Being offered several Scholarships. Does ACCEPTING equal ENROLL?

My son's ROTC scholarship letters are starting to come in. After reading many previous threads, he is still not sure how he should proceed.

He was offered a NROTC scholarship to his #1 choice which is a great private school ($$$). However, he hasn't been officially accepted there and the ROTC scholarship letter only gives him a week or so to accept. He was also offered a AFROTC scholarship at his #1 listed school (different school), but gave him several months to accept. He was just accepted into the AFROTC school.

If he accepts one of the scholarships does that constitute "enrolling" in a officer training program? The AFROTC site states "You may apply for any other officer training program, but once you enroll in another program, you will be removed from Air Force ROTC scholarship consideration...If you enroll in another program, notify the High School Scholarship Program Section immediately. Your failure to do this may cause permanent ineligibility for Air Force ROTC scholarships." The NROTC scholarship letter reads "If you enroll in any other U.S. military officer accession program prior to reporting to the NROTC unit, you automatically forfeit your NROTC scholarship." Does Enroll mean Accept?

Are they talking about accepting appointments at one of the Academies, or just accepting a scholarship from any ROTC program? He doesn't want to accept the NROTC scholarship before he officially is accepted into the school listed in the scholarship. And he doesn't want to accept it if it automatically nullifies his scholarship offer from AFROTC. If he had already been accepted to both schools we know the choice would now be where does he want to study and serve, but the decision is not so clear right now. Why did the NROTC program only give him a week or so to reply? I guess it all boils down to what does "enroll" mean.

Any help and/or clarification would be appreciated.

Regards....

DeVakhan said:

If he accepts one of the scholarships does that constitute "enrolling" in a officer training program? The AFROTC site states "You may apply for any other officer training program, but once you enroll in another program, you will be removed from Air Force ROTC scholarship consideration...If you enroll in another program, notify the High School Scholarship Program Section immediately. Your failure to do this may cause permanent ineligibility for Air Force ROTC scholarships." The NROTC scholarship letter reads "If you enroll in any other U.S. military officer accession program prior to reporting to the NROTC unit, you automatically forfeit your NROTC scholarship." Does Enroll mean Accept?
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I guess it all boils down to what does "enroll" mean.

Any help and/or clarification would be appreciated.

Regards....

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Accept does not mean he is enrolled. Accept the scholarships. No commitment is incurred until enrolled and contracted. Acceptance does not nullify the other offers. Call the NROTC unit and ask what they recommend regarding acceptance to the school. Even if he is denied acceptance to the assigned school he can later request a transfer (though not guaranteed) if Navy is his preference.

AROTC Parent said:

Accept does not mean he is enrolled. Accept the scholarships.

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Agree 100%.

AROTC Parent said:

Accept does not mean he is enrolled. Accept the scholarships. No commitment is incurred until enrolled and contracted. Acceptance does not nullify the other offers. Call the NROTC unit and ask what they recommend regarding acceptance to the school. Even if he is denied acceptance to the assigned school he can later request a transfer (though not guaranteed) if Navy is his preference.

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USMCGrunt said:

Agree 100%.

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So what does enroll actually mean if not acceptance? I know colleges don't want people to accept offers of admittance to several universities. Some even say if you accept their offer of admission, and then accept one somewhere else, your offer will be withdrawn.

The NROTC contract specifically says "If you enroll in any other U.S. military officer accession program prior to reporting to the NROTC unit, you automatically forfeit your NROTC scholarship. " What does enroll mean? Clearly here it means something other than showing up, or reporting to the NROTC unit.

Thanks for the help. This is too important to get wrong...

Regards...

Acceptance means just that... you accepted the scholarship but have not reported to any unit. Enrolled DOES mean you showed up and reported to the unit. Contracted means you passed the required physical tests after reporting to the school and signed a contract to serve upon graduation. I'm in complete agreement with AROTC Parent and USMCGrunt.

You are correct about what colleges say about accepting offers of admittance elsewhere. However, this has nothing to do with the ROTC scholarship processes. Accepting a scholarship is not the same as accepting admittance to the college. You usually have until May 1 to make an acceptance decision to any college..

You should accept both scholarships and defer your final decision until you have more information.

DeVakhan said:

So what does enroll actually mean if not acceptance? I know colleges don't want people to accept offers of admittance to several universities. Some even say if you accept their offer of admission, and then accept one somewhere else, your offer will be withdrawn.

The NROTC contract specifically says "If you enroll in any other U.S. military officer accession program prior to reporting to the NROTC unit, you automatically forfeit your NROTC scholarship. " What does enroll mean? Clearly here it means something other than showing up, or reporting to the NROTC unit.
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You are really overthinking this.

Don't show up on August 2nd at a school for AFROTC and begin AF "US military officer accession program" classes (AFROTC) only to decide you made a mistake and want Navy - thinking you can begin the Navy ROTC program on September 10th at a different school with a September semester start date. Don't enlist in the Army as a National Guard officer candidate, attend basic training, and then begin NROTC. Don't show up to any of the SA's to begin their summer training.

None of these decisions contractually prevent you from accepting all scholarship offers prior to beginning one of them. He can accept the scholarship offers then weigh the options before determining which program is best for his career aspirations.

Not trying to overthink this. But one word could make a difference in a contract. There's a whole profession that makes a good living at word torture. I know college admission and ROTC acceptance are two different things, as my posts clearly show. Thanks for the input.

As an aside, is it normal for the Navy to give little more than a week to accept a scholarship? If we had been on vacation, or out of town for an emergency, we wouldn't have seen the letter in time and he would have lost the scholarship opportunity.

Thanks Again... We just wanted to make sure we doing the right thing.... Regards.

DeVakhan- PM Sent