The Military March to College with Lisa Hillhouse – College Bound Mentor Podcast #16

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Welcome to the College Bound Mentor podcast! Each episode, hear trends, case studies, and interviews with students who have gone through it all.

This is Episode #16 and you’ll hear about military academies & ROTC with Lisa Hillhouse. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots – follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re enjoying the show!

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  • Show Notes
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  • Transcript

College Bound Mentor Podcast Episode #16: The Military March to College with Lisa Hillhouse

Considering a military academy or ROTC? We have the answers to all your questions. In this episode, we welcome on special guest Lisa Hillhouse, an independent college and career advisor specializing in military service academies & ROTC. Hear the biggest differences between military academies & ROTC, what a day in the life is like for each, how to apply to military academies & ROTC, what the military looks for in high school students, and how parents can handle concerns about the military being so dangerous. This episode covers everything from military academies to ROTC. Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:

  • How was Lisa’s experience in the Air Force?
  • What is ROTC?
  • How do you apply to a military academy?
  • What scholarships are available for ROTC?
  • Who can apply for ROTC?
  • What happens if you drop ROTC or a military academy?
  • Can you still serve in the military with a medical condition?
  • What’s the minimum ACT score or SAT score to serve in the military?

Connect with Lisa at HillhouseCollegeAdvising.com, on LinkedIn, and check out her post Summer Programs for Prospective Military Officers, and subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com.

Check out the episode and show notes below for much more detail.

Show Notes

  • The Military March to College with Lisa Hillhouse
    • [0:19] Welcome to College Bound Mentor
    • [0:25] Lisa Bleich, Abby Power, Stefanie Forman
    • [0:30] Connect with Lisa at HillhouseCollegeAdvising.com, on LinkedIn, and check out her post Summer Programs for Prospective Military Officers, and subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com
    • [1:52] How was Lisa’s experience in the Air Force?
    • [4:07] What is ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps)?
    • [6:08] How do you apply to a military academy?
    • [9:40] How many military academies should you apply to?
    • [10:42] What scholarships are available for ROTC?
    • [12:55] How are ROTC scholarships decided?
    • [14:08] What does an ROTC student look like?
    • [15:35] What’s the difference between ROTC students & military academy students?
    • [16:56] Who can apply for ROTC?
    • [21:15] What does the military look for in high school students?
    • [27:43] What happens if you drop ROTC or a military academy?
    • [29:54] What’s the time commitment for serving after ROTC or a military academy?
    • [34:02] Can you still serve in the military with a medical condition?
    • [36:24] What’s the minimum ACT score or SAT score to serve in the military?
    • [37:42] What happens if someone wants to pursue graduate school?
    • [39:15] What are some myths & truths about serving in the military?
    • [42:44] What final thoughts does Lisa have?
    • [43:39] Do women have an advantage in the military?
    • [45:40] How should parents handle their child going into the military?
    • [47:24] Are fewer people able to qualify for the military these days?
    • [49:05] Connect with Lisa at HillhouseCollegeAdvising.com, on LinkedIn, and check out her post Summer Programs for Prospective Military Officers, and subscribe to College Bound Mentor on your favorite podcast platform and learn more at CollegeBoundMentor.com
    • Theme Song: “Happy Optimistic Americana” by BDKSonic

What is the College Bound Mentor podcast?

Lisa, Abby, and Stefanie know college. They also know students. With over 30 years combined experience mentoring young people, they’ll show you why understanding yourself is the key to finding the right college. Each episode, hear trends, case studies, and interviews with students who have gone through it all – giving you valuable insight to survive the college application process and beyond. Hosted by Lisa Bleich, Abby Power, and Stefanie Forman, Partners of College Bound Mentor.

Transcript

Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Lisa Hillhouse 0:03
It’s great to follow some tracks, but it’s really important to be who you are.

Lisa Bleich 0:19
Hey, CBMers, welcome back to College Bound Mentor, where we help you survive the college application process and beyond. We’re your co-hosts Lisa, Abby,

Stefanie Forman 0:28
and Stefanie.

Lisa Bleich 0:30
On today’s episode, we are excited to welcome Lisa Hillhouse to discuss how the military can factor into your college experience. We’ve called it following the military march to college. Lisa Hill House is an independent educational consultant dedicated to helping families across the US and abroad in their college admissions journey. Lisa is nationally known for her expertise in military service academy and ROTC scholarship admissions. With 26 years of experience as an Air Force officer specializing in leadership development and office of recruitment. Lisa brings a wealth of knowledge to her clients. Before starting her practice, she held leadership roles in adult and graduate admissions and several bay area colleges. So welcome.

Lisa Hillhouse 1:10
Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Lisa Bleich 1:12
Hey, great. So I first heard you speak. I first heard Lisa speak about the Academy’s I guess it was an ICA presentation, and at the time, I had a student who was applying to West Point. So I was riveted by your presentation, and I thought it was super interesting. And then just this year, I had two young women who were interested in ROTC or Rothstein. And so of course, I knew exactly whom to call. And it was so great to speak with you and get all of your insights. And so I thought, You know what? You’d be a great guest to have on our podcast. Of course, Abby and Steph agreed. So welcome. We’re really happy to have you. So why don’t you start off tell us a little bit about your experience in the Air Force.

