My son joined NROTC, Marine option, as a sophmore when he completed his first year in AFROTC. He was what they call a "college programmer". He never applied for a scholarship. The officers in the program helped him complete his scholarship application later in his sophomore year, made recommendations for him, and sent that through to the scholarship board. He was given the scholarship starting his junior year. As Kinnem mentioned, those attending without scholarships do not go to the summer programs. That was really about the only difference between college programmers and those who already have scholarships. Plus no monthly stipend. If your son is not awarded the scholarship for the second semester, hang in there because he may get it the next year after spending some time in the program showing them he is a MIDN worth keeping around. Then they will work with him to make that happen.