NROTC Scholarship Chances

unbenchable

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Jun 2, 2015
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Hello all,
I am a rising senior in high school from the Bay Area, in California, hoping to get an NROTC scholarship. As of now, my GPA is about a 3.5 unweighted, at a rigorous independent high school. My ACT composite score was a 36, and I have a 790 on both my Math 2 and Chem SAT II subject tests. I intend to major in what the Navy designates a "Tier 1" major in college. I have played varsity soccer freshman, sophomore, and junior year, and intend to do so again as a senior. I played varsity baseball as a freshman, and varsity lacrosse as a sophomore and junior. I have also played club soccer since I was in middle school. I lead a small club at my school, and work part time as a Little League baseball umpire and a U.S. Soccer referee. I have done a small amount of community service through my school, but nothing that will stand out. For the fitness test, I can run about a 7:30-8 minute mile, and can do about 65 push-ups and 70 sit-ups in the two minute test. Assuming (and hoping) my interview goes well, I'm wondering what my chances of getting the scholarship are, and what I should be focusing on between now and when I submit the application in order to maximize my chances.

Thank you.
 
If you don't apply, your chances are zero so....

That said, to my eye, you're very competitive. Understand though that every year, thousands of young men and women just as competitive get a "not this year" letter...to steal a line from one of the other posters here, have a Plan B...and a Plan C....and a Plan D....

As for what to focus on...keep doing what you're doing, keep out of trouble, and think about why you want to serve. Do you want to a Naval Officer or are you looking for a way to pay for college.
 
I would say they are good. Your test scores are excellent, congrats. Guessing that will help your GPA out and show what kind of school you attend. Get run time down. Recommend below 7 minutes. Also sit ups could use some work. Don't believe NROTC follows USNA standards but 85-100 sit ups in 2 minutes isn't a bad goal. Also what schools you list will play into this. Good luck.
 
As for what to focus on...keep doing what you're doing, keep out of trouble, and think about why you want to serve. Do you want to a Naval Officer or are you looking for a way to pay for college.

Really appreciate the response, USMCdad. Believe me I wouldn't be taking this route if I wasn't completely committed to a career as an officer, I'm only asking because the scholarship would help my family quite a bit. I think I'd probably join NROTC in college even if I wasn't awarded a scholarship, but I'm still trying to maximize my chances of being awarded one.

Thank you.
 
Also what schools you list will play into this. Good luck.

As of now, schools that I'm considering listing are Cornell, BU, U of Rochester, RPI, University of Washington (Seattle), UCLA, USC (California), ASU, and Penn. Do you have any idea how that would affect it?
Thanks.
 
Hey there unbenchable,

I think you stand a good chance, but the only way to know for sure is to apply and kill that interview. Keep the fire going in regards to academics, leadership, and athletics. I myself life in Stockton, CA and was raised in the Bay Area! I'm getting done with school at UCSD in two weeks and then I head back home to Nor Cal. If you want to get some input from someone who is currently in NROTC as a Tier 1 major, I don't think it would be too much trouble to maybe exchange information and perhaps even meet up if you would be open to that!

Best of luck with the rest of high school and your application. Remember, the sooner you submit the better (as long as you put a good enough effort into it first)!
 
Hey there unbenchable,

I think you stand a good chance, but the only way to know for sure is to apply and kill that interview. Keep the fire going in regards to academics, leadership, and athletics. I myself life in Stockton, CA and was raised in the Bay Area! I'm getting done with school at UCSD in two weeks and then I head back home to Nor Cal. If you want to get some input from someone who is currently in NROTC as a Tier 1 major, I don't think it would be too much trouble to maybe exchange information and perhaps even meet up if you would be open to that!

Best of luck with the rest of high school and your application. Remember, the sooner you submit the better (as long as you put a good enough effort into it first)!

Thank you for the response. With regards to the interview, I've heard before to do the obvious: show up well-dressed, bring your resume/transcript, give the impression you're looking to make a career in the navy, etc. Any specific advice you can give about it other than this? I want to give the best impression possible when the time comes.
 
Also what schools you list will play into this. Good luck.

As of now, schools that I'm considering listing are Cornell, BU, U of Rochester, RPI, University of Washington (Seattle), UCLA, USC (California), ASU, and Penn. Do you have any idea how that would affect it?
Thanks.
The school selection really has no bearing on if you are awarded a NROTC Scholarship. They rank the scholarship files and the top ones are awarded the scholarship. Then the winner's files go to the placement area, where they match up your request with your school choices, based on your rank order and if the college still has scholarship slots available, since each school has a max number they can offer. So let's say you get your application done early in the selection cycle and you list Cornell as your top school, followed in order by the list of schools you have posted above. If you are awarded the scholarship during the first board, it will be awarded to Cornell, since the slots are not filled. Let's say you don't get the scholarship awarded until April, then they will go down the list from your first choice to your last and award the scholarship to the first school on your list that has a slot. If a bunch of awardees previously had selected Cornell, then you would not get the scholarship there, but they would continue down your list to find one that has availability. If none of them still have slots, they may select a school that still has slots, that you did not even apply to (not typical). If you were awarded a scholarship to another school, but still really wanted to go to Cornell, you could put your name on their wait list. If another scholarship winner who was awarded the scholarship to Cornell, does not get admitted to the college, then they will go to the wait list and pull the first name off the list to now have their scholarship swapped to Cornell. So the key is to get your application in early to win a scholarship and get it awarded to the school of your choice and then insure you actually get into the school! Some NROTC programs such as University of San Diego, University of Notre Dame, etc. are very popular and their slots typically fill up quickly. Every year, though, the selective schools do have slots that open up off the wait list, as scholarship winners find out they are not accepted to the school and then they have to try to transfer their school to another school that they want to go to that still has a slot.
 
