ROTC Scholarships

queenbee89

10-Year Member
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Jun 11, 2006
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Can anyone give me a brief overview on ROTC scholarships.... how are they awarded? Any idea what the competition is like as far as GPA and SAT's? Are they tied to certain majors? ... like engineering?
If one is accepted to two schools can you be awarded a scholarship to one school and not the other?
 
Hornetguy...
I have checked out the ROTC websites.... she is looking at Army and Navy... I will concede that the Air Force ROTC web site is the most comprehensive of the three.....I could not find the answers to my questions on the Army or Navy web sites.... e.g. the army rotc web site lists a min gpa of 2.5... to me that is not very competitive....
I was really looking for input from maybe someone who went through the ROTC scholarship process.
 
queenbee89,

I'll give you a general answer, just from having been around the ROTC applicants, and also speaking at length to the NROTC personnel. I'm not sure if there is a guaranteed GPA/SAT/ACT cutoff. Most likely it depends on how many applications they receive in a given year. They have X number of seats to fill and X number of applicants, so the top applicants gets seats. I'm not sure if it is tied to the requested major or not. AROTC probably lists the 2.5 GPA as the minimum you need to have for them to look at your ROTC application.

As for an applicant being accepted to 2 schools, there will be only one scholarship offered, and it will be to the school that the service picks. An example, you apply to MIT and IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology), and apply for an NROTC scholarship listing both schools with MIT being choice #1. You get accepted to both schools, and NROTC grants you the scholarship only to IIT. The ROTC programs have a limited number of scholarships to each school.

Hope this helps....
 
First, I apologize if I came off at all snappish or rude in my previous post.

I'll post how the AFROTC scholarships are generally done (I applied and was rejected) and I believe they are VERY similar to Army and Navy.

3 scholarship types are offered:

The Air Force ROTC College Scholarship ProgramProvides 3- and 4-year scholarships in three different types to high school seniors. provides 4- and 3-year scholarships in three different types. The application process is the same for each type.

* Type 1Pays full college tuition, most fees and $600 per year for books. – pays full college tuition, most fees and $600 per year for books. Approximately 5 percent of our 4-year scholarship winners will be offered a Type-1 scholarship (mostly in technical fieldsFields mostly related to careers in the Air Force that have a scientific basis such as engineering, chemistry and meterology, and that the Air Force considers a need for its officers.).
* Type 2Pays college tuition and most fees up to $15,000, and pays $600 per year for books. – pays college tuition and most fees up to $15,000 and pays $600 per year for books. Approximately 20 percent of our 4-year scholarship winners will be offered a Type-2 scholarship (mostly in technical fields). If a student attends an institution where the tuition exceeds $15,000 per year, then he/she pays the difference. All 3-year scholarships are Type 2.
* Type 7Pays full college tuition, fees and $600 per year for books, but the student MUST attend a college/university where the tuition is less than $9,000 per year, or a public college/university in which the student qualifies for the in-state tuition rate. – pays full college tuition, fees and $600 per year for books, but the student MUST attend a college/university where the tuition is less than $9,000 per year, OR a public college/university in which the student qualifies for the in-state tuition rate.

If a student receives a Type-7 offer but wishes to attend a college/university where they do not qualify under the guidelines above, the student can convert the 4-Year Type-7 scholarship to a 3-Year Type-2 scholarship. You cannot activate a Type-7 scholarship at a non-qualifying school and pay the difference.

Living Expenses
Upon activation, all scholarship cadets receive a nontaxable monthly allowance (stipend) during the academic year. Currently, the monthly stipend is $250 for freshmen, $300 for sophomores, $350 for juniors and $400 for seniors.

Other Details
All 4-year scholarships activate in the fall of your freshman year. All 3-year scholarships activate in the fall of your sophomore year. All 3-year scholarship designees must complete AFROTC training during their freshman year in order to retain eligibility to activate their scholarships at the start of their sophomore year.

