How difficult is it to get SMP my sophomore year, and what impact does it have on my ability to compete in ROTC and for commissioning?

http://www.ausa.org

If you want Army, and haven't looked at this, trust me, you'll want to look this over, maybe subscribe to their magazine...

I was on a tablet before, which, while useful, isn't always the easiest means of explaining oneself...Im on a PC for the moment, which, if nothing else, lets me fix mistakes easier...see, here's the thing...I see a good many career/educ topics on here, in which I obviously have an interest...that being said, quite frequently, those at your age like yourself seeking to do what you're seeking to do often only look at a single svc, not at all svcs, or all options in all svcs...I'm not saying that's a bad thing, of course, and, obviously, if your mind is made up, then, clearly, so be it...I can only explain all that happened to me, in the hope my at least relating what mistakes I made (and God knows, I made more than my share) might possibly do you some good in terms of avoiding the same...the single biggest mistake I made was to go in impulsively, without taking adequate time to research everything properly, or to have, at minimum, gone to grad school first...now, I'd certainly gather that your GPA must be quite high, by all means, as your description was quite lucid as well as detailed...however, at the same time, as I'd explained before, when others like yourself send in questions of that sort, they frequently do so without giving adequate background info as to interests, motivations, hobbies, reading, sports incl. martial arts if any as I'd also mentioned before...e.g., you mentioned nothing about what MOS types you might want, or range thereof...similarly, you said nothing about whether you'd looked into various AFSCs on the USAF side, or any naval or USCG fields that might interest you, as well...next, it'd help to know if you'd worked at all while in high school, and, if so, doing what, and at what level...further, what clubs you'd been in while in high school, as well as if you got any AP credits, and, if so, in what topics...next, do you have any interest in STEM topics, as I'd mentioned before, and, if so, which ones? Have you applied to and/or been accepted at an colleges thus far? Not which ones specifically, of course, however, it'd help to know their comparative level, and, if possible, for what specific major or majors...further, would you have any interest in a military college at all, of the type I'd mentioned? Would you care to try for any of the academy prep schools I'd explained about before? What type of civic stuff did you do while in high school? Were you involved in Civil Air Patrol (CAP) at all? Navy Sea Cadets? Scouting of any type, and, if so, what level did you reach in any of those? I've generally found on here that, the more you relate in a really detailed, thoroughly thought out bioscketch, the more all of us on here can suggest for you as various possibilities, that's all I'm saying...believe me, I recall virtually every mistake I made with virtually every recruiter I'd spoken with, and those were my mistakes, made out of haste, and/or ignorance, combined, which was why I'd thought to relate all I did, to try to help you forestall any such errors, as well as to consider other possibilities that might not have occurred to you, or that you might not have known about...there are certain fundamentally life-changing, life-altering events, going into a svc being pretty much at the top of the list, I assure you, which is why, at least to me, it is absolutely imperative that one take the adequate time needed to explore what exists, and sift through all the various possibilities, so as to minimize the possibility of error...also, when one goes into a svc, very frequently, despite all the best planning one can possibly do, things don't always wind up quite as one would expect...life and existence rather often take on a life all their own, and one is quite frequently constrained by circumstances and/or events beyond one's control...having bosses, also, whether active duty (AD), or civil svc, which I had both of while in, in abundance, and how to be under a boss, takes a good deal of time, as well as exposure, to realize that, in a svc, whatever unit you'd be assigned to, and wherever you'd ultimately wind up, your sole function is to assist them...your personal ambitions are you own, not theirs, or those of your unit, and while you're clearly entitled to having your own personal ambitions, by all means, those can never, ever conflict with your fundamental unit obligations, period, cut and dry, that is it, a fact I all too frequently needed my head quite literally slammed into pavement to get through my skull, more often than I generally care to recall...that was why I'd suggested the SDFs, if one exists in your state, as they let you explore svc life and reality in a way often not considered by those seeking to go in, though, of course, that's something only you and your family can decide, obviously...believe me, I've had friends and family who were enlisted as well as commisisoned in multiple svcs, my Dad was Navy enlisted, my next younger brother was USNR-MMR as I'd explained, my uncle was Army during WW2 and a radio operator for Gen Eisenhower (who did actually recall him later on once, an interesting side story), one of my Mom's first cousins had been Army armor in Germany during the Cold War, my Mom's Dad was USMC for awhile, though he was sent home, as he hadn't adjusted well during WW2 (he never spoke of it later on, for obvious reasons I only learned much later, of course), my wife's Dad was Army in WW2, he got a Bronze Star with Valor, my wife's stepdad had been Navy surface combat in WW2 and Korea in the Pacific, while her brother had been USAF enlisted in SAC as a KC-135 mechanic also doing midair refueling, I explain all that merely to illustrate that, while I haven't obviously seen everything, I've seen and heard a good deal, as well as been through a good deal myself, which was why I figured relating all that might be of at least some use to you in your reflections, if nothing else...there were some other things I might send, that also occurred to me might interest you, as well, should you care to chat at all, anytime, by all means...and, as I said, I didn't relate all that to dissuade you, I merely was trying to educate you, even if I didn't necessarily focus explicitly on SMP, per se, which, of course, I realize was the main object of your question to begin with...sometimes, though I've been told on here quite often I can be more than somewhat longwinded, rambling free association discourses of my type have often been found to, if nothing else, get the mental gears turning, to at least consider various previously unconsidered possibilities, as I'd explained before, I hope at least some of that was of interest, and would be eager for your thoughts and/or reactions, whenever convenient, no rush, of course, many thanks....

