How easy (or difficult) it is to go to the "green to gold" program in the active duty Army?

It might be difficult but not impossible. If you know you want to go get your degree, do not waste your time and go straight to ROTC.
I was also prior enlisted with the USAR and went to ROTC at the same time. I have no regrets. However, I Just wished my school had AFROTC :P

It’s definitely not impossible, it is a tedious process and can be stressful. I just completed my Green to Gold ADO contract - commissioning last weekend. I know that getting the packet together and the waiting are incredibly tiring because you don’t know if you will leave soon or if you are denied.

I saw you said you have family and debt so you have to get a paycheck, do you not have a civilian job now, as a reservist? The easiest route from a reservist standpoint is to just go through ROTC; it’s not that demanding - you can maintain a civilian job while doing it - I saw a few with families do that. If you want to do Green to Gold and still make a paycheck, ADO is your only option. The scholarship only pays for classes and you break service. ADO requires you to be able to show that you can complete a degree in 21 consecutive months - so four semesters and if you can swing it, some intersessions.

Your GPA looks good, especially majoring Engineer, I saw? That is a big bonus because the Army is looking for STEM degrees and a descent GPA in that field puts you above those with majors that don’t necessarily correlate to a Army need.

Your unit will have to approve you to put in the packet, your CO and Battalion Commander will have to sign-off on. So switching from reserve to Active and dropping a packet might not happen immediately. Of course, that depends on the unit.

I didn’t think I would get it, I honestly, almost didn’t put in a packet because I had heard how hard it was to get. Everyone said ADO was near impossible, and Scholarship a little more lenient - but I had to have ADO also having a family to provide for. I had a buddy put in a packet alongside me and he was denied. The major difference in our packets was my GPA (he had a 2.6 and I had a 3.9) and I was an NCO he was a Specialist. Either way, you won’t know if you don’t try. Good luck.

The process of getting accepted into the green to gold program is not difficult in the sense that the obstacles you face are difficult, it just simply requires diligence in your pursuit. I agree with MAJ (Join to see) in that you are better served going straight to ROTC, unless your goal is to get picked up for the Active Duty Option.

Bottom line is if you want to be an officer, start going to college and sign up for ROTC classes. You can investigate your options as far as NG / AD / USAR once you are in the program. If your goal is to be an ADO cadet, you need to go active first, but you pay the tax of jumping through more hoops to become eligible, and face the possibility of not getting picked up. For example, my year group picked up 76 ADOs out of a potential 200 slots, out of several thousand applicants.