AROTC question for PMS

kodiakisland

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Jun 14, 2012
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My son was offered a 4 yr scholarship at all of his 3 choices. After the physical he was DQ'd, which we knew would happen. He received a letter from DoDMERB saying the programs he applied to would automatically review the file for waiver consideration.

My son called the ROTC department of his first choice today to see if there was anything he needed to do now for the waiver. He talked to several people there and was basically told they never heard of him and had no record of him being offered a scholarship.

What the heck is going on? He did his interview at his second choice school as it was closer and worked better with his schedule during football season. Wouldn't the first choice school have to know about him if he was offered a scholarship there?
 
Depends on the school...if it is a big school with lots of applicants and scholarship winners then maybe the ROO doesn't closely track the process like the ROO at Clarkson, with a relatively small program and pool of applicants does. If he received an offer at all three of his schools, which one did he accept and which did he decline? If he didn't accept or decline then his offer would have been withdrawn and he would have been removed from the system. Need more details
 
He accepted his first choice, which is why he called them. It seems hard to believe they wouldn't know who they offered and who had accepted. Do they not get any notice of acceptance?
 
Only if they look in the system...again, a big school might not rely as much on the scholarship market, or they may not pay attention to the process until the end. Big school or small school?
 
My son was offered a 4 yr scholarship at all of his 3 choices. After the physical he was DQ'd, which we knew would happen. He received a letter from DoDMERB saying the programs he applied to would automatically review the file for waiver consideration.

My son called the ROTC department of his first choice today to see if there was anything he needed to do now for the waiver. He talked to several people there and was basically told they never heard of him and had no record of him being offered a scholarship.

What the heck is going on? He did his interview at his second choice school as it was closer and worked better with his schedule during football season. Wouldn't the first choice school have to know about him if he was offered a scholarship there?

1. Congratulations to your son on the scholarship offers. All such scholarships are contingent on getting through the DODMERB process.

2. The ROO and possibly the PMS are aware of your son's existence, probably as a faceless name on a list, but the other members of the cadre and the civilian contractors are unlikely to be aware of him or whether he was offered a scholarship.

3. DODMERB waivers are not handled at the school level, and the cadre is not going to be the best source of advice, in fact probably not even a good source of advice. Consult with DODMERB on the waiver issue.

4. Your son has a 30 day time limit within which to accept the scholarship offer by responding to Cadet Command.

5. Once he's accepted the offer, it would be a good idea to follow up with the cadre. They will want to exchange paperwork with your son, though since this is only January, it may be too early for them.
 
His acceptance letter was sent back November 22. How long should it take before the school is aware of his acceptance?

As far as who is the best entity to inquire about the waiver, we have yet to get anything solid from anyone. DoDMERB says the waiver is initiated by the individual ROTC departments. The ROTC department says they don't know anything.

Being an 18yr veteran myself, I expect as much from the Army. Doesn't make it any less frustrating though.
 
Only if they look in the system...again, a big school might not rely as much on the scholarship market, or they may not pay attention to the process until the end. Big school or small school?

Total enrollment is less than 15,000. I don't know if that is small or not, but it's certainly not big.
 
His acceptance letter was sent back November 22. How long should it take before the school is aware of his acceptance?

As far as who is the best entity to inquire about the waiver, we have yet to get anything solid from anyone. DoDMERB says the waiver is initiated by the individual ROTC departments. The ROTC department says they don't know anything.

Being an 18yr veteran myself, I expect as much from the Army. Doesn't make it any less frustrating though.

I expect that when DoDMERB said the waiver process is started by the individual ROTC departments, they meant AROTC, NROTC, AFROTC, not the individual schools. I also suppose it's possible that the school is not notified of the scholarship until DoDMERB issues are resolved. Again, I don't know this, but seems like it could be a reasonable assumption that would explain your encounter with the school.

I assume that the scholarship letter included some contact information (may be wrong, never had the pleasure to see one). If so, I'd start there.
 
Total enrollment is less than 15,000. I don't know if that is small or not, but it's certainly not big.

Compared to Clarkson, that is HUGE! GINORMOUS! I would even say in absolute terms that is big.
 
I expect that when DoDMERB said the waiver process is started by the individual ROTC departments, they meant AROTC, NROTC, AFROTC, not the individual schools. I also suppose it's possible that the school is not notified of the scholarship until DoDMERB issues are resolved. Again, I don't know this, but seems like it could be a reasonable assumption that would explain your encounter with the school.

