Scholarship acceptance date

danbucchin

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2013
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I'm sure this must happen to students every year but I have not gotten a clear answer from anyone. My situation is that I was offered an AROTC scholarship to Syracuse University and UDEL. However, both of those schools do not give out admissions decisions until mid march and I need to accept the scholarship by March 3rd or I lose it. I have contacted the ROTC office and admissions office at both schools and have yet to be given a clear path to take. Any advice?
 
I think you have done what you can. Accept the scholarship and worry about transferring it later if need be
 
I'm sure this must happen to students every year but I have not gotten a clear answer from anyone. My situation is that I was offered an AROTC scholarship to Syracuse University and UDEL. However, both of those schools do not give out admissions decisions until mid march and I need to accept the scholarship by March 3rd or I lose it. I have contacted the ROTC office and admissions office at both schools and have yet to be given a clear path to take. Any advice?

Accept the scholarship and worry about the school later. If you do not accept the scholarship before the deadline, you will lose it.
 
If I accept the scholarship and than denied admission to the school can I still transfer the scholarship to a school I was accepted into?
 
If I accept the scholarship and than denied admission to the school can I still transfer the scholarship to a school I was accepted into?
No guarantees that a transfer will be approved. Some are some are not. If you are ok with both schools, I would accept the scholarship to the one you are most likely to get accepted to. If both are equals to you I would accept to the higher priced one as it seems to be more doable to transfer from higher cost to lower cost.
 
No guarantees that a transfer will be approved. Some are some are not. If you are ok with both schools, I would accept the scholarship to the one you are most likely to get accepted to. If both are equals to you I would accept to the higher priced one as it seems to be more doable to transfer from higher cost to lower cost.

Some quick researches about SAT/ACT scores and acceptance yielded the following graphical representations of acceptance statistics:

Syracuse:
http://collegeapps.about.com/od/GPA-SAT-ACT-Graphs/ss/syracuse-university-admission-gpa-sat-act.htm

UDel:
http://collegeapps.about.com/od/GPA...versity-of-delaware-admission-gpa-sat-act.htm

No information as to whether OOS is a factor in admissions at UDel. If it is, that graph may not be applicable. Some schools are more generous with OOS (i.e. they make money from them). Some want more from certain states (unfortunately PA probably sends to many to UDel as it is).

I would guess, based upon my own looking at the graphs that your chances of admission are better at Syracuse, although your chances look good at both. I believe it also is the more expensive of the 2 schools.

I don't know whether you applied for FA at Syracuse or not. I also don't know whether they are need-blind in their admissions decisions. This too could affect chances. I would also say calling their admissions and notifying them of your scholarship (after accepting the scholarship), may be a good move to improve your admissions chances.

Lots to consider (including your preferences - have you visited both schools?). All things being equal, though I would say Orange is the correct color for this choice.
 
thank you very much. That is a lot of useful information. I have one last question. If I were to accept the scholarship to delaware and than be denied admission and than successfully transfer that scholarship to syracuse, would I be able to go to syracuse for the first semester and than apply as a transfer student to another school, (lets say maryland), and if accepted as a transfer would I be able to transfer the scholarship than too? Keep in mind I was offered a 3 year AD. I apologize for the run on sentence.
 
thank you very much. That is a lot of useful information. I have one last question. If I were to accept the scholarship to delaware and than be denied admission and than successfully transfer that scholarship to syracuse, would I be able to go to syracuse for the first semester and than apply as a transfer student to another school, (lets say maryland), and if accepted as a transfer would I be able to transfer the scholarship than too? Keep in mind I was offered a 3 year AD. I apologize for the run on sentence.

Extremely unlikely. Extremely so. Perhaps if there were some pressing family reason it might be possible. But I think it's highly unlikely you would be granted a transfer of the scholarship.

Look. You listed your top schools that you would be willing to attend. Presumably you were awarded a scholarship to two of them. Suck it up. Pick one. Go there for four years. ROTC is in the business of creating officers, not in the business of catering to your needs. Don't mean to be harsh, but it's that way out in the corporate world as well. Consider yourself lucky you got the scholarship and move on with your choices, embracing them.

All that being said, you could always try, but I doubt it would be appealing to the cadre at whatever school you decide upon. (What? Syracuse University doesn't measure up? You want to go where?)
 
I think you are slightly misunderstanding me. I would absolutely accept admission and scholarship to syracuse. It definitley measures up. I am just going over last ditch scenarios in case I was forced to transfer my scholarship to the least desirable school I applied to which is Bloomsburg university. If that happened I would most certainly want to transfer out because I would not be reaching my full potential at such a school. Attending that school would not best prepare me for medical school as I plan on becoming a doctor in the military.
 
