AROTC scholarship chances?

KingDelian

5-Year Member
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
7
I am an upcoming senior in high school and am in the application process currently. I realize that with the military scaling back 4 year scholarships are getting more and more competitive and i was curious at to my chances as of now of obtaining a scholarship.

Scholar
ACT-34
SAT-2030
GPA-4.0
Class Rank 25/475
AP scholar with distinction
National Merit Semi-finalist

Athlete
Club Swimming (year-round) 2001-2012
Varsity Swim Team 8th-11th grade

Leader
Vice-President of Hunger Club
Treasurer of Film Club

Other extracurricular
National Honor Society
DECA
School Paper Writer
Church Youth Group

My questions are:
Is this competitive enough for a 4 year scholarship and where do you think i could improve?

Im contemplating quiting swimming this year because of the serious financial strain it puts on my parents. Will not doing a sport my senior year affect my chances?
 
I am an upcoming senior in high school and am in the application process currently. I realize that with the military scaling back 4 year scholarships are getting more and more competitive and i was curious at to my chances as of now of obtaining a scholarship.

Scholar
ACT-34
SAT-2030
GPA-4.0
Class Rank 25/475
AP scholar with distinction
National Merit Semi-finalist

Athlete
Club Swimming (year-round) 2001-2012
Varsity Swim Team 8th-11th grade

Leader
Vice-President of Hunger Club
Treasurer of Film Club

Other extracurricular
National Honor Society
DECA
School Paper Writer
Church Youth Group

My questions are:
Is this competitive enough for a 4 year scholarship and where do you think i could improve?

Im contemplating quiting swimming this year because of the serious financial strain it puts on my parents. Will not doing a sport my senior year affect my chances?

Your stats are better than any of the students that received a scholarship offer to my battalion this year.

You still need to complete all the requirements of the application and nail your interview.

You appear to have an extremely good shot at getting a scholarship, even under current budget conditions. Choose your schools carefully. If you only list the very best schools, even you stats might not be enough to get an offer under the current allocation system.
 
Just read the last part of your post.

Quitting swimming could hurt you. Be prepared to answer the question at the interview: "So how come you did not continue with swimming during your senior year ?" It should not hurt you if you have an answer that makes sense and doesn't make you look like you are letting your teammates down.
 
I am an upcoming senior in high school and am in the application process currently. I realize that with the military scaling back 4 year scholarships are getting more and more competitive and i was curious at to my chances as of now of obtaining a scholarship.

Scholar
ACT-34
SAT-2030
GPA-4.0
Class Rank 25/475
AP scholar with distinction
National Merit Semi-finalist

Athlete
Club Swimming (year-round) 2001-2012
Varsity Swim Team 8th-11th grade

Leader
Vice-President of Hunger Club
Treasurer of Film Club

Other extracurricular
National Honor Society
DECA
School Paper Writer
Church Youth Group

My questions are:
Is this competitive enough for a 4 year scholarship and where do you think i could improve?

Im contemplating quiting swimming this year because of the serious financial strain it puts on my parents. Will not doing a sport my senior year affect my chances?

You academic stats are fine. Your athletics are fine as well, although being a team captain would be nice. Speaking of leadership, it probably could use some work in the level of position held or being the organizer of a specific large event.

That being said, the most important variable with regards to your "chances" of a 4-year (or 3-yr AD which are also awarded by CC) is the school list you submit. If you read through the threads here, you will find that there has been a shift to awarding scholarships to public universities and lower-cost private universities. Generally speaking, higher-cost private universities have no more than 1 scholarship to offer and many have only 3-yr AD scholarships. You may be competing against someone with slightly better stats for this single scholarship. So having a bit of flexibility in the type of school you are looking at will be critical in assuring yourself the maximum chances.

Of course, if you don't apply, your chances are exactly zero. You need to start on that application ASAP because you will need to finish all the requirements to be boarded including the PMS interview (which isn't done until your initial packet is completed) before early October.

I'm sure others will chime in with other items...
 
Just to clarify

I'm from Auburn Alabama and I'm planning on attending Auburn. Because its public and in-state that should help I suppose.
 
Just read the last part of your post.

Quitting swimming could hurt you. Be prepared to answer the question at the interview: "So how come you did not continue with swimming during your senior year ?" It should not hurt you if you have an answer that makes sense and doesn't make you look like you are letting your teammates down.

+1

If family finances are an issue, that should be adequate to explain dropping the club aspect of swimming. HS Varsity participation is a must though.

Honestly, if you swim at a level that would allow you to make a varsity team at college, that participation is valued as a part of the overall ROTC OML scoring. Keep with it if you can.
 
I had a lengthy post written out; sadly I goofed and closed the window.

Shorten version since Marist College and others pointed out what I had already written.
I was an applicant last year and going into the application process and received a scholarship. Academically your SAT/ACT scores are better, but GPA wise we are the same.

