Three Year Advance Degree Question

Armydad88

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I have another question - Why would an applicant receive a Three Year Advance Designee Scholarhip as a senior in high school versus a four year scholarship?

:help:

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled and blessed that my daughter received the three year AD scholarhip. I just can't get anyone to give me a clear answer on why one over the other.
 
I'm pretty sure the AD stands for active duty although that status is not guaranteed. The short answer is that the candidate was not deemed worthy (wish there was a better word) of a 4 year scholarship. But if your DD reports and busts her butt physical fitness and academic-wise she may be upgraded to a 3.5 or 4 year scholarship.
 
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I have another question - Why would an applicant receive a Three Year Advance Designee Scholarhip as a senior in high school versus a four year scholarship?

:help:

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled and blessed that my daughter received the three year AD scholarhip. I just can't get anyone to give me a clear answer on why one over the other.

Budget for one, the Army has a certain number of 4 year and 3 year scholarships, they have a finite amount of money for scholarships. By giving a mix of 4 and 3 year scholarships they can reach more cadets.

Tuition cost for the school can have an effect as well.

School selection can also come in to play, if the school your daughter selected had a large number of applicants and was able to fill their quota could be a reason. The school only has a certain number of scholarship slots available, a mix of 3 and 4 year. Some schools don't fill up as fast or have a smaller number of applicants that list the school.

The application itself can also be a factor, CC may want to see how a cadet performs their first year. To be honest there are more 4 year scholarship winners that don't make it through the first year then you might think. When my younger son started there were three 4 year scholarship winners, my son was the only one that passed the APFT, one dropped the program after 3 months and one left at the end of the year. The Army wasted the slots on these cadets, they ended up giving scholarships to two other cadets the next year in his class.

Giving more 3 year scholarships have given the cadre at the battalion level a chance to evaluate cadets, some will receive upgrades to their scholarships if the funds are available.

And of course there's the fact that nobody really knows how they decide who gets a 4 or 3 year scholarship, pulling names out of a hat has been one theory, even darts have come up a couple times.
 
Budget for one, the Army has a certain number of 4 year and 3 year scholarships, they have a finite amount of money for scholarships. By giving a mix of 4 and 3 year scholarships they can reach more cadets.

Tuition cost for the school can have an effect as well.

School selection can also come in to play, if the school your daughter selected had a large number of applicants and was able to fill their quota could be a reason. The school only has a certain number of scholarship slots available, a mix of 3 and 4 year. Some schools don't fill up as fast or have a smaller number of applicants that list the school.

The application itself can also be a factor, CC may want to see how a cadet performs their first year. To be honest there are more 4 year scholarship winners that don't make it through the first year then you might think. When my younger son started there were three 4 year scholarship winners, my son was the only one that passed the APFT, one dropped the program after 3 months and one left at the end of the year. The Army wasted the slots on these cadets, they ended up giving scholarships to two other cadets the next year in his class.

Giving more 3 year scholarships have given the cadre at the battalion level a chance to evaluate cadets, some will receive upgrades to their scholarships if the funds are available.

And of course there's the fact that nobody really knows how they decide who gets a 4 or 3 year scholarship, pulling names out of a hat has been one theory, even darts have come up a couple times.

Much better answer....
 
I'm pretty sure the AD stands for active duty although that status is not guaranteed. The short answer is that the candidate was not deemed worthy (wish there was a better word) of a 4 year scholarship. But if your DD reports and bust his or her butt physical fitness and academic-wise they may be upgraded to a 3.5 or 4 year scholarship.

AD does stand for Advanced Designee.

Getting a 3 year does not always mean they were not deemed worthy. Applicants with much higher stats then my son were given 3 year scholarships to one school on the last board. My son was given a 4 year on the first board to 5 schools. For my son it came down to school selections, none of the schools he listed were highly competitive when it came to ROTC. There is a lot more to it then just the stats, now more then ever.

nofodad is right though,the applicants stats still have a big impact when the schools are competitive, and his comment in bold is Great advice.
 
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As others have said, I think it often comes down to money. My son was offered a 4 year to an in-state school, but a 3 year AD to an out-of-state school (he listed only those two schools on his application). The out-of-state was by far his first choice school, so he chose that one even though we had to pay the first year ourselves. Obviously the Army pays much more for him there than they would had he attended the in-state school. I attribute the difference in scholarship offers to the the residency status - he was equally "worthy" at either school.
 
3 year AD vice 4 Year

ArmyDad88--

Will PM you on this....

LTC Rob Kirkland (USA, ret.)
"The Insider's Guide to Army ROTC Scholarships for High School Students and their Parents"
 
During the cadres weekly update brief today, our SMI talked about how CC is currently over mission on scholarships and guidance is coming down soon from CC on that. I didn't ask any questions about this or know how over mission they are, just thought I'd pass it along. Maybe clarkson has more info.

If this is all true it may be tougher for upgrades or additional scholarship awards.
 
3 AD scholarships lower cost and allow more scholarships to be granted. I have seen a growth in total scholaships awarded over the last 3 years, with a bulk of the growth being 3 AD.
 
During the cadres weekly update brief today, our SMI talked about how CC is currently over mission on scholarships and guidance is coming down soon from CC on that. I didn't ask any questions about this or know how over mission they are, just thought I'd pass it along. Maybe clarkson has more info.
I've heard that Army's going to actually cut commissioning numbers as early as next year. I guess what you mentioned could be how CC might try to fix the problem.

And in any case - just receiving a scholarship in itself is a huge accomplishments. To all of the HS seniors out there - be very grateful that you have one now, and won't have to compete for one later; you'll see what I mean when the time comes.
 
This thread is pretty interesting, I would like to pose a question, wouldnt a student try harder the first year and integrate faster into the program if they(or parents) had to pay the bill the first year? That way there is more to lose if you already have one year in all on your bill? Just a thought

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Also I would add, that the Army is not out any money if a 3 year student fails pt or drops the program the first year.

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My DS would have participated in AROTC even if he would not have gotten the 4 yr scholarship (actually 5 yrs with his specific program). We are tremendously grateful that the full scholarship was available.

I believe in certain cases (those who drop out) it would be more beneficial to wait and offer 3 yr scholarships. But sometimes it would difficult to distinguish who will complete the program and who will not.
 
I've heard that Army's going to actually cut commissioning numbers as early as next year. I guess what you mentioned could be how CC might try to fix the problem.

And in any case - just receiving a scholarship in itself is a huge accomplishments. To all of the HS seniors out there - be very grateful that you have one now, and won't have to compete for one later; you'll see what I mean when the time comes.

I've heard rumblings from the cadre that in a year or so, commissioning will be about 60/40 Guard/reserves vs AD.
 
We are tremendously grateful for the 3 YR AD scholarship; don't get me wrong. One year tuition is a small price to pay for all the Army is providing my daughter. She is working extremely hard, and would whether she had a 3 or 4 year scholarship.
 
This thread is pretty interesting, I would like to pose a question, wouldnt a student try harder the first year and integrate faster into the program if they(or parents) had to pay the bill the first year? That way there is more to lose if you already have one year in all on your bill?

As a ROO I get nervous when I hear this philosophy. True some people would like to see the tryout and make sure we are getting what we want, but I would argue that without my 4 years there wouldn't be enough students coming to a school like Clarkson to even give it a try. I need my 4's and 3's. I'm sure at the schools that have a walk in business (Alabama?) it would be a little easier to have the masses battle it out for the three year scholarships. I've got to hustle and convince kids to venture up to the great white north to do Army ROTC. A 4 year scholarship is what it often takes.
 
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