Still Haven't Heard! AROTC Scholarship

laxmom8

5-Year Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Messages
73
My DS Army Application Status System page has not changed from:

You have been selected for an interview. Please contact the Professor of Military Science at the school of your choice.

Interview was completed months ago. Has anyone had their page updated? Is no news, good news? Will they notify us on this page one way or the other?

So many questions! The waiting is killing us!
 
The last board just met last week. If past history is in gauge, it will be anywhere from 2 weeks and possibly up to a month before scholarship offers start being sent out. If you sonr is selected, you will see his online status change and then a couple days after that, it will be updated again with the options he has been given as far as college choices.
 
I actually had the same problem, I did the interview and the enrollment officer said he sent it in to cadet command... not sure why its not updating or why it says that...
 
I actually had the same problem, I did the interview and the enrollment officer said he sent it in to cadet command... not sure why its not updating or why it says that...

Unless you are awarded a scholarship, the status will remain "You have been selected for an Interview" It's the last update prior to a scholarship award status change.
 
Thanks everyone. I guess we just have to wait it out. Feels like we have been waiting forever, but I am hoping it will all be worth it!

Good luck to everyone and keep us posted about status changes!
 
Just read the Clarkson Army post. Very helpful to have a target to wait for. Thanks for the link!
 
The last few weeks of waiting are the worst. Stay busy if possible -- Ohio is having a very early spring so if your area is the same, jump start the yard work or anything to stay occupied!!! Plan their graduation party now -- fill out the envelopes, whatever you can find to focus somewhere else.

IF plans B,C,D and soforth are well in place try to relax and enjoy some time with the kiddo:thumb: IF other plans are still "shaky" get them in order so IF the scholarship doesn't come thru you have backup already to go. DS thought I was crazy last year that Plans B-F were all in line "just in case", but when he was passed by AROTC he was damn glad momma had forced him to make other plans too.

The waiting was bad last year. Now we're waiting for grades to post(quarter school so 3 sets of finals and grades this year). Waiting for BCT and his contract in the Fall. We will be waiting on the Army/National Guard for years to come. Hold tight 2016 - the ride doesn't stop anytime soon:thumb:
 
The last few weeks of waiting are the worst. Stay busy if possible -- Ohio is having a very early spring so if your area is the same, jump start the yard work or anything to stay occupied!!! Plan their graduation party now -- fill out the envelopes, whatever you can find to focus somewhere else.

IF plans B,C,D and soforth are well in place try to relax and enjoy some time with the kiddo:thumb: IF other plans are still "shaky" get them in order so IF the scholarship doesn't come thru you have backup already to go. DS thought I was crazy last year that Plans B-F were all in line "just in case", but when he was passed by AROTC he was damn glad momma had forced him to make other plans too.

The waiting was bad last year. Now we're waiting for grades to post(quarter school so 3 sets of finals and grades this year). Waiting for BCT and his contract in the Fall. We will be waiting on the Army/National Guard for years to come. Hold tight 2016 - the ride doesn't stop anytime soon:thumb:

Haha! I was thinking as I was reading these posts that this is only the beginning of a lot of "hurry up and waits." I need to just enjoy the moment and not focus on the future. I don't want to miss stuff going on around me! :shake:
 
Plan B is that he will attend his first choice school in Virginia to play lacrosse (admitted, committed to play lacrosse back in September) and simply join AROTC, re-applying next time for the three year scholarship. $ is super tight, so I am REALLY hoping he gets the four year scholarship for this fall. We will just have to make it work somehow.

The waiting is awful. DS and I check the status page multiple times daily. Used to be everyone that wanted to sign on got a scholarship, now it's so tough with the military budget cuts. He is so committed to being in the Army, like his Dad. We'll just have to wait and see.
 
Plan B is that he will attend his first choice school in Virginia to play lacrosse (admitted, committed to play lacrosse back in September) and simply join AROTC, re-applying next time for the three year scholarship. $ is super tight, so I am REALLY hoping he gets the four year scholarship for this fall. We will just have to make it work somehow.

The waiting is awful. DS and I check the status page multiple times daily. Used to be everyone that wanted to sign on got a scholarship, now it's so tough with the military budget cuts. He is so committed to being in the Army, like his Dad. We'll just have to wait and see.

Laxmom8, where in VA would your DS attend?

I have to say, I'm glad for the little break in constantly checking the status page - it's so stressful!
 
