varsity football or JR ROTC

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banjoppd

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My son will be playing varsity football in HS. There is a JR ROTC program at his school as well. If he participates in both programs he will have to attend summer school in order to stay in line with taking all AP and pre-AP classes. JR ROTC even if taken for 4 years will only give credit for 2 years in lieu of PE. JR ROTC will take up a period in his day for academic instruction.

Which is more important? Varsity football and off season varsity track compared to JR ROTC taken all academic year?

Hoping if he does not get an appointment he is considered for a national Army ROTC scholarship.

Thanks
 
I'm not an admissions officer, but, IMO, football and track (athletics in general) is the better choice for improving Whole Candidate Score.
 
Historically, seems like contact sports such as football have a noticeably higher advantage in comparative weighting. That said, in the big picture, there is a leadership component in the Whole Candidate Score (WCS). Many things can be put in that bucket also, so if he is looking for leadership opportunities (and there are many within sporting, team captain for example) and he has the time outside of school, perhaps something like Civil Air Patrol (CAP) would be worth considering. Depends on the other parts of his complete application. Given only what you’ve stated though, I agree that varsity contact sports would be the most beneficial.

-RLTW
 
In awarding scholarships, AROTC seems to have favored applicants who have been successful in sports compared to participants in JROTC. Over the last three years 26% to 28% of 4 year scholarship winners participated in JROTC while 65% to 82% have been varsity letter winners.

http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?attachments/upload_2015-7-17_15-27-34-png.316/

However, these statistics could be misleading since we don't know what percentage of JROTC participants who applied for scholarships actually received them.
 
Depends on what else your DS does?

For the whole candidate score, leadership 30% is broken down to extracircular activities, sports, and school official evaluations. There is no extra credit. And we don't exactly know what the breakdown is but we do know the three ares and we can assume that one area won't outweigh other areas too much. Say your DS is an Eagle Scout and participated in Boys State, JROTC particiation won't boost his extracircular activity points too much and overall leadership scores if he played no sports. If your DS is varisty lettter/team caption for differnt sports, unless he is outstanding in football, playing football won't boost his sports score too much and overall leadership score if he is weak on extracircular activities (apologize for bad sentences). It's a whole candidate score, with no extra credit. So in my opinion well roundness is better than trying to max in one area.
 
thanks....he has the chance to play for a HS with a football powerhouse dynasty. we are in Texas so football is everything.
He was willing to transfer to another school to play for an average team with an average program just so he could participate in JR ROTC if that's what it took to get an appointment.
Thanks to all for helping us try and get him on point,,,,
 
I'll make it simple: if your son has not done anything that is considered Extracurricular leadership (non-sports), then joining JROTC helps. So would joining any other club in school, and they would likely count the same. If he has done something/anything (which is likely the case), then the relatively low leadership position he would likely have in JROTC won't help his WCS and look like he is trying to pad his resume.
 
banjoppd said:
My son will be playing varsity football in HS. There is a JR ROTC program at his school as well. If he participates in both programs he will have to attend summer school in order to stay in line with taking all AP and pre-AP classes. JR ROTC even if taken for 4 years will only give credit for 2 years in lieu of PE. JR ROTC will take up a period in his day for academic instruction.

Which is more important? Varsity football and off season varsity track compared to JR ROTC taken all academic year?

Hoping if he does not get an appointment he is considered for a national Army ROTC scholarship.

Thanks
Click to expand...

So he is a rising freshman in HS? A blank slate at this time?

I would tell him to do what he loves. It is way too early to worry about this. For all you know he will fall in love with Air Force. Or even Navy. :)
 
banjo... A RISING FRESHMAN??????????????

Agree with Kanye's Dads puppet above. Let your 14-year-old do what he loves.

And, one might recommend you not bring this up with him again for at least 18-24 months. Let the kid have a life.
 
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