Speed of the AROTC Processs

goaliedad

Parent
10-Year Member
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First, I do have to compliment the AROTC electronic application processing system. We had sent our transcript request form off to goaliegirl's a couple of weeks back and goaliegirl spent the past couple of weeks neatening up the personal statement and clarifying her sports participation and volunteer work on her application (they do limit you to a certain number of characters in the text sections).

I'm sitting there with her when she submits it the other night just after midnight and then both of us retire for the evening. Well, I go to work the next day and get a call from her in the early afternoon. She got the email notifying her that she can go ahead and schedule an interview with the PMS. OK, that's about 13 hours from submit through initial scoring to notification of status based upon self-reporting.

I'm not sure how much of this is hand scored, but I'm impressed by the speed of the whole thing.

Now for the next question.

What besides the interview stands between goaliegirl and being board reviewed?

Here are things that we haven't turned in...
1) Official ACT scores
2) APFT and/or Presidential Physical Fitness Scores
3) Height and Weight Certification

I am assuming at this point we will be getting the notification from Concorde? Correct? However, IIRC the DoDMERB process runs independent of the board selection process.

Here is what it comes down to. Goaliegirl has several more school visits to do and won't finish them until late October. She doesn't want to have to make a choice until she's had a chance to visit (and perhaps reprioritize) all her schools. And of course, it would be nice to know which coaches are interested in her.

So what do we delay to make sure she doesn't go to a board until November?

Certainly, delaying the PMS interview would accomplish this, but with her being away at school, getting her to an interview once school starts becomes more difficult.

Open to ideas and questions...
 
Unless it is different than AFROTC, you are required to finish the basic file within 45 days (at least that was the case 2 yrs ago). By basic I mean Dodmerb and PFT.

Call and explain this to your PMS. I am sure she is not the first person to go through this scenario.
 
You have longer than 45 days.

goaliedad - They are quick because it's early in the scholarship season!

going back a couple of years, my daughter did her application around the end of July/early Aug.
She got her DoDMERB in Sept (I think). Hopefully your daughter can get hers before she goes off to school. I think she will get it in the next week or two.

My daughter didn't have her fitness testing done yet, iirc, the height/weight was done as a part of that. She can get that done at school by her PE teacher.
Keep in mind as a part of the interview some will request that they take the AFPT. They will let her know beforehand to bring sneakers and shorts.

In late summer my daughter started getting emails from schools inviting her to come for her PMS interview. She got busy with hockey and finally went in mid Oct.
Your daughter can do the PMS interview close to home or at one of the schools to which she applies.
While there is no rush as this point - the sooner she gets it done the earlier she can be offered a scholarship.
 
While there is no rush as this point - the sooner she gets it done the earlier she can be offered a scholarship.

This is exactly the issue. She is not in a hurry to 30 days to make a decision because she won't visit some of her schools until late October. I can't take time off in August for that trip due to the nature of my work.

At this point, I think we are probably inclined to put off the PMS interview until she has visited all the schools to ensure that we DON'T get an early scholarship offer. Perhaps we will do it in Minnesota in October while visiting schools there.

She just wants to make an informed decision on what school she will be attending for the next 4 years. So if it means delaying the AROTC scholarship process a bit by putting off the interview, I guess that is what it may take.

Yeah, it would be nice to be able to do the interview this summer and get it out of the way, but it may not be in her best interest.
 
Now that Cadet Command is making the selections - I am not sure how this all plays out. I think you should call Cadet Command or speak to a PMS - and get the best advice there.

I am under the impression that if you are offered a scholarship to a school on your list you will be able to change it later in the winter or spring. If that's the case there is no reason to delay.
 
You will be offered a list of up to 5 schools that you can accept your scholarship from. You can pick from any one of those when you are awarded the scholarship. On the offer letter, there were check boxes next to the top four schools that my son was offered, and he simply checked off the school he preferred. It doesn't just have to be the first one listed. You have up to 30 days to make your selection. The first board meets at the end of September, and you won't receive your offer letter until October. My son got his on October 7th last year. If she doesn't win a scholarship from the first board, she'll be rolled over to consideration to the next one, in which case, you're dilemma is mute. So if you're daughter is uncertain about which school she wants at this point, as long as it's not more than the top five she originally listed, you needn't hesitate to go ahead and submit the application because she will still have a choice. They are also pretty generous about letting you transfer your scholarship later on, as long as there are still openings in the unit.
 
So do you have to get a scholarship offer and get accepted into the 5 school on your list?
 
