AROTC 4 year scholarship

Zeringu_One

5-Year Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2014
Messages
64
My junior year has just ended and it is now time to begin my application. Please be brutally honest on my chances of getting into Rotc with a 4 year scholarship. I have been running cross country and track for 7 years now. I have ran in the cross country state meet since my freshman year and contributed to 3 consecutive state championships in crosscountry. In 2013 I was an Allstate crosscountry runner with a time of 16:42 (three mile). I am likely to become team Captain in the 2014 season. I also have 3 letters in track. I have been the president of my class freshman through junior year and have recently been elected student body executive president. Also, I have collected many many hours of community service (300+). My community service is mostly with the American legion and my church I have been alter serving at my church since I was nine. I also work at a catering company as a part time job. Throughout high school I have maintained a 3.5 gpa and take honors classes. I have been a member of the national honors society for two years and was an officer this year. I have been nominated to attend boys state and will attend. About a year ago I took the act for the first time and scored a 22. With that being said, I have been taking classes to boost my scores and have made a 27 in English and reading on the practice test. I am not very great with math and science, for that reason I do not plan on taking a technical major in college. I know that the military wants cadets with technical majors, but I was planing on taking international relations or public relations. How bad will my major choice hinder my chances of receiving a 4 year scholarship? The school I want to go to is a public institution in-state.
 
So let me get this straight, it was hard to read your post for me. Your stats:

All-State XC
Varsity XC and Track, team captain
President of class
300+ hours of community service
Part time job

3.5 GPA
NHS Officer
22 ACT
Boys State

With what you've told us, I'd say you're a VERY strong candidate for an Army scholarship. Your only real weak spot is your ACT score, and I would definitely retake that as many times as possible since the Army super scores it. Other than, keep up the good work and finish strong with a good senior year. I'm regards to your major, the Army doesn't place much weight as of now on whether you are a technical major or not. If you want to major in International Relations, go for it.
 
I agree with Strength and Honor's comments. DS struggled with ACT as well. He raised his "super score" to a 24 (from a 19) after taking the test 5 times. Keep at it. We also recommend a book called "The ACT for Bad Test Takers". Read it. Practice the strategy. It works.


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Thank you! I appreciate your responses. I am new to this forum, so forgive me if is should know this but what or who is DS
 
ACT/SAT improvement:

Sign up for march2success. It's a FREE online program developed by the Army and has lots of practice tests with explanations.
 
Agree with others that the ACT/SAT scores are the weak spot. If yoy haven't ignored your upper body you might also consider NROTC Marine Option. They don't care what your major is. The Marine PFT will be important there. You've already shown you can get a max score on the run. You'll need to determine if you can get close on the pullups and crunches. Of course you might not be at all interested in the Marines.
 
Based on my credentials noted above, do I have a shot at receiving a scholarship to a SMC?
 
Clarkson also has a fantastic blog that highlights a lot of the essentials for understanding ROTC, application process and everything else in between.

Golden Knight Battalion
 
One more question. With my credentials, do I have a shot at USMA?

Will the answers you get on an open forum really determine what you apply for?

Apply for everything and see what happens.

To be honest, with the credentials you have now, your chances for the USMA would be a very long shot.
 
±1 Jcleppe

You have zero chance of receiving anything if you don't apply.

As for USMA, with that ACT even from a non-competitve state I would say it is a long shot, maybe prep, but I wouldn't give that a match either.

