NROTC Marine odds, anyone?

JJaeger

5-Year Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Messages
27
I've submitted my NROTC Marine Corps option application for 1. Cornell, 2. Northwestern, 3. UCLA, 4. Boston, 5. George Washington. I have about a 4.2 weighted GPA, 2170 SAT, a couple of sports and school clubs, and six years of IB classes (full Diploma candidate). I was just wondering what my odds were of getting the scholarship. Any awardees, I would love your input!!! Thanks, all.
 
Grades look plenty good, I figure. Rest we can't tell on here. What were your PFT scores? Did your interviews go well? All anyone can say is you have good academics - which is, of course, a great thing. Bottom line, nobody can give you real odds. Encouragement, however, is free. So good luck, from a fellow MO applicant.
 
I have a 1900 SAT, 29 ACT, with a 3.6 unweighted GPA (don't know what it is weighted), loads of AP and honors courses, cadet commander of my Civil Air Patrol Squadron, varsity swimteam, etc. I got told by the Marine Captain that my application went to that I was highly competitive, so you should be just fine.
 
I had a 31 ACT composite, tons of honors and AP classes, 4.17 w 3.78 uw GPA, softball, cross country, tons of community service, Student Gov, NHS, NJROTC Commanding Officer, and a bunch of other stuff.

I did not receive a scholarship.
 
There are less than 300 MO/NROTC Scholarships handed out annually.
So the odds are very low, regardless of your qualifications...
Have a back-up plan.

http://www.marines.mil/unit/mcrc/Pages/Fiscal.aspx
Marine's commissioned 1703 officers in FY'10
16% (272) were produced by NROTC

Marine Commissioning sources;
35% PLC
24% OCC - already have a college degree
16% NROTC
15% Naval Academy
10% Enlisted to Officer

Just for comparison, Army hands out 2,500+ ROTC Scholarships
http://www.army.mil/article/43561/
 
No one has posted their PFT scores - that is VERY IMPORTANT when applying for a MO scholarship. Last year my DS had a 34 ACT, cross country, basketball (captain) and track/field teams all during high school, NHS, community service, 4.17 GPA, all available honors and 7 AP classes, numerous academic awards, had an excellent officer interview, etc., etc. BUT only scored a 2nd class on his PFT. He was/is not in bad shape, just didn't have enough upper body strength at the time. He was not offered a scholarship when his package went before the first board. Then he decided to go Navy Option, so he did not meet another MO board. However, when comparing my DS with a classmate who is also a friend of his, my DS outshined his friend in every respect, EXCEPT the PFT. His friend scored a first class on his PFT. IMHO, the PFT is probably one of the, if not THE, most important part of your application as far as the MO goes.

OBTW, my DS was offered both an NROTC and AROTC scholarship (only went before one board for each) based on the above-listed quals, so that's why I believe that the PFT is such an important part of the MO package...

Don't know if the information is available anywhere, I doubt it is, but I would be interested to know how many, if any, scholarships were awarded to applicants that DID NOT score a first class PFT and if so, were they offered after the first or second MO board...

Please do not let this be a deterrent to applying as things change every year, I am just giving you an example of one case from last year.

Good luck to all!
 
Yep! Thanks to student loans and a Texas A&M Corps of Cadets scholarship that gives me in state tuition, I am still able to attend my dream school. In 13 days I'll start my journey in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets.

My ultimate goal is still to be a Marine officer and I know that if there is a will there is a way. If by the end of my sophomore year I don't have a scholarship (this is very likely to happen) then I will apply for PLC and if that doesn't work then I will look at OCC and if that doesn't happen then I will happily look into joining other services through their officer programs.
 
The one thing that really needs to be addressed is that due to the budget crisis and the DOD being on the hit list, what happened ly or 2 yrs ago will not be what may happen this yr.

The last 2 yrs even without the budget issue, the amount of candidates applying for scholarships, due to the perception it is free money :shake: has greatly increased. With the demand increasing and the supply decreasing the stats have changed for every branch regarding scholarship recipients.

