ROTC Scholarship Awards and Selective College Admissions

[unkown1961]

My daughter received a Navy ROTC ISR and a AF ROTC Type 2 award. She has applied early to a couple of selective schools for her "reaches" and I was wondering if it's worth letting their admissions departments know of these awards. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on this? Thanks.

 

[cb7893]

My daughter received a Navy ROTC ISR and a AF ROTC Type 2 award. She has applied early to a couple of selective schools for her "reaches" and I was wondering if it's worth letting their admissions departments know of these awards. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on this? Thanks.

Don't need experience to understand that selective=expensive and xROTC Scholarship means no debit to the University's own scholarship kitty.

Many on this forum say it doesn't matter. It absolutely matters if there is one spot and two closely qualified candidates with one already having a check in hand payable to XYZ University.

My DS's (commissioned May 2015) experience at his school was that there was absolutely coordination between admissions and AROTC. In his case, admissions helped grease the skids to defer the AROTC scholarship for one year so as to do a gap year in Taiwan.

Any signal to the admissions department that you absolutely plan to attend if admitted also works in your favor. The Holy Grail for admissions departments is YIELD--percentage of admittances who actually attend.

Best of luck to your DD!

 

[unkown1961]

Don't need experience to understand that selective=expensive and xROTC Scholarship means no debit to the University's own scholarship kitty.

Many on this forum say it doesn't matter. It absolutely matters if there is one spot and two closely qualified candidates with one already having a check in hand payable to XYZ University.

My DS's (commissioned May 2015) experience at his school was that there was absolutely coordination between admissions and AROTC. In his case, admissions helped grease the skids to defer the AROTC scholarship for one year so as to do a gap year in Taiwan.

Any signal to the admissions department that you absolutely plan to attend if admitted also works in your favor. The Holy Grail for admissions departments is YIELD--percentage of admittances who actually attend.

Best of luck to your DD!

Thanks for the insight. I guess we'll drop Admissions a quick email then. You think it's worth contacting the school's Detachment?

 

[Dckc88]

Thanks for the insight. I guess we'll drop Admissions a quick email then. You think it's worth contacting the school's Detachment?

Yes. Some ROTC departments can advocate with admissions, others have no ability to have input, but letting them know lets them be in the drivers seat on that.

 

[cb7893]

Dckc88 +1

 

[DanGir]

I guess we'll drop Admissions

By "we'll" you mean your daughter, right?
Anyway my son having an AROTC 4 yr scholarship in hand had no effect on admissions for his selective school. He was waitlisted, then denied.

 

[USMAROTCFamily]

When my DD got her NROTC, she reached out to the Freshman advisor. She had applied Early Action to Notre Dame, but had received the scholarship prior to results coming out. He said they would reach out to the school's admission department to inform them of the scholarship and recommended my DD contact her admissions rep to let him know, as well. She was accepted to the school. When we were at the Freshman NROTC INDOC, I talked with the PNS about this. He said they do have a very good relationship with the school and that if the school as two equally qualified applications, having the NROTC scholarship would normally tip in favor of the future Midshipman. He did say, however, that getting the scholarship would not get you into the school if you weren't already competitive and there were plenty of scholarship winners who do not get admitted. I've talked with the PMS for AROTC there, too, but he seemed to imply that they don't have feel like they have any pull. Of course, we'll never know if DD would have gotten in without the scholarship.

 

[mil.intel]

Currently attending a top-10 univ (US News) with a T1 AFROTC scholarship. As many users in this post have already said, the more selective the college is, the more AOs do not really care if you have a scholarship or not. 1) They have the endowment to fund students who need FA and 2) they are at perfect liberty to choose a student who can pay out of his/her pocket vs. external scholarship recipient -- doesn't matter to them because both will pay.

 

[pv123]

Currently attending a top-10 univ (US News) with a T1 AFROTC scholarship. As many users in this post have already said, the more selective the college is, the more AOs do not really care if you have a scholarship or not. 1) They have the endowment to fund students who need FA and 2) they are at perfect liberty to choose a student who can pay out of his/her pocket vs. external scholarship recipient -- doesn't matter to them because both will pay.

