Chance of getting full ROTC scholarship?

Patriot95

5-Year Member
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Sep 29, 2012
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I'm a junior in high school and I was just wondering what my chances of getting a full 4 year ROTC scholarship. My freshmen year I had all A's and B's and got a C fourth quarter in my honors math class. My sophomore year I got A's and B's in all my classes throughout the whole year. My overall gpa is a 3.2 and I have done cross country and track since my freshmen year.
 
I'm a junior in high school and I was just wondering what my chances of getting a full 4 year ROTC scholarship. My freshmen year I had all A's and B's and got a C fourth quarter in my honors math class. My sophomore year I got A's and B's in all my classes throughout the whole year. My overall gpa is a 3.2 and I have done cross country and track since my freshmen year.

A few things missing here.

Army, Navy, AF?
If Navy/AF what major in college?
Leadership roles?
ECs (outside of athletics)?
SAT/ACT scores?
What schools are you looking to apply to?

Too many variables missing here to give any guidance.
 
I want to go into Army ROTC and possibly go to Texas A&M since I have heard they have a really good ROTC program. I haven't taken the SAT/ACT yet but I am going to later this year. I do not have any leadership roles right now but I could possibly be captain of cross country team next year. My last place to do Army ROTC is University of Cincinnati because it is in state and I live less than half an hour away, but I am not really sure where else I would want to go. When should I start my application for it?
 
I want to go into Army ROTC and possibly go to Texas A&M since I have heard they have a really good ROTC program. I haven't taken the SAT/ACT yet but I am going to later this year. I do not have any leadership roles right now but I could possibly be captain of cross country team next year. My last place to do Army ROTC is University of Cincinnati because it is in state and I live less than half an hour away, but I am not really sure where else I would want to go. When should I start my application for it?
Also consider other senior military colleges. The Corps of Cadets at A&M-excellent.

Might I also suggest:

-The Citadel
-VMI
-Virginia Tech
-Norwich
-North Georgia

If I missed any, someone let me know.
 
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I am not an expert but I have read a lot over the past year and spoken to many people. It seems that Army has the most scholarships and thus the stats are a little bit lower. AF and Navy you need pretty close to 3.7 gpa and really high SATs (mayber a little bit lower for marine option). I have 3.5 and 1300 math reading combined SAT, good leadership and community service and the Army ROTC experts have told me I have a good shot at a scholarship. With a 3.2 gpa you probably need to do really well on the SAT - mid 600s or above on both sections. As it seems you already know, you have a better chance if you apply to less expense state schools than high cost private schools.
 
How many applicants do you think will have TAMU on their list of schools? If we tell you chances are good will you do anything different than if we tell you chances aren't good? Don't you hate it when your question gets answered by a question?
 
I want to go into Army ROTC and possibly go to Texas A&M since I have heard they have a really good ROTC program. I haven't taken the SAT/ACT yet but I am going to later this year. I do not have any leadership roles right now but I could possibly be captain of cross country team next year. My last place to do Army ROTC is University of Cincinnati because it is in state and I live less than half an hour away, but I am not really sure where else I would want to go. When should I start my application for it?

Max,

Since UC is in state another school you may want to consider is OU. DS attends there and the AROTC program is well respected. They typically offer a room grant to cadets too. College visits are important and OU offers an overnight program for prospective cadets.

You won't start your application until spring. Make sure to take both the SAT and ACT (some do better on one or the other, DS had better scores on ACT).

Take anything Clarkson asks seriously since he is one of a few ROOs who respond to questions.

Your leadership positions are probably going to be the hardest area to improve. Search this forum for anything posted about SAL(Scholar, Athlete, Leader) these are the 3 items you need to shine in to compete for a scholarship. DS lacked in the athlete(no varsity letters) and was not selected for a scholarship so no matter how strong you might be in 2 areas, the competition is very high and you will need all 3 to stay in the game.

There are other paths to commissioning, but even those are very competitive. If you want information PM me or search the forum for Army SMP programs.

Good luck.
 
maxpatty02,
You have mail (sent you a PM)

SAL(Scholar, Athlete, Leader) Interview form
-You need a SAT/ACT +1100/24
-You need leadership this year
-Complete a Honors/AP class this School year

Do you have 2 or more varsity letters?
 
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+1 to clarkson's post.

The fact is we can give you 1 number for sure regarding chances.

You have 0% chance if you don't apply.

You just have to go for it. The worst case scenario is you get a TWE.

Nobody on this forum sits on the board, nobody knows the manpower needs for the 2018 class.

Make the best resume/application you can and go for it. For now start working on things that you can control, such as ECs and your PFA. Take the SAT/ACT over and over. Explore how will you pay for college if you don't get a scholarship. Visit the colleges AND the det. If you know you have some medical issues, get that paperwork in order.

Best of luck.
 
I'm applying to the NROTC scholarship can you asses my chances?
Gpa 4.0 weighted ap calc ap stats ap us
SAT 1320
4 year varsity letter in swimming
State and national level
Swam for 11 years on my local ymca team
Already enlisted in the navy as an NF
Tier 1 nuclear engineering
 
I'm a junior in high school and I was just wondering what my chances of getting a full 4 year ROTC scholarship. My freshmen year I had all A's and B's and got a C fourth quarter in my honors math class. My sophomore year I got A's and B's in all my classes throughout the whole year. My overall gpa is a 3.2 and I have done cross country and track since my freshmen year.

