Declining ROTC scholarship

KNP

5-Year Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2010
Messages
46
My DS received and initially accepted a 4 yr scholarship. Since then he received an appointment from USMA. He notified the battalion but has not been successful in reaching(or getting confirmation that he reached) cadet command. We have the old mailing address. Should we send letter there or does someone have a better way to contact?
 
You should try emailing your sons point of contact with CC, or sending a message directly to CC's email address.
 
try sending an email to train2lead@us.army.mil if you haven't already...let's get that scholarship back in the pool for some other deserving applicant (hopefully bound for Clarkson U.)...Congrats to your son on his appointment.
 
try sending an email to train2lead@us.army.mil if you haven't already...let's get that scholarship back in the pool for some other deserving applicant (hopefully bound for Clarkson U.)...Congrats to your son on his appointment.

Exactly what my DS was thinking!! (well, to be honest, not exactly Clarkson, but he wanted to get that scholarship back out there)

We did email cadet command and his point of contact, but have not received acknowledgement. It has been over a week ago. I will try to call them today, and maybe try to fax.
 
Hope it was for ERU! Still waiting on EVERYTHING for DS! Has nominations to AFA and USMA but hasn't gotten in yet, waiting on ROTC for all 3 branches...The wait is very hard for us parents. DS is taking it so much better and just going with the flow and not stressing..... Great attitude I think. Great job on Appointment and get the ROTC Scholarship out in the pool ASAP! Thanks!:eek:
 
let's get that scholarship back in the pool for some other deserving applicant

clarksonarmy, I really thought that declined scholarships freed up by those who ultimately decide to go the SA route do not become available for "the pool" until the summer or later. I can't imagine that the Green Machine is that efficient to put it back in the pool so quickly (i.e., scholarship becomes available the day after an email is sent to CC). That's what I thought the summer board was for -- to clean up and hand out declined scholarships once all the dust settles. Even if an SA appointee declined the ROTC scholarship today, that would not have ANY bearing whatsoever on who gets selected for the March 8 AROTC board because the board won't even be aware of this "newly available" scholarship. Am I incorrect?

I recognize that you are really trying to send a positive message to those still waiting to hear from the AROTC board (you are really wonderful in that regard). But others might urge SA appointees to decline their scholarship as soon as they hear about the appointment, thus placing an unfair amount of pressure/guilt on those SA appointees who have also applied to colleges that don't announce admissions decisions until April (90% of the colleges to which my DS has applied fall into that category). Of course, if a student has received decisions on all pending applications, there isn't much point to unnecessarily delay things either.

In any event, I am advising my DS not to make any decisions until he has all the facts -- that means knowing what options are available to him before reaching an ultimate decision about the best commissioning path to take. I want my DS to make an informed decision about USMA, and USMA will get a cadet who really wants to be there if that is the decision. And I don't want him to have to make that decision simply because there is another candidate out there waiting for the ROTC scholarship (assuming my DS is lucky to receive one). I thought that was the case until I read this thread, but now I'm a bit confused. This is my first time going through this process with my DS, and admittedly I have made mistakes. I'm just trying to do the right thing here, and any advice is appreciated.

Certainly, if my DS declines the SA appointment, isn't there another SA candidate out there equally happy to take that SA slot? But my DS still has many things to do before he can make his decision (like, spending an overnight at USMA, etc.). I don't want to hurry him, because in my experience, hurried decisions are prone to error.
 
Last edited:
First off, there is no summer board. There are three boards, instead of 5 this year. Part of the reduction was so they could let the dust settle and resolve all the accepts and declines and swaps prior to the subsequent board (or get as close as possible). Not sure if CC actually figured out how to do that, but that was the intent. Unallocated scholarship dollars will probably go to schools that didn't fill their initial allocations after all the boards are done, or be given as campus based scholarships. I had 6 offers extended from the first board (three accept/three decline). So I know what I have. what hasn't been determined yet is what our fill levels are. Any dollar that can be turned back in or declined will help determine what's offered in the second and third rounds.

Don't want to pressure anyone to make a decision prematurely, but most Academy applicants tell me they will go to the Academy if accepted, and ROTC is the backup. No sense sitting on an offer if you got into the Academy, and you know that's where you want to be. If you've got the SA appointment and an ROTC offer, that decision isn't going to get any easier or clearer the longer you wait. If the Son/Daughter is waiting for divine guidance it's going to be a long 4 years whichever way they choose.
 
Back
Top