When do you have to have your application in to be considered for the 1st board?

Dkr626

5-Year Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Messages
18
For Marine Option NROTC. When does the first board meet, and when do you need to have your application in by to be considered for it?
 
Dkr626: The date of these boards are confidential and are not published.

For what it is worth, I believe that last year's first board was in late October/ early November.

Note: Application has to be submitted, interview and PFT completed prior to the file being sent to the board.

Good luck!
 
Remember the boards work like a queue, in other words 1st in, 1st out. Even if you get in prior to the board, if 250 get submitted before you, your packet will be reviewed after the 1st 250. This is important to understand, because boards only convene for a limited amount of time, and that means sometimes they will not review every applicant.

It is another reason why people say to complete the packet early. It is not only to get the results earlier, but the fact is there is a limited pot of gold to distribute. I don't know about the MO board, but it is not uncommon for ROTC cadets to be deferred to the next board. In other words you may be on the cusp and they want to wait to see how you stack against more candidates.

If you wait to submit later reboarding becomes an issue since the pot is dwindling with the amount of boards becoming less. I can't recall which branch, but a poster's DS this past yr was re-boarded 3 times.

Good luck
 
Definitely get it in before October comes and you should be good for the early board. But definitely ASAP is better because of what the above just said!
 
One other fact to understand is that even if they announced the board will meet Oct 1., the closing date could be a week to 2 weeks earlier. In other words the question you want to ask is not "when the board will meet", but "when is the deadline date for XYZ board?". 2 different things.

Also before we start the how long until the results are released, traditionally it can vary from 4-6 weeks+ many more weeks. When DS went up the results took about 8 weeks, it was the 1st yr AFROTC dropped the cadet numbers. The yr after it was @ 2-3 weeks. LY for AROTC it was like our DS's board...weeks turning into months.

Trust everyone here, this site will light up like a christmas tree when the results are released. There will always be a few Snoopies over the dog bowl, and by 8 a.m. there will be a post from someone.


This will feel like the hardest yr of your life, but if you accept the fact that maybe you will not know until April, you will be able to enjoy your SR yr. If you obsess over boards meeting, boards releasing results you will be insane.

If ROTC is plan A, make a Plan B, and that includes paying for college. The most common posts you find on these forums are from posters who never make a plan B as their plan A. They find themselves running around in April trying to figure out how to work it for them. April is the time you should be able to take a deep breath, enjoy your prom, do sr skip day, make graduation party plans, and get ready for orientation at your school. You don't want it to be the time to say "SHEAAT, I got the school, but not the scholarship, how can I scrape up the money to attend?"

Good luck

PS if Oct/Nov is the board and you want to be in the 1st board, I would say Aug./Sept is when you want the packet submitted...again it is all about the queue. First boards usually do not get through everyone, because most candidates that are serious about the scholarship will submit early.

Our DS submitted for AFROTC in Sept 07 before the 1st board, he didn't get boarded until Dec. Results released in Jan. 1st Board was Oct., 2nd was Nov., 3rd was Dec.
 
If ROTC is plan A, make a Plan B, and that includes paying for college.

It can be difficult to motivate yourself to work on plan B but you need to put just as much effort into plan B as you do plan A. Plan B may become plan A.
 
Your are smart to try to get before the first Board. Many of the most popular NROTC campuses fill up out of the first board... some that come to mind are USD, Tulane, George Washington, Boston University, perhaps some of the SMCs. This is for Navy Option... honestly I don't know about Marine Option.
 
My contact officer notified anyone doing MO to submit the electronic app by July 15, and see him about PFT, interview and supplemental forms before September. But I can tell he's the sort of guy that likes to get stuff done early. Which works just fine by me...

Just as soon as you can.
 
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