AROTC Chances

[dunninla]

My DD just received a letter from the battalion we visited over spring break, and this is a direct quote:
"If you applied to one of the above 9 schools (highlighted in bold) you may not receive a national scholarship offer for the future class of 2017 due to limited availability of these types of offers. Do not be discouraged, as we anticipate the majority of our scholarship offers will come in the form of campus based offers to the most qualified of applicants."

I'm not sure what this means. I know during the frantic Battalion buildup in 2008, 2009, 2010, most scholarships at a Battalion were indeed Campus-Based scholarships, as opposed to National High School Scholarships. That doesn't mean there weren't many National High School Scholarships, rather it means the Campus Based scholarship was used to augment the National award program. This is because there was huge demand, and it wasn't uncommon for double digit 4, 3.5 or 3 yr. scholarships to be awarded in a Battalion of under 75 cadets. However, that all changed during Fiscal Year 2011, which year we are currently ending. NO on-campus scholarships were awarded in my DD's Private school Battalion of over 100 cadets during the 2011-2012 school year. I am told there may have been some paperwork gaffs, but the fact remains: ZERO. At the same time, for this past school year, there were about three 4 Yr. scholarship cadets, and about six 3 Yr. AD cadets. Plus about 15 cadets came in without a scholarship.

All that to say: all you know for sure about that letter is guesses -- "may not", "anticipate", etc. I think it is a useful letter in that it lets the applicants/parents know that there is an on-campus Plan B, and that the dream doesn't have to end when a National scholarship doesn't materialize.

 

[Jcleppe]

For the year 2008 all scholarships were given by the individual battalions/brigades, I remember my son received 7 seperate envelopes with scholarship offers. The shift began with the next year and by 2010 they were all on a National Cadet Command Level.

I wish I could find the articles that were written over the past year that talked about shifting more scholarship awards to the battalions. The point they were making was the battalions could make a better assesment of the quality of an applicant. It sounded like they are trying to achieve a balance between National and Campus Scholarships.

It certainly would make sense, this past year my son'r battalion had three 4 year scholarship cadets. While I was at school the new cadets went through a short orientation and took their APFT so they could contract. My son was going through Rush at the same time so he had no place to live yet, the reason we stuck around. I remember talking with the PMS (regarding older son) and he made a comment; "If I had been able to select the scholarship winners, I would not have picked 2 of the 3 we got" Those 2 have since left the program. The battalion selected one Campus Scholarship in the Spring, a 3.5 year scholarship.

The letter hopefu2017parrent's daughter received may be a sign that they are starting to work toward the balance they have been discussing. These are all things their daughter should talk over with the PMS as soon as she can and continue to keep in contact with the battalion.

The one dowside to this approach would be if the future cadets are required to enroll in the school and program prior to an offer being given. This will carry a risk for the student if they are not offered the scholarship. Applicants will be less likely to commit to an expensive school if they are not certain they will receive the scholarship.

It will be interesting, to say the least, watching how the process plays out this year, it seems to change a bit every year.

 

[Marist College ROTC]

Hello Everyone,

My DD just received a letter from the battalion we visited over spring break, and this is a direct quote:
"If you applied to one of the above 9 schools (highlighted in bold) you may not receive a national scholarship offer for the future class of 2017 due to limited availability of these types of offers. Do not be discouraged, as we anticipate the majority of our scholarship offers will come in the form of campus based offers to the most qualified of applicants."

Was the letter signed by the PMS or someone else at the Battalion ? If it was signed by the PMS, call him/her. Don't offer your name. Tell the PMS that you received the letter. Does the PMS know what you are talking about ? Can they figure out who you are ? If they respond with something along the lines of "I sent letters to 3 students, is this Mr./Ms. Johnson, Rivera, or Murphy ?", then the offer of a future on-campus scholarship is probably for real. If not, it is probably a form letter sent to hundreds (thousands ?) of applicants. Many battalions send out form letters based on USMA QNS lists, Raider Competition results, and/or ROTC Scholarship applications.

Even if the offer was sent with honorable intentions, you need to find out some info about the PMS. How long has he/she been the PMS. A good answer is 6-18 months. Anything more than that and you have no way to be certain that the PMS will still be there when your child attends orientation. The new PMS might not be willing to honor a vaguely worded promise of their predecessor.

 

[Pima]

I would follow Marist's suggestion.

A quick phone call will tell you if it was mass mailing or selective mailing. I part with the not offering your name suggestion. I think you can say: I received this letter, and would like more information, than go from there. I.E. Will I need to interview again, for the on campus, or are all candidates that have been interviewed eligible? They will tell you there and than at that point, Yes, you need to interview, or no, you don't because everyone at the 9 schools are eligible.

I just feel at this point, so early in the game, it is important to contact them to understand what is going on. This process is hard enough to navigate, let alone throwing in the mix of letters like the one you have received. Obviously, Jcleppe, dunninla and Marist, all connected to AROTC have never heard of something like this. I am a true believer every poster, every candidate has unique experiences and you will now become the teacher to every poster her in this regard.

