Army ROTC Scholarship Interview

pldinh6

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I have an Army ROTC Scholarship interview this Friday. What questions will be asked and what should I bring? (I heard some people brought pt clothes because the pt test was also performed). Will this interview be similar to a congressional nomination interview? Thanks.
 
My son had an Army interview and here are some of the questions:

1 Why he wanted to join the Army
2. The sports he played
3. What community service work he did
4. Where he saw himself in five years

My son can't remember if they discussed injuries or not. He basically asked him things from his application. My son wore a suit. Also, my son felt that speaking confidently and clearly helped. He also felt it was important to make eye contact. He did not do a PT test during the interview.

The person who interviewed him gave him advice on the application process and my son liked him a lot.

My son ended up getting a 4 year Army scholarship.

Good luck, pldinh6!
 
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Somewhere in these posts you will find the actual worksheet the PMS will be using during the interview. The worksheet ensures the interview will generally be the same no matter where in the country you have it. Find the PMS interview worksheet and review it. You'll be ready.

The advice I gave my kid was to understand the interview isn't just for scholarship money, it's also for a (career) management position in a very selective / competitive "company".
 
My interview was just general questions about my résumé, why I wanted to be in the Army, why I listed the schools I did, and how much I knew about ROTC in general. I would strongly advise bringing a résumé to give your interviewer. As far as PT clothes, I didn't have to take the test, but check with the PMS.
 
To add to what others have said, ponder different questions and try to figure out genuine answers to those questions. Don't say in the interview what you think they want you to say, don't beat around the bush, be yourself. Be calm, have fun, but be respectful of the situation. If you can develop a connection with the interviewer and/or engage in thought provoking, interesting conversation, I believe you are golden. A lot of my opinion here is coming from a WP grad, employee of a company that gives leadership talks and current interviewer who works for a congressman(not mine), who has guided me along my interviews.

BB7
 
I was just reading over Clarksonarmy's blog post on the interview process, and I have a question.

Does participating in JROTC competitive squads (Drill, Marksmanship) have any impact on the Scholar/Athlete/Leader section?
 
I was just reading over Clarksonarmy's blog post on the interview process, and I have a question.

Does participating in JROTC competitive squads (Drill, Marksmanship) have any impact on the Scholar/Athlete/Leader section?

It could count as leadership if DS/DD commanded the team. If DS/DD participated in Orienteering or Raiders, it could probably count in the athletics section.
 
http://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/the-interview/

If you were the captain of the rifle spinning team I would imagine you could convince a PMS to give you some points on the front of the interview sheet.

Two bullets under the leadership category you might get credit for are:

Captain of athletic or academic team -
Served in position of responsibility in school/club or private organization and leader in volunteer service organization activities -

Just participating may not get you interview points though. You definitely want to make sure these activities are annotated on your application though.
 
I was just reading over Clarksonarmy's blog post on the interview process, and I have a question.

Does participating in JROTC competitive squads (Drill, Marksmanship) have any impact on the Scholar/Athlete/Leader section?

When I interviewed, I was able to put drill down under athlete and leadership since we represented our school in competitions and it involved physical training.

At least when my PMS brought it up during my interview he didn't argue it
 
Thanks. Just trying to help my son navigate the Athlete/sport dilemma. He's a 3rd degree black belt in Kung Fu, and has many medals/trophies from martial arts competitions, but nothing recent. Kung Fu dominated his life for so long that he never picked up any other sports.

I've seen the advice for him to pick up a sport, just to put it on the application, but without making excuses, that's just not going to happen at this point. I think he's going to be able to max out all the other areas, but I want him to be able to use anything possible to help his athlete score.

We're going into this process with high hopes, but low expectations, and fortunately we have "being able to afford to pay for college" as Plan B.
 
Thanks. Just trying to help my son navigate the Athlete/sport dilemma. He's a 3rd degree black belt in Kung Fu, and has many medals/trophies from martial arts competitions, but nothing recent. Kung Fu dominated his life for so long that he never picked up any other sports.

I've seen the advice for him to pick up a sport, just to put it on the application, but without making excuses, that's just not going to happen at this point. I think he's going to be able to max out all the other areas, but I want him to be able to use anything possible to help his athlete score.

We're going into this process with high hopes, but low expectations, and fortunately we have "being able to afford to pay for college" as Plan B.

Martial arts is absolutely a sport and he should be especially proud of the hard work and dedication that it took to get him to the level of a 3rd degree black belt! I would definitely make sure he has that on his application and bring it up in the interview if the interviewer doesn't. When your son made his appointment for the interview was he instructed to bring any paperwork with him? For instance, the PMS that interviewed my son told him to bring a packet with him that included printouts of everything he put on the application -- so if, for instance, he had uploaded some sort of leadership award, varsity letter certificate, or martial arts belt certificate, he was required to put copies of them in the packet he brought to the interview.

That being said, I have seen posts where kids have brought scrapbooks with them to the interview. Needless to say, they typically aren't well received. But, I would bring a resume' and possibly some backup for the accomplishments outlined on the resume. That way, if he's asked for them, he's prepared.

One last thing -- although my son was not asked this question, more than a few kids have been asked what was the most recent book they read. Your son needs to be prepared for that one.
 
Thanks, Future2LtMom.

I was not the original poster; I was just jumping in with my question, because I thought it was relevant to the thread. My son is still a junior in HS, but I want him to be prepared for the process when he starts this summer.
 
Thanks, Future2LtMom.

I was not the original poster; I was just jumping in with my question, because I thought it was relevant to the thread. My son is still a junior in HS, but I want him to be prepared for the process when he starts this summer.

I believe some advice my son was given as a junior was very beneficial to him in getting the scholarship. One thing was to take the SAT or ACT as often as possible. That was great advice and my son increased his ACT score by 4 points from the time he took the test in 10th grade to the final time he took it at the beginning of his 12th grade year.

Another piece of advice was to make sure he was well rounded with leadership, sports, and academics. One of his weaknesses was that he had never been elected to lead a sport or activity. We were told that if he wasn't elected, he needed to make the leadership happen. Since he loved debate, he founded the debate team at his high school. It took a lot of work on his end, but he stepped up and made it happen.

I think they want to make sure that the young men are well rounded, intelligent, capable of leading, physically fit, and can get along with others.

Anyway, these were things that my son was grateful to learn and helped him accomplish his first goal of obtaining a scholarship. Even if he hadn't obtained the scholarship, he would have enrolled in ROTC and made it happen with the Army because that is his dream. My son told me that he was born to do this. Good luck to your son!
 
Interview went well

I had my interview earlier today and I think it went well. After the interview was over, I realized there were one or two questions I could have given better answers to. The PMS told me that I am headed on the right track, I'm very passionate about what I do, and that the Army needs people like me. I would like to thank everyone that replied to this thread, your answers really did help me tremendously! Thank you!
 
I am glad your interview went well. I think it's a good sign that he said that the Army needs people like you. Good luck. I hope everything works out for you.
 
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