Scholarship Application Process

Pardon my ignorance on the subject, but I'd like to ask a question. When applying for an ROTC scholarship, I presume that the student must indicate which schools the student has applied to. Assuming qualification, is the student offered a scholarship to one school or some schools but not to others? Are the ROTC schools limited in the number of scholarships ROTC will assign to each school? I think I know the answers, but I am looking for guidance. Thank you.

The answers to those questions will depend on the branch you are applying to. Is it Army, Navy/Marine, or Air Force?

That would be the Navy/Marine Corps ROTC.

First, check the NROTC scholarship site to see the list of colleges with NROTC units or cross town affiliates. If there is no NROTC unit, then no schoarship is available. Also campus locations can be an issue as well. Penn State unit is at the University Park (Main Campus) so if you do not get accepted to that campus you need to get transfered to that campus to use the scholarship. Rank your colleges accordingly, if they use rolling admissions, apply early so that your competition for a spot is less. You do not want to get a scholarship and not get into the college and then need to transfer the scholarship. Yes there are limited number of scholarship slots per unit. Popular units may fill early, Villanova unit was filled before they started regular admits in Feb this year. Make your list, apply early especially for the rolling admit schools and keep up the stats. Good luck on your journey.
Go Navy!

felixbed, that was an excellent summary. Interestingly, you mentioned two schools that my son applied to. He was wait-listed at Penn State's University Park campus but did get into an alternate campus. He was accepted at Villanova but his scholarship was to another school and I have been unsuccessful in getting the ROTC office at Villanova to call back and tell us if there are any Marine slots available. I think you've just given me the reason why!

He was wait-listed at the school he was awarded the scholarship to, but successfully transferred the scholarship to his second-choice school (who was recruiting him for football anyway).

A couple of other things for tucker92 to consider:

1) if you're looking at a Marine ROTC scholarship, there are fewer Marine scholarships than Navy ones available, and in general there are fewer Marine slots than Navy slots in a school's unit.

2) if you haven't chosen your schools yet, look into their policies with respect to covering room and board expenses. The ROTC scholarship is for tuition, books, and uniforms only. Room and board is not covered. Every school is different in the way they handle R&B. The second-choice school he transferred his scholarship to has a separate ROTC room/board award that covers everything. Villanova doesn't cover room or board. Every school is different and you should investigate their policies to avoid surprises.

Sorry for the lengthy post - hope this helps and best of luck to you!

My daughter is considering The Citadel, VMI, Univ. of South Carolina, and SUNY Maritime, for starters. Any thoughts on whether those would be "popular units?"

She is also considering USNA and USCGA, so we'll be pulling together admissions materials by the spring of junior year.

tucker92 said:

My daughter is considering The Citadel, VMI, Univ. of South Carolina, and SUNY Maritime, for starters. Any thoughts on whether those would be "popular units?"

She is also considering USNA and USCGA, so we'll be pulling together admissions materials by the spring of junior year.

Click to expand...

Tucker92, to share with you our similar experience. My son did a fair amount of research and scheduled visits to schools he felt were a good fit. The point of the visits were to gauge the level of commitment to the Marine option in each program.
Out of your list of considerations, South Carolina is the school my son ended up setting his sights on as a first choice. One must measure the NROTC and the school as seperate measures that will be experienced at the same time. The total package is what must be measured. It must fit your student.
As parents of a incomming freshmen, we are more than pleased with his choice.

tucker92 said:

My daughter is considering The Citadel, VMI, Univ. of South Carolina, and SUNY Maritime, for starters. Any thoughts on whether those would be "popular units?"

She is also considering USNA and USCGA, so we'll be pulling together admissions materials by the spring of junior year.

Click to expand...

I was in a similar situation a year ago.

I applied to the Naval Academy and signed on under the Foundation Program (sorta like NAPS). Unfortunately I was not medically qualified as a result of poor vision.

After that was settled, I resorted to my backup...NROTC Marine Option. My first choice was University of South Carolina, and my second was Citadel. Ultimately I was assigned to USC.

I toured campus at USC and shadowed a Marine option midshipman in the unit. They have an outstanding program with instructors who care. I'm sure you won't find much difference at the Citadel, but the Citadel has a "corps of cadets" like Virginia Tech. It is more geared on the military environment. For example, if you're in the corps of cadets at the Citadel you wear your uniform almost 24/7; At USC you have to wear it once a week. So it just depends on the kind of college experience your daughter wants to have.

If you have any questions along the way about the process let me know and I'll be glad to help!

My wife is keen on USC exactly because it is not military all the time. I kind of like the idea of SUNY Maritime, whether there are cadets and discipline but is less intense than service academies, plus it has my daughter's preferred major, plus it's only 40 miles away as the crow flies; big downside for her is no track team, though she could play soccer there and be happy. After than the USNA right now her top choice is The Citadel.

Check out all possibilities - USMMA at Kings Point, NY hasn't been mentioned and has great opportunities as do the Coast Guard Academy and USNA and now is the time to get cracking on applications if she is entering her senior year. USNA and USMMA require congressional nominations PLUS great grades, etc.

I would highly recommend visiting VMI, the Citadel & Norwich. Each has their own culture, especially as it relates to females and you need to see/touch/feel it BEFORE going there. Personally, I think the federal academies are better for women.

The Maritime Schools (SUNY, Mass, Maine) are also excellent schools with NROTC, depending on what her major inclinations are. Females do fine there with no (or little) harassment. The Navy and Marine ROTC officers at SUNY looked sharp at graduation!

There are some great options out there - visit, ask, apply and give it a shot. You can get unnecessarily turned on/off of a school by random chatter (like here), but keep an open mind and do the research and due diligence. Good luck!

Thanks. We're going to SUNY Maritime and USMMA this summer, since they are fairly local. We'll plan a trip to Norwich/Maine/USCGA in the fall after soccer and before basketball, and we'll probably see VMI, The Citadel and USC in the spring before track really starts up.

She's actually going into her junior year, but given the extra work that goes into service academy and NROTC application (in particular), and that she plays three varsity sports and thus has limited time frames inwhich to make college visits, I would like to narrow down the real interests and options before the application process gets going next spring.

I'd be really happy with SUNY Maritime or USMMA, personally. Somehow she seems to have developed a real jones for The Citadel.

Corp of Cadets

Tucker92,
Just wanted to add a note regarding the Corp of Cadets at Virginia Tech and Texas A&M. We didn't know about these programs initially in our college searches. If you are not familiar with them, you should check them out. They are a cross between a Military Academy and a regular ROTC program. My son opted for VT over USMMA because he felt it was a better fit for him. (I was rooting for USMMA- oh,well...) He loves VT for the "college feel", but it also has a very structured ROTC program. (My other son chose Texas A&M). Keep searching for the right fit-Good Luck!