ROTC Scholarship

HooahArmy4

5-Year Member
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Nov 24, 2012
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Hello all, I am in college already as a Freshman and if my dream of attending WP does not come through I am going to join ROTC and commission. I did not apply for a scholarship this year, but I was curious are the deadlines different for college students in regards to a three year scholarship? If not, what is the deadline for a 2.5 year scholarship? How does this process work? Thanks everyone.
 
Hello all, I am in college already as a Freshman and if my dream of attending WP does not come through I am going to join ROTC and commission. I did not apply for a scholarship this year, but I was curious are the deadlines different for college students in regards to a three year scholarship? If not, what is the deadline for a 2.5 year scholarship? How does this process work? Thanks everyone.

Hate to tell you this, but you don't "apply" for 2.5 year scholarships. Non 4-year scholarships are awarded by the PMS to cadets who are in the unit busting their tail, getting top grades, and being involved in unit activities. You are a little late in getting your Plan B into action. The best way to have played this is participating in ROTC this year while your WP application is waiting instead of waiting for Plan A to fail before acting on Plan B.

That being said, you should be in the ROTC office Monday to talk to the ROO about how you might be able to join up. If your school is about to start the 3rd quarter, you are in luck to join. Otherwise it is likely you will have to start in the fall.

All is not lost, though. Lots of folks join at the beginning of their sophomore year, bust their tails and pick up a scholarship for their Junior and Senior years. However, with the likelihood of cutbacks in military budgets, commissioning targets are likely to shrink, so the competition for the ability to commission (much less a scholarship) will be stiff at many schools.

Not trying to discourage you. Just trying to give you an idea of how difficult of a spot you have put yourself in. It is entirely up to you as to how you dig yourself out of this.
 
Understood. On the Army ROTC website there is a two year scholarship I assume you can apply for this type of scholarship? Or is granted to outstanding members of a unit?
 
Understood. On the Army ROTC website there is a two year scholarship I assume you can apply for this type of scholarship? Or is granted to outstanding members of a unit?

Granted to outstanding members of a unit.
 
I don't claim to be an AROTC expert but there might be a two year scholarship that would generally be open to community college students who are transferring to a four year college with an AROTC unit. I expect this is the audience they have in mind with the web page OP refers to. I do not know if this is open to students already attending a four year college... and I would expect folks to be asking why isn't he already in the unit at the school he attends.

+1 to goaliedad's comments. OP is in a hole right now. It's certainly worth inquiring with the unit at college to see how best to proceed. Monday is a great time to do this.
 
Hello all, I am in college already as a Freshman and if my dream of attending WP does not come through I am going to join ROTC and commission. I did not apply for a scholarship this year, but I was curious are the deadlines different for college students in regards to a three year scholarship? If not, what is the deadline for a 2.5 year scholarship? How does this process work? Thanks everyone.

As Goliedad said there is no standard application process for the scholarships your asking about.

Since you did not participate in ROTC your freshman year, it will be up to the battalion on whether they will let you double up on the MS1 and MS2 classes starting your sophomore year. The battalion may require you to attent LCT the summer after your sophomore year.

You should talk to the battalion very soon, there may be many more bumps in the road then you are aware of, the sooner you talk with them the quicker you can sort things out.

Remember, the line between joining ROTC, and commissioning is not a straight one.
 
Why are you still waiting ?

There are a limited number of scholarships available for each year group. The longer you wait to join ROTC, the better the chance that your school will offer the remaining scholarships to other students.
 
Sound advice above.

In AROTC, if you dont get a high school scholarship, the way to "apply" for one is by performing. Since this semester is already half over, if you're serious about trying to get a scholarship or contract, which you should be in case WP doesn't come through, go talk to the ROTC unit ASAP and look at your options. Try and see if they'll let you start coming to PT now since its too late to get into the MS class. Then start going to every PT session and prove you deserve to be there. Hard work won't go unnoticed.
 
Here is the first thing that goes through my mind when I talk to someone who is reapplying/applying to West Point, while in college, and is not enrolled in ROTC. Does she/he really want to be an Army Officer, or are they looking for free school? Not saying that is the case here, but that is always my first impression, and I don't think I'm out of the ordinary. So, what do you think you should be doing ASAP if you really want to be an Army Officer?
 
