The rollercoaster ride is starting

[Pima]

Weigh decision on whether child, and you, can afford the school without the scholarship. And if cannot afford it, make sure child completely understands if the scholarship goes, may not be able to stay at that school. Be realistic as much as possible, try not to let them fall in love with a school, so that they “just cannot go anywhere else.”

This is probably one of the most important aspects as a parent as far as I am concerned from a control issue.
~ You can not control DoDMERB, nor the pool size and competition. You can control where they apply as a HS student.

So many kids enter believing they indeed will commission, be it Army, AF or Navy upon graduation, however, the reality is the attrition rate is quite high.
~ If they fall in love with a school and can only afford it due to a ROTC scholarship, what happens if they hate ROTC, can you as a family afford the lost of tens of thousands per year in a scholarship.
~~ There is also two more aspects if you cannot.
1. Emotionally parting from their friends on top of leaving the school
2. Transferring to another school.
~ If they decide in Feb. freshmen year that ROTC is not for them, than they are too late to apply to other colleges for fall semester as a sophomore.
~ The new school may also decide to take some of the credits as electives, where the other school counted it towards their major. In essence they may now delay their graduation date.

I would also stress again as I always do, get what you can control in order now. If there is a medical issue, such as a doc when you were 14 prescribed an inhaler for whatever reason as a pre-emptive measure than ask the folks to take you to a specialist and have paperwork to prove that you are healthy. If you are currently a sophomore and have been prescribed meds for ADD/ADHD, etc, meet the doctor now to address this issue.

Finally, please remember that if you apply to a college for early admission (binding) what will you do if you go A/NROTC where they decide which college you can use the scholarship? Great if you can afford it, not so much if you can't. Flip side don't place only reaches on your application.
~ These boards are littered in the fall with the chance me, and when the poster posts their school lists, many times they place only reaches.
~~ In the spring the boards are littered with I got the scholarship to X university, but rejected from the school for admissions...now what?

FYI, the only branch that does not tie the scholarship to the college is AFROTC. However, AFROTC is like NROTC and it is tied to the intended major.

Take this month and train for the PFA, but also learn the finesse aspects of each branch.

Good luck

 

[kinnem]

I agree with Pima's comments above. To reinforce the attrition portion of her post, my son's NROTC class began freshman year with 50 people. Only 15 of them commissioned this spring. If my math is right that's a 70% attrition rate. Of course not all of those 50 were on scholarship and I have no idea how many were. Of course all the numbers will vary with the unit.

There are many reasons people leave.
1. It's not for them
2. They seriously screwed up (eg. a DUI)
3. They less seriously screwed up on several occasions
4. They didn't maintain academic standards
5. They didn't maintain physical standards

Please note these are not in any particular order.

 

[nofodad]

Few suggestions, at least for AROTC. Have a plan B, plan C, and if really neurotic plan D. If any major medical issues review them early, and try to get answers, may save a lot of heartache later. Have paperwork ready well in advance: coaches may not be available at the last minute to do the PFA; transcripts might be delayed. Choose applying schools carefully, choices make a difference, including the PMS who will do the interview. Their decision carries great weight. Elite private (i.e. very expensive) may have fewer scholarship slots and more applicants. Child may score high on the national OML but not high enough for certain school. Weigh decision on whether child, and you, can afford the school without the scholarship. And if cannot afford it, make sure child completely understands if the scholarship goes, may not be able to stay at that school. Be realistic as much as possible, try not to let them fall in love with a school, so that they “just cannot go anywhere else.” Scholarships really are the carrots to get interested, qualified candidates to commit. Actually more of a loan paid back with service time, 4 years AD or 8 years reserve. Not all officers were on scholarship, and in older times 1/2 marine officers came from PLC and OCS, not ROTC or academy. And oh yeah, have a plan B, plan C, and if really neurotic plan D. Good luck to all.

Great advice...DS is on plan D.