Yes. The receipt of an AROTC scholarship will not guarantee acceptance to the colleges you have picked. You must treat the college application as a separate process. I know for a fact that the Navy awarded 20 scholarships to kids trying to get into USC for fall 2009, and only 6 of them got accepted to the school.
 
It would probably be a good idea to speak to the scholarship officer at the schools in which you received the AROTC offer/or to which you are applying. They usually have a great relationship with admissions. My son had an interview with the scholarship officer at his first choice school in June and she told him that when they receive the notice that he has chosen their school, she gets on the phone with admissions to see if he would have a chance of admissions. She would not offer the scholarship to him if he did not have a good chance of getting in. Now, this is not a guarantee of admission, but at least my son knows that if his first choice is still on that list, then that scholarship officer is doing everything she can to get him admitted, if admissions is waivering.

She also told him that once he receives the offers and if #1 school is on the list to call her so she can go over the best plan. The best plan might be to take the sure-bet school (#2) and then transfer over.

Now, he already received a call from his #2 school PMS, ready to offer out-of-state tuition and room and board. He met with that PMS in April.

The key to all of this is to get to know either the PMS or the scholarship officer (or both) at the schools you want to attend. They will go to bat for you with admissions if admissions is on the fence.
 
Back from a college visiting tour...

The more we learn about the various hockey programs, the more it seems likely that her decision may linger further into the school year.

Anyone here have the contact info for Cadet Command so we can find out the specific rules for transfering the scholarship if it becomes necessary?
 
Debra P Conyers, GS
Human Resource Assistant
U.S. Army Cadet Command, G2
DSN 680-4567
Telephone (757)788-4567
FAX (757)788-5781
DEBRA.CONYERS@USACC.ARMY.MIL



This is who we have to send everything to for AROTC scholarships. It might be a good place to start.

Thank you very much! :thumb:

If you don't mind my asking, was this contact information provided to you publically (through a website or such) or was this provided as part of the application paperwork process?

This is more to allow us to preface our initial contact.
 
I must correct myself. This isn't the exact person we send everything to...just the location. Debra Conyers is the person who emails back when you send a general question to AROTC Cadet Command. We had her email tucked away from when my oldest son went through this pocess. She has helped us with paperwork via email.

You can start with an email to the contact us link at cadet command:

http://www.rotc.monroe.army.mil/email.html

the general email address that came with the scholarship confirmation is: atccps@usacc.army.mil
When we emailed them a question, then Debra Conyers replied via her email.

Fill out the form and she should email you back within a few days. Else, try the general email account.

Good Luck...and when you get the answer, please share.
 
I must correct myself. This isn't the exact person we send everything to...just the location. Debra Conyers is the person who emails back when you send a general question to AROTC Cadet Command. We had her email tucked away from when my oldest son went through this pocess. She has helped us with paperwork via email.

You can start with an email to the contact us link at cadet command:

http://www.rotc.monroe.army.mil/email.html

the general email address that came with the scholarship confirmation is: atccps@usacc.army.mil
When we emailed them a question, then Debra Conyers replied via her email.

Fill out the form and she should email you back within a few days. Else, try the general email account.

Good Luck...and when you get the answer, please share.

I think I will start with the first link. It seems more appropriate and may also need to be forwarded fewer times. I'm sure they handle similar questions all the time.

And of course, I will share. That is what forums like this are for! :thumb:

Thanks again. :smile:
 
I think I will start with the first link. It seems more appropriate and may also need to be forwarded fewer times. I'm sure they handle similar questions all the time.

And of course, I will share. That is what forums like this are for! :thumb:

Thanks again. :smile:

For some reason with my browser the submit button wouldn't work on the first website, so I sent my question in with the email address. Will let you all know how it works and what I learn.
 
I received a reply to the email I sent.

Most of the questions I asked were simple yes or no types.

What I know now...

In addition to the PMS interview, Cadet Command must have ALL of the following before the application can be boarded:
1) ACT/SAT scores from the source. (Expected that)
2) Transcript from school. (Expected that as well)
3) Height/Weight verification by school nurse sent in by school counselor. (Expected)
4) Presidential Physical Fitness Test results sent in by school coach. (Expected)
5) Nothing else. (Physical exam not required - expected)

With regards to changing the scholarship and the process this is what I received.
SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS MAY CHANGE SCHOOLS TOWARD THE END OF THE
SCHOLARSHIP PROCESS WHICH USUALLY ENDS IN APRIL. Winners will be sent a
confirmation letter of their school choice and at that time changes may
be made.

