NROTC Without Sports?

Thanks for thinking I'm excellent, ERAUMattom! Congratulations to your son for doing his sport so well. He's certainly at a good school for AFROTC! I know I don't stand out on a national level... heck, I don't even have any state awards. Am I up against lots of national award winners for the scholarship? And thanks for the pointer, Jcc123. I shall be pursuing martial arts outside of school starting next week, which should show some level of athleticism. Plus, I'm sure that knowing some self-defense techniques can't hurt in the military!
 
I can't say for sure about lots of national award winners, but that's where the "HOOK" that Pima was talking about comes in. Showing leadership or standing out in a world larger than simply your high school.

I think I read it in one of Pima's posts..or maybe it was a PM to me... but do you know how many high schools there are out there. Each and every one of them has an ASB president and a captain of the Varsity Baseball team as well as a valedictorian.

Not saying that these students are a dime a dozen......but in a way they are a dime a dozen when it comes down to the "resume" of those you are competing with for these scholarships.

While I will say it again...you are an excellent student...but when it comes to scholarship applicants for ROTC the company that you are in makes you more run of the mill than a stand out applicant.

New and naïve to the military world..... I honestly expected to hear feedback from my DS how he was "a shining star" in his detachment...(knowing what a standout he was in high school and by the way it was much more than just sports)

So Upon learning that he was (only) ranked in the top third of his detachment after the first year I must have shown some disappointment because he said basically the following to me:

"Respectfully, you have NO IDEA of how accomplished and remarkable my fellow AFROTC cadets are. Trust me mom, I feel honored to be in their company, let alone ranked in the top third.

Should you be one of the lucky scholarship recipients, my advice to you would to remain humble as you will soon be finding yourself surrounded by some of the admirable people you have ever met.
 
ERAUMattmom said:
Should you be one of the lucky scholarship recipients, my advice to you would to remain humble as you will soon be finding yourself surrounded by some of the admirable people you have ever met.
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+1 ERAUMattmom:thumb:
 
This is like a way fancier scholarship than you have ever applied for. You've just got to make yourself stand out, look like a mature person on paper, and show them that you are a leader and committed to this.

Everyone is going to have their low points with their application, you've just gotta make yourself stand out with something else. I, like you, am in this no sports thing situation. I forged on ahead and filled up every space I could with all the leadership stuff I've done- and yes, you probably should look into the community and outside your school. Doing things outside of school reflects well on a person.

Keep your chin up and take everybody's advice and use it. Everyone here is a network of help and support.
 
Jcc123 said:
Then we've had different experiences, ABF, and I've got a couple t-shirts myself. At no point during my time in ROTC or the Army was I ever questioned about my high school athletic prowess, except maybe once when some folks were looking for another player for the softball team.

It would never have occurred to me to quiz any of my PLs or XOs on their glory days as a 16 year old defensive back, because it has absolutely zero bearing on current fitness or capabilities.

My point to the OP is there are many ways to prove to the selection board that one has the requisite leadership and physical capabilities needed to succeed in ROTC and the military. Team sports are one way, but not the only way.
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Yeah.... Not at all what I was saying, but you put an interesting spin on my comment. My point was about how they view team sport athletes when they are looking at scholarship applications and potential officer candidates, not three year veteran Lieutenants and the family day BBQ & softball game.
 
Off topic for a second.

I am assuming a post was directed at me.
1. Intonation can be hard to discern over the net.
2. The lack of apology might mean the poster left the forum. It doesn't mean anything more than that.

Now if I mis-read it, than my apologies.

However, my intention was to illustrate hooks, and the selection board is national. It is not like an SA where it is geo-centric at first and than goes national.

NMSF is a hook that colleges look at for merit. A quick glance at any college website illustrates that they too like to say X amount of students are NMSF. It is a selling point.
~~~That is/was my intention.

This forum is kind and supportive. In some ways we sugar coat things. ERAUs post is an example of this. We all believe our kids have amazing stats, but we live in a bubble for our area, and reality wakes us up.
~~~ Hence, why I said the comment about NC, VA, CA and NMSF. They will be their competition, especially since their school lists include VA and CA public universities, where these applicants will be IS, and they will be OOS. NROTC is tied to the college and a major. College is from SC, and they don't have NMSF at a 207, but wants UCLA and UVA, both have a higher score for NMSF. He will not have NMSF, and want OOS. Chances are somebody else from SC will have NMSF and place OOS like UVA or UNCCH on their list. That is their competition.
~~~~~~ I may have been wrong in my approach, but do you disagree with the fact that there will be SC candidates that are NMSF applying for NROTC? If not, than we are both on the same page.

College wants this path, and IMPO I think they get it now. They have found time to do athletics to pump up their resume.

I may have been too harsh, but ask your kids or other posters that are in ROTC,, there is no sugar coating once in. And ROTC is not even close to AD.

If anyone felt I was a beeaaccchh, I apologize for how it came across.

College,
This is a forum. You are going to read the good and bad. It is up to you and your family to decide what to do next.
 
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ERAUMattmom said:
Should you be one of the lucky scholarship recipients, my advice to you would to remain humble as you will soon be finding yourself surrounded by some of the admirable people you have ever met.
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Nice to read someone finally use the word "humility" and refer to "admirable" people.

To the point about team sports, if the Boards are looking for a predictor of future success in xROTC then team sports are a good place to start. The applicant will probably be in decent shape and can get along with peers and coaches. Leadership? Being the Captain of a team kills two birds with one stone. It would make perfect sense that a high % of xROTC/SA classes were team captains.

However, it is not axiomatic that they are predictor of ultimate success, nor are they the only means of displaying the attributes of physical fitness and leadership.

DS #1 (AROTC MS III) played Tennis throughout high school. One year varsity with letter (would've been two but spent Junior year abroad). He was Concertmaster (first chair violin) in city youth orchestra. He was also very active on academic teams, which he also captained. I used to think that hockey parents were bad.

The bottom line is he did what he loved, did it in front of large groups, was willing to put a target on his chest, and he was partially responsible for the results of his team. The bottom, bottom line is that he didn't sit around on his a$$ during High School. That is the one common denominator to all of these cadets and mids.

I know for a fact that he was humble enough (and humility is his weakest suit) to realize that certain leadership skills and experiences that were lacking in him. He never captained a sports team nor did he manage a restaurant crew. He never did squat for his fellow man. He appreciated that there were skills associated with those roles and that ROTC would be a way to develop them.

Pima, you are spot on that college ain't high school.

When DS #1 went off to college, I told him that the scoreboard is reset to zero. I reminded him that none of his fellow cadets would really care about his or anyone else's accomplishments, especially the programmers, the enlisted guy who did two tours in Afghanistan with a wife and kid at home, or the scrawny Asian kid who unloaded trucks at his parents' grocery store at 6:00am before heading off to school.

To the OP, do the TKD unless you love it and especially don't do it at the expense of something you love. Just an opinion.
 
Pima
While my intention was to validate your and other posters points in more simple terms it was not my intention to sugar coat the message.

I was simply attempting to get the point across from a different angle that would be more likely to be accepted and understood by College rather than rebutted with a defensive reply.

If that is sugar coating then I guess I am guilty...but the post did come from the heart!

Sent using the Service Academy Forums® mobile app
 
I think you were bring honest, and removed the sugar coating. That was my point. We all think our kids are great, only to realize that we were living in the pond, and college is a lake...AD military is the ocean
 
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