I assume that the scholarship letter included some contact information (may be wrong, never had the pleasure to see one). If so, I'd start there.

I think you are correct about AROTC instead of the actual ROTC department of the chosen school. The letter says the program to which you have applied will review the file.
 
Enrollment of the school, not the ROTC department.

Right. I understood the first time. Presumably the ROTC unit size is proportional. Clarkson has about 3,000 undergrads. SO presumably the unit at your son's school of choice is about 5 times larger.... or more. But it's neither here nor there at this point. We were all just trying to surmise reasons they hadn't heard of your son. We came up with a couple. But the real issue is to assist, if you can, in the waiver process. I'd still be getting out the scholarship letter and looking for the contact info.

I know it's frustrating... but it is what it is at this point. We're not going to solve 'why' here. Good luck. I'm sure you'll post again if you hit any further hurdles but I would also love to hear about a successful resolution and how you went about it. It might help some other poor kid and his frustrated Dad someday. :smile:
 
I've got about 10K total in all four of my schools combined. 15K is certainly not a 60K Penn State type, but it's a decent sized school, and if it a fairly well known school they may not closely monitor the national scholarship process. That's my bread and butter, so I know every winner by name, and track their status closely (my first round winner has a remedial to resolve).
I have yet to figure out how the waiver gets initiated by Cadet Command. In the past sometimes it just magically happens, initiated by Cadet Command, and sometimes I have to prompt the waiver request from my level. I would try to reengage the Battalion. Ask to speak to the ROO, and make sure she/he is aware that you are a scholarship winner to the school, and that you are requesting a DODMERB waiver. The ROO might be new, and that won't bode well. You can also try contacting your processor at Cadet Command. They might be able to get the ball rolling. You are currently right in the middle of the second board, so don't expect a prompt response now. These types of things often get handled late spring or summer. For the winner that doesn't know if they are going to be cleared or not it can be a little scary. Good luck.
 
I think you are correct about AROTC instead of the actual ROTC department of the chosen school. The letter says the program to which you have applied will review the file.

It's still a good idea for your son to send the PMS an email, if nothing else just to introduce himself. Has he ever spoke with anyone from the battalion. Is the school close enough that he could maybe visit this year sometime.

Best of luck to him in the waiver process.
 
My son called the ROTC department of his first choice today to see if there was anything he needed to do now for the waiver. He talked to several people there and was basically told they never heard of him and had no record of him being offered a scholarship.

What the heck is going on?

If the school has never heard of you and shows no interest in helping you, why is it the first choice ?

Many ROTC candidates wait far too long to make contact with the ROTC departments at the schools they are interested in. Some programs are like large families and welcome you and your family with open arms. Others welcome you will all the warmth of an IRS audit.

A question you should ask of the BN is how often do they get waivers approved for their Cadets. Not every program is willing to take the time to do the paperwork to get the waiver.

Does this program make you feel like a person or a number ?

Break off the engagement or face a messy divorce later.
 
If the school has never heard of you and shows no interest in helping you, why is it the first choice ?

Many ROTC candidates wait far too long to make contact with the ROTC departments at the schools they are interested in. Some programs are like large families and welcome you and your family with open arms. Others welcome you will all the warmth of an IRS audit.

A question you should ask of the BN is how often do they get waivers approved for their Cadets. Not every program is willing to take the time to do the paperwork to get the waiver.

Does this program make you feel like a person or a number ?

Break off the engagement or face a messy divorce later.

Yes, it can be a marriage of sorts. Unfortunately, the OP said yes to the engagement almost 2 months ago. I don't suppose there is any chance at this point of marrying someone else (including the scholarship dowry) at this point? And I suppose OP may still have his heart set on his current fiance.

Actually I guess the transfer process could be used but that doesn't place anyone else in his corner on the waiver until much later in the process, and perhaps too late in the process.
 
Actually I guess the transfer process could be used but that doesn't place anyone else in his corner on the waiver until much later in the process, and perhaps too late in the process.

2 of my sophomores were in the same situation 2 years ago. They transferred their scholarships to Marist and we got them the waivers they needed.

The student still has plenty of time to transfer to a school that will work on his behalf.

There are plenty of good programs out there that would be more than happy to do the work.
 
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