Phone Call from a University's ROTC Officer

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bringbacknelsoncruz

5-Year Member
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Good morning.

My son received a call this weekend the AROTC Colonel of a University (which should be an out of state safety school) my son has applied to. The Colonel was very encouraging to my DS and indicated that, in his opinion, DS is on the cusp between a 3 year and 4 year scholarship.

As this was THE first time somebody had contacted my DS, he was thrilled by the positive message and encouragement.

My husband believes this was primarily a recruiting call and that the Colonel’s opinion is to be evaluated with a healthy dose of skepticism. The Colonel did tell my son that he isn’t involved with the awarding of national scholarships.

Are these phone calls routine and primarily a sales pitch for their school? I would love to hear that the Colonel’s words are indicative of DS’s chances while also knowing the outcome of this process is a huge unknown and now out of his hands.

Thanks!
 
I can only give you my opinion based on our experience, I have no idea what his words meant. Yes, they are recruiting, when a kid recieves a scholarship then the schools that are an option are basically competing for your son to choose them, so building a relationship now is a good strategy. There are also many in this process that genuinely want to be helpful. My daughter received a lot of help from the Recruiting Operations Officers from three of the four schools she listed, as well as the LTC at the school she chose in the end. I will also tell you that all three told her she was a good candidate, however, most likely second or third board, which is where most of the third year scholarships are given. After the feedback she basically readjusted her expectation to a 3 year, and my husband and I were both skeptical that she would receive one at all. She did end up being competitive enough, and received a 3 year Army nursing scholarship 3rd board, so the ROO's were in fact right even though we all know they were guessing. An educated guess, but still a guess. She is an MS1 this year and her cadre recommended her for a scholarship upgrade and she will contract 2nd semester and now has a 3.5 year. I would say any positive feedback is good, however, at the end of the day, only the board has the power to do anything about the national scholarship. The school that contacted your son might be a great option if he does not receive one as they might prioritize national applicants for their campus based scholarships, so that plan B, C, D, everyone is talking about might include a campus based possibility at his out of state safety school. Good luck to your son!
 
Dckc88 said:
I can only give you my opinion based on our experience, I have no idea what his words meant. Yes, they are recruiting, when a kid recieves a scholarship then the schools that are an option are basically competing for your son to choose them, so building a relationship now is a good strategy. There are also many in this process that genuinely want to be helpful. My daughter received a lot of help from the Recruiting Operations Officers from three of the four schools she listed, as well as the LTC at the school she chose in the end. I will also tell you that all three told her she was a good candidate, however, most likely second or third board, which is where most of the third year scholarships are given. After the feedback she basically readjusted her expectation to a 3 year, and my husband and I were both skeptical that she would receive one at all. She did end up being competitive enough, and received a 3 year Army nursing scholarship 3rd board, so the ROO's were in fact right even though we all know they were guessing. An educated guess, but still a guess. She is an MS1 this year and her cadre recommended her for a scholarship upgrade and she will contract 2nd semester and now has a 3.5 year. I would say any positive feedback is good, however, at the end of the day, only the board has the power to do anything about the national scholarship. The school that contacted your son might be a great option if he does not receive one as they might prioritize national applicants for their campus based scholarships, so that plan B, C, D, everyone is talking about might include a campus based possibility at his out of state safety school. Good luck to your son!
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Dckc88 - thanks for this post. A question regarding the Army ROTC Nursing scholarship. Did your daughter specifically apply for Nursing Scholarships when applying for an Army ROTC scholarship? Also, do you know if she will she go through the regular Army ROTC 4 year program at her university - or is there a different track (e.g. LDAC is typically for AROTC juniors - do nursing candidates to a different leadership camp or no camp?) Thanks
 
Personally I had to reach out first to all of my schools when I was awarded my scholarship (MO NROTC). It really depends on the command of each battalion but I think its kind of typical, though obviously not required. That being said I doubt they bother to call POG's who are not going to get the scholarship so this is a good sign for your DS in my opinion, at the very least it shows they are competitive. Also props to the CO of the battalion making the phone calls. That's almost always done by the Officer Instructors.
 
