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- Jan 6, 2011
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- 1,580
Regarding your puzzlement why CC gave scholarship to certain schools, here is some additional stuff I learned. Based on what several PMSs told my son when he visited the battalion, it appears that when CC puts together an initial list, they send a potential scholarship winner list to the battalion PMS. At that point, battalion PMS can say "yay" or "nay" for any candidate on the potential list. I don't know whether this is a veto right or an expression of their preference for a certain candidate (or a lack thereof). My sentiment is, even if it is not an outright veto right on the part of the PMS, it does carry a weight. And, based on what my son heard, a very frequent reason for a "nay" by the PMS is s/he thinks the candidate will not be accepted by the school. I even heard that sometimes, PMS who works closely with the school admissions office will run the list by admission officers and at least get a preliminary input from the admissions officers. The PMSs don't like to have scholarship winners who later fail to get admitted to the school.
Everything you've said in your post is totally correct. CC does reach out to the PMSs of the schools to inquire about whether the applicant has the credentials to gain admission. In my DS's case last year, the PMS of DS's No. 1 school recommended that CC should award the scholarship to that No. 1 school. However, at the end of the day, CC elected not to award ANY scholarships to that school (there were some handed out in the October, but none for the January or March boards).
Your point about the relationship between the PMS and the school is a very good point. In my DS's case, the PMSs had zero input on the admissions process for any of his "crap-shoot" schools. In one school, the PMS actually wrote a formal letter of recommendation to the Dean of Admissions, as I think they do for most of the ROTC applicants who they want to join their unit, but that didn't carry the day on admissions.
But in other schools, the PMS has a long-standing relationship with the admissions office, such as is the case at clarkonarmy's school. I believe the admissions office really values the input that clarkson provides on a particular candidate. So your point about maintaining a close relationship with the PMS/ROO at the school is extremely important. Even if the ROTC folks don't have any influence at a particular school, having a formal letter of recommendation to the Dean of Admissions must count for something!
Truly excellent post, educateme! Folks need to know that AROTC scholarship decisions are not made in a vacuum at some detached, central location. The views of local PMS at the selected school is really important.