ROTC Mistake before Med School

[pseudoephedrine]

My freshmen year I attended PennState Berks campus which did not have AFROTC and therefore it deemed problematic for my wanted military career. However, my university offers an "early change of campus (ecoc)" request (very RARE to get approved), that I utilized under the real excuse "Berks campus does not off AFROTC - need to join sophomore year before junior year."

The process was lengthy, 3 months of talking to professors and head department officials that I've never met before, battling with advisors that watch over the ecoc request, and long trips to the main campus 3-4 hours away. Each time I talked to a new professor I would explain "Is there anything you can do to help my situation? I really want to become an officer in the military but my campus does not offer ROTC."

So by now you probably realize that I was very desperate to get my ecoc request approved, and every official/professor I talked to knew my desperation too. About a month ago, I checked my email to see that I actually was approved to move to the main campus on the basis that I join the AFROTC program. Unfortunately, after reading what seems like a novel of different threads, each similarly titled "Military vs Civilian Medical Field", I am convinced this is no longer what I want to do! From pay to government treatment of medical workers, 90% of thread replies state (usually from their personal experience) that the civilian sector is much better for the medical field than the military is.

Any tips on how to get out of this situation? Not taking ROTC classes, at least this semester while they watch me closely to see if I stay true to my request, is not an option. Should I just do the sophomore (and freshmen) ROTC classes and then quit the program semester 4? Or is there a way to do AFROTC, delay the 4-year military work requirement, go to medical school under my own expenses (so as to not add additional time), then finish the 4 years and become a civilian doctor. The idea here is that I would like to become a civilian M.D. Thanks in advanced.

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[deleted480308]

If you don't want to be in the military drop the rotc, drop it

 

[jcve34]

The Military does not pay for school if you get an educational delay. You still have to apply for the HPSP. So if you decide to do ROTC and then go to school on your own dime you won't incur anymore service time. However, you'll be in a ton of debt and still have to serve so you might as well go for the HPSP if you do ROTC or else you make less money than your peers in the private sector and you are just as much in debt.

 

[jcve34]

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[mfscproject]

you are wasting your time in ROTC if you don't want to serve.

 

[pgg]

I checked my email to see that I actually was approved to move to the main campus on the basis that I join the AFROTC program.

Do you care about moving to the main campus? If not, this is easy - don't do ROTC, and don't move to the main campus. Wipe the egg off your face and get on with your life.

I promise you, you are not the first person all those professors have seen change their mind. A simple "I have reconsidered my desire to join ROTC and think it's not for me after all" will do the trick. Don't do ROTC out of some stupid misguided sense of duty to the professors and the committee that OK'd your request. Just because they pushed your campus change request through doesn't mean you owe them anything more than a thank you. It's their job to evaluate and act on requests like that.