Plan B is that he will attend his first choice school in Virginia to play lacrosse (admitted, committed to play lacrosse back in September) and simply join AROTC, re-applying next time for the three year scholarship. $ is super tight, so I am REALLY hoping he gets the four year scholarship for this fall. We will just have to make it work somehow.

The waiting is awful. DS and I check the status page multiple times daily. Used to be everyone that wanted to sign on got a scholarship, now it's so tough with the military budget cuts. He is so committed to being in the Army, like his Dad. We'll just have to wait and see.

First, good luck to him, I hope you hear good news soon.

Regarding applying for a 3 year scholarship. There is not an application process for a 3 year scholarship once you start school. The cadet would start their freshman year as a non contracted cadet. During this time he will compete with other non contracted and SMP cadets for a spot his sophomore year. Some schools have been overloaded with cadets their freshman year and have only limited contracts for that class year, they use the first year to weed out non contracted cadets from the program, a lot of these cadets are those that are trying it out and aren't sure if it's what they want to do.

If a battalion has money allotted to give a 3 or 3 1/2 year scholarships they will offer it to the cadets they choose, there is not a formal national application. The best thing a first year non contracted cadet can do is sign up for all MS classes, Labs, and PT. Don't miss anything and become involved in the battalion. One of the most important things a 1st year cadet can do is be very good at PT and pass the APFT with a very high score, 280 or above, above being better. Come to school ready to score high, this is the first thing they can use to measure a cadet and will go a long way to being offered a scholarship if one is available.

The best of luck to your son, if a scholarship does not happen then work hard over the summer and arrive at school ready to shine.
 
If a battalion has money allotted to give a 3 or 3 1/2 year scholarships they will offer it to the cadets they choose, .
Indeed, and here is where merit and financial need DO indeed meet in AROTC. Per the PMS manual I read, which is unfortunately now about 7 years old, the PMS is directed to offer the in-college scholarships to the high performing cadet who is unsure of continuing in ROTC the following year due to financial reasons (for example, needs to work 20 hours per week and drop ROTC), vs. the equally high performing cadet (also high on the OM list) who has sufficient means to continue in ROTC without a scholarship.

The takeaway from this: make sure your ROO and PMS know that finances are extremely tight that that you're hoping for a 3.5 or 3 year scholarship as soon as the Brigade or Battalion budget permits it. The cadet needs to get high on the OML (which as an MSI is mostly GPA and APFT score), so that if there are only one or two 3 year scholarships budgeted, your cadet gets due consideration under this partially need-based policy.
 
This wait is also killing me! I've had the same status for quite some time and just emailed Cadet Command to hopefully shed some more light on this situation.

Does anyone know what the acceptance rate for the March board is?
 
This wait is also killing me! I've had the same status for quite some time and just emailed Cadet Command to hopefully shed some more light on this situation.

Does anyone know what the acceptance rate for the March board is?

Cadet Command had to filter through the final awards from the last board. It has only been 2 weeks since the board, Mar. 5th, began looking at applicants so it could take a bit longer to start seeing the results. CC probably will not be able or willing to give much information, it is likely you may not hear back from them since they are very busy getting the results from the final board.

I sympathize with your waiting, it could take a while longer to sort through all the applicants. Some applicants were given scholarships between the last two boards, their deadline is still coming up so they will probably be waiting to see how many actually accept or decline before they release the results from this board. Things seem to have happened a bit differently this year from previous years so an exact date may be hard to pin down.

The first notice you will see is the change to the status page, remember nothing is final until you receive the official letter in the mail from Cadet Command. As soon as someone sees a status change this board will start to get busy with people posting their status change.

Hang in there, it shouldn't be too long, of course that's easier said then done I'm sure.

Good luck
 
Plan B is that he will attend his first choice school in Virginia to play lacrosse (admitted, committed to play lacrosse back in September) and simply join AROTC, re-applying next time for the three year scholarship. $ is super tight, so I am REALLY hoping he gets the four year scholarship for this fall. We will just have to make it work somehow.

The waiting is awful. DS and I check the status page multiple times daily. Used to be everyone that wanted to sign on got a scholarship, now it's so tough with the military budget cuts. He is so committed to being in the Army, like his Dad. We'll just have to wait and see.