A few things missing here.

Army, Navy, AF?
If Navy/AF what major in college?
Leadership roles?
ECs (outside of athletics)?
SAT/ACT scores?
What schools are you looking to apply to?

Too many variables missing here to give any guidance.
Its for the Army.
Ec, I have debate and art as well
My SAT was a 1630, 630 critical reading, 500 in math.
And I'm Looking at UIW as my main school.
 
Saw a post about Army ROTC being "easier" to get. If you look in the threads at the stats of those getting an Army ROTC 4-yr scholarship, it is about the same as the stats required to get into West Point -- similar SAT/ACT scores, similar GPAs, similar records of athletics, leadership and accomplishments. From other threads, it appears approximately 600 4 yr AROTC national scholarships were awarded in 2015. Not sure what it will be for 2016. Army does seem to still give out more total scholarships than Navy, Marine or Air Force, but the majority of the Army ROTC scholarships are 3 year scholarships.
 
My DD was in your position at the beginning of her Junior year, she had spent her Sophomore year overseas as an exchange student and came back to her activities and did not have any leadership at that point. She had swam and danced (club as well as school) before she left and when she got back, realized that she was not really that passionate or excited about either of them anymore. Some of the things she was told (advice from someone who WAS an Army ROTC recruiter at a local school, so don't know if the advice is current), but she followed it and her feedback has been good at the visits at 4 schools and her PMS interview. We will see come Spring if it pays off. She was told to not focus on trying to "check boxes" but to get involved in things she is passionate about and stick with it. She is passionate about church, swimming, and kids. So she became a group swim instructor (working gives you Leadership credit too), and because she did well with kids with special needs, they have her do all the private lessons for kids with special needs. She speaks fluent German and loves helping others, so she became a tutor. In the summer, to get more hours at the pool, she became a lifeguard. She wants to be a nurse so she applied and got a position as a student volunteer (has 3 hour shift a week) at our hospital. She has always enjoyed youth group at church so she applied to be a middle school group leader, and now has a group of 10 seventh grade girls she leads, and then also got placed on the high school leadership team, where she is one of 12 peer leaders for a group of several hundred high school students. When the church said they needed more people that could be one on one buddies for kids with autism in the church daycare, she volunteered, and she does that weekly too. She also added cross country for fun, to have another sport at school, and started a goal to run a 10K a month, and has seen her times get better each race.

These might not be your typical leadership roles, or even the typical varsity sports, and there are not boxes to mark, but starting in her junior year, knowing this was the path she wanted, to pursue a military career, she took the advice to follow her passions and get more involved in things that she was interested in and not try to just check boxes. She could of been president of her German Club, but knew she didn't have the time or desire to do that, so she passed (but that would of been a box to check). She was nominated for Girls State, but it would of meant missing a family vacation out of the country. She just didn't stress too much about fitting into a mold, but doing things that she enjoyed and that also helped make her a more rounded and accomplished person. Scholarship or not, I know she has really enjoyed the last two years and have learned a lot about leadership in the process. She also got advice to take the German club president role, to try to get more "traditional" boxes checked on the application. That just didn't feel right to her, so we will see if it pays off or not. There are other people on this board way more experienced than we are at this, and she doesn't have an answer yet, so take this with a grain of salt. The only thing I will add is I feel she added a lot to her resume in a year in half doing things that interested her instead of doing things she thought the Board would like.
 
I was awarded a 4 year scholarship to my top 3 school choices (2/3 we're out of state) for AROTC.

My GPA was lower than yours.. (3.0) but my sat was a 1320 cr/m.

As long as you have a good set up for athletics ecs and do well on your sat, I think ull be fine. Go for it. Can't get it if you don't apply.
 
My DD was in your position at the beginning of her Junior year, she had spent her Sophomore year overseas as an exchange student and came back to her activities and did not have any leadership at that point. She had swam and danced (club as well as school) before she left and when she got back, realized that she was not really that passionate or excited about either of them anymore. Some of the things she was told (advice from someone who WAS an Army ROTC recruiter at a local school, so don't know if the advice is current), but she followed it and her feedback has been good at the visits at 4 schools and her PMS interview. We will see come Spring if it pays off. She was told to not focus on trying to "check boxes" but to get involved in things she is passionate about and stick with it. She is passionate about church, swimming, and kids. So she became a group swim instructor (working gives you Leadership credit too), and because she did well with kids with special needs, they have her do all the private lessons for kids with special needs. She speaks fluent German and loves helping others, so she became a tutor. In the summer, to get more hours at the pool, she became a lifeguard. She wants to be a nurse so she applied and got a position as a student volunteer (has 3 hour shift a week) at our hospital. She has always enjoyed youth group at church so she applied to be a middle school group leader, and now has a group of 10 seventh grade girls she leads, and then also got placed on the high school leadership team, where she is one of 12 peer leaders for a group of several hundred high school students. When the church said they needed more people that could be one on one buddies for kids with autism in the church daycare, she volunteered, and she does that weekly too. She also added cross country for fun, to have another sport at school, and started a goal to run a 10K a month, and has seen her times get better each race.

