Applying to AROTC and NROTC

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brijw10

5-Year Member
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Jun 29, 2013
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I have recently become very interested in applying to the AROTC and NROTC for the 4 year scholarship.

My first question is if it is too late to begin the process, as I have heard that it should be started the second half of junior year and I am now in the summer before my senior year.

Another issue I have not been able to find the answer to is the requirements for teacher recommendations for both programs. I did not have the best relationship with my English teacher my Junior year and would like to avoid having to use that teacher as a recommendation. I did have a good relationship with my Physics teacher and History teacher, both of whom have already agreed to write me a recommendation for the colleges I plan on applying to.

Finally, I was wondering how competitive both of these programs are (and I am the most interested in Marine Option for NROTC). I have a 4.38 weighted GPA and 1430 SAT score for math/verbal, but am not in the best shape right for the fitness tests as I have been gaining weight for the upcoming football season.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
brijw10 said:
First, I am not sure how to interpret what you mean when you write you're interested in NROTC-MO and AROTC "for the 4 year scholarship". That almost sounds like your interest is in the money, rather than the actual service. Can you clarify? There is nothing wrong with being attracted to the monetary incentive (or else the program wouldn't exist... and there are dozens of examples of monetary incentives inside the services as well), but only if you also would have an interest without the scholarship money

My first question is if it is too late to begin the process == no, not too late, but the sooner the better for NROTC -MO. For AROTC, timing is less of an issue.

I did not have the best relationship with my English teacher my Junior year and would like to avoid having to use that teacher as a recommendation. == then how about your sophomore year English teacher?

Finally, I was wondering how competitive both of these programs are (and I am the most interested in Marine Option for NROTC). I have a 4.38 weighted GPA and 1430 SAT score for math/verbal, but am not in the best shape right for the fitness tests as I have been gaining weight for the upcoming football season. == NROTC - MO is probably tougher to get than AROTC. For both you are academically in the top 10%, so that leg of the triangle is as solid as can be. But there are two additional legs, each as important as the academic:

-Leadership: Team captain, school officer, Eagle Scout, Boy's State are all evidence that Marines/soldiers willl willingly follow you into harm's way.

Athletic: I'm not sure what you mean about not being in the best shape. Neither service is looking for weight lifters. They are looking for marines/soldiers who can go through repeated bursts of 100% effort both ballistic and cardio... sort of like MMA. They measure this by situps/crunches, 3 or 2 mile run, and pushups/pullups. Basic fitness measurements. Nobody will care if you are in "football shape" if you are not in cross-trained shape.

Marine Option places a very large emphasis on the Fitness Test you take at the Officer Interview. Army places only a small emphasis on the PFT taken for the Application, but lots of emphasis once you're in the program.
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my replies in blue
 
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brijw10 said:
I have recently become very interested in applying to the AROTC and NROTC for the 4 year scholarship.

My first question is if it is too late to begin the process, as I have heard that it should be started the second half of junior year and I am now in the summer before my senior year.

Another issue I have not been able to find the answer to is the requirements for teacher recommendations for both programs. I did not have the best relationship with my English teacher my Junior year and would like to avoid having to use that teacher as a recommendation. I did have a good relationship with my Physics teacher and History teacher, both of whom have already agreed to write me a recommendation for the colleges I plan on applying to.

Finally, I was wondering how competitive both of these programs are (and I am the most interested in Marine Option for NROTC). I have a 4.38 weighted GPA and 1430 SAT score for math/verbal, but am not in the best shape right for the fitness tests as I have been gaining weight for the upcoming football season.

Thanks in advance for any help!
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No you are not too late. You might miss the first board but there are several boards throughout the year and if you work hard when you return to school you can possibly be ready for the second board. The application process dictates which teachers you can use for your recommendation letters and I believe that your English teacher will be one of them as I recall. In any case I don't think you have any choice in the matter. I don't think you need to worry as at worse one recommendation will cancel out the other and they really look at the entire person. Since you're looking at NROTC MO your major won't matter... and the MO boards are separate from the Navy boards. The first MO board is in October or November (November I think) and there are only two boards... so it's important to meet the first board.

Physical fitness... being extremely physically fit and perform well on the PFT is absolutely required for Marine options. No excuses. And in fact there should be none. There is no reason you shouldn't be prepared for the PFT, football or not. Also, putting weight on for football is not required. Getting stronger for the PFT will help your football performance without putting on weight (or even when putting on weight). Also, you will need to make sure you are within the weight requirements for the service so don't overdo putting on weight anyway. Football is probably one more year... a ROTC scholarship of any flavor is the next 8 - 9 years of your life, at least. Which one do you think is more important?

If you fail to get a scholarship consider participating in ROTC as a college programmer and competing for an in-school (or sideload) scholarship.

Good luck! :thumb:
 
Sorry Dunninla, I did not see your reply at first.

I did not mean to imply that I am only interested in money with the "4 year scholarship" tag, I was only trying to distinguish it from the 2-year and 3-year options I saw on the NROTC website. I want to go into the military after college regardless of receiving a scholarship, the scholarship is a bonus to that goal.

For leadership, I am a captain for the varsity football team at my high school and I have been president for two clubs, and founded one, so I think those should help me out on my application.

For athletics, I should have been more clear about the information I was trying to figure out. I was really wondering when in the process is the Physical test performed, because that determines when I will start to lose the weight I have put on for football, whether it be in season or after.

Thanks again for the informative reply!
 
brijw10 said:
Sorry Dunninla, I did not see your reply at first.

I did not mean to imply that I am only interested in money with the "4 year scholarship" tag, I was only trying to distinguish it from the 2-year and 3-year options I saw on the NROTC website. I want to go into the military after college regardless of receiving a scholarship, the scholarship is a bonus to that goal.

For leadership, I am a captain for the varsity football team at my high school and I have been president for two clubs, and founded one, so I think those should help me out on my application.

For athletics, I should have been more clear about the information I was trying to figure out. I was really wondering when in the process is the Physical test performed, because that determines when I will start to lose the weight I have put on for football, whether it be in season or after.

Thanks again for the informative reply!
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The fitness test is normally given immediately after the interview for Marine Option. Both will need to be completed before your application is board ready. This means it will happen in the midst of football season if you are shooting for the first Marine Option board. So... I wouldn't put on the weight to begin with. It isn't necessary. Work on the cross training and building up your muscle strength as well as the cardio with the three mile run. If you're fit enough to do well on the PFT then IMHO you're fit enough to decimate your competition on the other side of the scrimmage line; and, further, you have the endurance to quickly wear them down if nothing else. It takes incredible strength and stamina to run that three miles in anything close to 18:00.
 
Thanks for the helpful feedback. I created accounts for both the AROTC and NROTC application today, but I cannot find the section for teach recommendations on the AROTC application. Does this mean that it does not require them, or does this come later in the process? And if they are required, can the same recommendations be used for both the AROTC application and the NROTC application?

Thanks again for the help!
 
^ As I recall, there are no teacher recs requested in the AROTC app...
 
dunninla said:
^ As I recall, there are no teacher recs requested in the AROTC app...
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That is correct as of last year's application pool. With one OP's post of a new AROTC application/portal, this may not be the case.
 
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