Lisa Hillhouse 1:51
I am not like the students that come to me, who know they want to be an Air Force officer since, you know, third grade when they saw the Thunderbirds, things like that. I was a first gen college student, and I, you know, wanted to live and work overseas and to help people, and that those are my overarching goals when I went off to college and I had maybe enough money for my first year of school, and my mentor in the dorm, she was like a big sister. She was a cadet in Air Force ROTC, and she was a recruiting officer, and she saw the things I was doing on campus, and said, you know, you like being a leader, you should check out ROTC. And I just jumped in and didn’t look back. And so I didn’t go in having applied to the scholarship program. I didn’t know there was an Air Force Academy. I went to a girls Catholic High School, so at the time, in the 80s, no one was going into the military from my school. Fortunately, that’s changed, but ultimately I went in and I had a lot of different opportunities. I started in logistics, moved over to human resources, and then had a special assignment teaching Air Force ROTC at Berkeley, and that is really what started me on the college admissions process. In the end, I spent 26 years active duty and reserve. Not really sure how that time went by so quick. It feels kind of old to say that, because that was, you know, years ago, but I had the chance to live on three different continents, do a lot of humanitarian work, served during wartime, the Air Force, ultimately paid for two degrees for me, and just met these lifelong friends and had these opportunities I never would have had if I didn’t do that program. And so I didn’t really have that person mentoring me before I started. But in ROTC, I had that mentoring and people who believed in me and knew this is what you need to do to succeed in college and have that accountability. And that was a game changer, because I don’t think I could have stayed on track and graduated in four years without it, let alone had that opportunity. Wow,

Lisa Bleich 3:56
that sounds amazing. So as the ROTC advisor, or person running the program at Berkeley, tell us a little bit about what that program was like. What does it what what does it look like? What does a student do if they’re part of that program?

Lisa Hillhouse 4:09
So ROTC, regardless of what branch, you know, Navy and Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, Army, the students are full time college students, and they’re at what I would call a civilian college, so they could be at Berkeley or University of San Francisco, and they’re taking their classes, they’re full time, doing well in school, and then one or two days a week they’ll go to the unit. So if you were a Berkeley cadet, you went to school there or Midshipman, so it was really easy to get to ROTC, just went over to the gym. But if you were at a different school, you would go commute to that program, and you would have academic classes. So depending on the branch, like maybe with the army, you’re studying land navigation and tactics. In the Navy, you’re studying sea power. In the Air Force, you’re looking at, you know, Air and Space Development, things like that. So you have some. Academic classes, you have physical fitness training two or three mornings for an hour before school, and that’s more leadership team building, getting fit. And then you have your leadership lab to two hours a week, and that’s really like the heart of the program, where the upperclassmen are the mentors and the guides for the underclassmen. And so one week they be learning First Aid CPR. Another week, they may have a drill competition. The week after they may have, you know, 15 officers coming in and talking about different career fields and how they can get into those paths. So while you’re going to college, you still have this opportunity to do Greek life and club sports and, you know, study abroad, you know, things like that, but you’re on this path with the goal being when you graduate your commission as an officer and enter, you know, into the armed forces.

Lisa Bleich 5:52
So, yeah, it sounds great. I mean, it sounds really, really wonderful. Um, so walk us through the academy application process. I know that’s different than ROTC, but like, from a big picture standpoint, you know, it’s a very complex so we don’t have to go through all the ins and outs. But just what does somebody need to think

Lisa Hillhouse 6:07
about that? For the academies, the kids who are the most successful start really early. So sometimes I’ll work with kids in eighth grade planning for high school, which sounds crazy early, but the kids who have the most time to plan their classes and their activities and engage in different things. You know, just have they’re more competitive overall. You know. You know that with your work with the academy, though, the application process starts formally your junior year. So in the winter for the five service academies have a summer program that you can apply for. So this is going to be a week long program where you’re seeing what is life, life as a cadet or Midshipman, learning about the different roles in the military, doing sports, sailing, lots of really fun and challenging things. So applying for the summer programs. In that December through like February, March starts the application the summer before senior year. So in July, generally, the applications open, and if students meet the basic criteria, they become candidates, and then they’re in that process until they either get an offer, don’t get an offer, or are disqualified. So they’re taking standardized tests, so SAT or a CT without accommodations, and that’s really important. People don’t often know that they have several teacher recommended recommenders. They have a physical fitness test. There’s different tests for different programs, but the candidate fitness assessment is really rigorous, so you can be the quarterback for the football team and fail this test. So it’s important to prepare and take that. There’s two medical exams and the lengthy medical history that you do, there’s an interview for most academies, sometimes a couple different interviews, and then there’s going to be things like resumes and essays. So it’s quite a lot of pieces that kids put together. Generally, it is doubling the work you do to apply to college. Part of that is, if you apply to more than one Academy, it’s a whole new application, and very little carries over from the previous one. And also, for four of the five academies, you have to have a congressional nomination. So there’s a lot of different places to get that, but that’s like doing a whole nother application to get a nomination.

Lisa Bleich 8:16
Yeah, I remember working it was a very complex application. And another thing just to note is that there’s also, if you don’t make it directly into the academies, there are one year programs that are feeders, because that’s what my client ended up getting to do, because he got in everywhere except West Point. But then he went to, I want to say it was the school in Georgia, South Carolina, one of Georgia Military

Lisa Hillhouse 8:41
College. Georgia

Lisa Bleich 8:42
Military College? Yes, he went there for the year, and then he was able to come in,

Lisa Hillhouse 8:46
right? So the academies, Army, Navy, Air Force have preparatory schools. Other branches can send their students there. And that’s a program like July to April, where you’re a reservist and they’re saving a spot for you the next year. But you’ll have to succeed. You know, academically, character, fitness wise, there’s also private scholarships that the academies offer. So some kids will also say, I’ll start in ROTC and reapply. They love ROTC. They’re like, I don’t need that structure and rigor of the academy. And some reapply and get in. And so, yes, that’s part of why it’s so competitive, because there are kids who are in that feeder pipeline from the previous admission cycle too.

