ROTC and college selection

Polly59

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How accurate is ROTC in matching scholarships to schools at which the candidate has a decent chance at being accepted ? DS son was awarded 4yr scholarships at 3 very competitive schools. He's been turned down at 1; waiting for April to hear from other 2. He also applied to less competitive schools. I'm curious as to why they wouldn't give one scholarship to a more likely school ? I understand they are not admissions officers and have no control, but how often does it happen that someone doesn't get into ANY of the schools where a scholarship has been awarded? I know you can petition to have scholarship transferred, but wouldn't it save a lot of headache for everyone if a likely school were included?
 
I could be wrong, but I believe it is the candidate's responsibility to make sure that he is accepted to the schools he selects/lists. AROTC doesn't match. Your son could've saved himself some headaches if he had listed a safety school on his scholarship application.
 
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+1 to txpotato. ROTC does not assess the possibility of being accepted by the colleges, that's an applicant responsibility. It certainly does happen that candidates receive scholarships to schoolswo which they are not admitted. I also know applicants have been awarded scholarships to schools they didn't even apply to as the slots were all taken at the colleges they listed.
 
+1 to txpotato. ROTC does not assess the possibility of being accepted by the colleges, that's an applicant responsibility. It certainly does happen that candidates receive scholarships to schoolswo which they are not admitted. I also know applicants have been awarded scholarships to schools they didn't even apply to as the slots were all taken at the colleges they listed.
+1 to txpotato. ROTC does not assess the possibility of being accepted by the colleges, that's an applicant responsibility. It certainly does happen that candidates receive scholarships to schoolswo which they are not admitted. I also know applicants have been awarded scholarships to schools they didn't even apply to as the slots were all taken at the colleges they listed.
Thank you- I was under the impression he did give safety schools but none were chosen by ROTC. This is all very new to me, so I apologize if I ought to have known the answer .
 
Polly,
He very well could have given safety schools. An applicant is allowed to list up to 7, but only 3 are often given.
If he put his safety schools in say slots 4/5/6/7 and his 1/2/3 options weren't filled, then he could have only gotten options for the competitive schools.
 
If I were you, I would look into transferring th
How accurate is ROTC in matching scholarships to schools at which the candidate has a decent chance at being accepted ? DS son was awarded 4yr scholarships at 3 very competitive schools. He's been turned down at 1; waiting for April to hear from other 2. He also applied to less competitive schools. I'm curious as to why they wouldn't give one scholarship to a more likely school ? I understand they are not admissions officers and have no control, but how often does it happen that someone doesn't get into ANY of the schools where a scholarship has been awarded? I know you can petition to have scholarship transferred, but wouldn't it save a lot of headache for everyone if a likely school were included?
If I were you, I would look into transferring the scholarship!
 
Cadet Command and the boards do not do any "matching up". Especially in the early rounds, our offers go out before school decisions are made. The battalions have a couple opportunities for some input. When we look at the "board ready list" the PMS can indicate that the applicant will or won't meet admissions requirements and he can recommend that an applicant should or should not receive a 3 year and 4 year scholarship offer. From what I can see many schools don't make those indications (they leave them blank) and based on what I could see of the first two rounds plenty of applicants that were "no'd" by the PMS still got offers to the school. My feeling is that Cadet Command is ignoring this part of the process this year, but I could be wrong.

The other issue is that some Battalions have better relationship with admissions then others. In my case I know exactly who has or hasn't applied/been accepted to Clarkson. I don't have the same visibility with my partner schools. I have many peers who have varying degrees of cooperation with their admissions, so it's hard for us to know and match up.

So, the bottom line is that school list is important and needs to be realistic and well thought out. And, applicants need to be ready to make the transfer process work. Hopefully there is an acceptance letter to an alternative school ready to go.
 
I understand the concept of what a safety school is, but what would be an example of what I should use as a safety school? Like a low population university, a small town university, etc.?
 
I understand the concept of what a safety school is, but what would be an example of what I should use as a safety school? Like a low population university, a small town university, etc.?
That's probably varied as the individual him/herself. This can be based on soooooo many factors; ie: race, gender, academic intellect, physical/athletic abilities, etc.

The point of a "safety" school is one in which you know you will get accepted to (no if, and, or buts) - and is used as a "last resort" school.
 
