From the yrs on this board, I would say across the board in the amount of scholarships given are @20%. I believe the numbers I saw for AROTC last yr was @2300 awarded, and if 11-12K are the normal amount applying it would be 20%.
I will let Clarkson answer the 2nd part, but if I was to guess, I would doubt the last boards are the largest awards. The only reason I assume this is from anecdotal history on this forum. It always appears the bulk awarded come out between now and the end of Feb. I have seen very few light up the boards come Mar/April over the yrs here. In this day and age of cutting costs, wouldn't it save even a few thousand (1 GS position) if they didn't have to do the transfer paperwork, re-visiting which units are closed, and which can take transfers?
There is a limited pot of money, and remember that many SA candidates apply for a scholarship as plan B. SA appointments come out in mass mailing around mid-March. Thus, many will accept and hold onto their scholarships until they hear from the SA, and some may also hold onto them until I-Day.
~~ Hence, ROTC is going under the assumption that this money will be used. Even if recipients throw it back in to the pool, they know that some will hold on to it, and place that into the equation.
~~~~ Look at it like college acceptances. They want a certain size incoming class, and they offer more acceptances with the knowledge from historical data that X% in the end will show up in Aug.
For A/NROTC they also have one more factor to place in the equation which you need to realize. The scholarship is tied to the cadet AND the college. Some dets fill up faster than others. It really doesn't matter in the end the size/amount awarded in the last few boards if all of the schools on your list are filled by that point, now does it?
I.E. You apply to PSU, Notre Dame, VMI, VT, TAMU, UMich, and another large university with a large det.
All of those colleges may be filled before the last two boards.
Yet, another candidate may apply to Appalachian, ECU, FSU, Johns Hopkin, UPenn, etc. and those dets may still have spots available.
It is a nuance factor just as much as it is a competitive factor. This is the reason come April/May why you will see posters asking about transferring their scholarship.
On that note. Clarkson or anyone else, could you explain why A/NROTC does not do it the way AFROTC does? Tied only to the cadet and their major. IOWs, 1 det could have 100% on scholarship, 1 could have 50% and 1 could have 0%.
~ Not trying to be pro Big Blue, just to me it makes more sense from a paperwork board issue. By tieing it to the major and the candidate ther would be no need for processing transfers in bulk come April/May time frame.
I am just asking because even come the 1st yr. every scholarship recipient has the option to walk, thus if they are spreading the wealth across the board for each det. regarding X amount on scholarship, than doesn't that mess things up too. I.E., maybe one det has a higher % that drop, than another, which means in the end it isn't going to be the same amount, unless the ICSPs offered bring them back up to spreading the wealth. If so, than the det that lost more rising sophs would also get more ICSPs than those that had less dis-enrolled.
It is something I have never understood, just accepted that this is their system. Just like NROTC has MO boards, or AFROTC gives scholarships to CSO/ABM volunteers.
It is the curiosity in me, wondering why.
XPOSTED with clarkson. I would heed his opinion more than mine, since mine is only anecdotal from this site, and if you look at the size of the forum, it is a very small sampling. Maybe 10-15%. I would also caveat that this is a site filled with more "all in" posters than those that are "just in" it for applying because it is an option to pay for college. IOWs they have spent hours googling and searching the net to find specific answers regarding chances of receiving a scholarship.
~ 10 will get you 20, if you are in JROTC in HS many are applying for a ROTC scholarship, but few know of this website. Fewer understand the nuances of how the process works.