Stefanie Forman 9:27
On average, the students that you work with, how many different academies are they applying to? Are they applying to all of them? Or are they just focused on one? Right?

Lisa Hillhouse 9:36
So there’s five academies in I’ve been doing this since 1995 and I’ve only had one student apply to all five, and that was last year, and he, he did fabulous, absolutely. And he also applied to an ROTC program. But I would say most students apply to one or two academies, so maybe army and navy, for example, and to. Typically an ROTC commissioning, like scholarship program too. But I have kids who are like, all I want to do is be an Army nurse and I want to go through ROTC. So every kid is different. If you’re applying to, say, two academies and an ROTC scholarship program and nominations it, that’s really where it becomes that double work, right? And so in that case, like we prioritize, get one Academy app in, and then the ROTC scholarship and then the other. But all summer, you’re still doing all your other applications. So it is not something you could say, you know, like November 1, I want to do it and get it done in two weeks. That’s not going to happen.

Stefanie Forman 10:38
Wow. And can you talk us through the ROTC process a bit, and the two levels of scholarships

Lisa Hillhouse 10:44
Absolutely. So something important to know is a lot of kids will apply for the ROTC scholarships, and sometimes there’s more funding than others. In recent years, some of the branches have moved more money to the program to support kids in college already, right the kids who are already committed and are more of a sure thing, but there’s still that high school one, but you can also walk on to ROTC, if you’re qualified and compete for a scholarship, like I did. So there’s always these different plans, but the ROTC scholarships, they’re branch dependent, so it’s like college admissions. There’s generally not one answer that always applies, but generally for Navy and Army and also Marine Corps, their full tuition scholarships. So Navy, four year full tuition. Army four or three year full tuition scholarships. Air Force has four year full tuition and four years that are capped at 18,000 a year. That’s the different ones. They all also offer, like a monthly stipend during the school year and a book allowance. So I wouldn’t say one’s dramatically different in terms of benefits, although a full tuition four year, you know, is a great deal. So these kids will do an online application. They’ll have to take a different kind of physical fitness test. They may or may not need teacher recommendations, usually, similar to the academy, they will get their transcript, their official test scores, their resume activities, typically, but not always. There’s essays, and then there’s always an interview, and that’s at an ROTC unit, you know, for that branch. And then their packages go to a national board that’s run by ROTC commanders. And there’s a couple different cycles throughout the year that kids can get scholarships, and sometimes their scholarships can get upgraded to a higher level as well. That process is not nearly as complex. So like, if you said, I just want the ROTC scholarship for air force that’s going to be the fastest one to complete. It has the least amount of requirements, still hard to get, but way different than applying to a couple academies.

Lisa Bleich 12:50
When does the upgrade get decided? Get decided when it goes to national or once you’re already in the program?

Lisa Hillhouse 12:56
That’s a great question. So for Army, at the end of the admission cycle. So around April, May, June, when all the kids have committed with their scholarships, if there’s extra money, they will go back and take the three year scholarships and upgrade them to four years. Sometimes, when you’re in ROTC for Army, if they have extra money, they can also, you know, start your scholarship sooner, because a three year you would be doing ROTC as a freshman, but you would start normally getting paid your sophomore year. So it kind of varies by that also things like Air Force ROTC, each unit has one scholarship for the best student coming to their program, so they can offer that to a student instead of having their application go to a national board. So there’s definitely intricacies. A big thing is having kids informational interview with the units, and so I always have them reach out and find out what’s a good fit, and then it also gives them more like knowledge and confidence. And when they go to their formal interview, you know, you hope they’re going to be a lot better.

Stefanie Forman 13:57
What does the ROTC student look like?

Lisa Hillhouse 14:00
That’s a good question. They could look like an academy cadet, but I think there’s a couple differences. So they could be at one of, like, 1000 civilian colleges. So they could be at Georgia Tech, they could be at Emory right, public or private. They can have any major. So there are majors like nursing that you don’t have at the service academies, or some academies like Merchant Marine and Coast Guard have much smaller major offerings like six or seven, you know, versus 25 or 35 if you are in ROTC, you can be married, you can have children, you could be older, so you could be as old as 31 In that program. That’s pretty unusual. But a lot of times you’ll have service members who are enlisted, who get out and go into ROTC. So maybe they’re already married, they’re working, they’re doing ROTC. So that’s something that you see that’s a little different. Obviously, they could be in, like, fraternities or sororities too. You know, at the academy, it’s like its own fraternity. Right? But that’s, you know, that thing that’s a little different. ROTC cadets, also, they have summer training opportunities, but the majority of their summer is off, whereas at an academy, you have three weeks off, three weeks of training and three weeks of you in a mentoring role. So it’s a little bit different. You know, ROTC is going to start when your college experience starts. It’s not going to start right after high school graduation.

Stefanie Forman 15:23
That’s really helpful. Are there any other major differences that you think it’s important to note between ROTC and students and Academy students?