What about top 5 colleges that are under the federal "microscope" for admitting more cadets? I can think of one Ivy that had have been reported for not following through successfully with their "reinstatement" of ROTC, and commissioning very few in the past 4-5 years.

 

[mil.intel]

What about top 5 colleges that are under the federal "microscope" for admitting more cadets? I can think of one Ivy that had have been reported for not following through successfully with their "reinstatement" of ROTC, and commissioning very few in the past 4-5 years.

Could you clarify what you mean? (Links to articles/stats would be helpful). I also forgot to mention that nearly all (if not all) top-10 schools have need-blind admissions policy so the admission decisions are separate from the financial need. They may take the scholarship into a consideration as a "hook" but to which degree, I do not know. Is it on par with legacy admissions, being ethnic minority, or stellar accomplishment?

 

[unkown1961]

What about top 5 colleges that are under the federal "microscope" for admitting more cadets? I can think of one Ivy that had have been reported for not following through successfully with their "reinstatement" of ROTC, and commissioning very few in the past 4-5 years.

Where did you hear or read about this federal microscope? I have not seen anything on this, and it sounds surprising.

 

[cb7893]

Unknown,

Don't complicate it. Have DD contact Admissions and xROTC. Let them know that you intend to attend. If there is any indication that an applicant will not attend, they will drop him/her like a hot potato. DS's best HS friend had perfect SAT. Was admitted to Columbia. Didn't even get on the wait list at U Mich.

 

[5Day]

As you know, getting into a highly selective selective school is difficult. If you are defining selective as a top 10 university, then any of them could fill their class with students that have perfect SAT scores and a perfect GPA, but they don't. For example MIT only selects 50% of their applicants with perfect SAT scores. So, something in your application needs to stand out to make them want you. A ROTC scholarship could be that hook. It may not make any difference at all. But, you will never know unless you try. Duke has a NROTC program with single digit midshipman per year, so an NROTC scholarship may make a difference since they want to keep a viable program on their campus. Bottom line, I would make sure admissions knows you have a scholarship and I would make sure you contact the school's ROTC battalion to see if they can provide any support with admissions.

You also know there is a financial difference between a NROTC scholarship and an AFROTC type 2 scholarship. At selective schools with a cost of $50-60K per year, the type 2 will "only" cover $18K of tuition where NROTC will cover all of the tuition. For both room and board are not covered.

I would like to know more specifically about the federal microscope that @pv123 references. The only specifics that I know of is the "tenuous" (not sure if that is the best descriptor) relationship that Brown has with ROTC programs, but nothing like a federal investigation.

 

[NavyNOLA]

My daughter received a Navy ROTC ISR and a AF ROTC Type 2 award. She has applied early to a couple of selective schools for her "reaches" and I was wondering if it's worth letting their admissions departments know of these awards. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience on this? Thanks.

Yes, let your admissions rep know. I'd also work through the NROTC unit itself, as they likely have a better working relationship with the admissions staff than you do. Be advised that the scholarship may or may not make a difference in the end.

 

[pv123]

As you know, getting into a highly selective selective school is difficult. If you are defining selective as a top 10 university, then any of them could fill their class with students that have perfect SAT scores and a perfect GPA, but they don't. For example MIT only selects 50% of their applicants with perfect SAT scores. So, something in your application needs to stand out to make them want you. A ROTC scholarship could be that hook. It may not make any difference at all. But, you will never know unless you try. Duke has a NROTC program with single digit midshipman per year, so an NROTC scholarship may make a difference since they want to keep a viable program on their campus. Bottom line, I would make sure admissions knows you have a scholarship and I would make sure you contact the school's ROTC battalion to see if they can provide any support with admissions.

You also know there is a financial difference between a NROTC scholarship and an AFROTC type 2 scholarship. At selective schools with a cost of $50-60K per year, the type 2 will "only" cover $18K of tuition where NROTC will cover all of the tuition. For both room and board are not covered.

I would like to know more specifically about the federal microscope that @pv123 references. The only specifics that I know of is the "tenuous" (not sure if that is the best descriptor) relationship that Brown has with ROTC programs, but nothing like a federal investigation.

