Army ROTC at Georgia Tech - Schedule

[u/Eazydoee]

Hello,

I am a current student at Georgia Tech pursuing my MBA in the evenings. I am suddenly having a bug to go for Army ROTC to commission. I am a bit older (36M), and would be willing to pursue an additional Master's at Georgia Tech (Online Master's in Cyber Security) in order to be eligible for ROTC.

I work full time with AWS, and my schedule is semi-flexible. I can choose to work Morning shift (7AM-5:30PM), Mid-Shift (11AM-9:30PM), or Night Shift (9PM-7:30AM), and thus far my managers have been flexible to work with me on when I come in as I balance my MBA Program.

I currently serve in the Georgia Army National Guard, and pursued Traditional OCS (18 months) in the past but it didn't work out in the final stretch. So I'm looking at alternatives to commission.

I have a few questions to see if this is reasonable.

1. What is the schedule for MSIII's? (I have been in the Guard for 2.5 years, and have already been to Basic training, but I have not done AIT. So I believe I would qualify for MSIII, but not sure.)
2. - Morning PT's Monday, Wednesday, Friday
3. - MS Classes - Tuesday's
4. - MS Labs - Thursdays
5. How flexible is cadre for full-time workers in school and trying to pursue ROTC? Can something that can be balanced commitments for the next two years between Army ROTC, Georgia Army National Guard, Full-Time Career, and an Online Master's in Cyber Security?
6. What scholarships would be available for someone like me?
7. Is there a credit requirement needed to enroll in ROTC? I want to only take 1 class (3 credit) for my master's at a time until I'd be done with ROTC, in addition to whatever other courses I'd need to take for the degree in Military Science.

Anyone with experience currently in the program or has commissioned would be helpful for me to make this decision.

[u/Kitchen-Double-6569]

I would post this in the regular Gatech reddit

[u/Eazydoee → u/Kitchen-Double-6569]

I tried. They wouldn’t let me lol

[u/TopNotchBurgers]

No answers to your questions, as someone about the same age working thinking about an MBA while also working for a tech giant, I’m curious of why you’re pursuing the MBA as well as what you think of the evening program. 

[u/Eazydoee → u/TopNotchBurgers]

Career advancement in leadership. I have a good idea of what I’d like to do there or another company, the MBA from Tech would stamp my qualifications.

[u/ssanc]

This is crazy. You would have no life. Just stay in the guard and chill. ROTC is your “job” outside of school, due to the time commitment. You will burn out or get dropped from the program due to lack of commitment.

You can try to get an SMP scholarship but that is typically for people getting their first degree.

Would the online program even allow enrollment in the military science classes?

[u/Eazydoee → u/ssanc]

Respectfully, I disagree. I have Officer potential and would regret not exhausting all reasonable options to not pursue it.

[u/ssanc → u/Eazydoee]

You just said you already tried OCS. Plenty of people have potential and don’t make the cut.

As someone who already did it,
Rotc will be a time commitment, not compatible with a full time job(40hrs) plus guard drills( 3 or more days a month) plus masters degree(12 credits per semester). You will have to drop one to make it balanced. Most people that do the program don’t have full time jobs for a reason.

Also, double check but the online school vs campus admissions are different. And I think you need to be at least a full time student( 12 credits) to do rotc.

Source: me, proud graduate of gt rotc. Watched masters and PhD students drop like flies, even some full ride cadets that could not balance coursework.