Lisa Hillhouse 15:35
Yeah. So you know the Academy students, except for Coast Guard, they don’t use nominations, but the Academy students will have to have a nomination to get an appointment. So whether the Academy helps them, if they weren’t able to get one on their own, or or they got it on their own, they have to do that. Academy kids also have to medically qualify much earlier in the process, because they’re reporting the end of June, early July, whereas maybe you’re going to Oregon State, and you don’t start ROTC till late September. So for the Academy, sometimes kids run out of time in the process, especially if they have issues with their medical history, things like that, or maybe they didn’t get a nomination. Whereas with ROTC, you’re like, Okay, I didn’t know about the scholarship, or I didn’t get one, but you talk to the unit, you do the intake paperwork, and if you’re you know full time student physically fit good moral character at a school or Crosstown that has it, you can walk onto that program. So you can actually start ROTC as a freshman or sophomore. It’s not ideal to start as a sophomore, because less time to get a scholarship, less time for them to know you also less time to say, is this the right commitment for me? But yes, but with the academy, you have to be like locked and loaded in pretty early. Can anybody

Abby Power 16:51
who has even a small interest and thinks that the program might be a good fit

Lisa Hillhouse 16:56
apply for ROTC. So one thing that’s going to be really important with ROTC is that you have to be a US citizen to have a scholarship or to be continuing in the last two years of the program. So sometimes I’ll be contacted by students who are working on their citizenship, but still think it’s maybe three, four years away, and that may not always work for them. They also, you know, have to be like we’re talking about good moral character. You know, be in shape, you know, be in good academic standing. So, you know, if you had, like, a two, oh, as a physics major, like you’re not going to meet the minimum requirements, right? Like we’re worried about you academically graduating, let alone be in that program. But ROTC also gives you some time. Like, if you’re close to getting that citizenship, or you’re bringing up your grades, or you’re at a community college, you’re transferring to a four year school, like, it gives you a little more leeway in there. So yeah, and more people will go through ROTC than the academies. The academies are for the Army, Navy, Air Force. They’re going to try to graduate 1000 officers a year, whereas, like Air Force ROTC, they’re going to commission 2000 officers a year. So more people are coming through the college program. An exception is Coast Guard, because they don’t have an in college ROTC program, so most officers go to the Coast Guard Academy. Yes, speaking

Abby Power 18:19
of fitness, I was telling Lisa and Stephanie earlier that one of my son, he’s a senior at USC, one of his best friends and housemates and fraternity brothers is in ROTC, and that guy will just go out for a 12 mile run. It’s 120 degrees in LA. Everyone else is just complaining, and he is just out, you know, that’s awesome. Super Fit, super responsible kid. I mean very disciplined young man, exactly.

Lisa Hillhouse 18:44
And I think too ROTC gives you that chance to mature and grow as well. You know, if you go into ROTC, you don’t have a commitment until your sophomore year of college, if you have a scholarship, if you don’t have a scholarship, those first two years are not committed, and the academies give you two years to decide as well. But there’s a lot more like to use a military term, shock and awe. When you go to an academy, it is a much different change, right? Like, you’re kind of broken down and built back up, right, as as a teammate. And so ROTC is more like, Hey, I have my traditional college experience, but I’m also getting up early and seeing my friends and having this leadership role on campus. You know, some kids are like, I would never even think about going to an academy, and some kids only want an academy. I don’t think an academy is the right experience for every student. I don’t think every branch is right for every wannabe officer. I think you have to see like, who are you? What’s your goals? You know? What is that lifestyle like? Because they’re all different. You really have to be selfless to be in the military like you may not want to be assigned to that country or that job or be moving at that time, but it’s really the needs of the military. Yeah,

Abby Power 19:59
we were talking. A little bit about that before too. And this young man who’s at USC, I mean, that’s just his attitude. He’s like, I’ll just serve wherever they need me, right,

Lisa Hillhouse 20:07
right? And I think that flexibility is really good. There’s different commitments for ROTC Academy, and also depends on your job. But like for things like flying, it is a longer time commitment. It could be 10 or 11 years and so versus like, four or five years of service. So the military is not arm twisting you into becoming a pilot and serving all that time, but kids really have to want that if they’re willing to commit that time. And sometimes kids are like, four years is so long, I don’t know if I could, you know, commit to that which, you know, four years you’re like, where did it go? I seems like three months ago. So it is different in hindsight. But I think the best kids you know are up for anything you know, just ready to get out there and take that. And I think when they have that like optimism and that openness and you know, they really learn to be more fearless as a leader through these programs. You know that’s when they’re going to succeed a little

Abby Power 21:05
bit along those lines, what do you advise is important for high schoolers to accomplish during high school? And what kind of activities does the military value?