Additionally, your hs will submit a school profile, and the boards will look at that school profile. That 4.2 wgpa, doesn't say a lot to us when we look at it, because nobody knows the school profile. Is the pt scale 7 or 10? Does the school multiple 4.0 for an A be it a 92 or a 98, or do they multiply the numerical value to the weight. Big difference. What is the weight based on 4.5 for IB or 5.0? Big difference when you are looking at 4.2. It is best to when asking for a chance to put uwgpa and wgpa. This allows people to see the "real" grade...in other words, 4.2 on a 5.0 scale is a B overall, and your uwgpa would be in the 3.4 range. 4.2 on on a 4.5 would be an A overall.

Also on the transcript will be class rank, plus the % of students that go Ivy, 4 yr Private, Public, 2yr, Tech and nothing. Now if you are top 20% and 10% go Ivy, 40 go 4 yr. 25% go 2 or Tech and 25% nowhere. That says something different than top 20% and 35% go Ivy, 50% go 4, 15% go 2.

OBTW colleges use this too for admittance.

Our DS was recruited by Cornell with the same stats in 08 and I would guess you are on target for Cornell admittance.
 
I'm also looking at the NROTC scholarship for the Marine Corps and I was wondering if it counts that my first language is Russian, and that I have prior military experience through the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps as well as Marine Corps poolee functions? The only problem is that my grades have been lagging behind as I am currently at a 3.1 GPA.
 
I'm also looking at the NROTC scholarship for the Marine Corps and I was wondering if it counts that my first language is Russian, and that I have prior military experience through the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps as well as Marine Corps poolee functions? The only problem is that my grades have been lagging behind as I am currently at a 3.1 GPA.
Your language experience, I would think, would be looked upon quite highly. Sea Cadets doesn't matter any more than being in, say, 4H would. It's an activity. The matter of the activity doesn't matter so much as it does that you were committed to it and that you had deep participation in it.
 
My son had a PFT of 270, 3.6 GPA, wrestling, crew, Eagle scout, 31 ACT, 1450 SAT (math/verbal), national merit finalist.

We are not a military family and this is a dream my son pursued independently of us (of course we were supportive). I think that drive and independence is attractive to marine corps. Good Luck!
 
I'm also looking at the NROTC scholarship for the Marine Corps and I was wondering if it counts that my first language is Russian, and that I have prior military experience through the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps as well as Marine Corps poolee functions? The only problem is that my grades have been lagging behind as I am currently at a 3.1 GPA.

Language will be a plus but not a deal maker.

GPA is low, what are your SAT/ACT scores.

Now a little advice, I would not refer to the Sea Cadets as prior military experience, that doesn't go over well. Be sure to list it as a activity, just don't call it military experience.
 
Actually, they might give you some slack on the gpa since Russian is your 1st language.

HOWEVER, that slack will only come if you are a recent immigrant, less than a few yrs. If you attended K-12, or even 6-12 the slack will go away because you should have been able to catch up academically from the language barrier by HS. If you arrived in 9th grade, and your gpa has increased steadily and dramatically the slack may be there...steadily/dramatically means
9th:2.6 gpa ---1st yr here
10th:3.1 gpa
11th:3.6 gpa

I also agree about the military experience, that is an EC, it is not military experience so do not place it as such, unless of course you want the board to see you as "one of those guys"...not in a good way.

It is like showing up to ROTC and on the 1st day boasting that this will be a breeze because you learned everything in JROTC. They are the cadet/mids that take the brunt from the cadre, just to prove to you, that this is not JROTC.
 
Hey I got a 299 out of 300 PFT so hopefully i will be able to get the scholarship. I am just worried about my 23 ACT score, but I am retaking that hopefully and also doing the SAT soon. have a 3.65 GPA and many leadership positions/extracurriculars. Good luck to you on your scholarship application you will have to tell me how it goes.
 
Hey I got a 299 out of 300 PFT so hopefully i will be able to get the scholarship. I am just worried about my 23 ACT score, but I am retaking that hopefully and also doing the SAT soon.

Great PFT and not a bad GPA... but I'd get that ACT up and plan on taking the SAT at least twice. One usually does better the second time. Good luck! :thumb:
 
I agree that ACT is going to ding you. Take it again.
 
Back
Top