For the other categories, I would continue to beef up in any way you can. Leadership especially, maybe contemplate running for SGA? As for athletics as Marist College stated about your swimming, even though you have legitimate reason for stopping, a person reading a paper application will in fact not know this and will hold it against you. If you cannot continue swimming I would try to do a less financially stressful sport to try to get another varsity letter. As GoalieDad stated dropping club swimming may be for the better because club swimming is not weighted as much as a varsity sport in high school.

Listen to the people on these forums, I did and I feel it helped facilitate my goal of being an officer and starting my military career the right way. Some say junior year is the most important year for college, and maybe a little bit of senior year, but senior year I feel in the most important for the application for ROTC/SA's. It shows that you still have the drive and while your peers may have peaked and started to shut down, you keep rising to the occasion.
 
With stats like yours, I would imagine you'd get a free ride at Auburn. You certainly would at Alabama, and I'll bet their scholarship requirements are not that different. If that is the case, why do you need a Scholarship? There are one or two things in ROTC that require Contracting, which non-scholarship cadets don't do until beginning of Jr. year, but also understand the Scholarship means you are making a final decision now about military service for either 8 years reserves/Guard oe 4 yrs. Active Duty, rather than in 2.5 years when you have a better picture of all things college and military. Also little written about here is that if you Contract without a scholarship, your AD commitment is 3 years rather than 4.

Just pointing out that with your stats, you could go to college free on academic scholarship, join ROTC, and then decide what you want to do.
 
Im contemplating quiting swimming this year because of the serious financial strain it puts on my parents. Will not doing a sport my senior year affect my chances?

I'm not sure how swimming puts a serious financial strain on your parents, unless you are referring to Club swimmming, vs. High School swim team. Quitting Club for financial reasons is a mature and intelligent thing to do for your parents, assuming they agree, and I'm sure your PMS Interviewer would agree with that... you are showing a lack of selfishness. ...but don't make this unilateral decision, as your parents may PREFER to sacrifice financially sot they can watch you swim.
 
Im contemplating quiting swimming this year because of the serious financial strain it puts on my parents. Will not doing a sport my senior year affect my chances?

I assume as others have that you are talking about quiting your Club Swimming.

My son was in the same situation, he played Tennis at school and club. He decided to quit the club tennis his senior year for much the same reason, he did however continue with school tennis which had no real financial burden other then the athletic fee for school....and multiple racket re-string's.

This had no effect on his application, he was still able to list Varsity Tennis on the application and he received the AROTC scholarship.
 
My situation in Auburn is very different because there is no real varsity team. The "varsity team" is coached and practices as the club team. Basically varsity swimming composes of swimming for the club team until the one state swim meet. Therefore there is no just quitting club swimming.

Because Auburn has a very Prestigious club team the monthly fee is around 400 a month not including travel, equipment, and meet fees.

I know my parents would pay if they had too but with the economy as it is they've had to cut back on other things to find this.

Also I don't want to sound greedy since I'll already prob have an academic scholarship but it won't cover room and board which is what I'm looking for from the ROTC scholarship.

Thanks for all the help and advice. I'm gonna talk with my parents tonight about it. I might also consider quitting swimming but picking up track in the spring.
 
Also I don't want to sound greedy since I'll already prob have an academic scholarship but it won't cover room and board which is what I'm looking for from the ROTC scholarship.
90% of ROTC programs don't offer any help with room and board. Tuition/Fees only, plus a check each semester of $600 for books, and a Stipend of $300/$350/$450/$500 per month (10 months per year) for years 1/2/3/4 in ROTC.
 
90% of ROTC programs don't offer any help with room and board. Tuition/Fees only, plus a check each semester of $600 for books, and a Stipend of $300/$350/$450/$500 per month (10 months per year) for years 1/2/3/4 in ROTC.

Ive talked to the Auburn cadre and should i be awarded the scholarship to Auburn, they will substitute room and board for tuition.
 
90% of ROTC programs don't offer any help with room and board. Tuition/Fees only, plus a check each semester of $600 for books, and a Stipend of $300/$350/$450/$500 per month (10 months per year) for years 1/2/3/4 in ROTC.

I think King was referring to the option available with the AROTC Scholarship. Since it looks like King will get a tuition scholarship through Auburn he/she can then use the AROTC Scholarship for Room and Board. Just be aware that if you choose to use the AROTC Scholarship for Room and Board, the amount paid is taxable. Cadet Command is not always speedy in getting the R&B payments out so you may need to pay the school upfront and then get reimbursed, just make sure you talk to the cadre to make sure you understand how the payments work.

Best of luck to you.
 
^ right, thanks. I'd forgotten about the R&B option in lieu of Tuition/Fees.
 
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