Lisa Hillhouse 21:16
If you think about the military mission, we are all around the world, so there are definitely languages that are well known and well used, but there’s also a lot of critical strategic majors. So if students understand Farsi, they’re already speaking Russian, Korean, Mandarin, those language skills are really useful. Or the the interest in studying those the military overall, really like STEM majors. So engineering, computer science, you know, physics, for some branches, bigger need for nursing than others. You’re going to also want to see, you know, two kids have travel experiences. Are they familiar with different faith practices, like just bringing that different diversity, you know, enhances and also makes them more valuable when they’re, you know, traveling around the world. There’s programs that a lot of kids do that they feel, you know, prepare them well for the military. And that could be Boy or Girl Scouts, you know, so going to Eagle or Gold Award, it could be auxiliary programs like young Marines or Sea Cadets or a Civil Air Patrol. It could be Junior ROTC at their high school. Some other really good things are boys and girls state so the leadership development programs learning about government and service, but kids could go get a scholarship or get into an academy not having done those things. And I think it’s great to follow some tracks, but it’s really important to be who you are, you know. So I’ve had kids who’ve been very involved in, like medical activities and research, some who were really involved in things like student government or theater, different things like that. So there isn’t one path, but it’s, are you a scholar, you know, Are you an athlete and are you a leader? Lots of kids you know, can be good at school, but maybe they’re quiet, they’re shy, they don’t have that leadership. There’s kids who are scholars and leaders and don’t have any of the athletic piece. And so both ROTC and the Academy are looking at both. I think ROTC is a little more flexible on that than the academy. But it doesn’t mean like you have to be on the football team. You can be like a competitive, you know, triathlon kid. You could be a fencer. You could be a rock climber. So they’re looking to see, are you competitive? Are you collaborative? Can you communicate? You know, do you work well as a team? Do you set goals for yourself? Can you overcome adversity and leadership? Teaches a lot of those things too. But you know, being on a college prep track, you know, having STEM classes, even if you want to study international relations in Mandarin, still having some of those and then pushing yourself in those other areas is what like best prepares kids. And you know, as a counselor, you know you could try 10 things and just do a little, or you could have three that you dive deeply into. So trying to have things in those areas is, I think, going to make you the most competitive. I also think work and volunteering is really important, and I feel like there’s not enough kids who work today, you know, in high school, whether it’s summer vacations, so I really try to push that, and I really encourage kids and help them find places they could volunteer related to the military. And maybe you want to be a military physician, but you could volunteer at the VA. So now you’re in a medical environment and you’re in a military environment, so you’re kind of, you know two things at once. So it’s also kind of planning ahead and thinking like, what is this community and how can I surround myself with it? Super helpful. Thank.

Lisa Bleich 24:59
Thanks. You touched on it a little bit in terms of the majors. You know, foreign language, STEM majors. Are there any other things to think about? For example, one, I have these two young women, as I said at the start of the episode, that are both booking. One is a STEM major, computer science, and the other one is interested in Psych, wants to be a psychologist. And after her interview, she was told that your major is not as needed, I guess was the you know, was kind of the like. You did a great job with the interview, but not sure if you’ll get the highest level scholarship, because psych majors aren’t necessarily as needed. So how do you counsel students who really want to serve and have all the other qualities that you talked about, but perhaps don’t really want to study something specifically stem or language that

Lisa Hillhouse 25:46
is such a good question. So I think one, it’s like having kids persevere. And you know, like, yes, is it easier to get electrical engineering scholarship? Yes, because the Navy means a lot of electrical engineers. But like, kids can apply for any major in ROTC. It just is more competitive. So I’ve had kids get into an academy, but not get the ROTC scholarship because it was one of these, like less needed ones. But I think it’s like persevering, applying to the schools that you want into the ROTC scholarship, and if you don’t get it, walk on and let them know I want to compete in that and know that, you know, there’s opportunities that more kids are going to get that scholarship in college already. So don’t be deterred by them saying we don’t need that major psychology is really important in everything we do as leaders. And I would also say there’s a huge need for military intelligence and so. And you know, psychology plays a role in that. And so I would, you know, press on for the major you want. You know, sometimes kids will apply for ROTC, and maybe part of it is to pay for college. And so I say, you know, if you’re going to study physics and barely get by, but if you could do management and do really well, your chances of getting a commission and continuing getting a scholarship are much better. So you really should pick what you like. Some ROTC programs are a little more lenient on majors, I would say Army and Marines. You know, they put such a big focus on leadership, and they are, you know, have a lot of great technology, but maybe the need for people with so many STEM majors is not as great as it is for the Air Force, Space Force and Navy. So sometimes different branches, there’s a little more option, but you should follow your heart, you know, like, let them tell you no, as we tell kids,

Stefanie Forman 27:38
yeah. A bit of a Debbie Downer question, but what happens if you drop Sure

Lisa Hillhouse 27:44
so out of ROTC or the academy? Okay? So say you’re not on a scholarship for ROTC, you can just disenroll, right? So maybe you need more time to focus on school. Maybe you’re not going to be medically qualified, so no scholarship. You just leave that program. Those classes are electives. So it counts, you know, for credit towards graduation. If you’re on a scholarship, you have your whole freshman year in ROTC to keep the scholarship. Try it out, so you still have to be doing your grades, you know, passing your fitness test, meet your weight standard, go to your activities, do a good job. If at the end of the year, you’re like, This isn’t for me. You tell them, I’m not returning, and that scholarship money goes someplace else. So you have that whole freshman year. So if kids are on the fence, I’m like, try it that whole year. You know, just like you might go off to a college and that first semester, second semester is kind of bumpy. If you’re at an academy, you have the first two years to decide. So the most people are going to drop out during that first summer at the academy, during their orientation, or at the end of their freshman year, at the end of their sophomore year, they’re coming back, and that’s when they’re upperclassmen, and they’re signing their contract to serve for five years after so you have a lot of time to really think about if it’s for you. But say you were in ROTC as a senior, and now you have a change of heart. They could a disenroll you and ask for the money back that they sent spent. They could ask you to serve so they could enlist you. I think it’s really the needs of the military, and also, if they think you’re going to be a good person serving, you know, for an academy, you know, leaving as an upperclassman again, they could ask you to pay it back or to serve. It’s pretty rare at that higher level that kids are leaving, you know, like maybe they medically disqualified and they let them out of their contract, right? But if you did something like got caught using drugs, you know they could prosecute you, because you are in the military, right? And so that’s not the way you want to be leaving. Wow.

