In need of some advice-AROTC

MountainDude

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Sep 12, 2016
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Hey! I'm a current high school senior and I have been really interested in an AROTC scholarship for awhile now but I'm still unsure about many things. Here's a few of my main questions:
-I've created a goarmy account and plan to start filling out my application tomorrow, is this something that can be done entirely online? (Up until the physical evaluation and interview of course) A recruiter I spoke with visiting my high school made it sound as if I should go straight to his physical office instead so I'm somewhat confused.
-As far as the physical evaluation goes, should I do the Presidential test with a coach at my school or opt for an army pft?
-Okay big one. Does my intended major matter with the Army? I've looked online and they promise that they'll support any college major I choose but again the recruiter I spoke with said that I'd have much better chances at a scholarship as a stem/engineering major.
-What exactly is the minuteman scholarship? The recruiter recommended I apply for it along side an AROTC scholarship but he couldn't really explain how the two differ.
-All that being said, is it still possible for me to finish and submit my application by the first board meeting in October? (today being Sep 12th, giving me just over two weeks). I realize this post makes me look pretty unprepared but I'm confident I could have it done if I figure out the specifics. Thanks for reading, any answers to any of my questions would be much appreciated.
 
Not official information. My knowledge as a HS senior that's been looking into this for several years:

Pretty much everything is online. Only in person stuff has been fitness test and the interview.
From what I've heard from others, do the Presidential Fitness Test over the APFT. Easier for them to compare and so on. Also, you should be able to do better on the Presidential. And yes, I'd do it with a coach. That's how I did it. Was easy to organize and get done efficiently.
Intended major doesn't really matter. Only thing I've heard of it affecting is that it might have a very slight affect on if you're trying to branch into aviation, but really doesn't matter for the scholarship. Can affect commissioning in the means of how different majors will help/hurt your GPA so should still think about that.
Minuteman scholarship is like an AROTC scholarship, except it requires you to commission into the National Guard, not able to go for AD or AR. So if what you really want out of this to get active duty, this might not be for you.
You probably can get it in, just don't want to make your application rushed. If you take a solid few days of actually sitting down and getting everything done, as in like this upcoming weekend, then that'll be helpful. Hardest part will be getting everything, including your PFT in, then scheduling your interview with a PMS with their schedule before the board deadline.

Hope this helped! Good luck!
 
Stop talking to the recruiter about Army ROTC and contact an enrollment officer at an ROTC program. One reason why he's telling you about minuteman is that he has to sign you up for guard or reserves before you are join ROTC. If something happens and college/Rotc doesn't work out you still belong to the guard/reserves.
Take the PFT, not the APFT.
 
The only reason you need to go to a recruiter/recruiting office is if you are going to enlist. They do have the ability to do several scholarship options, however, those would only be for the National Guard/Reserves, not active duty like army2021 mentioned above. You can do everything online, my advice is if you need help or have questions go one of two directions. Contact the ROO (Recruiting Operations Officer), at one of your schools of interest, or contact Cadet Command through your portal. Two things to think about with ROTC, whether you receive a national scholarship upfront or go on campus and participate and try for an on campus scholarship, is that you can walk away without any commitment before the 1st day of your sophomore year. The Guard/Reserves will always be there if you choose to go that route at another time. If you want a college degree, to be an officer and to go Active Duty, ROTC is a good option. AD is not guaranteed but at least it is an option with the ROTC route. Also the National Guard, The Reserves and the college money they offer will still be there after the ROTC boards are done.

Definitely do the Presidential Fitness Test, the form is on the portal and you can print it out and take it to a coach or physical education teacher at your school (1 min PU, 1 min curlups, 1 mile run). You do not want to do the APFT and use the first minute of each, because it will be slower if you are on a 2 min/2 mile pace. If you want to try to get it done before October board, get your grades and test scores loaded into your application (don't send them, upload them yourself), and then you will be able to schedule your interview once those are approved, which takes a business day or two. One reason to wait is if you could improve your interview score by say taking the ACT/SAT again. Full points for those requires a 24 or higher on the ACT or an 1100 or higher CR/M on the SAT. My daughter had under that so she elected to wait, retake and then first apply for the second board. If she had a score of 24 or higher she would of got it in for the first board, then still retaken and submitted later. You just only have one shot at the interview points, so you want to make sure you are able to get the best score out of 200 you can. Good luck to you, and please keep us updated or if you have more questions!
 
Stop talking to the recruiter about Army ROTC and contact an enrollment officer at an ROTC program. One reason why he's telling you about minuteman is that he has to sign you up for guard or reserves before you are join ROTC. If something happens and college/Rotc doesn't work out you still belong to the guard/reserves.
Take the PFT, not the APFT.

clarksonarmy, it is no wonder you were able to respond before I posted my post because you were able to answer in about 1/5 of the words I used! We are so lucky to have you (and I need to work on being concise....)
 
