Accepting more than one ROTC scholarship offer?

Does anyone know if it is okay for a scholarship applicant to accept more than one ROTC scholarship offer? My son applied for both Navy and Army ROTC scholarships, and he was just awarded the Navy ROTC scholarship last week (to his first choice school, Georgia Tech -- yeah!). We haven't heard anything on his Army ROTC scholarship yet though, and I'm wondering whether if he "accepts" the Navy ROTC scholarship it will in any way null and void his Army ROTC scholarship, does anyone know? I know from reading all the helpful info posted here it won't impact his applications at the military academies, but I wasn't sure about one ROTC vs. another. Thanks so much for any insights.

I am interested to see the responses. In my years here, I don't ever recall theis question, and I have a funky feeling it has not been asked because the devil is in the details.
~ Read the fine print of the scholarship.
~~ An SA appointment will release them contractually. Failure to pass the PFT will result in not contracting.

Congrats on the scholarship, but truthfully, maybe this isn't discussed because college is four years and NROTC vs AROTC is different regarding commissioning.
~ NROTC will demand Active Duty, there is no Guard/Reserve option.

No offense to AROTC, but if your DS has been awarded an NROTC scholarship this early, I just can't fathom he will not get an AROTC scholarship.

NROTC are STEM driven. 85% go STEM. They care about the intended major. Their avg SAT/ACT scores are much higher than AROTC.
~ it is rare to see an NROTC recipient with less than 28.
~ They are smaller than the Army, hence fewer scholarships.

Ask your DS point blank, you take either scholarship, they will own you the minute you commission for at least 4 years. What do you want to do for those years?
~ Fly helos? Great, what if you don't get that? Do you want to be on à boat or a tank?
~ SEAL/Ranger? Great what if?

College is 30 weeks a year. 20 hours a week in class. They choose the college and their major. Active Duty is 24/7/365 wherever the military decides. Korea, Fort Drum, etc. Is their choice. Public Affairs/Finance are their decision too.

Just saying, look long term now because in a blink of an eye they will commission! Or worse yet, in 18 months from now he may come and say I want out of this ROTC program and change to another ROTC program. That means goodbye scholarship. This is not uncommon. My belief is many bolt because they created an illusion as a 17 yr old that did not match the reality of ROTC.

Congrats. I guess the real question is if he is offered both which one does he accept to accept? If NROTC is top choice, I think it best to informed Army ROTC of your decision and move on. That will free up a spot for another kid at his/her first choice. If Army is the first choice, it will likely be a few weeks before he hears. Not sure how much time you have to accept the NROTC since it has been two years since DD went through, but it you have some time no reason not to stretch it out. Just be careful to accept within the time limit. I suspect the ROTC don't coordinate as they are separate commands.

Thanks for the responses, very helpful info. Will check the scholarship paperwork carefully and post here if I find out anything definitive. He would withdraw his Army ROTC scholarship right now, but there is one Army ROTC school he is quite interested in, and they do not have a Navy ROTC unit, so he wants to keep his options open. As soon as he knows which schools he is accepted into, he plans to withdraw the other scholarship, assuming he gets both.

ROTCparent said:

Does anyone know if it is okay for a scholarship applicant to accept more than one ROTC scholarship offer? My son applied for both Navy and Army ROTC scholarships, and he was just awarded the Navy ROTC scholarship last week (to his first choice school, Georgia Tech -- yeah!). We haven't heard anything on his Army ROTC scholarship yet though, and I'm wondering whether if he "accepts" the Navy ROTC scholarship it will in any way null and void his Army ROTC scholarship, does anyone know? I know from reading all the helpful info posted here it won't impact his applications at the military academies, but I wasn't sure about one ROTC vs. another. Thanks so much for any insights.

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He's probably okay. Army has no idea what Navy is doing, particularly during football games.


...wrong thread?

ROTCparent said:

Does anyone know if it is okay for a scholarship applicant to accept more than one ROTC scholarship offer? My son applied for both Navy and Army ROTC scholarships, and he was just awarded the Navy ROTC scholarship last week (to his first choice school, Georgia Tech -- yeah!). We haven't heard anything on his Army ROTC scholarship yet though, and I'm wondering whether if he "accepts" the Navy ROTC scholarship it will in any way null and void his Army ROTC scholarship, does anyone know? I know from reading all the helpful info posted here it won't impact his applications at the military academies, but I wasn't sure about one ROTC vs. another. Thanks so much for any insights.

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I checked my son's NROTC paperwork (four years old) but it states in multiple spots that he could decline the scholarship at any point until the school year begins.