Stefanie Forman 29:49
And what’s the time commitment after you serve your time as a ROTC or in the academy? What does that look Air

Lisa Hillhouse 29:58
Force ROTC? Is four years of active duty. Army is similar. Navy is five years. And so sometimes for different branches or different roles, it could be a little longer, a little shorter. If you take a flying job, it’s usually like a nine or 10 year commitment after your pilot training. The academies are for five years. So at that five year point for each branch. You know you’re the third officer rank. You’re still a junior officer, but you’ve been in for a while. A lot of people will go beyond their first assignments, and a lot of people will go on and stay in the reserves or the guard. It’s pretty unusual for people to just do their initial commitment and totally walk away people. Do you know with people could also stay 2030 years as well. And that’s not going to be everybody, but I was just

Lisa Bleich 30:45
saying that, if somebody started ROTC so they didn’t start there, they didn’t get four years of scholarship, maybe they don’t start until their junior or senior year to get the scholarship, would it still be a four year or five year commitment?

Lisa Hillhouse 30:56
Right? So they would have to have a spot in that program and done some summer training before junior year, right? And so once they’re a junior now they’re committed. So yes, say, like on the totally unusual chance you never had a scholarship and you just did two the last two and a half years ROTC, you would still owe this couple years of service. They’re roughly four or five years. And what you do in the military is based on what you studied. Are you medically qualified? So being like a navigator is a higher qualification than being a personnel officer, and it’s also how well you did in your commissioning program, too. So if you’re involved, if you’re, you know, doing great as a leader, and you’re higher ranking, you’re going to have a better chance of getting the jobs that you’re looking to do.

Stefanie Forman 31:43
This is also interesting. When we were planning this, I was like, I only know what I know. And usually the students I work with who are interested in academies, usually they’re like, there’s an interest there, and they want to apply to other schools. And then they’re like, No. And now I understand why, because so so this has just been Thank you, because I’m getting such an education.

Lisa Hillhouse 32:02
It is so much. It’s Yes, you know, you really have to want it. And sometimes kids come to me, and we get started and they’re like, this is more than I thought it would be, you know, and maybe I’m just going to go the ROTC route, or, you know, for kids to go into an academy, the admit rate varies. That’s kind of like 11 to 14% for most academies, so pretty elite. But the kids who get medically qualified have a nomination if they need it, and are academically qualified and pass their fitness test, like that cuts the group in half. And so at that point, your chances are a lot better, but a lot of kids don’t have don’t get to that process where they’re that far along, and part of it is difficult, because being at an Academy is a challenge. Like everyone there is taking a STEM courses, like they all have a bachelor science degree, even if they’re an English major, everyone there is doing sports while they’re there. So it could be club d3, d1, travel team, intramural. Everyone’s doing their military training. So, you know, if you can’t handle like, that rigor and that process and that project management, you’re going to struggle there. So they want to make sure, like, you’re ready to do it. And I don’t think like every 17 year old is there. You know, you could take a lot of 25 year olds who couldn’t do it, or or older,

Lisa Bleich 33:25
I was told. I told, I mean, this, I told that you can’t have a medical like you can have ADHD, you can’t have any sort of medical condition. But one of my actually, we just said her wedding, one of our friend’s daughter, she’s got married to a Jag person, someone from Jag, and she was getting, I know she needed medication for ADHD, and she was getting it through the military, so I was surprised that they were offering that, given that you’re not allowed to have ADHD. Is

Lisa Hillhouse 33:53
she getting it as the spouse? Yes, okay, as the spouse, right? So you can have things like dyslexia or ADHD, but you can’t have accommodations. And you have to be accommodation free for several years. You can’t have, you know, that extended time, you can’t have a quiet study space. So like the academies, you know, can bypass the Americans with Disability Act because of the nature of what you do in the military, if you have ADHD, you have to show I’m not taking medicine. I haven’t taken medicine at all or for years, and I could still do well at school. I could still function socially. I still have my executive functioning. And, you know, there’s kids that start the process and get off medication to become medically qualified and realize I’m not at a place yet where I can do that, you know, and I see that every year with people I talk to, maybe who want to work together, and then the kids are like, and I’m not sure if I’m ready for that. And I think the thing I tell them is, you always have to do what’s best for your child. So talking to the psychologist. Or psychiatrists, you know, the people who’ve done their education planning, parents, the kids you know, how can you manage the symptoms, you know, without accommodations or medicine, and how can you get to a point where you’re fine without it? And I’ve had kids I’ve worked with who weren’t going to medically qualify for the academy or ROTC, but we got them ready so that they walked onto ROTC, and enough time had passed and they were succeeding. And like I have some students who are in the army now as officers and initially didn’t qualify because of some of those issues. So yes, you just have to show you know that you have conquered that and can do well. And with ADHD, because it’s so common. I think the structure and the discipline of the military and the expectations can help kids, in some cases, also the excitement of what we do can help, but also the repetition and boredom of some of the training, you know, could work against them, but yes, it’s, you know, figuring out what’s best for them at that time, but it’s not necessarily a deal breaker. But the accommodations in medicine do have to be like left behind for a couple years and still do well,

Lisa Bleich 36:08
got it interesting to know? Okay, well, listen to them, yeah.

