HELP- Pre-Dental ROTC Cadet

[8th]

I am a third year contracted Army ROTC Cadet with scholarship. I have learned a lot about HPSP and understand that if I take an HPSP scholarship for dental school I will receive a very long ADSO. I don't want this. I know I should have stayed clear of ROTC, but here I am. I want to know if I break my ROTC contract in order to pursue my dream of becoming a dentist, can I apply for the HPSP. Will breaking my ROTC contract hinder my chances of receiving HPSP? Will breaking my ROTC contract hinder my chances of direct commissioning?

In my case I would rather pay back the military 15k for ROTC and then have them pay for dental school with the same ADSO (about 4 years).

I know I sound selfish, but I've lived the ROTC life for 2.5 years. I know I want to be in the military, but I have decided ROTC is a road block on my path to dental school.

Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[CUArmyDDS]

Sorry I didn't see this for a couple of months, hopefully you will check this out, I think I can help. I an MSIV (Senior) and have "served" ROTC for 4 years with a scholarship. You're right, if I could go back in time the best option is clearly to skip the undergrad scholarship and apply for the HPSP. I networked with some of the cadet command people at LDAC and met an officer who sits on the HPSP board, I forwarded him your question. He replied with this:
"Hey Jim, thanks for reaching out. In this situation I would tell your friend to under no circumstances break an Army contract with the hope of gaining a different one. Each year we have thousands of highly qualified candidates apply for these scholarships. Consider if you were sitting on the board and you had two 3.8/20 DAT candidates hoping for an Army contract and one of them has already proven himself disloyal, the choice is clear right?"
I dealt with this same problem, got ed-delay, got into dental school, got HPSP and decided to turn down the HPSP and pay for dental school on my own instead of tacking on an additional 4 years (just to be clear, ADSO for 4 year undergrad combined with HPSP is 8 years total, with no IRR commitment afterwards). So now I have attended undergrad for free, will go to dental school in August with federal loans, then go Active for 4 years, probably get out, and 4 years IRR.

There are plus sides to the ROTC experience. First, if you have the grades to get into dental school, you are virtually guaranteed active duty and EDDelay, though this will change slightly with OML modifications and downsizing. Second, if you do get EDDelay, you WILL get the HPSP. This is coming from the officer on the board. If they have someone who has showed 4 years of leadership experience and commitment vs a civilian off the street, they will choose you every time. Finally, the Army is awesome experience. You get into a lot of mouths with no risk and come out a well rounded dentist with thousands of procedures under your belt--ready to practice anywhere 4 years wiser.