Only 1 or 2 AFROTC Harvard cadets were commissioned in the last 2 yrs.
*Many articles and a "Air Force federal report" done on Harvard's failure to support enough cadets and commissions:

"On Memorial Day last year, the Harvard Veterans Organization, in partnership with the Harvard ROTC Association, presented the administration with a "comprehensive report" of the state of the military at Harvard, including recommendations for increasing the number of cadets and midshipmen at the College. These recommendations include granting course credit for required ROTC classes—a policy adopted by all but one other ROTC program in the country—and making a student’s commitment to ROTC an admissions consideration, just like a commitment to a varsity sports team.

However, despite the fact that relatively minor changes could increase the ROTC population at Harvard by making ROTC participation less time consuming and more feasible for a greater number of students, President Faust has remained silent on the issue. While I doubt that she holds any ill will towards ROTC or the military, it is clear that we are simply not a priority. If President Faust were to give the cadets and midshipmen here on our own campus just a fraction of the time that she spent with cadets at another school, I truly believe we could resolve the issues impeding the growth of our program."

**because of this report last Feb ... Harvard coincidentally officially recognized AFROTC last April and is now actively searching to add more cadets by adding a ROTC Liason admissions officer for applicant reviews.

 

[bman]

Congrats on the win in Cambridge last weekend

 

[blueplate99]

If my CO and Coordinator have told me I received an ISR, but I haven't yet received a scholarship on my portal should I email the admissions reps now or wait until I officially have the scholarship?

 

[unkown1961]

Currently attending a top-10 univ (US News) with a T1 AFROTC scholarship. As many users in this post have already said, the more selective the college is, the more AOs do not really care if you have a scholarship or not. 1) They have the endowment to fund students who need FA and 2) they are at perfect liberty to choose a student who can pay out of his/her pocket vs. external scholarship recipient -- doesn't matter to them because both will pay.

But, the school doesn't know if the non-ROTc can pay out of pocket. The endowments don't cover full rides for all applicants. And if we're talking about a Cal or UCLA, there is no endowment.

 

[unkown1961]

As you know, getting into a highly selective selective school is difficult. If you are defining selective as a top 10 university, then any of them could fill their class with students that have perfect SAT scores and a perfect GPA, but they don't. For example MIT only selects 50% of their applicants with perfect SAT scores. So, something in your application needs to stand out to make them want you. A ROTC scholarship could be that hook. It may not make any difference at all. But, you will never know unless you try. Duke has a NROTC program with single digit midshipman per year, so an NROTC scholarship may make a difference since they want to keep a viable program on their campus. Bottom line, I would make sure admissions knows you have a scholarship and I would make sure you contact the school's ROTC battalion to see if they can provide any support with admissions.

You also know there is a financial difference between a NROTC scholarship and an AFROTC type 2 scholarship. At selective schools with a cost of $50-60K per year, the type 2 will "only" cover $18K of tuition where NROTC will cover all of the tuition. For both room and board are not covered.

I would like to know more specifically about the federal microscope that @pv123 references. The only specifics that I know of is the "tenuous" (not sure if that is the best descriptor) relationship that Brown has with ROTC programs, but nothing like a federal investigation.

Thanks, and good points. My thought is that an ISR is an example of a selective process that she achieved so in terms of achievement (in addition to the money issue), I was curious if admissions would see it as another acheivement. And thanks but I do know the difference - my oldest son is on a Type 2 AFROTC. Cheers.

 

[hopefulbear]

I received a Type 1 AFROTC and NROTC scholarship this year; NROTC for Yale. I reached out to the detachment commanders for NROTC and AFROTC at Yale before getting the scholarships letting them know I was interested in their programs specifically. I had an informal interview with both of them before getting the scholarships but after submitting them, and after receiving NROTC scholarship the commander at Yale called me and had me answer some interview questions he could send to the admissions office "advocating for them to let me in". The AFROTC second in command also contacted me with similar questions for the admissions department.

I think the specific branch's pull depends on the school, and I'm not sure if it will help me, but as many others have said it certainly wouldn't hurt. I'm fairly competitive for a top-tier school with leadership, 4.0 u/w GPA, governor's school, 35 on ACT, etc. but do hope the ROTC will give me the extra edge necessary to get into Yale. I hear back on December 15th and will let you all know what their decision was! Hopefully it is good news.