Not official information. My knowledge as a HS senior that's been looking into this for several years:

Pretty much everything is online. Only in person stuff has been fitness test and the interview.
From what I've heard from others, do the Presidential Fitness Test over the APFT. Easier for them to compare and so on. Also, you should be able to do better on the Presidential. And yes, I'd do it with a coach. That's how I did it. Was easy to organize and get done efficiently.
Intended major doesn't really matter. Only thing I've heard of it affecting is that it might have a very slight affect on if you're trying to branch into aviation, but really doesn't matter for the scholarship. Can affect commissioning in the means of how different majors will help/hurt your GPA so should still think about that.
Minuteman scholarship is like an AROTC scholarship, except it requires you to commission into the National Guard, not able to go for AD or AR. So if what you really want out of this to get active duty, this might not be for you.
You probably can get it in, just don't want to make your application rushed. If you take a solid few days of actually sitting down and getting everything done, as in like this upcoming weekend, then that'll be helpful. Hardest part will be getting everything, including your PFT in, then scheduling your interview with a PMS with their schedule before the board deadline.

Hope this helped! Good luck!

Thanks, this actually clears up alot. The online application is much more concise then I had imagined it would be but anything I can get helps.
 
The only reason you need to go to a recruiter/recruiting office is if you are going to enlist. They do have the ability to do several scholarship options, however, those would only be for the National Guard/Reserves, not active duty like army2021 mentioned above. You can do everything online, my advice is if you need help or have questions go one of two directions. Contact the ROO (Recruiting Operations Officer), at one of your schools of interest, or contact Cadet Command through your portal. Two things to think about with ROTC, whether you receive a national scholarship upfront or go on campus and participate and try for an on campus scholarship, is that you can walk away without any commitment before the 1st day of your sophomore year. The Guard/Reserves will always be there if you choose to go that route at another time. If you want a college degree, to be an officer and to go Active Duty, ROTC is a good option. AD is not guaranteed but at least it is an option with the ROTC route. Also the National Guard, The Reserves and the college money they offer will still be there after the ROTC boards are done.

Definitely do the Presidential Fitness Test, the form is on the portal and you can print it out and take it to a coach or physical education teacher at your school (1 min PU, 1 min curlups, 1 mile run). You do not want to do the APFT and use the first minute of each, because it will be slower if you are on a 2 min/2 mile pace. If you want to try to get it done before October board, get your grades and test scores loaded into your application (don't send them, upload them yourself), and then you will be able to schedule your interview once those are approved, which takes a business day or two. One reason to wait is if you could improve your interview score by say taking the ACT/SAT again. Full points for those requires a 24 or higher on the ACT or an 1100 or higher CR/M on the SAT. My daughter had under that so she elected to wait, retake and then first apply for the second board. If she had a score of 24 or higher she would of got it in for the first board, then still retaken and submitted later. You just only have one shot at the interview points, so you want to make sure you are able to get the best score out of 200 you can. Good luck to you, and please keep us updated or if you have more questions!

Hopefully if my high school can process my official transcript within the week, I can knock out the application this month. I'm also requesting my dual enrollment record from the community college that I have credits to; not sure if that's something I should include in my application though. I also need to find a reliable way to convert my gpa from the 5.0 to the 4.0 scale. The AROTC application only accepts the latter. I want to just subtract a point from my current gpa but I'm not positive that's accurate. Lastly, I think my sat score is okay for AROTC although I need to improve it to get into my first choice school so I am testing again October 1st. Is 1270 a competitive sat score? I don't plan on taking the act.
Thanks for the help!
 
Hopefully if my high school can process my official transcript within the week, I can knock out the application this month. I'm also requesting my dual enrollment record from the community college that I have credits to; not sure if that's something I should include in my application though. I also need to find a reliable way to convert my gpa from the 5.0 to the 4.0 scale. The AROTC application only accepts the latter. I want to just subtract a point from my current gpa but I'm not positive that's accurate. Lastly, I think my sat score is okay for AROTC although I need to improve it to get into my first choice school so I am testing again October 1st. Is 1270 a competitive sat score? I don't plan on taking the act.
Thanks for the help!

Here is a conversion program for 5.0 to 4.0 GPA:
http://em.tsu.edu/registrar/gpacc.php

1270 is a decent score but you should attempt take it again because Army ROTC does "superscore" the SAT. (takes the best scores over time). Just as a guideline the current average West Point SAT score is 1340 (new SAT). *

* source:
http://www.prepscholar.com/sat/s/colleges/West-Point-SAT-scores-GPA
 
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