Army 4-Year Schol. vs "3 year advance designee scholarship"

My daughter's Army ROTC online status page changed Friday to indicate that she had received scholarships to two of her chosen schools! She is a high school senior who applied for the 4-year scholarship. When she wrote the PMS at one of the schools, he informed her that his information indicated that she had received the "3 year advance designee scholarship." She hasn't received her scholarship letter yet but can someone let us know the difference between this and the 4-year scholarship. Thanks!

My son also recieved a 3 year AD scholarship to one of his schools as well. Basiclly it means that they would attend school, join ROTC in their freshman year, participate fully, keep their grade up to the ROTC Standards and not get into any trouble, oh yes, and pass the PT Test. They would not recieve and scholarship money, book money or stipend for their freshman year. When the start thier sophomore year they will contract and be on scholarship with all the same benefits of every other cadet on scholarship. They basiclly wnat to make sure they can make it through the first year before they committ the scholarship.

Thanks for the info. Receiving a 3 year scholarship to an expensive school is quite different than a 4 year scholarship for which she thought she was applying. Not to sound ungrateful, but I could have told them that the $30,000 difference is beyond our means and the board could have chosen someone who was interested in the possibility of a three year scholarship.

Perhaps the other school on her list is for the 4-year scholarship. I guess we'll have to wait until the official letter arrives.

Classof83 said:

Perhaps the other school on her list is for the 4-year scholarship.

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While I can't predict the future, I think the "chances" are very good the other school will be a four year scholarship. Hopefully it is one that she likes/wants to attend.
Good luck to you and your daughter!

aglages, thanks for the words of encouragement!

Before you say the school is beyond your means, I would suggest you talk to the school's financial aid department, and think hard about the investment vs. the reward. At private schools very few students are paying the sticker price. Many private schools provide room and board to scholarship winners, because they bring scholarship dollars that won't come out of endowments, or other internal sources. Look real hard before you pass this opportunity up.

Good luck

Clarksonarmy, I've followed your posts and really appreciate the insight you lend to this forum. I think many of us feel that way.

An excellent point; even a 3 year scholarship at this school would be significant. One of the athletic departments at the school (Division III) is very interested in her as well. We'll continue with the process to see where it leads. The second school she received a scholarship at (3 or 4-year?) was somewhat down on her list.

For my information and perhaps for others who receive the 3 year scholarships, I would appreciate finding out what is the background on the 3 versus 4 year scholarships. We don't even remember seeing anything on the application indicating my daughter was applying for a 3 year scholarship. Is it common that some of the more selective schools go this route or was it based on my daughter's application?

Thanks again.

Classof83, I sent you a PM.

I remember a conversation with a PMS of the school, which turned out to be the school my son will be choosing to his 4 year scholarship at. That conversation was way before the board.

Anyway, I did ask him about 4 year vs. 3 year. His immediate reaction was, "Oh, from us, he will go in as a 4 year scholarship candidate" It was clear that the PMS does have an avenue of input (not a final say, but an input). I asked him why they would "recommend" a candidate for a 3 year, not 4 year. I asked him whether it is because he is not sure about the candidate's preparedness, readiness, or commitment to the Army as an ROTC candidate. The answer was NO. That's not the consideration. Most likely reason is whether that candidate is a strong candidate for the SCHOOL (from the school admission's points of view).

One caveat though: this is a highly competitive school with tough admissions scene, and one of the most expensive private schools (~$43k/year tuition). I don't know whether these factors are also part of the equation or not for other schools that don't fit this profile.

He did mention that sometimes, it's the decision by the Cadet Command, if the candidate is a borderline case for a particular school, etc.

Now, all this is just a sample of one data point. I don't know whether this can be generalized to your situation.

I heard from one of the posters here (whether it was a public post of a PM message, I don't recall) that her/his kid's 3 year was later converted to 4 year by the PMS of the school. Throughout all the time I read about other's experience, one thing becomes VERY clear: talk to the PMS. There is A LOT they can do for you, even though the final decision is made by the CC.

Good luck.

Classof83 said:

Clarksonarmy, I've followed your posts and really appreciate the insight you lend to this forum. I think many of us feel that way.

An excellent point; even a 3 year scholarship at this school would be significant. One of the athletic departments at the school (Division III) is very interested in her as well. We'll continue with the process to see where it leads. The second school she received a scholarship at (3 or 4-year?) was somewhat down on her list.

For my information and perhaps for others who receive the 3 year scholarships, I would appreciate finding out what is the background on the 3 versus 4 year scholarships. We don't even remember seeing anything on the application indicating my daughter was applying for a 3 year scholarship. Is it common that some of the more selective schools go this route or was it based on my daughter's application?

Thanks again.

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Absolutely do NOT give up on that school if that is truly wher your daughter would like to attend.

1) Last year, there were 3 year scholarship recipients that were able to work with the school and get upgraded to a 4 year.

2) My D goes to one of those $30K+ schools. Before she got the ROTC scholarship, we were awarded $14K in grants/loans, etc from the school and that was after doing nothing but the FAFSA which basically said we make too much money

3) My D has a schoolmate that played field hockey with her in high school and currently goes to a Div III school. That schoolmate only played (1) year on varsity and wasn't a starter but the school went all out to help her get numerous little scholarships. She has ended up paying $8K for a school that has a rack rate of $28-29K before room and board.

Good luck...