Lisa Hillhouse 36:12
And the other thing with that is, kids can’t take standardized tests with accommodations and use them for the academies or the ROTC scholarship, so they will ask that on the application

Lisa Bleich 36:22
and what’s the minimum, like, what’s the minimum SA, T or a CT that you would say someone should shoot for to be eligible?

Lisa Hillhouse 36:29
All the academies are using scores. Again, there was a little bit of a change with that during COVID. I would say it’s going to vary by Academy. But if you took the equivalent of, like a 26 composite on an A C T, that’s kind of 2526 is kind of the bare bones of getting directly into an academy, not the preparatory school, right for RTC, different branches have different requirements, like Air Force is 26 A C T, or the equivalent. But army no longer has a minimum score, so each branch kind of looks at it differently. If you said, What is a competitive score like using that a CT standard, I’d say a 30 is a very typical score for selectee. Does having a 35 get you in, maybe, but that you’re not getting in because the 35 right? Like you’re getting with a 29 and all the other things were amazing. So and then, in terms of GPA, about a three seven unweighted to like a three nine unweighted is very typical for ROTC and Academy is closer to a three nine unweighted. Again, they’re going to look at lots of different things right like the rigor, right recommendations, yes.

Abby Power 37:40
What happens if someone wants to pursue graduate school?

Lisa Hillhouse 37:45
Yeah, and Stefanie had talked about the girl who you know had that interest in that different major at the academies, they’re going to send their top graduates directly to graduate school. So some will go to medical school, nursing, dental, things like that, PT, or some other areas, like atmospheric science engineering. In ROTC, you can also apply for medical school, whether it’s the armed forces or civilian College, and if you’re accepted and the military is willing to fund it, you know you can do that, but most ROTC grads are going directly into the military, so they’re commissioning and then serving. If you’re staying in the military past your first couple years as an officer, it’s pretty unusual to not have at least a master’s degree. And in some branches, especially Air Force, people often have multiple degrees. And do other you know, all branches do other professional development. You can in RTC asked to take a delay and fund your own education. So maybe you’re doing, like, a five year, you know, Bs MBA. You can just say, I want to get commissioned and to have a year off to finish that. So you can ask for that. But generally, you’re doing that grad school from ROTC once you’re in the military, either part time or full time. So like, as soon as I went active duty, I started doing grad school part time, but I also, you know, could have applied to do it full time, you know, depending on what I wanted to do in the military. But it’s more common to go right to grad school from an academy,

Lisa Bleich 39:15
alright, so I always like to do this at the end, to just kind of ask, like, what are some myths and some truths about pursuing the military for college and beyond.

Lisa Hillhouse 39:25
Okay, I guess some myths. Sometimes people will say, Oh, you know, you just want to go in the Air Force or navy to be a pilot, you know, because those are big, popular, incredibly cool jobs. Not everybody wants to fly. Some people don’t even like to fly. I mean, I think aviation is cool. That was part of why I went into the Air Force, even though I couldn’t find myself. People, another myth is people think people are going into ROTC or the Academy because they want to be war fighters, but because they want to go to war or they want to go to combat. I would say the reality is like, if diplomatic. Measures have failed, that’s when we’re called to go to war. And as warriors, we don’t want to go to war. We train for war, but we train for war so we can maintain peace. So that’s not usually a reason people want to go in sometimes parents, particularly moms. And I’m a mom of of three kids who are adults, you know, they worry, is my child going to be safe? Is it a dangerous field? I would be delighted if my three kids and all of them thought about it and decided it wasn’t what they wanted to do. But, you know, I feel like living in a big city and driving on the highway is dangerous too. You know, I feel like you should pursue your passion. The other thing about ROTC or the academy, people worry that their kids are going to be called out of school if there’s a war or a conflict like they’re going to be sent to the Ukraine, but if you’re a college student, that is your job, so you’re not in ROTC and leaving to go deploy someplace. In terms of truth, I would say ROTC and the academies is something that takes time and effort, but I think, like another truth is there’s unlimited opportunity, and it’s so transformational. And I think something people don’t know is how much humanitarian work all the different branches. Do you know, regardless, like, are they building hospitals? Are they rescuing people at sea? You know? Are they bringing in hurricane relief? Things? I think there’s probably more myths out there. I don’t know if like the truths, you know, get enough attention, but I think for the right person, it is life changing. And so, you know, I would love to see more national service. You know, not everyone’s going to go in the military or be a good fit, but I would just love to see more national service. Yeah.

Lisa Bleich 41:38
I mean, it’s interesting, because one of the questions Stephanie asked is, like, we ask it, how you can avoid danger if you want to join the military? One of the things we say, well, I don’t know if that’s really the mindset of the people that go into this or interest. Yeah, you know, like,

Lisa Hillhouse 41:54
sometimes when kids write their essays, they’ll be like, I’m not afraid to go into harm’s way, which I think is that 17 year old brain. But I think in military, you train so that you’re going to step up and taking care of your people, whether they’re guardians sailors, it’s the most important thing we do, and so you’re trained to automatically do what you need to do, like that instinct just kicks in some branches and some missions are more dangerous, like is being a fighter pilot more dangerous than being a cargo pilot? Sometimes, is being in marine or army, infantry more dangerous than being a cyber security person for the Space Force? Yes, inherently, but I think we need people with all different mindsets and skill sets,

Lisa Bleich 42:36
right? No, I think that right. You’ve given us a really a lot to think about, are there any other sort of last minute or ending words that you’d like to share with our listeners? I would