glen said:
Dckc88 - thanks for this post. A question regarding the Army ROTC Nursing scholarship. Did your daughter specifically apply for Nursing Scholarships when applying for an Army ROTC scholarship? Also, do you know if she will she go through the regular Army ROTC 4 year program at her university - or is there a different track (e.g. LDAC is typically for AROTC juniors - do nursing candidates to a different leadership camp or no camp?) Thanks
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These are great questions. And yes, she applied for a nursing scholarship. With Army ROTC you do that by selecting Nursing as the major and then only the schools that have that option are available to choose from. The nursing scholarship is one of the only situations (that I know of) where the branching is pre-determined and she will be expected to finish her BSN, pass her boards and serve as a nurse. I don't know if all school programs are set up equally, but I can tell you how the training is handled at her school. She will go for 5 straight semesters for nursing clinicals, meaning junior year, summer after junior year and senior year. So at her school, nurses are MS3 their sophomore year and attend their advanced course between the sophomore and junior year. Other than that it is the same, she will be a MS2 her junior year and finish her senior year with the other MS4 cadets that started with her as freshman. One thing to remember is that if a cadet has a nursing scholarship, they cannot change their major, a non-nursing cadet (scholarship) can study nursing, they are just not guaranteed that branching, from what I understand. It depends on the mission. For example, at my daughters school, they have a mission of 20 to commission for 2020, and 3 of those are to be nurses.
 
To add to the above post, the training has been the same for nurses and non nurses, although after FTX last weekend while she enjoyed the experience is very glad she will be a nurse, I think @ENwifeArmyMom can agree her daughter feels the same. Although it is great there will be prepared to serve however they are called upon!
 
Similar situation. DS received an email from Penn State Army ROTC saying he had been identified as an elite candidate and inviting him to shadow for a day. He is going to take advantage of the opportunity but curious is to whether this was likely a mass email or whether he truly was selected to attend based on a particularly strong application?
Thanks for your input.
 
bringbacknelsoncruz said:
Good morning.

My son received a call this weekend the AROTC Colonel of a University (which should be an out of state safety school) my son has applied to. The Colonel was very encouraging to my DS and indicated that, in his opinion, DS is on the cusp between a 3 year and 4 year scholarship.

As this was THE first time somebody had contacted my DS, he was thrilled by the positive message and encouragement.

My husband believes this was primarily a recruiting call and that the Colonel’s opinion is to be evaluated with a healthy dose of skepticism. The Colonel did tell my son that he isn’t involved with the awarding of national scholarships.

Are these phone calls routine and primarily a sales pitch for their school? I would love to hear that the Colonel’s words are indicative of DS’s chances while also knowing the outcome of this process is a huge unknown and now out of his hands.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Short answer is Yes, it's a recruiting call, that being said my son received one of these calls when he had applied for a scholarship a few years ago before the first board was out. My son actually added the school to his list after the call. When the results came out he received a 4yr to 4 schools and the new school was one of them. I the end he did not select that school though he did visit them before deciding.

So, while it may be a recruiting call, I believe they usually make these calls to those they have a gut feeling will receive a scholarship (Based on what the ROO who called my son said). I think they want to try and get the applicant to select their school if they do indeed receive the scholarship.

Best of luck to your son.
 
sheriff3 said:
I would take any contact initiated by the PMS as a good sign. Good luck.
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Not all contacts may come from AROTC recruiters.

For example, my DS was already an Army Cadet when he was contacted by an NROTC/Marine Option OSO about joining OCS/PLC concurrently while enrolled in Army ROTC. (Probably got his name from his NROTC application).
While this may be attractive for some who are thinking Semper Fi or nothing at all, my DS felt it would be both distracting and more importantly, disloyal to his AROTC battalion. He declined the offer and ultimately earned a campus based scholarship.

However my point is that recruiting officers from other branches (or even enlisted ) may come calling as well.
 
