Does School or Major Affect Getting AROTC Scholarship?

bfhsj

AROTC Cadet, commissioning May 2021
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
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Hi, I am a rising high school senior and I am in the process of applying for an Army ROTC scholarship. I'm hoping that I can get some clarification on a couple topics.

1. Do the universities I list on my application affect whether or not I receive a (4-year) scholarship? I am applying to and plan on listing schools that are more difficult to get in to than most, with Vanderbilt currently being my #1 choice. I heard that the more difficult the school is, the more difficult it is to receive an ROTC scholarship, is this true?

2. Does the major I list on my application affect whether or not I receive a (4-year) scholarship? Although I am not decided on a major yet, economics and political science are the current majors I am considering. Would it increase my chances of receiving a scholarship to instead go with a STEM major that interests me, such as industrial engineering or statistics? I know with Navy or Air Force it definitely would, but I haven't been able to find anything for Army.

Thank you so much for your time.
 
Hi, I am a rising high school senior and I am in the process of applying for an Army ROTC scholarship. I'm hoping that I can get some clarification on a couple topics.

1. Do the universities I list on my application affect whether or not I receive a (4-year) scholarship? I am applying to and plan on listing schools that are more difficult to get in to than most, with Vanderbilt currently being my #1 choice. I heard that the more difficult the school is, the more difficult it is to receive an ROTC scholarship, is this true?

2. Does the major I list on my application affect whether or not I receive a (4-year) scholarship? Although I am not decided on a major yet, economics and political science are the current majors I am considering. Would it increase my chances of receiving a scholarship to instead go with a STEM major that interests me, such as industrial engineering or statistics? I know with Navy or Air Force it definitely would, but I haven't been able to find anything for Army.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thanks for your questions. I am the ROO at Penn State, and I've heard all of these questions before (mainly in person).

1) The Universities you list do NOT impact your Army ROTC scholarship chances. List your schools in order of your preference, as USACC looks to match merit with preference as much as possible. More than likely, you'll be awarded a scholarship to several schools at the top of your preference list. If Vanderbilt is your #1 choice, but you aren't offered admission, the hope is that you were also offered a scholarship to your #2 and #3 schools.

One caveat to this answer: USACC may ask you to make a decision on your school choice before you are notified of your admissions status at that school. If this is the case, accept the school you want to attend. If you're declined admission to that school, you now have the strongest possible justification for a scholarship transfer request.

2) Majors should not impact your opportunities for a scholarship. Having been an ROTC Cadre member for the past seven years (4x as the freshmen instructor/Ranger Challenge Coach and 3x as a ROO), individuals who select STEM majors simply for the scholarship opportunities or potential salaries always fail. Do yourself a favor and pursue your passion. You'll work harder in a concentration you enjoy and your grades will show.
 
Welcome to the forum! There are lots of threads and conversations on these very topics. You can enter "major" under the ROTC forum, and there are about 195 listing that will cover question 2. For questions #1, try searching "college choice", again tons of great info.
 
I'm going to disagree with my friend from Penn State a little bit about school choice. Although the schools on your list won't effect your file's score it will effect whether you get an offer. Let's say there are 20 applicants that score higher than you on the first board that list Vandy. If Vandy's mission is 15 there are probably not going to be 21 scholarship offers made to Vandy following that board. There is a transfer process if you get an offer to a school other than your top choice, and the bottom line is that you still shouldn't try to out think this process and list schools or majors because you think it will give you a better chance. Your best chance comes from a well done application that lists all your SAL attributes and reflects your desire to serve as an Officer.

Everything else my Nittany Lion friend said is spot on.
 
Clarkson is a smart man, and we know each other personally. It's obvious he has your respect, and I will try to mirror his social media prowess.

That said, if he disagreed with my earlier post, he's probably going to disagree with this one, as well. One thing I always recommend, due to Penn State's high volume of applicants/winners, is to ensure you list multiple schools that you actually would attend, if given the choice of attending there on a scholarship, or your #1 choice without one. Let me emphasize this, do not pick random schools to manipulate the board. Cultivate multiple options, and hope for the best.

Two situations annually arise at the Nittany Lion Battalion (excuse the ROO shop talk):
  1. Penn State is capped at some point in the National Scholarship Process, normally in the middle of the 3rd board (depending on our accepts from the 1st and 2nd). Even then, we have people accept their scholarships and eventually fail to enroll for various reasons (USMA, USNA, NROTC, etc.) We also receive a fair amount of 'misfires' every year, meaning folks that request a transfer to Penn State on April 15th. This is why it's important to have more than 1-2 choices on your preference list, in the event that opportunity arises.
  2. Anywhere from 30-50% of incoming scholarship winners begin as engineers (they don't necessarily end as engineers, though...haha). Because Penn State's College of Engineering only uses about 6x academic credits from ROTC for electives, leaving 14+ credits that add on to their workload. This actually authorizes those individuals an additional semester to complete their degrees (including benefits), but it also means they will fall in the next Mission Set (i.e. fiscal year), and thus we now have to supplement that class to hit our target numbers (campus based, SMP, etc.)
Bottom line, the complexities that we see are far different than those at Clarkson, Lock Haven (another school I manage) or anywhere else. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss these things, and am available for more (except I'm on leave next week)!
 
I wish more ROO's would get involved with this forum. Their input is invaluable! Thank you Clarkson, Bama' and Penn.
I'm glad to hear I could be helpful. We need to invite the UCONN and Slippery Rock ROOs, if you want some serious entertainment. Of course, we'd have to increase the parental rating to PG-13, if that happened.

I think most of us would love to be more involved in this type of venue/correspondence, especially if we knew we were reducing our normal correspondence at the same time. My email inbox is overwhelming and individuals tend to ask similar questions, while doing very little research on their own.

I've always wanted to be more active on these boards, but have not had the time. Even now, I'm neglecting about 200x unread emails and 12x late tasks to talk in here. I'm going to try and divert some of those questions to this forum from now on, since the community can assist us in answering them.
 
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Penn State is dead on...each school/ROTC program has a different challenge. A national draw like Penn State has different challenges than a less well known, regional school like Clarkson or Lock Haven.

I'll echo his sentiment, don't try to out think the process. Chose schools that you plan to attend and majors you will be successful in. And don't be afraid to reach out to the ROOs. If you aren't hearing back from them keep trying. Most of us live to tell people about our program and help those who are interested take part.
 
Asking the ROO's to come to the forum seems a bit bassackwards to me. I do appreciate their input, however, along with everyone else.

As a mom and an adult that is involved in youth leadership programs, I would advise interested students to spend time speaking with/visiting/getting to know the schools and cadres. You as the applicant need to go to them! Be aware, respect, and value their time. Go to them with informed questions. The more informed your question, the more dedicated to the process and the program you will appear ( and be ). So be ready to invest at least as much of your time as you are expecting of theirs. With somewhere between 11 and 15,000 applicants for roughly 600 4-year scholarships each year, you can bet that many ROOs are overwhelmed. How will you, as an applicant, stand out from the thousands if their only contact with you is an email with the same standard questions that could be answered on the FAQs page? Just some food for thought.
 
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