Travel Expenses
Upon activation of your 4-year scholarship, the Air Force pays for initial travel from your home to your Air Force ROTC unitA physical location of an ROTC detachment.. The Air Force does not pay for travel for 3-year scholarship designees. Some 4- and 3-year scholarships can be extended an additional year, if necessary, in certain academic majors approved by the Secretary of the Air Force (e.g., most engineering and technical degrees).

http://www.afrotc.com/scholarships/hsschol/types.php

Majors are a large factor. The competition is much tougher for a Poli Sci major or history vs. an engineering major, as they do not really need history majors. So, the chances (speaking in AF terms) of a mechanical or electrical engineering scholarship are much greater than other majors (I believe Army steers towards civil engineering more). I applied at Rose-Hulman for Chemical Engineering which is why I believe I didn't receive a scholarship, the school has a smaller detachment and ChemE is not a desired major so much.

I hope this helps you. Again, I use AF for my explanation because i am familiar with it and the information is easy to get. It should be very similar for the other branches.
 
queenbee89 said:
Can anyone give me a brief overview on ROTC scholarships.... how are they awarded? Any idea what the competition is like as far as GPA and SAT's? Are they tied to certain majors? ... like engineering?
If one is accepted to two schools can you be awarded a scholarship to one school and not the other?

First, you must fill out a ROTC application at www.armyrotc.com Then, from my knowledge, you are interviewed by the ROTC staff at whichever school you wish to attend. Scholarships are awarded based on a student’s merit and grades, not financial need. According to goarmy.com, Be a U.S. citizen
  • Be between the ages of 17 and 26
    Have a high school CGPA of at least 2.50
    Have a high school diploma or equivalent
    Score minimum of 920 on the SAT or 19 on the ACT
    Meet physical standards
    Agree to accept a commission and serve in the Army on Active Duty or in a Reserve Component (U.S. Army Reserve or Army National Guard)
The most competitive candidates for an Army ROTC Four-Year Scholarship will have at least a SAT score of 1100 or an
ACT score of 24.

Do you have a school in mind?
 
hornetguy has provided a very comprehensive explanation of the AFROTC scholarships, so I won't go into them. My experience is as a 2005 graduate of NROTC, so that's where I'll focus.

Where AF gives different levels of scholarships based largely on one's major, Navy gives either all tuition or no tuition, and Army gives its Professors of Military Science (the COs of their ROTC units) a certain amount of money to distribute among their cadets.

Some schools give room and board for NROTC students. My school (Cornell University) did not. As a scholarship midshipman I got full tuition, random associated fees, $600 (I believe) for books each semester, and between $250 and $400 a month as a stipend, increasing by $50 each year. College Program midshipmen do not recieve a scholarship, but still are active members of the NROTC unit. They work to get the grades necessary for a two- or three-year scholarship.

The COs of each NROTC unit go to a conference each year to choose their new midshipmen. They try to choose midshipmen that will be accepted to their school, so competitive GPA/SATs probably vary depending on which programs you're applying to. Engineering and science majors or intended majors are preferred, but all academic majors are acceptable in NROTC and in all officer communities in the Navy. You should have a demonstrated ability to balance academics and other obligations and suceed in all, as they're looking for midshipmen that won't fail out of the program when faced with its rigors.

You cannot get a scholarship to multiple schools, or your choice of multiple schools, though you can attempt to transfer your scholarship from one school to another. Since NROTC accepts midshipmen before most schools accept students, Cornell has always made a bunch of scholarship offers to students that don't get in, and therefore has open slots for students to transfer their scholarship, up to a limit of 25 mids/class. I'm not sure of the specifics of other schools.

I hope this helps, queenbee!
 
what else do they look for? I'm pretty sure my academics are good enough, i also have automatic acceptance to the school i would want to go to (Univ of TX), and would qualify for in state tuition. I also would choose some sort of math/engineering major? is there something i didn't mention that they would look for?

AFROTC by the way
 
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