^ right. He can accept both Army and Navy ROTC Scholarships while awaiting admissions decisions at the schools he has applied to. Even if Navy is first choice, if he doesn't get into his Navy ROTC school of choice, and does get into his Army ROTC school of choice, he can report on Day 1 of school to his Army Battalion.

Even if he does get the Navy ROTC Scholarship, AND gets into that school, he can still hold the Army ROTC Scholarship and during the summer can decide which he prefers.... he may prefer Navy now, and over the summer learn things and meet people who lead him to prefer the Army ROTC program. Yes, that is possible! What if he learns that with Army ROTC he can select Reserves and pursue a civilian career at the same time? Navy ROTC does not offer that option.

The fact is a cadet receiving both scholarships probably knows very little about how the programs differ while on campus, and what a career in both would be like. He doesn't know as a Sr. in HS enough to make an informed decision. It could take months for him to fully vet his options and reach the best decision.

Thank you, very very helpful, and totally makes sense. I was hoping that would be the case. My son really needs to go visit the schools he is applying to. He had such an insanely busy spring of his junior year and past summer doing everything he needed to do to be competitive on his academy and ROTC applications that we did not have any time to go visit anywhere (except for the Naval Academy Candidate Visit Weekend and West Point Summer Leaders).

ROTCparent: you asked and got some commentary back on your question. Glad to hear it helped. You didn't ask about this but I did want to cycle back on a point Pima was making... choosing a branch of service. I don't know your background but assuming you don't have a military background I would just like to point out that the choice of military branch is just as important as school and academic major choices for your DS. The roles, missions, specialties, duty stations, training and career paths are very different when comparing the Navy and the Army. Choosing between them will be important because that choice will dictate the next 12 years (4 school + 8 active duty (or more)).

Best of luck!

Accepting more than one ROTC scholarship?

That's a good point, thanks. (Correct, no immediate family military background.)

EDelahanty said:

He's probably okay. Army has no idea what Navy is doing, particularly during football games.


...wrong thread?

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I'm not sure how much better (if any) Army would be with a different coach but I can tell you their game plan sucks no matter who they are playing. They are painful to watch.

If I were you at this point I would have him contact both units and do a ROTC tour. What I mean by this is have him ask to meet with other cadets, especially juniors and seniors.

The reasons why are several
1. The cadets at that level either are getting ready to submit their career field requests or they already have them
~ They can give insight into why they chose those careers.
2. Every unit is unique personality wise
~ There are cadets that fall in love with the school, but never feel at home with the unit. Doing the tour for the college, but not the unit means they have only placed one part of their life into the equation and leaving the other part up to hope.

Think about it. There are kids that will list their schools on paper, but once they do the campus tours that number one school may drop to the bottom of the list.

I don't think without doing a det.only tour you can really know which one to take if you do not know which branch and are just going for the scholarship.

You've got time...You can accept all the offers you get, and each branch is going to be oblivious, unless you tell them. For Army you are going to have to accept an offer to only one school, but even that isn't binding, and you may be able to request to transfer that offer. Had a 4 year scholarship winner email me in July of this year to let me know she was going to attend the Air Force Academy instead of accepting her 4 year. Perfectly fine by me. Have your son take his time and do his research.

Craig said:

That will free up a spot for another kid at his/her first choice.

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Congratulations on being chosen in the first round! Hang on to every available option until the bitter end. Absolutely anything can happen, as evidenced many times over on these boards. The “he should release it so someone else can have it” line is not valid in my opinion. He earned it; it is his to accept or give away, right up until the deadline.

Hanging on to opportunities that you worked very hard to earn is your right. If the other person was so good, they would have earned it too. Like it or not, life is competitive and political, as is the military career ladder. Start learning to play the game now!

NROTC requires maintaining a 3.0 Gpa for scholarship if I recall- again higher than AROTC. That sometimes isn't so easy the first year especially for STEM majors.

Another significant difference is that ALL NROTC -Navy Option mids, not just STEM majors, must take a full year of Calculus, and a full year of Calculus-based Physics. So even the non-STEM majors in NROTC-Navy Option have to at least be good enough at math and science to pass the year of Physics.

Thank you, these posts are all very helpful!

Roxymom said:

NROTC requires maintaining a 3.0 Gpa for scholarship if I recall- again higher than AROTC. That sometimes isn't so easy the first year especially for STEM majors.

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It's a good idea to confirm that - I think it's actually a 2.5 cumulative to retain the scholarship. IIRC my son's NROTC detachment had certain in-house requirements for study hours for grades below a certain threshold but above a 2.5, but that did not affect scholarship status.

You don't have to do Navy until you show up the first day and sign. I don't know about Army. Accept the Navy one now, and if things change later on, you are not obligated to go through with it.


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