One of the things that I don't see mentioned so far is that is you Enlist and attend AIT and get your MOS, that will exempt you from the first two years of ROTC. If you go the route you are suggesting and you aren't on scholarship, join in Junior year as a SMP, attend the Advanced Camp between your Junior and Senior year and receive your Commission.
Cadets aren't deployable
No, OCS is a different path to a Commission if you are already a college graduate.
I think you will find that going SMP will give you real world experience in the military, along with Basic and AIT, that will give you an advantage over the non prior service Cadets.
Financially, you can get GI Benefits and get paid for Drills while you attend school. If you enlist in a Guard unit, many states offer tuition assistance to in state colleges.

http://www.ocsfoundation.org

Look at this as well, you might find it of interest....

I was Army ROTC, then USAF OTS instead, before SMP existed...obviously, to even remotely answer you properly, you'd need to say if you were actually accepted for SMP, and, if so, exactly how far you've gone with it...further, you need to explain exactly what your ambitions are, what major you'd want undergrad, what your GPA is, if you're able to go into it, obviously, your family would have to be a major part of he whole thing, certainly...when I went in, I hadn't been enlisted first, which, had I been, tat would've helped me adjust far faster, certainly...however, at the same time, while I gather you apparently want Army, it'd help to know of you'd considered ROTCs without SMP, or, possibly, doing undergrad first without committing, and then going into an OCS or direct commission indoc OIS program...finally, have you looked at any purely military colleges, e.g., VMI, where a good friend of mine went for AFROTC, Citadel, or any of the academies, my next younger brother went to USMMA Kings Point, I commissioned him for USNR Merchant Marine Reserve (USNR-MMR) when he finished, while I'd been in. I suggest the maritime colleges, if you haven't looked at them, depending on what state you're in, for numerous reasons most might be unaware of...as with VMI and the Citadel, you can go through their regimental training without having to commit first, so as to expose yourself to the life, with no commitment, most think all military schools one must be ROTC, or USMC platoon leaders course (PLC), which is less well known, and which is most definitely NOT the case, as I understand the matter...then, too, there are what are termed state defense forces (SDFs) in many states, not all, albeit many, look at http://www.sgaus.org, their main national organizational body, SDFs are the supplements in many states to Army and Air Natl Guard (ARNG and ANG), they're very real militaries, however, typically, they can't be deployed outside their own state, the god thing aside from that being, they let one see what the life is like, with real boot camps, enlisted training, OCS programs of their own, all without needing to worry about leaving one:s own state...had I known NY had the NY Guard (NUG), not the NY ARNG or NY ANG, I might well have tried that first, merely to get adequate exposure without committing to Federal first...also, if one, while in an SDF, opts to go Federal, an SDF typiappy releases them, NYG as I understand has a 3 yr contract, I'd wanted to go with them of late, however, I'm total perm disabled, so they can't allow it...though I did meet with them, as I'd been clinically trained, though we shut my doctoral level allied health license off sevl yrs ago...finally, you might well know nothing of the USPHS Commissioned Corps, look up their Jr and Sr COSTEP, 5he USPHS analogues to ROTCs or USMC PMC, there's also the NOAA Commissioned Corps, they have an OIS called BOTC, at USMMA Kings Point, I saw it and walked through the bldg when I'd seen my brother at USMMA, incl at the graduation...USPHS is perfect if you'd want clinical at all, NOAA is lure science, and has 5 yr flight program!, though NOAA Corps is quite small and very selective...USPHS, if you want to serve with a regular svc, and would want psych related clinical, RN, NP, PA, or social work, whether MSW or LCSW, has 3 yr stabilized tours with Army, Navy and USAF, USCG uses all USPHS for their own clinicians other than PA, USCG has their own of those, the main intersvc PA program is at Ft Sam Houston in TX, I think, trees also a recent intersvc program for those enlisted who want actual medicine, per we, that didn't existed when I'd gone in, I'd wanted to go to the mil med school, USUHS, not USPHS, that's the svc I'd mentioned, USUHS is an actual school at Bethesda Naval Med. Ctr, however, as I'd said, you hadn't said what major or majors you'd been looking at...there's also Army WOCS for rotary wing, which only needs high school to compete...please understand, I'm not telling you all that to dissuade you from SMP, my sole object is to try to educate you about options you might well not know about, as few generally do, there are also the academy prep schools for West Point, Annapolis, and USAFA, one enlisted airman where I was got into USAFA without prep school directly from my installation, so I do know it can be done...if you'd care to chat further, and elaborate, explain about hobbies, STEM interests, reading, sports, esp martial arts, if any, also, how athletic you are, also, whether you're able to run 2 miles in fatigues and combat boots now, which Army typically expects, minimum, USAF OTS expected a mile and a half in short and sneakers, when I was there...I also was at West Point a good deal with my Army ROTC unit, as well...ROTC unit commanders can apparently nominate for the academy of their svc...USCG has its own scholarship programs, though UzsCGA in New London has an entrance exam as opposed to being admitted by nomination, most also generally frequently don't know that, open that was all of some use, if I think of other material hat might be useful, I'll try to send it also, as well, of course....