NROTC - Request to Change Tier or Unit

[Dolphins2012]

My DS is a senior in high school and the recipient of a 4 year NROTC scholarship as a Tier 1 student. I'm hoping someone with real knowledge of how this stuff works might be able to shed some light on the below.

1. I know that one can request to be assigned to another NROTC unit. Is that very difficult? He received his first choice (Virginia), but is now uncertain as to whether he'd rather apply it to his second choice (Duke) or third choice (Stanford).

2.Is it possible to request that one be permitted to be a Tier 3 student? If so, is anyone familiar with the process, its difficulty and the odds?

3.In relation to both above questions: does it matter whether these requests are made before or after acceptance of the scholarship? I presume they would be made afterward.

Thank you in advance.

 

[kinnem]

Keep in mind that I am just a parent and by no means an expert on this. What knowledge I have is gleaned from these forums and is certainly not official.

1. Transfers are possible but are certainly not guaranteed and are difficult to obtain. This is almost impossible across brigades. I don't know if UVA and Duke are in the same brigade, but certainly Stanford isn't. Further, if you live in Virginia, making UVA in state tuition, I'm confident the request would be denied due to the cost differential.

2. In theory one can request a change of tier thru the PMS. Again, its my understanding that these are rarely granted, especially in the times when DiD is downsizing and scholarship dollars are limited.

3. When done after acceptance the request would normally go thru the PMS. Not sure what the process might be, if any, prior to acceptance.

It sounds like DS is having second thoughts about major and school. Of course I can't tell how serious his second thoughts are, but is serious I would certainly make sure you can deal with the consequences in case of:
1. Requests not being granted and DS is now in a school or major he is unhappy with. This is a certain path to failure.
2. Even if requests are granted there is always a chance the scholarship could be lost due to inability to maintain acceptable GPA, unacceptable PFT scores, caught drinking, etc. Also DS may decide NROTC is not for him. Can you afford Duke or Stanford without the scholarship?

Good luck in sorting through all this.

 

[kinnem]

Thought I might add that UVA is one of this nations primiere schools, with a beautiful campus in a great college town. Personally I can't imagine Stanford or Duke being any better in terms of quality of education or campus life experience. If he were interested in a tier 1 major then I could understand Stanford being better and wanting to go there for that reason. But that doesn't appear to be the case.

 

[Dolphins2012]

Thanks for the information. It is what I have pretty much gleaned from the forum as well. With respect to your other thoughts: DS' has already decided to accept an appointment to USNA. We were wondering about NROTC simply as it pertains to a "Plan B" should he become disqualified from the USNA in a way that wouldn't disqualify him from NROTC, e.g. breaking his arm right before I-Day. We're not Virginia residents, and he'd be very happy studying engineering at his first choice of schools, UVA in NROTC. He visited Duke and UVA, his grandfather graduated NROTC at UVA, he liked UVA more. Our questions were more just wild speculation fueled by curiosity about his PLAN B and "What ifs".
Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[kinnem]

Ahhh. Thanks for the follow up. I was getting worried about your DS.
Nice to have a plan B already locked up. Hope USNA comes through for you.

 

[USMCGrunt]

Dolphins2012: You may also want to search for posts from PFlying-17 who is an "insider" in the NROTC process and (as I remember) has previously posted excellent information regarding transfers, etc.