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Jbrochu22

5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
17
I did not get offered in the first board and was told I was given a score and my application will be sent on to the 2nd and 3rd board if necessary. Is this a good sign? Also, is this better than being placed on the merit list? I assume so.
 
The way I thought it worked was every board has a merit list. They go down the list and award whatever number they want (say the top 500 on the list). If you're not selected, you get put into the next list with everyone else for the next board, and the process continues.

Could be wrong though.
 
I did not get offered in the first board and was told I was given a score and my application will be sent on to the 2nd and 3rd board if necessary. Is this a good sign? Also, is this better than being placed on the merit list? I assume so.

They are essentially one and the same. When you submit your application, the board gives it a score and ranks it against the other applicants' scores. If your score isn't high enough to be offered a scholarship on the first board, you are automatically rolled to the second board. At the second board, any new additions to the applicant pool are scored and added to the ranking list. If you are ranked high enough as of the second board, you will then be offered a scholarship. If not, you are then rolled to the third board and the process repeats itself one more time. After the scholarships are offered on the third board and the recipients have responded within the 30-day response period, cadet command will have some leftover scholarships from applicants that turned down the offer (I.e. Changed their mind, were accepted into a service academy, etc). At that point (usually in the May timeframe) there will be scholarships offered to any remaining applicants until they are gone (again, it will be based on the score of the applicant). I hope that makes sense.
 
So, as soon as you submit your application is it scored and then put on the list? Or does it wait to be scored for one of the board meetings... I guess I'm kind of confused
 
So, as soon as you submit your application is it scored and then put on the list? Or does it wait to be scored for one of the board meetings... I guess I'm kind of confused

Future2TLmom explained it well.

Your application is not scored the moment you submit. Your application goes before the next available board. Once your application is scored by the board you are put on the Order of Merit (OML) list, for example:

A cadet submits their application in time to be reviewed by the first board, their application is scored by the board and placed on the OML. After all the applications that were ready and reviewed by the board Cadet Command then awards a certain number of scholarships based on the OML and School Selections.

If the cadet is not selected on the first board they are not reviewed again by following boards, they are still on the OML. When the second board meets they will review all the applicants that did not have their paperwork complete and turned in for the first board. These new applicants will be scored and then placed into the existing OML based on their scores. Cadet Command will then award scholarship using the same process as stated above. This will happen the same way for the third and final board.

The thing to remember is you may be toward the top of the remaining OML after the first board, but after the second board meets and reviews the new applicants you could slip further down the list depending on the scores of the new applicants.

There have been many cases where an applicant submitted their application just in time to be reviewed by only the final board, their score was high enough to place them toward the top of the OML and they receive the scholarship. It's not always how soon you submit, but how strong of an application you have. Even though. it's a good idea to have your application in early, an applicant may have a good enough score to earn the scholarship on the second board, but not be high enough on the third due to a large number of new appicants that have higher scores.
 
^ Good explanation especially regarding why it can sometimes pay to submit early.
 
The fact that you didn't get an offer is not a good or bad sign. You are in the pile now and need to be patient (and work on plan B)

So let's define file, score, and board

File - everything you submit on your application + transcripts and test grades + interview results + PFT scorecard

Score _ the points generated by everything in your file and the "grade" the board members give your file

Board - 3-5 Lieutenant Colonel/PMSs sitting in a room for a week looking at files and giving them a score

Your file only gets scored by board members once. Here is some more information about that score. This may be a little dated, but will be close to the current process.
http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/the-whole-person-score-what-is-it/

Hope that helps.
 
Do the NROTC boards score applicants in the same way? Or are they reviewed only based on order of submission?
 
Thank you, that link helped a lot clarksonarmy! I just have one question about it though. What is the CBEF score and what is it made up of?
 
Thank you, that link helped a lot clarksonarmy! I just have one question about it though. What is the CBEF score and what is it made up of?

Cadet Background and Experiences Form.

If you follow Clarkson's link again, then on that page you'll be able to click on CBEF. It will take you to a document that explains more than you ever wanted to know about it, and presumably how it's scored (but I didn't bother reading it).
 
I skimmed the CBEF thing and what I got is its a score on whether they think you will stay after your mandatory line of duty is up and how you will perform as a midshipman and officer... Thats just skimming it though so I may be wrong, there were a lot of big words xD
 
As I said in my blog post, it's not worth losing sleep over how the CBEF score is determined. Last year I had two applicants, one with clearly superior stats. The one with the better stats didn't get an offer when the other applicant did. When we questioned the result we were told that the CBEF score made the difference. Both eventually got an offer, and the one that ended up with the offer first declined the offer and enlisted into the Navy. Crazy process.
 
As I said in my blog post, it's not worth losing sleep over how the CBEF score is determined. Last year I had two applicants, one with clearly superior stats. The one with the better stats didn't get an offer when the other applicant did. When we questioned the result we were told that the CBEF score made the difference. Both eventually got an offer, and the one that ended up with the offer first declined the offer and enlisted into the Navy. Crazy process.

That is funny.... Take the less qualifed because some goofy formula tells you that they are more likely to stay long term and they decline the offer! I was in the Army for four years and it appears some things never change! :yllol:
 
That is funny.... Take the less qualifed because some goofy formula tells you that they are more likely to stay long term and they decline the offer! I was in the Army for four years and it appears some things never change! :yllol:
That is not funny, it is rational. Would you as a hiring manager hoping to hire your successor to follow you for years, rather hire a bright young graduate that has shown he/she wants to make a career at your company, or one who says that they want to work at your company because "everybody says it's a great place to be from", "a great place to start to springboard to a more lucrative job… They say that a lot about working at Disney… nobody every says it's a great place to work, only that it is a great job to have on your resume when you leave for a great job.
 
That is not funny, it is rational. Would you as a hiring manager hoping to hire your successor to follow you for years, rather hire a bright young graduate that has shown he/she wants to make a career at your company, or one who says that they want to work at your company because "everybody says it's a great place to be from", "a great place to start to springboard to a more lucrative job… They say that a lot about working at Disney… nobody every says it's a great place to work, only that it is a great job to have on your resume when you leave for a great job.

If someone came out and said in an interview (which they wouldn't) that they only wanted to work for a couple years and then move on then I'd tend to agree. But reality is the interview is nothing more than Baffle them with BS and make it sound like they walk on water. Soooo unless they have a known reference (ie someone working at the company that can vouch for them) then it is really a crap shoot. I've seen some really bad eggs get hired but if you interviewed them and read their resume, they were the bomb. In fact everyone who interviews for a job is "The best"...

Now I have no clue what questions are on this CBEF form but I find it very hard to believe they can accurately pick out those who want to stay and those who do not. If they come out and ask if you plan to do this for life I'm sure 99.9% would answer it how they think the person reading it would want to hear it.

To me, I'd go with the best qualified and let the chips fall where they may. I'm not sure what the percentage is of ROTC cadets that make a career of the military but I'd have to believe a fair number serve their time and then move on. Nothing wrong with that and besides the military needs some to move on. There is not enough room for all of them to stay and especially these days when they are reducing the size.

Attrition is not only inevitable but necessary. It seems wiser to me to pick the very best and let nature take it's course. Some will become career soldiers and some will serve their time and move on. To take someone that is technically "lesser" just because the answers they gave made someone "think" they might not be in it for the long haul is funny to me.

Again this is just my humble opinion and can be taken with a grain of salt. I certainly am no expert and don't mean to ruffle anyones feathers.

Just out of curiousity, do they use this same strategy for any of the other ROTC branches or any of the Academies?
 
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