Lisa Hillhouse 42:48
love to see more women go in the armed forces. That’s always the

Lisa Bleich 42:51
percentage of women in the armed forces, because, sure, so

Lisa Hillhouse 42:55
it kind of varies. I mean, you know, we’re 50% of the population, but in the branches, generally, it’s about it varies, but generally 20 to 25% you know, lower in some branches, higher in others. You know, I came in at the end of the 80s. That was a real transition point for the military. But there were 9% women in the Air Force when I came in. And so I would often be the only woman who was an officer in the squadron. I would often be the only woman in a room, you know, that was a lot of opportunity to excel, but you also always had to have your game on, right? Which, of course, you want to as leader, but it’s a very different, you know, military now, and I’m really glad for that, like as society has evolved,

Lisa Bleich 43:36
so do women have an advantage in the military in the sense that. I mean, I know that you’re like the Supreme Court decision race based ethnicity, etc, is not part of the military. It’s not, they’re not under that jurisdiction. What about right? So, something where they look at,

Lisa Hillhouse 43:54
yes, you know. So I think you stand out, but you want to fit in as well. I think because there’s less women, if you’re sharp, you’re going to excel, and if you’re not, you’re bringing all this down, right? So it’s you know, do your best. But do the academies want diversity? Yes, whether it’s you know, race, orientation, religion, you know, gender like they want to see a lot of different people, just like colleges do, but yes, they do still have that ability to use those other factors. So I think it could be an advantage. But I also think, like, we need people with all different personalities, right and skill sets. So yeah, so sometimes parents will say, like, Oh, my son’s a Caucasian male. Like, is there any chance he’s going to get in? There’s already a lot of Caucasian males, so he’s going to have to find a way to stand out, right? And, you know, with college admissions, every school’s looking for a total buffet in their class, right? And so they have to see. So sometimes kids might not get in. Is that the reason I don’t want to say that is I think it’s just you didn’t. At what they were looking for, and there’s so few spots, but then there’s still that chance. Okay, so go ROTC, you know, or go ROTC and reapply, or look at Officer trainings after so lots of opportunity. Don’t give up like on that first, that first No, or that first try, that’s what I would say. I

Stefanie Forman 45:19
have one question, really hard. Part of our job is transparency with our students and our parents, with schools that they think they should be attending, and we know immediately that that’s, you know, not reality. So you know it’s such a rigorous process. So do you have that a lot with students? And you just know this is not for them, and you have to have those difficult conversations with them early on a lot

Lisa Hillhouse 45:46
of times, like the student will know, and you know, in a worst case, they may kind of shut down against their parents, right? And I think you know you’re paying for a service that’s expensive. So parents are thoughtful. It’s usually the kids want it more than the parents. Sometimes parents will be like, we could pay for college. We don’t need them to do this, but the kid really wants it, and so they’re supporting them, so we don’t have to shut down the parents as much as I do with like, it’s Michigan or bus, it’s Harvard or bus. You know, I have it more on the civil like, the civilian side School of my practice. And I think too, I think Stephanie, you said, like, ADHD, I’m seeing so many more kids with accommodations, and, you know, so many more kids with ADHD. And I think we’re diagnosing it sooner. I think we’re treating it differently. I don’t think COVID helped any of that, but I feel like so many kids, you know, like, that’s a hurdle we have to to take. And so when kids come to me early, and we have more time to plan, and we sit down and say, Okay, if you’re applying to an academy, are you going to have a year or two without, like, accommodations or medicine by the fall of senior year? Like, if you come to me in the fall of senior year, and you’re still taking medicine, like we’re never going to qualify you for an academy this year, you know? So I think that accommodations thing, or the medication, is like, one of the biggest hurdles I have.

Lisa Bleich 47:12
This generation is so anxious. I mean, there’s so much anxiety among Gen Gen Z. So have you notice that there are fewer people able to qualify because they are taking medication for anxiety or depression, or that

Lisa Hillhouse 47:27
is a great question. Last week, the armed the military, came out and said that they are changing the standards for enlisting, and so there’s more officers than there’s a need for but there’s not enough enlisted, so the branches, most of them, have been struggling to make their enlisted goal, right? Because, like, one officer compared to 20 enlisted, so it’s a whole different size population, but they’re shortening the requirement to be asthma inhaler free, and they’re shortening the requirement to be good without accommodations or medication. So I’m hoping that’s going to go over to the officer side, because only 25% of the American population is medically qualified to enlist, of like 18 to 25 year olds. Only 25% of world war three happened. Yeah, 25% a big part of it is mental health issues, obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, you know, high blood pressure. So it’s really hard for like, kids, you know, to enlist, and like, even the army, they weren’t making their goals. And they did a special program where we’ll do like, six months of training with you to get you ready for basic training. And they were able to get up, like, their asfab test scores and their fitness level so that they were going to be eligible to enlist, kind of like schools, you know, having to reinforce, you know, basic skills, like the army was doing. So, yeah, that’s, that’s been some issues. But will it change as much for officers? I don’t know. I think it’s, I hope it eases up a little, because I definitely think some of the timelines are difficult? Yeah, for kids.

Lisa Bleich 49:03
Well, thank you, CBMers for tuning in and thank you, Lisa, for an informative episode. We all learned so much. To catch more episodes of College Bound Mentor, make sure to Follow or Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and tell a fellow parent or student about the podcast. To learn more, visit CollegeBoundMentor.com Until next time, you got this!

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