Hello all, I am in college already as a Freshman and if my dream of attending WP does not come through I am going to join ROTC and commission. I did not apply for a scholarship this year, but I was curious are the deadlines different for college students in regards to a three year scholarship? If not, what is the deadline for a 2.5 year scholarship? How does this process work? Thanks everyone.

When I first read and responded to your post I guess my math skills were a bit lacking, I didn't put 2 and 2 together, which brings be to a couple questions.

When you first applied to West Point did you also apply for the AROTC Scholarship, if not, Why?

When you did not receive your appointment and enrolled in college why didn't you join AROTC at the start of school.

The second question I'm sure is being pondered by West Point as well.

Why would you put yourself behind the eight ball by not joining ROTC right away. If by chance you do not receive an appointment you would have had your first year of ROTC under your belt. Had you performed well you may have already been in the position to be offered a scholarship.

If you do not receive an appointment and start ROTC as a sophomore you will be behind all those that are also looking to get a scholarship. The issue will be that those other cadets will have one year already done that the cadre can evaluate, you on the other hand will be brand new with no track record. All of your stats from high school you have that go into your WP application will mean nothing to the ROTC cadre, to them it's not about what you have done in the past, it's about what you do now, and you'll have nothing for them to look at.

A plan B is only good if you commit fully to it, not just decide to do it once your plan A falls through.


EDIT:
I just read a couple of your past posts. From what I read you have joined the National Guard and went to BCT last summer, is that correct? Because that is a whole different ball game when it comes to ROTC and scholarships. If you do ROTC you will now be in the SMP program which is a whole different discussion, scholarships won't come into play.

You really need to contact the ROTC Battalion at your school soon and talk to them about your options and how the program works. If you don't get an appointment were you planning on going to AIT this summer.

It's time you get a little proactive with all this.
 
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I did not become interested in being an Army Officer until late in my last year of high school, thus I missed the nomination deadline for my district=no chance at an appointment. I set my sights on class of 2017 and went forward with my college options. I chose a SMC, not for the ROTC, but for the academics offered at the university. I met with a friend, a retired LTG, WP C/O 1950 who worked with admissions a little while back and on nomination boards and he told me, if I wanted to go to WP they will focus more on your college grades rather than ROTC involvement. Being at a SMC, with an iffy track records for grades I chose not to join because I knew I was applying to WP again.
 
I did not become interested in being an Army Officer until late in my last year of high school, thus I missed the nomination deadline for my district=no chance at an appointment. I set my sights on class of 2017 and went forward with my college options. I chose a SMC, not for the ROTC, but for the academics offered at the university. I met with a friend, a retired LTG, WP C/O 1950 who worked with admissions a little while back and on nomination boards and he told me, if I wanted to go to WP they will focus more on your college grades rather than ROTC involvement. Being at a SMC, with an iffy track records for grades I chose not to join because I knew I was applying to WP again.

You may have missed my Edit to my last post.

Did you join the National Guard and attend BCT last summer, do you plan on attending AIT this summer if you do not receive an appointment.

Talking to the cadre soon is still a very good idea.

Just as a tip, when you start a thread like this one it is a good idea to include all the information up front so you can et the proper advice. It would have been nice to know the whole story in your first post.
 
My apologies. Yes, AIT over this coming summer, if WP falls through. I will be meeting with cadre this week. Do you think the advice I was given was good?
 
I did not become interested in being an Army Officer until late in my last year of high school, thus I missed the nomination deadline for my district=no chance at an appointment. I set my sights on class of 2017 and went forward with my college options. I chose a SMC, not for theROTC, but for the academics offered at the university. I met with a friend, a retired LTG, WP C/O 1950 who worked with admissions a little while back and on nomination boards and he told me, if I wanted to go to WP they will focus more on your college grades rather than ROTC involvement. Being at a SMC, with an iffy track records for grades I chose not to join because I knew I was applying to WP again.

hooahArmy4,
Does this mean you are at a SMC as a civie?
 
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