Interview advice: When the interviewer asks if you have any questions....make sure you do. And make sure that the question(s) are open ended questions.

Good luck!
 
I believe you are competitive for all of the services. You did not mention your class rank. If you are outside the top 10% of your class, be prepared to explain in your interview why, as your board scores tell a different story about you. Please consider applying to the other services as well. It gives you options and also opens up the number of schools you can look at.
My DS did that and almost ended up going the Army route. Each program is different and has strengths and weaknesses. Make sure you are finding the right fit for you.
Good luck,
OS
 
I believe you are competitive for all of the services. You did not mention your class rank. If you are outside the top 10% of your class, be prepared to explain in your interview why, as your board scores tell a different story about you.
OS

My school does not rank students, to my knowledge. I've asked before and I've been told that there are no rankings. Even so, when it comes to GPA, I very much doubt I'm in the top 10%. How would I deal with this?
 
If your school doesn't rank, it doesn't rank. Period. Don't volunteer an estimate of your position in the class that may very well be inaccurate and harmful to your application.
 
If your school doesn't rank, it doesn't rank. Period. Don't volunteer an estimate of your position in the class that may very well be inaccurate and harmful to your application.

Thank you. Will attending a school that doesn't rank hurt or weight my application in any way against students from other schools that do rank?
 
As someone whole has received an NROTC scholarship for the upcoming year, I'd say your chances are looking pretty good. I recommend doing more community service such as an animal shelter, food pantry, an volunteer at a veterans nursing home. Your physical fitness could also use some work. I'd try to get at least a 6:30 mile and max the push ups (75) and the sit ups (95 I think). Should you do these things, then I'd say you would also have a decent chance at receiving an appointment to one of the academies which might be a better solution if money is tight as the academies are 100 percent free, while NROTC only covers tuition.
 
Your physical fitness could also use some work. I'd try to get at least a 6:30 mile and max the push ups (75) and the sit ups (95 I think).

I know my fitness needs work; the confusing thing for me, however, is which fitness assessment I will have to submit with my application for NROTC. I've tried to do research online, and have found multiple different tests. Is this the right assessment I should be training for?

Thanks.
 
If NROTC is like AFROTC they will ask your guidance counselor to submit a school profile. This will include certain things, such as, grading scale (7 or 10 point), weight scale for honors/AP/IB, requirements to take an AP class, % of students that take AP and the breakdown of post high school (% that go Ivy, 4 year, 2 year or directly into the workforce). From there they place that information into their algorithm to level out the playing field for every applicant.

There are more than 2000 HSs in the nation, and many applicants are also homeschooled. Non- ranking has no true impact in the selection because they have the school profile to use for their algorithm.

Your stats appear to be strong, but 1 word of advice, most kids believe they go to a rigorous HS, however unless you find out from the guidance department that 25%+ go Ivy than it might be just your opinion. I would use Naviance to see how you match up with those colleges.

For NROTC I think you need to cut that run time. Max points are for runs @ 5:30. Nearing 8 minute mile can hurt you, not a lot because it is still passing, but impo you don't want to leave any points on the table that you can control. PFA is something you can control. You don't want to say had my PFA, especially if my run been just a tad higher maybe I would have received a scholarship.

This is a long haul for the scholarship. Assume no answer until October. Also be careful if you do ED to UPenn, Cornell or any college and get accepted that is binding, however NROTC may not award the scholarship to that college. If you need the scholarship to attend, than you will be left scrambling for funds or hoping that they will transfer the scholarship come late April/early May.

As always, get your medical records in order now. If you know that a doc prescribed an inhaler for preemptive reasons, get in front of it. Have allergies, get the records in order. Any long term prescription after 13, get your records in order. Believe it or not, DoDMERB is usually where recipients get tripped up.

Good luck, and thank you for wanting to defend this great nation.
 
For NROTC I think you need to cut that run time. Max points are for runs @ 5:30. Nearing 8 minute mile can hurt you, not a lot because it is still passing, but impo you don't want to leave any points on the table that you can control. PFA is something you can control. You don't want to say had my PFA, especially if my run been just a tad higher maybe I would have received a scholarship.

Good luck, and thank you for wanting to defend this great nation.

Thanks for the advice. I know I definitely need to get the run time down, it's my worst attribute in the PFA as of now. Is there anything else you see in my stats or what I've written above that stands out, either as something positive that I should keep up, or something negative that I should definitely work on between now and submitting my application?
 
Your physical fitness could also use some work. I'd try to get at least a 6:30 mile and max the push ups (75) and the sit ups (95 I think).

I know my fitness needs work; the confusing thing for me, however, is which fitness assessment I will have to submit with my application for NROTC. I've tried to do research online, and have found multiple different tests. Is this the right assessment I should be training for?

Thanks.
Depends on whether you're applying for Navy Option or Marine Option. They each have their own assessment. They are each the same assessment that enlisted folks in those services go through. Easily findable through Google.
 
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