There was no mention made of the ability to redirect the scholarship before this point. This is probably the most important thing I need to know.

We will probably have to query the Units at the schools on her list and find out if their units ever fill up (scholarship wise) before the end of the school year. Perhaps fortunately for us, all of the schools on her list are not highly competitve with regards to "name brand" type schools. I'm optimistic in this regard, but we will have to verify.

In any case, I think we will intentionally NOT send in her ACT/SAT test scores until she feels confident that she has a school (or 2) that she likes and feels the coach has her at the top of his list. The rest we will proceed with post haste.

Given that since our 4-school tour last week, she has had one very positive email reaction to the game video she left, hopefully it won't be necessary to wait until hockey season to commit. Perhaps after our last set of visits in October...
 
goaliedad-
Sounds like things are proceeding. However, I would wait on something else besides the ACT/SAT scores, because that is information that may take a few days to update records and calculate academic scores. How about something like the height/weight verification. That seems like something that takes a quick turn around...especially when the office should be very busy by then.

And yes, the best course of action would be to talk to each PMS/scholarship officer.
Son asked the question this way: "You are my number 1 choice. My 2nd choice has rolling admissions and I will find out about that school in September. How should I mark my acceptance letter if it arrives in the fall and both schools are on it? One is a sure thing and the other is not."

Officer stated that son's 1st choice school would not be on the list if they had not received a postive response from admissions (extremely competitive school)...that will be your first clue. But, when the time comes, call in to the ROTC office at the school and get a better confirmation. Taking the sure thing is always good in the fall.

This is a good reason to get everything into the school admissions very early. Then they can give the ROTC people a good answer.

His 1st choice school never fills its ROTC limits. I believe it you are honest with the ROTC people, they will be honest with you. As I stated in a previous post, son has already received an 'unofficial' offer from his 2nd choice school. Got the phone call the week he sent in his ROTC application. If he goes there, he's set with tuition and room and board plus school scholarship. BUT...it's his second choice, which is why I think the PMS sweetened the deal and included room and board. We didn't realize we were wheeling and dealing, but I guess my son did it right! :thumb: He had only filled in the online application, and not yet sent in any supporting documents. Somehow they find out this stuff!!!
 
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goaliedad-
Sounds like things are proceeding. However, I would wait on something else besides the ACT/SAT scores, because that is information that may take a few days to update records and calculate academic scores. How about something like the height/weight verification. That seems like something that takes a quick turn around...especially when the office should be very busy by then.

And yes, the best course of action would be to talk to each PMS/scholarship officer.
Son asked the question this way: "You are my number 1 choice. My 2nd choice has rolling admissions and I will find out about that school in September. How should I mark my acceptance letter if it arrives in the fall and both schools are on it? One is a sure thing and the other is not."

Officer stated that son's 1st choice school would not be on the list if they had not received a postive response from admissions (extremely competitive school)...that will be your first clue. But, when the time comes, call in to the ROTC office at the school and get a better confirmation. Taking the sure thing is always good in the fall.

This is a good reason to get everything into the school admissions very early. Then they can give the ROTC people a good answer.

His 1st choice school never fills its ROTC limits. I believe it you are honest with the ROTC people, they will be honest with you. As I stated in a previous post, son has already received an 'unofficial' offer from his 2nd choice school. Got the phone call the week he sent in his ROTC application. If he goes there, he's set with tuition and room and board plus school scholarship. BUT...it's his second choice, which is why I think the PMS sweetened the deal and included room and board. We didn't realize we were wheeling and dealing, but I guess my son did it right! :thumb: He had only filled in the online application, and not yet sent in any supporting documents. Somehow they find out this stuff!!!

Very true about the SAT/ACT scores. Perhaps the height/weight or maybe the PPFT would be the better stopper.

If I had to guess right now based upon initial coach feedback from the last visit, I'm guessing that with a mid/late October visit to Minnesota, she will have the information necessary to rank her schools. With that she should make the November boards which shouldn't be too overcrowded I hope.

We could possibly move it back to the October boards (with a decision due by early November) if we could get the list reduced from 6 units to 5 units (she is currently considering 11 schools in 6 units). I think only 1 or 2 of the units we are dealing with here fill up and I doubt they fill up in November, but that is probably next up on her summer to-do list - Write all the PMS's and ask about their history of filling up (if so, when). In addition, it is time to ask the PMS's for their FTX schedules (to gage possible conflict with hockey committments) and how they handle potential schedule conflict during the term (yes, FTX's come first over hockey, but I understand some units excuse varsity athletes from PT during season - one school in particular has its hockey practices at 6 AM - a conflict we can see coming). Knowing these policies up front will help her clarify her lifestyle in her mind and may move down the list schools where the logistics and flexibility are questionable.