3yr scholarship only one school

We don't want to sound like we aren't appreciative but from the October board my DS received only one scholarship and for only three years. What can we do? Should we select different schools? He is taking the ACT's again in December I know we can update that if the scores improve. But can we be reviewed again????

3yr scholarship only one school

what do we do? Can we be re-evaluated by the board

If I understand correctly your DS was reviewed on the Oct. Board and recieved a 3 year AD scholarship. If that is the case DS will not be reviewed again, once you have been awarded a scholarship you will not go through any further boards, updates to the ACT will be no help other then in the college addmission process.

My advice would be to contact the PMS and ROO at the school where the scholarship was offered and see if there is a possibility of changing it to a 4 year over the course of this year. Find out if there is a process in place there to do this. They may have offered the 3 year based on DS ability to be accepted to the college, that happened to a friend of my son's. Another friends son recieved a 3 year AD and eventuall had it changed to a 4 year, I'm not sure if that is very commen but sure worth the conversation. Contact the PMS, ROO as soon as you can and find out your options. In this competitive climate a 3 year AD is still quite an accomplishment, congratulations.

Once they award a scholarship, any kind of scholarship, the board will NOT reevaluate you.

What I don't know is whether you can choose NOT to accept a scholarship to any school. Will you then be reevaluated in the next board? I don't know. I never heard of a case of a refusal on the part of the candidate: other people might have. I know candidates can transfer their scholarship to another school in April/May, but I don't know how that works for a 3 year scholarship. Will you only be able to transfer to another school on the same condition: 3 years? Or, will you be able to trade that in for a four year scholarship? Are your 3 year scholarship to a private school? In that case $$$ wise, 3 year scholarship is way more than a public school 4 year scholarship, and in such a case, the cadet command may allow that to happen.... So much is unknown.

You really need to call the cadet command: they might be able to advise you regarding what your options are. You also need to talk to the PMS of that one school you won the scholarship for, and see whether this can be turned into a 4 year scholarship. Or, for that matter, talk to the PMS of the schools that you put down as top choices. Please note that I am told that every PMS has a quota for campus scholarship s/he can give out. The PMSs of the school my son is choosing told him that if has a quota for 2 campus scholarships and he will pick his winners in Jan 2011. Another one said she will pick her winners among the student who are already enrolled in her school in the fall (Sept 2011). One PMS said "if the CC does not give a scholarship to the candidate I want, I will give my campus scholarship to him".

I am sounding like a broken record. TALK THE THE PMSs!!!

4-Year vs. 3-Year Advance Designee

Much good advice in these posts.

The second AROTC scholarship for my daughter (learned after receiving the official letter from CC) also turned out to be a 3-Year Advance Designee Scholarship. Both schools are very competitive, one private, the other one out-of-state public. Thankfully a coach at one of the academies called my daughter yesterday after contacting admissions to let her know that she will be receiving an appointment. Nice news for Thanksgiving. While a 4-Year AROTC Scholarship might have been attractive to her, a 3-Year Advance Designee doesn't compete with the academy appointment. We've contacted the PMS of her top choice to see if the 3-year can be changed to a 4-year. She'd still like to consider the AROTC option but not on a 3 year scholarship. I'm still not clear on the logic of offering 3 year scholarships to candidates that are very competitive and will have other opportunities.

Definitely agree with all the comments here. You obviously have to select a scholarship; I personally went with my heart on it. I took a 3 year to a very expensive, out of state public ivy over a 4 year to an in-state university that I have not even been admitted to.

Some people have told me that they feel it was a bad choice, but if you weigh the options, just make the call with your dreams in mind. As they say, shoot for the moon because even if you miss, you may well land on a pretty nice star.

Classof83 said:

I'm still not clear on the logic of offering 3 year scholarships to candidates that are very competitive and will have other opportunities.

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I think the logic is each school has an very limited allocation of scholarships,
they fill in ascending order. Does not mean your candidate is weak,
just that someone else was a little stronger - at that school.

Competition at the best programs is fierce.

I was also recently awarded the 3 year AD scholarship to the University of Hawaii, which I still plan to attend btw.
When I was talking to the PMS about it he told me that the only reason he could think of for me not getting the four year scholarship is because the Army is pushing hard to "diversify" and are thus offering more 4 year scholarships to minorities. I'm am a white male, certainly not a minority.
He also told me that there was a good chance of my being able to bump it up to a 4 year scholarship depending on how many people turned down their ROTC scholarships to Hawaii. Hope this helps.

hawaiibound said:

I was also recently awarded the 3 year AD scholarship to the University of Hawaii, which I still plan to attend btw.
When I was talking to the PMS about it he told me that the only reason he could think of for me not getting the four year scholarship is because the Army is pushing hard to "diversify" and are thus offering more 4 year scholarships to minorities. I'm am a white male, certainly not a minority.
He also told me that there was a good chance of my being able to bump it up to a 4 year scholarship depending on how many people turned down their ROTC scholarships to Hawaii. Hope this helps.

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The discussion of race and minorities getting special consideration for this years scholarships has been brought up this year. Most of us have asked that this subject be left to private discussions and not be made a topic on the board.

If the University of Hawaii is an Out of State school for you that would be the main reason for the 3 year AD. Over the last two board a majority of out of state scholarships have been 3 year AD, this all has to do with the current budget issues and the funds CC has available, and not the fact that you are White.

I recently was awarded a 3 year ad scholarship to the Citadel in SC. As an out of state student (New Yorker) what are the odds I could get this scholarship upgraded to a 4 year if people decline their 4 year scholarships? The out of state tuition is about 27k btw