The only thing that really makes me believe it is mass mailing, is it stated 9 schools. I was always under the assumption a candidate's list can be no more than 5. If I am correct, than why the 9 school option? Was all of her 5 schools on that list of 9? Even if only 1 is missing, that should be a tell tale sign regarding mass mailing.

You will find in this yr. your phone will ring with recruiters on a weekly basis, at least it did for our DS.

 

[goaliedad]

Hello Everyone,

First off, let me say that these boards have been a godsend since my dd became interested in serving her junior year! Thanks to all for the helpful information and suggestions. We are not a military family, so has definitely been interesting learning about it. The military is a whole different world!

I'm a little confused about ROTC scholarships being centralized in a National Selection board, which I'm assuming is the same as Cadet Command, as mentioned in the above quote.

My DD just received a letter from the battalion we visited over spring break, and this is a direct quote:
"If you applied to one of the above 9 schools (highlighted in bold) you may not receive a national scholarship offer for the future class of 2017 due to limited availability of these types of offers. Do not be discouraged, as we anticipate the majority of our scholarship offers will come in the form of campus based offers to the most qualified of applicants."

So based on this, it sounds like there are scholarships other than national? Are they ROTC? from the school? Or am I mis-understanding the letter, which is a definite possibility. Can anyone help clarify this?

The reason I ask is that her top choice, which is a private college, the PMS there has asked if she would be willing to do ED for that school, as he apparently "lost" 2 applicants to WP last year, and we think he would like to get her locked-in so that doesn't happen this year. Based on that, we were assuming he was the one to award the scholarship, but from what I've been reading, is not the case.

Also, if this makes a difference, the letter we got is not from the same battalion she wants to apply to. They must have kept her name on file from when we visited.

Thanks!

Was the letter signed by the PMS or someone else at the Battalion ? If it was signed by the PMS, call him/her. Don't offer your name. Tell the PMS that you received the letter. Does the PMS know what you are talking about ? Can they figure out who you are ? If they respond with something along the lines of "I sent letters to 3 students, is this Mr./Ms. Johnson, Rivera, or Murphy ?", then the offer of a future on-campus scholarship is probably for real. If not, it is probably a form letter sent to hundreds (thousands ?) of applicants. Many battalions send out form letters based on USMA QNS lists, Raider Competition results, and/or ROTC Scholarship applications.

Even if the offer was sent with honorable intentions, you need to find out some info about the PMS. How long has he/she been the PMS. A good answer is 6-18 months. Anything more than that and you have no way to be certain that the PMS will still be there when your child attends orientation. The new PMS might not be willing to honor a vaguely worded promise of their predecessor.

With regards to her first choice school - The PMS asking whether she was applying ED IMHO was scoping her out to see if he should green light if she is up for a National scholarship (IIRC the PMS can red light a candidate to CC). Given the history of losing "green lighted" scholarship recipients to USMA, I suspect s/he is testing to see if your daughter is a lock to attend the school. It may also be the case that the PMS may have sway with admissions on ED decisions.

If your daughter is clear on going to first choice school (no waffling allowed), you might want to consider the following:
1) Understand the date requirements of ED application. Know the deadlines for submission, withdrawal (or conversion to RD) of ED application, and when the ED decisions are due.
2) If you are willing to pay the price regardless of scholarship, go for the ED, otherwise continue reading.
3) If the ROTC scholarship is required to attend, submit the ED application ONLY if you can withdraw (or convert to RD) the application after the first board ROTC results are out. That is, you can know if you get the scholarship in the first board (where the vast majority of private scholarships are decided with only rejected ones recycling to later boards typically) before you are truly committed to ED decision. I will give an example: If ED application is due Nov 1, and ED withdrawal/conversion is Nov 30, and ED decision is Dec 10, you will need the results of the first board before Nov 30 in order not to be stuck in a school you cannot afford should scholarship not work out. With a first board due date late in October, your odds are good, but not perfect for making this work (stuff happens).
4) Should you choose to proceed with #3, and CC is dragging its feet into December, PLEASE let the PMS know that you are withdrawing/changing status of your application ASAP so the PMS doesn't get hung out to dry. They don't want a scholarship offer going out to someone who is in doubt as to whether they will be able to use it. The PMS doesn't like their accepted scholarship being held by someone who isn't a lock for acceptance either. And perhaps they can check with admissions to get a peek at what stack your ED application is in before you finalize your decision.

With regards to the letter you received from the other school you visited, I'm with Marist here as well. I suspect they send the same letter to all prospects who visit so they don't get anxious when they are not awarded a National scholarship to those 9 schools. I wouldn't be surprised if they only get 2 total National scholarships for their 9 private schools, but have another 3 or 4 to award to walk-ons. This would make their letter entirely factual. Their position (as well as the PMS's at all higher-cost private schools) is that they need cadets to make their commissioning goals. They have scholarships to hand out and that you still should consider their unit regardless of the National scholarship results.

I would also think that her first choice school may also be in the same situation. The good news here is that they are asking you questions that could mean that they like her and are considering giving her priority (green light) for a national scholarship if indeed she is high enough on the OML.

Hope this isn't too confusing.