For example, a safety school is often Medium State U or Big State U. If all else fails, they often have ROTC, it's not too hard to get scholarships, you get in-state tuition if you live there. YMMV
 
I understand the concept of what a safety school is, but what would be an example of what I should use as a safety school? Like a low population university, a small town university, etc.?
And looking at common data set for the university you can see the test scores and GPA for the accepted students at the 25th - 75th%iles. You want to be at or above that 75th %ile for a safety.
 
And looking at common data set for the university you can see the test scores and GPA for the accepted students at the 25th - 75th%iles. You want to be at or above that 75th %ile for a safety.
And from experience, I'd try to apply to more than one. DS was rejected at what should have been a safety school, possibly because given his profile, they probably thought he saw it as such. Ironically, it was a school he really wanted to go to. It s a crapshoot, no two ways about it.
 
I would also agree and stress that it is not just being in the percentiles, but it is also going to involve things like extra curricular. Colleges want more than just a book smart applicant. The ECs show that the applicant has time management under their belt too. In other words there isn't a question if the student lives and breathes only academics around the clock because they know that being on a team sport and holding a part time job takes many hours away from the books.

If your school has Naviance you will be able to see from your school data if the school would be a reach, match or safety. If you don't have that program, I would suggest going to www.collegeconfidential.com There are sub-forums for almost every college. Searching through the threads there you can see posters with their own stats and see where you are from a racking and stacking historical perspective regarding admissions.
 
I think you have nothing to lose by your son calling the Director of Admissions at the school he did not get into and letting them know he won a 4 yr AROTC scholarship. I bet they do not know your son recieved a scholarship for their school and that's 4 years of tuition they do not need to worry about. It couldn't hurt.
 
I think you have nothing to lose by your son calling the Director of Admissions at the school he did not get into and letting them know he won a 4 yr AROTC scholarship. I bet they do not know your son recieved a scholarship for their school and that's 4 years of tuition they do not need to worry about. It couldn't hurt.
Yes, his College counselor called the 2 schools he still has to hear from and told them about scholarships. DOA says they don't take it into account-I can't fathom why - but will add to his file. So they know, but may or may not do any good. The whole college process in general makes no sense, and then you throw the military factor in and it becomes a quagmire.
 
My son was in a similar circumstance two years ago. Waitlisted by two and rejected by one. If you're waiting until April 1, I assume these are Ivy League schools (or similar reach schools). Our experience was the two Ivy's he applied to could care less about the four year scholarship.
Anyway, he ended up transferring his scholarship and ended up at a school that is a great fit. He is doing well academically and really enjoys ROTC.
 
Th
My son was in a similar circumstance two years ago. Waitlisted by two and rejected by one. If you're waiting until April 1, I assume these are Ivy League schools (or similar reach schools). Our experience was the two Ivy's he applied to could care less about the four year scholarship.
Anyway, he ended up transferring his scholarship and ended up at a school that is a great fit. He is doing well academically and really enjoys ROTC.
Not Ivy, but competitive and it could go either way. Thanks for sharing your experience; gives me some hope!
 
It is very important that your child tries to apply for early action NON-BINDING (not early decision). Most schools will notify you of acceptance before the 1st Board. Both application processes should run concurrently. If you list a school that you didnt get into contact cadet command immediately to adjust your list. When weighing the choices of schools in the application, try to take a look at the size of their ROTC unit and all that it encompasses. This is also a good representation of the amount of school funded scholarships that are distributed out after the last board. Unless your child is an exceptional all around grade/scores/athletics/rotc/community service student, the process is very competitive. We made the error in the 1st round by not placing the schools in a reasonable order of preference. My DS is an honors/high score/PVSA student and the BC for his school's unit, he lacked the athletics. He has gotten into all the schools we applied to and listed. We've been boarded through all 3 rounds. If he doesn't receive a scholarship this round, I would say the selection is VERY flawed. Especially since a boy in my DS school who had never participated in ROTC, good grades (but not honors) but great soccer player just received a 3 year scholarship.
 
Safe to assume it is flawed. But it is what it is.
Total numbers game.
How they rank students, how many scholarships are available.
I am sure every year there are those that do not get a scholarship that should have and the reverse.
 
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