[fintstone]

My daughter did college ROTC because it ensured she would get a scholarship to med school. Instead, she almost went to Iraq right out of undergrad as a Security Policeman because she didn't get into Med school until the following year. Interestingly, even with a full scholarship on hand, many med schools turned her down even though she was competitive.

An admissions guy (ex AF missile officer like me) shared with me privately that she should have kept her military scholarship private instead of proudly mentioning it and her AF commission in her essay/application because many of the people on the boards at state schools were quite anti-military and that hurt her chances. Also, since the schools were state funded/subsidized, they primarily were interested in doctors who would remain in the state and serve that population (and they realized she would be gone for many years and likely never return to be a local doctor, alumni contributor, etc).

When she actually got to med school, the military recruiters were there to offer everyone the same scholarship as her's. In fact, pretty much everyone who could get accepted to med school had someone there to offer them money in return for a commitment of some sort. The only difference between her and the folks who signed up in med school is that they only owed the AF 7 years after they graduated (including a 3-year) residency. She owed 11 years.

The fact that they "own" her for much longer is a problem in two ways. One is if she wants to get out for higher pay or to pursue a specialty that they don't need (she wants to be a dermatologist but they need family practice) and two, if she wants a better assignment. Even if she wants to stay, she has no leverage. Others in her career year group are "kept happy" with respect to assignments, etc. so they will not leave at the end of their first assignment after residency. She cannot (owes twice as long), so she is stuck with the remote assignment, little choice in specialty, etc.