to attend Claremont McKenna College in California. They have a great ROTC Program. I also joined the Army Reserves. I got nothing besides my Reserve E3-E4 Pay for my Sophmore Year. I received a Two-Year ROTC Scholarship and was told I had to leave the Reserves.
That is when everything screwed up. I graduate from ROTC in May 1980 and received orders to start Chemical Corps Officer Basic Course in July. I get to Inprocessing and find out they do not have any knowledge or records for my two years Active Enlisted, my time at West Point, or my year in the Reserves. The entirety of my enlisted 201 file had not made it out of the dental unit I was assigned at what it is now Joint Forces Training Base - Los Alamitos. As a person who always understood the importance of keeping your own copy of things so at least I entered active duty as an officer with proof I had been what I claimed.
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COL Jon Thompson
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That’s a question for your financial aid office. They can tell you if the school bills by credit hour. The school I just came from did not charge extra for students carrying a full tome load of between 12-18 hours. And as some others said, you should be eligible for Federal TA so look into that, even if you don’t complete ROTC. Finally, if it doesn’t cost anymore, I strongly encourage you to take all of the ROTC classes. BCT and AIT are not the equivalent ROTC classes even if they do provide you credit for those.
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Do Non-Contracted SMP Cadets pay more money for ROTC classes their first year vs. if they did not take ROTC classes their first year?
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What I meant to ask was am I myself paying more money out of pocket for taking ROTC classes my first year(because I am non-contracted) or would the cost of tuition be the same(tuition obviously depending on the college I am going to)?
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MAJ Byron Oyler
MAJ Byron Oyler
4 y
Tuition cost should not change.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
CPT Lawrence Cable
4 y
Unless you college charges by the credit hour, no. You will not have a scholarship, but you will get paid to drill at E5 and all you regular GI Bill benefits as an SMP Cadet. Additionally, you will not lose any Time In Service for pay, so you will commission as an O-1 over four years.
Since you are MOS qualified, you should be able to skip the first two years and join as a Junior Year.
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