My son has received a couple of emails from the ROO of his first choice school. We are hoping that it "means" something... but have to assume that it went out to everyone who listed the school.
 
inSANEmom said:
My son has received a couple of emails from the ROO of his first choice school. We are hoping that it "means" something... but have to assume that it went out to everyone who listed the school.
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One thing I've learned over the years on this forum is that it doesn't pay to "read into" anything that happens in these processes. Just take it for what it is. It might mean no more than that the ROO wants to keep in touch and perhaps assist all his/her potential cadets.
 
https://goldenknightbattalion.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/what-can-a-roo-see/

This blog post might help. Battalions/ROOs/PMSs can see all the applicants and they can "spam the list" if they want. Some ROOs (like the ROO at Clarkson or Penn State) will use some types of filters to decide who to contact. I will only contact (in most cases) someone who has listed one of my schools on their list or someone who has attended an event that indicates they would be a good fit for our program (unless there's a kid applying to Penn State that I know plays hockey). Some ROOs don't even know they have access and some ROOs may be at schools where they don't have to reach out to their applicants. If the PMS is calling applicants direct it means one of two things...either you are a real prize that that program wants desperately or the program is desperate and just calling everyone on the list. If you got called by the PMS at a school you are serious about, have visited, and is the top pick on your application...good sign. If you get called by a school you've never heard of...beware.
 
Thanks for your time, ClarksonArmy. It's good to hear from a source how it works and what their thought process is on it. I love it when people who are truly "in the know" comment.

My son was called by his first choice school... which I know has a solid program... and dad is alumni (of the school and ROTC)... so I'm going to believe your suggestion that he is "a real prize" and that it's just a matter of time until a scholarship offer comes through! :)

The ROO suggested that if he had not heard about a scholarship from the first round by Nov 11th that he contact him. We know he did not receive a scholarship (yet!) but my son will be calling to touch base anyway. Not that it would necessarily help anything... but keeping in touch is always a good thing.
 
inSANEmom said:
Thanks for your time, ClarksonArmy. It's good to hear from a source how it works and what their thought process is on it. I love it when people who are truly "in the know" comment.

My son was called by his first choice school... which I know has a solid program... and dad is alumni (of the school and ROTC)... so I'm going to believe your suggestion that he is "a real prize" and that it's just a matter of time until a scholarship offer comes through! :)

The ROO suggested that if he had not heard about a scholarship from the first round by Nov 11th that he contact him. We know he did not receive a scholarship (yet!) but my son will be calling to touch base anyway. Not that it would necessarily help anything... but keeping in touch is always a good thing.
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inSANEmom, is your son by any chance applying to Embry-Riddle? I was contacted by the ROO at Embry-Riddle and the information you've given sounds very similar.
 
inSANEmom said:
Yes! It is his first choice. Is it your son's as well?
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Yes! Embry-Riddle Daytona campus was my first choice for college because of their flight program. I already applied and was accepted so now it's the long ride of waiting and hoping to hear from ROTC. The ROO sounded very optimistic and even said that many prospective cadets that they contacted last year did not even receive offers until the third board so still plenty of hope. Good luck to you and your son and hopefully next year we will both be cadets at Embry-Riddle!
 
Nfarese19 said:
Yes! Embry-Riddle Daytona campus was my first choice for college because of their flight program. I already applied and was accepted so now it's the long ride of waiting and hoping to hear from ROTC. The ROO sounded very optimistic and even said that many prospective cadets that they contacted last year did not even receive offers until the third board so still plenty of hope. Good luck to you and your son and hopefully next year we will both be cadets at Embry-Riddle!
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First... sorry that I didn't realize the YOU were the student! :)

ERAU Daytona is where my husband and I went to college (a million years ago), both as AROTC 4 year scholarship winners. My son's first choice is with the Navy, but he is not at all opposed to an Army career. Have you visited the campus before? We live just a couple of hours away from the campus now so he was able to visit last year. He was already pretty sure it was where he wanted to go to school, but seeing the campus solidified his decision. It would be great if you both ended up there next year! Good luck!
 
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