Can you be accepted without the Officer Interview?

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Navybrat98

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Oct 27, 2016
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I have had all of my components to the NROTC application submitted except for the interview. Can I be reviewed by the board or do I need this submitted first?
 
I believe that you must have to have the interview to be added to your overall application before you can even be considered for the scholarship. They probably (100 percent) will not look at incomplete applications.
 
Sometimes they get bogged down scheduling the officer interview, especially this close to the deadline.
If you are also an USNA candidate, ask if they will allow your BGO to submit the NROTC interview.
(This will take some convincing and coordinating on your part, but it worked for my DS who is now 4-yr NROTC scholarship MIDN).
 
sheriff3 said:
DS was never interviewed by an officer for NROTC, done by CPO.
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This is totally not allowed by the framework of the interview requirements, as it is an "officer" interview. Your son would have been completely justified in requesting to reschedule the interview when an officer was available, or even reaching out to an NROTC unit to request scheduling one. Seeing "Chief So and So" at the top of the interview form would be a red flag for the scholarship board members.
 
Norfolk63 said:
Sometimes they get bogged down scheduling the officer interview, especially this close to the deadline.
If you are also an USNA candidate, ask if they will allow your BGO to submit the NROTC interview.
(This will take some convincing and coordinating on your part, but it worked for my DS who is now 4-yr NROTC scholarship MIDN).
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This is not recommended, unless your BGO is an active duty Navy or Marine officer, as they are the only individuals who are authorized to conduct the interviews.
 
NavyNOLA said:
This is not recommended, unless your BGO is an active duty Navy or Marine officer, as they are the only individuals who are authorized to conduct the interviews.
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This statement is not accurate. Sorry.
 
Norfolk63 said:
This statement is not accurate. Sorry.
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Well, Naval Service Training Command and Officer Development would disagree with you. It's on paper in black and white. But feel free to go on believing what you'd like.

I've been an NROTC instructor for the past two years. During that time I've conducted over 40 officer interviews and submitted dozens of applicants for NROTC scholarships.

Have CPOs done interviews on rare occasions and then gotten their LT to submit it for them? Yep, it's happened. It's definitely not supposed to.

To the aspiring students out there, the NROTC officer interview is with an officer, preferably an NROTC staff officer. This is what the program, the scholarship board members, and the Admiral himself are expecting and requiring.
 
NavyNOLA said:
This is totally not allowed by the framework of the interview requirements, as it is an "officer" interview. Your son would have been completely justified in requesting to reschedule the interview when an officer was available, or even reaching out to an NROTC unit to request scheduling one. Seeing "Chief So and So" at the top of the interview form would be a red flag for the scholarship board members.
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I wonder if this has been enforced more recently? Both my DD and DS interviewed with an NCO (fall 2013 and fall 2014), and both were awarded the NROTC scholarship.
 
NavyNOLA said:
Well, Naval Service Training Command and Officer Development would disagree with you. It's on paper in black and white. But feel free to go on believing what you'd like.

I've been an NROTC instructor for the past two years. During that time I've conducted over 40 officer interviews and submitted dozens of applicants for NROTC scholarships.

Have CPOs done interviews on rare occasions and then gotten their LT to submit it for them? Yep, it's happened. It's definitely not supposed to.

To the aspiring students out there, the NROTC officer interview is with an officer, preferably an NROTC staff officer. This is what the program, the scholarship board members, and the Admiral himself are expecting and requiring.
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It may be in black and white. But my DS was faced with a similar situation, and asked if he could substitute his BGO interview, and he was told yes. So he did. And was awarded the scholarship. No believing required. Sometimes the candidate is served best by asking for an exception to the rule.
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
I wonder if this has been enforced more recently? Both my DD and DS interviewed with an NCO (fall 2013 and fall 2014), and both were awarded the NROTC scholarship.
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This year (2016) DS had a Chief drive up from Detroit to facilitate the interview (and conduct the PFA), but the interview was done over the Chief's cell via facetime with the officer.
 
My son's and daughter's NROTC interviews were done by a retired Commander who's last active duty job was running the local ROTC office.
 
USMAROTCFamily said:
I wonder if this has been enforced more recently? Both my DD and DS interviewed with an NCO (fall 2013 and fall 2014), and both were awarded the NROTC scholarship.
Click to expand...

A few years ago, the rules were different and interviews were done by a variety of folks, including senior enlisted, many of whom worked at the various Navy Recruiting Districts (NRD). Over the past three years or so (the 2014/2015/2016 scholarship seasons), the situation has changed. The scholarship board values the input of an officer who has spoken face-to-face with the applicant and who can give candid feedback. NRD enlisted staff in the past, in their haste to process packages, were providing less than ideal interview write ups with brief/generic comments; every applicant was getting a thumbs up, which effectively negated the value of the interview. NSTC needed to change that in order to better screen applicants. Hence, the OFFICER interview.

When we submit interview write ups electronically, we have to include our name, rank, designator, command, etc. Those write ups eventually make their way to NAS Pensacola and get processed prior to being boarded. If the interview wasn't conducted by an appropriate individual, it gets flagged and kicked back, which is obviously a negative for the applicant as it wastes time. In the past couple years, you may have seen a CPO on rare occasion do an interview for a student when there's a time crunch, but then they're having their supervisor, an officer, submit it on their behalf. Let me be clear- this is not correct, and it certainly doesn't do a service to the applicant. You or your son/daughter is aspiring to be an officer.....you/they should expect to be interviewed by someone who is already walking in those shoes!

My CO/XO here at Tulane have sat on/chaired about a half dozen scholarship boards over the past couple years. Each board reviews hundreds of applications. They've never once seen an enlisted service member listed as the interviewer. Why? Because it's not authorized, and if one had shown up, it would have been kicked back before they ever had the chance to consider it.

I've also heard the statement that one should/can use an academy CFA to also cover NROTC's AFA requirement. Again, let me me clear- this is not correct! Has it happened? Yep, on occasion, and by scholarship coordinators who are trying to push paperwork and get applicants to board. Again, this doesn't benefit the applicant, as the tests are very different and the test needs to be administered in its required format, not extrapolated from another entirely different test. Seriously, the AFA is easier, so most applicants can get higher scores, so I can't believe this is even ever debated. If some still question this, here's an excerpt from the AFA instruction, bottom of page 1, which can easily be found online:

"Testing Sequence- The test sequence will follow the order listed below. This order cannot be modified. There are no exceptions to this sequence or timing."

Back to the OP, yes, you have to have your interview completed before your package can ever be submitted.

And with that, I think the horse is dead.
 
Navynola, totally agree interview should have been done by an officer instead of an NCO. Unfortunately there are probably only 10 naval officers in all of Colorado at any given time. The whole NROTC application process was a CF from the get go from a local personal standpoint. All ended well for DS.
 
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sheriff3 said:
Navynola, totally agree interview should have been done by an officer instead of an NCO. Unfortunately there are probably only 10 naval officers in all of Colorado at any given time. The whole NROTC application process was a CF from the get go from a local personal standpoint. All ended well for DS.
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I get the difficulties of the system sometimes. Trust me, I see it from my end as well. However, the majority of NROTC interviews are done via Skype these days, so someone's location really doesn't have an impact on their ability to get an interview. Glad to hear it worked out regardless.
 
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