A couple of things to think about, especially for a place like USMA is the rigor of college and the admission process
~ Do you have any AP/IB credits? Although these classes are the most rigorous in HS they are not comparable to college level at academically high tiered colleges, such as USMA. If the avg student entering has 32 ACT and 9 APs college profs are going to expect that level of academic ability, the pace is going to be that much faster, and it is easy to fall behind
~ The selection process even for college is going to be like the Whole Candidate Score (WCS). For USMA, 60% is academic and your ACT along with rank, school profile and your GPA.
~~~ A 3.5 might on paper might seem strong, but if your rank is top 40% and 10% go Ivy than it is not really a strong cgpa. If it is possible to graduate with 10 APs, but you have only 2 APs it tells them that you did not take the most rigorous courses.

Lastly, I don't know which state you are from, but I would say your chances vary depending on the school, same with an SMC. If you are from VA, I would say that VT, which is both an IS and an SMC would be a reach for both admission and scholarship with a 22. The avg ACT for VT admission is 28. Other popular IS schools here, such as UVA, JMU, GMU and VCU also have the same scores or higher. MY two youngest both attend public IS. Their congrat letters both stated that they had over 33k applicants.
~ IOWS just because it is a public ISs it should never be considered a safety or a match these days.
Plus, the way AROTC works is the scholarship is tied to the college and the cadet. The more popular the unit/college is the more competition you will have to get that scholarship.

You will read don't worry I got it with a 24, but the fact is it is comparing apples to walnuts if their schools are not on your list. I.E. ODU in VA is an IS and I am sure you are a match for them, but not even close for UVA.

Good luck and remember if you want to serve there is a path for you, just be prepared this year to have plan A, B, C and D in place.
 
I understand that the odds are not in my favor and that I'll likely not even get in, but it will haunt me for the rest of my life to know I didn't try.
 
Exactly, like Pima said you have 0% chance if you don't apply. So go ahead and apply - the worst they can do is say no, and then you'll have your answer.
 
Based on my credentials noted above, do I have a shot at receiving a scholarship to a SMC?

University of North Georgia, a Senior Military College, has an excellent International Affairs department and a great program for cadets interested in strategic languages. It's a government-sponsored Chinese Flagship school, but also has programs in Korean, Arabic and Russian with a strong emphasis on studying abroad. You didn't mention anything above about languages, so don't take my post as a recommendation to study languages if that doesn't really interest you, but it does seem like a study of International Affairs, Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, maybe Criminal Justice or History sounds like some areas you could be looking into.

DS loves the UNG Corps of Cadets. He's a rising sophomore about to start Summer Language Institute for Chinese, and will be studying abroad in China for the spring semester and doing an internship with a Chinese company. UNG really has some great opportunities for broadening horizons and developing real-world leadership and global business skills.

While the school is Army ROTC only, there is an option to switch to Marines with a small group of Marine-option cadets active now.

You would have a good chance of a scholarship to UNG if you can bring the ACT score up or take the SAT a few times shooting for competitive scores. Out-of-state cadets currently receive in-state tuition at North Georgia.

Agree with Kinnem about working on upper body strength.
 
Zeringu,

You have to apply because every parent here will tell you when you get to our age, part of life is wondering about the what ifs? You will always have what ifs, but remember in part you control them.

As for your ACT, the one thing that popped out to me was you said your practice E/CR was a 27, what was Math and Science? Our DS was Govt/Poli Sci with International relations minor. Although those courses are not math/science laden, at his college he had to take two semesters of math and two of science, he also had to take two semesters of Econ. Math is part of those courses. That comes to a total 14 credits are almost an entire semester for your entire college career.
~~~ If you are weak there it is going to impact your OML because 6 Cs pulls down 6 As to equalling 6 Bs.

Use this summer studying Math and Science too to get in front of the 8 ball not only for the ACT and SAT, but for your HS GPA.

I don't know for USMA/AROTC, but for AFROTC and AFA currently you would not make it to candidate from applicant because they officially state the mins for becoming a candidate. 24 ACT E is the min to be deemed competitive., thus until you re-take the exams in the fall you would be placed in a holding pattern. Even if you have a 24 in those components, to have a composite of 22 would mean you have a 20 in Math and Science.
~ I am sure clarkson, Thompson, Edelahanty or Jcleppe will chime in and tell you if that is the fact for AROTC too.

I would also suggest that either way the path takes you, the DoDMERB exam will be part of your future. Candidates never thought that the inhaler their doc gave them at 15 because they played sports would become an issue medically. Many never think that their allergy to shellfish or nuts will cause a problem. I don't have enough fingers, toes, dog claws to count on in my family regarding how often I have read a post that the candidate just failed their color deficiency test, and never knew they had an issue prior to the exam.
~ I am not trying to scare you, but this is also a big component of contracting. Waivers can take months. If you know that medically there is an issue regarding prescriptions or hospitalizations than take the time to get in front of it too by collecting your medical records.

Good luck
 
I could be wrong, but I do think that the choice of major now affects whether or not one is awarded a 4-yr AROTC scholarship or not. My son's stats were just as good, if not a bit better, than some of the other posters out here that received 4yr scholarships. My son, however, was only awarded a 3yr AD on the most recent second board. The primary difference is that my son is not a STEM major. The ROO at the school he chose to attend (different from the school where he interviewed) told him that he must have had a lot of good stuff on his application and must have done very well on his interview for him to have even received a scholarship, considering his major was History. In fact, there were some kids on this forum that initially received a 3yr AD,but were later upgraded to a 4yr after the completion of the third board. If memory serves, all but one of these applicants that received an upgrade were STEM majors. All that being said, I strongly advise against going with a STEM major just to try and "game" the scholarship process. There is such a high weed-out rate in those majors, it's best to stick with your true interests & passions. My DS is going to do his best to get his scholarship upgraded once on campus, knowing that he has already been blessed with the one he's received.
 
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