I feel for you. Last year was extremely difficult for our family - DH lost his job while we were waiting for March board results and/or a Brigade level offer. In the previous years DS would have pretty much been a sure thing for the 4 year, and this year is even tighter so I'm sure the stress is overwhelming at times. DS went with the SMP option one for his level of comittment to serving and two for the additional financial assistance due to our job loss. Now, SMP's are not guaranteed contracts either - his school only has 16 slots for roughly 35 cadets left in competition...like I said in my earlier post, waiting until next fall for the contract offer from the cadre(it should happen DS is waiting for final grades to come in, but he should be well within the top 10). However, we've learned quickly that the changes come without warning or explanation and back up plans are essential to getting him thru college and into serving at some level. Keep hanging out here if it helps(I lived on here...example the January/March 2011 threads:wink:).

Hope all of you get some answers soon, not knowing is horrible.
 
Thanks so much for that info., Jcleppe. We thought you just reapplied the next year if you didn't get a scholarship the first time around. There are times we feel so clueless in this process and you seem to know the process well! That's why this forum is so great. Practical advice from those who have been there or are involved on the college level.

We will hope for the best and keep you posted. Thanks again, everyone!
 
Thanks so much for that info., Jcleppe. We thought you just reapplied the next year if you didn't get a scholarship the first time around. There are times we feel so clueless in this process and you seem to know the process well! That's why this forum is so great. Practical advice from those who have been there or are involved on the college level.

We will hope for the best and keep you posted. Thanks again, everyone!
Actually, I believe NOT participating in ROTC and re-applying while a freshman in college is an option. The problem is I cannot remember if that was for NROTC or AROTC, as the threads seems to blend together after a while. I suspect that strategy applies to NROTC only...

Can anybody confirm whether for Army ROTC a freshman in college may apply for a scholarship, or if that applies only to NROTC?

**just found where I read that for NROTC** http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=22628&page=9 starting with post #88
 
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Actually, I believe NOT participating in ROTC and re-applying while a freshman in college is an option. The problem is I cannot remember if that was for NROTC or AROTC, as the threads seems to blend together after a while. I suspect that strategy applies to NROTC only...

Can anybody confirm whether for Army ROTC a freshman in college may apply for a scholarship, or if that applies only to NROTC?

**just found where I read that for NROTC** http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=22628&page=9 starting with post #88

I am pretty sure, unless the Army has changed it's policy, that there is not a National Application through Cadet Command for a 3 year scholarship. Once a AROTC cadet starts their freshman year as a non contracted MS1 they can compete within the battalion for a 3, 3 1/2, or a 2 year scholarship. These scholarships are given on the battalion/brigade level by the PMS.

The only option I know of for a college student other then what I said above is to go to school the first 2 years not participating in ROTC, then apply for LTC and compete there for a 2 year scholarship and start AROTC as a MS3. This path would be a little risky since like ROTC, LTC is cutting back as well and there would be no guarantee you would be selected for LTC.

I think your right, it seems that NROTC is the only program that has a national scholarship application for a 3 year which requires the student not participate in NROTC while going through the application process their freshman year.
 
I am pretty sure, unless the Army has changed it's policy, that there is not a National Application through Cadet Command for a 3 year scholarship. Once a AROTC cadet starts their freshman year as a non contracted MS1 they can compete within the battalion for a 3, 3 1/2, or a 2 year scholarship. These scholarships are given on the battalion/brigade level by the PMS.

The only option I know of for a college student other then what I said above is to go to school the first 2 years not participating in ROTC, then apply for LTC and compete there for a 2 year scholarship and start AROTC as a MS3. This path would be a little risky since like ROTC, LTC is cutting back as well and there would be no guarantee you would be selected for LTC.

I think your right, it seems that NROTC is the only program that has a national scholarship application for a 3 year which requires the student not participate in NROTC while going through the application process their freshman year.

In addition to what jcleppe mentions, NROTC also has 3 and 2 year scholarships for people participating in the program. It is a national scholarship competition and there aren't very many of them. There are more scholarships for (high school and college) students not participating in the program. But then there are also more students applying for those so I'm not sure any statement can be made about the odds following either approach... althoguh some will try and they may even be correct. It's just that there is no way to tell.

As far as I can tell, and I may very well be wrong about this, there are no scholarships given by the PNS, unlike Army. So it seems to me the two services are using different systems to accomplish the same ends with respect to awarding scholarships to college programmers.
 
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