Speaking of prioritizing schools, it looks like with the number of schools being considered and the different priorities and desires for her education, it may be necessary to become more organized in capturing and presenting known answers and unresolved issues regarding her school list.

Time for another spreadsheet. I developed one 2 years ago tracking school information (academic and hockey) for all universities offering womens hockey to help her narrow the field. Now, with a ROTC and D3 decision made, it is time to take the 11 schools still under consideration and map out the decision making criteria - Likely Major/Minor availability and program quality, hockey coaching/program quality/goalie situation/facility, ROTC program differences/issues (we have a SMC on the list and a school starting a new on-campus setup), campus feel, community ammenities, need for vehicle, R&B money - a nice bonus. I think I will be working with her on a new spreadsheet for this (I am more skilled with the smaller features of Excel that allow for better presentation than she is).

As you can see this is a fairly complex decision process and my position is that I want to be able to provide the best tools and resources that I can so she can make a decision on her own priorities. Knowing what I know of her, there isn't a perfect school in the list. As I've watched the gears turning in her head the past week and listened to her questions, I've watched schools she was unfamiliar get their first impressions and raise even more questions in her mind. However, once she gets her visits completed and some basic questions answered, she will get to a decision.

I think she has come to a decision to do her PMS interview locally at a school not on her list based upon a meeting I had with the PMS a while back who was more than welcoming to addressing her situation. Given that she doesn't have a #1 right now, to do a visit at a potential school and and interview has the potential for coloring the situation incorrectly - something that we don't want to have happen. Plus, if we want to use the PPFT as a criteria, it is easy to explain why we don't want to do the APFT that day (using it to time the board review) to the local PMS with no potential negative effect on the inteview.

I have to give your son credit for handling his situation well. He was very fortunate to have a clearly laid out priority list fairly early in the process. Having that clarity when going into the discussion clearly enabled him to handle other issues (room and board) with aplomb. Kudos.

Right now, I am treating this as an opportunity to have goaliegirl learn the skills of negotiating the nuances of a complex life decision. Planning and developing decision criteria will be skills to be honed in this process. Very rewarding for me as a parent watching the major elements of your child becoming an adult.
 
Well, we were abit ahead of the game, since my older son went through the SA and ROTC application process 2 years ago. But, yes we did a spreadsheet too. This was our matrix that we came up with after we had established which schools offered both ROTC and his Majors (Chinese and Mathematics):

School name
Location
Size
Major
Minor
ACT Score mid 50%
SAT Score Mid 50%
GPA mid 50%
Tuition cost
Room and Board Cost
Location of Battalion...on campus or at another school?
ROTC extras
School Scholarship (automatic scholarships)
Fiske Guide Quality of Life Rank
Fiske Guide Academic Rank
US News Rank

We took our 40 or so schools and filled in the blanks. Then highlighted the fields that mattered for admissions, Green if son fit the act/sat/gpa criteria, blue if he was close. Green if son liked the location and size.

We didn't care about US News rank...just an interesting fact, but we did care about the Fiske Guide Rank. My oldest son is at a Fiske Guide ranked school of 4 out 5 for academics and 4 out of 5 for Quality of Life. We felt the Fiske Guide narrative description of the school was spot in and didn't want youngest son here to dip below that ranking. So we gave green highlight to any school that had a 4+/4+ ranking on the fiske guide. And a green highlight to if ROTC was on campus.

This now gave us a spreadsheet that we could then cut down and eliminate some choices...This brought us down to 20 and then eventually 10 plus SA.

So he knocked it down to 7 plus SA, plus 2 schools that have tons of scholarships that he qualifies for without ROTC funding....never know what might happen between now and next summer (DQ, injury, change of heart).

Ranked his top 3 and then just filled in the other 4 in no particular order.

So, AROTC and AFROTC apps are done, DoDMERB is done, SA app is done, MOC nomination apps are done, applied to those two saftey no ROTC schools, common app is only waiting on essay. He finished all of that before his summer activities started. And he must finish the CFA and PFt or whatever acronym is for the physical exam. Now I wait for him to return from 6 weeks trekking in China and he can finish his essays before school starts, start football and scouts, and then I will completely collapse! I've simply watched him go from activity to activity (okay I've driven him from activity to activity) and my main job is printing out the FedEx labels!!!
 
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