I think you are slightly misunderstanding me. I would absolutely accept admission and scholarship to syracuse. It definitley measures up. I am just going over last ditch scenarios in case I was forced to transfer my scholarship to the least desirable school I applied to which is Bloomsburg university. If that happened I would most certainly want to transfer out because I would not be reaching my full potential at such a school. Attending that school would not best prepare me for medical school as I plan on becoming a doctor in the military.

First, that's not the question you asked. You asked:
If I were to accept the scholarship to delaware and than be denied admission and than successfully transfer that scholarship to syracuse, would I be able to go to syracuse for the first semester and than apply as a transfer student to another school, (lets say maryland), and if accepted as a transfer would I be able to transfer the scholarship than too?
So, where in the world did Bloomsburg University come from as an explanation of my not understanding your question?

However, I hear you and completely understand your position. I even sympathize. Yet my comment still stands. If this school doesn't meet your needs why was it on your list? Did some one else make you put it there? And in any case, I think the chances of transferring the scholarship after attending the college it was awarded to are slim. You should probably try to contact someone in Cadet Command though for further inquiry. Or perhaps contact the cadre at the school you would want to transfer to. I'm not sure I'd be asking the cadre at the school I was attending on scholarship about it, but if that was my last resort and I felt that strongly I guess I would.
 
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SU

When our son interviewed with the AFROTC people at SU they told him scholarship students get a $9000 University grant in addition to the scholarship. Not sure if this is true for you as well, but it might impact your decision.
 
I think you are slightly misunderstanding me. I would absolutely accept admission and scholarship to syracuse. It definitley measures up. I am just going over last ditch scenarios in case I was forced to transfer my scholarship to the least desirable school I applied to which is Bloomsburg university. If that happened I would most certainly want to transfer out because I would not be reaching my full potential at such a school. Attending that school would not best prepare me for medical school as I plan on becoming a doctor in the military.

First thing I would like to say is that it is great that you are ambitious. That will serve you well. You are also very concerned about the quality of your education. Also a good thing.

The one thing that you still need to wrap your head around is that there may not be an optimal choice with regards to you goals.

Lets break it apart.

1) You want to go to med school. The keys to med school admissions are a) Your GPA in pre-med classes; b) MCAT scores; c) Recommendations. Note that I didn't mention where you got your degree from. Why? Undergraduate education in the sciences doesn't vary as much as you think. Organic Chemistry is the same whether you take it at Syracuse, Delaware, or any other university. Yes, you MAY get a more inspirational lecture at a top rated university. You may also be getting more graduate assistant time (how grad students earn their fellowships). Research university professors are all about getting that next grant - i.e. teaching comes in second. If you are a top student in this situation, you may get invaluable undergraduate exposure to research. But if you aren't the lead dog the view is the same.

2) You want a top quality education. Be very wary of college rankings. Those are a composite score of a bunch of metrics that university administrators often make their money manipulating. You need to ask questions pertaining to what your will experience. Are the lower division classes mostly taught by grad assistants? Do these grad assistants get screened thoroughly in their English language proficiency (i.e. can you understand the lecture through the accent)? How large are the class sizes?

3) You want Uncle Sam to fund your education both undergrad (ROTC Scholarship) and med school. Not sure if this is a "can't afford it" situation, "don't want to pay for it" situation, or "really want to be an Army Doctor" situation. Regardless, there is more than one way to get to any of these goals. However, if you choose the ROTC Scholarship route, don't expect much flexibility in choice of school. They are not here to optimize your experience. They are here to give you an opportunity to excel where you are planted. You won't have much choice in assignment in the Army. Successful officers figure out how to make the most of the situation assigned.

4) You want certainty in this school acceptance vs. scholarship acceptance. Unfortunately, the system is not designed to give cadets that. You came asking how to approach it. Good advice has been given - i.e. Accept the scholarship to the school with the highest value scholarship which gives you the most leverage IF a transfer is necessary. Otherwise, if Bloomsburg is on your offer list, but you are not willing to go, then don't accept even if the admission is a gimme. Being a top student (if you can keep your focus) grade-wise at Bloomsburg may advance your #1 priority (becoming a doctor) more than other school choices where your GPA might not be as strong. We don't know how you will react to either situation (do you rise to the challenge and underachieve when unmotivated?). Point here is that we cannot make a choice for someone whose head we aren't inside. We can give you tactical advice, which outlines some of the ways this could be played. We cannot remove uncertainty.

Last thought... If being a doctor (or at least getting into med school) is more important than the intellectual atmosphere of your undergrad experience, go to the school where you are the big fish (i.e. your test scores are higher than the rest of your peers). If you are willing to increase the risk of not making med school (btw Organic Chemistry generally weeds out 2/3 of pre-meds regardless of school) for a more stimulating undergraduate experience (while serving in ROTC) choose the upper school with the better admissions chance and higher tuition (Syracuse). Your goals have trade-offs. You will need make this choice and live with the consequences.
 
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