These might not be your typical leadership roles, or even the typical varsity sports, and there are not boxes to mark, but starting in her junior year, knowing this was the path she wanted, to pursue a military career, she took the advice to follow her passions and get more involved in things that she was interested in and not try to just check boxes. She could of been president of her German Club, but knew she didn't have the time or desire to do that, so she passed (but that would of been a box to check). She was nominated for Girls State, but it would of meant missing a family vacation out of the country. She just didn't stress too much about fitting into a mold, but doing things that she enjoyed and that also helped make her a more rounded and accomplished person. Scholarship or not, I know she has really enjoyed the last two years and have learned a lot about leadership in the process. She also got advice to take the German club president role, to try to get more "traditional" boxes checked on the application. That just didn't feel right to her, so we will see if it pays off or not. There are other people on this board way more experienced than we are at this, and she doesn't have an answer yet, so take this with a grain of salt. The only thing I will add is I feel she added a lot to her resume in a year in half doing things that interested her instead of doing things she thought the Board would like.

Unfortunately, I don't believe the board will look at the things "she enjoyed" or was "excited about." There are clear cut expectations for each applicant. Being president of a club is one of them, being a varsity letter winner for a sport is another and going to Boys/Girls state is almost a no-brainier. She sounds like a great, well-rounded individual, but most of the application process is going to be on paper, besides the PMS interview. If she has a great interview it definitely helps show the board what kind of person she is. But overall, the board will see mostly paper work, which means boxes without checks and in the grand scheme of things, when she is compared to her peers, the ones with the most boxes checked are usually the ones who stand out for scholarships. Those who are awarded scholarships are the ones who are well-rounded individuals with leadership experience who still get the boxes checked. It's not about having fun its about getting what needs to be done, done.

Sorry for such a negative post but I'm just telling you how it is, but of course best of luck to you and your daughter.
Go Army
 
I don't take offense, I don't necessarily agree with you though. I think it is great if an applicant is a kid that those are the activities they are in, however my response was to the OP who had a similar question as my daughter did, and when she visited schools as a junior and talked to current ROO's and also talked to a recently retired ROO, that was the advice she was told. Get leadership experience, not where to get it, stay involved in sports, varsity or club, keep grades up, study for the ACT/SAT, working is good too, etc. I have read a lot on here about captain, club president etc., however, when she told her plan and asked for advice , she was met with very positive feedback, and that did not include either, everyone is different. In her PMS interview last month, she was told her resume was excellent and exactly what the Army was looking for. Lots of activities, varsity and club sports, leadership with peers and children, working, varsity sports, unique experiences like living abroad and speaking a second language, tons of volunteering,increased her ACT dramatically, honor student, and was told her PFA scores were really strong, etc. not once was she told, wow, you should of been a club president. In fact according to Cadet Command in 2015, only 17% of scholarship recipients were club presidents, and boys/girls state was not mentioned, so I have no idea those statistics. I think if she could of gone to girls state, that would of been great, but that came up after out of country plans were made for the summer, would never ask anyone to chase some false security that one thing will make all the difference and change their plans. She has to be confident in her path, as does the OP. Below is a list of the stats for 2015 for scholarship recipients, none of the activities are 100%, which means there were other things that made candidates stand out. There was a first board winner on here that only did competitive dance, no varsity sports, and another who had a 23 ACT, meaning they stood out in other ways. And I am sure would of been told on here they are not first board material, but the advice would of been wrong. Choosing 2500 applicants means they are all bringing something different, while having some things generally in common as the stats show. Being involved in things they like and are GOOD at usually means being able to demonstrate success in those areas. There is a box for other and a spot to explain, so it is still on paper. The bottom line, is if she or anyone else wants this path of being an Army officer and they would be successful, it should be as themselves, and they should be willing to do it without a scholarship, the scholarship would be great, but not by fitting a round peg in a square hole. If the Army says no thank you all together, then she was not the right fit to begin with, pretending to be the right fit is wrong on all levels.

2015 statistics from Cadet Command on scholarships awarded
94% were in the top 50% of their classes in academics (69% were in the top 25%)
36% were class officers
90% earned varsity sports letters
60% were varsity team sports captains
32% were in JROTC
17% were club presidents
3.6 average GPA
1246 math + critical reading SAT; 27 ACT composite score
 
@AROTC-NRH I'm not sure if you're a cadet or a parent, but our experience has been much different than what you describe. My DS did not do Boys state, he wasn't a member of any school clubs, student government, church groups, etc. He was a varsity swimmer and captain his senior year. His only real activities were outside of school. He competed year-round at a national level in a sport that took up 90% of his time.
He only checked off about 2/10 of your boxes, but he was awarded a 4-year scholarship. Don't mislead people by saying there's a strict formula for scholarship awards, because it just isn't true. Do what you do, do it well, and the rest will take care of itself.
 
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