Important ROTC Question

Ok, this is very frustrating so please bare with me.

I applied for ARMY ROTC and was given a scholarship to three schools. UDEL, Hofstra, UCONN. I was offered a scholarship in March. I had to reply by March 6th, or reject the scholarship. At the time I had only gotten into Hofstra.

Prior to my selection, I called a LT at a school in the South which I was not offerred scholarship to, to ask how I got get my scholarship there, and at my number one school Elon. I have been accepted to all of these schools as of now. The LT told me that in May I will get an option to appeal the decision to request it at Elon. He said if I wanted to get my scholarship at Elon, that I should select my scholarship at the most expensive school Hofstra, because it would increase my chances of it getting transferred to Elon because it was less expensive. This also made sense because I hadn't been accepted anywhere else at the time.

The LT said that if I do not get approved for my scholarship at ELON, that I could go back and select one of the three schools scholarship that I was origonally offered.

I called cadet command a few days ago (at least a month since I talked to the LT) and the representative there said I can appeal the decision in mid may, and that if I dont get approved at ELON, that my previous scholarships were NOT guarenteed.

What should I do? Deposits are due by May 1st, and this process doesnt start until after then. If I dont get my scholarship at Elon, and then rejected at UDEL after already being offered there, than that means I have to go to Hofstra for the scholarship.

Please Advise.

What are the chances I get my scholarship at ELON?
If I do not get it at ELON, what are the chances I get my scholarship "re-approved" at UDEL, if it is not already guarenteed.

SORRY IF THATS REALLY CONFUSING.

Yes, it is really confusing. You might want to proof read before posting.

As far as I can determine: You have been accepted by Hofstra. Also AROTC offered you a scholarship there and the LT you spoke to recommended you accept it to Hofstra before March 6th. You did not indicate whether you followed that advice. If you did then put a deposit in to Hofstra (before May 1st) and you will be able to attend that school in the Fall on an AROTC scholarship.

If you have also been accepted to Elon...you have a choice. You can submit a SECOND (probably non-refundable) deposit to Elon and then in mid-May ask to have your AROTC scholarship transferred there. If the Army is not willing/able to transfer your scholarship you can either go to Hofstra on your AROTC scholarship or attend Elon without an AROTC scholarship and apply for an in-college scholarship.

I have no idea what this means: "my previous scholarships were NOT guarenteed".
As far as your "chances" of getting your AROTC scholarship transferred to ELON.....I'd call the AROTC PMS at Elon and ask him.

aglages said:

Yes, it is really confusing. You might want to proof read before posting.

As far as I can determine: You have been accepted by Hofstra. Also AROTC offered you a scholarship there and the LT you spoke to recommended you accept it to Hofstra before March 6th. You did not indicate whether you followed that advice. If you did then put a deposit in to Hofstra (before May 1st) and you will be able to attend that school in the Fall on an AROTC scholarship.

If you have also been accepted to Elon...you have a choice. You can submit a SECOND (probably non-refundable) deposit to Elon and then in mid-May ask to have your AROTC scholarship transferred there. If the Army is not willing/able to transfer your scholarship you can either go to Hofstra on your AROTC scholarship or attend Elon without an AROTC scholarship and apply for an in-college scholarship.

I have no idea what this means: "my previous scholarships were NOT guarenteed".
As far as your "chances" of getting your AROTC scholarship transferred to ELON.....I'd call the AROTC PMS at Elon and ask him.

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Sorry if there were some typos in my previous post. What I mean by "Not Guaranteed" is that after I accept a scholarship at Hofstra, I am not guaranteed a position at the other two schools I was offered a scholarship.
This is what Cadet Command said, which contradicted what the LT said.

Yes I followed the LT's advice and chose Hofstra as my scholarship.

I have made no deposits to any of these schools.

So to sum up my really long OP, if I re-apply for my scholarship at Elon in May and it gets denied, can I choose UDEL? (which I was originally offered). Although the person at cadet command I spoke with said it was not guaranteed, if I was previously offered a scholarship there, shouldn't it be easier than if I wasn't offered one in the first place?

Just looking for others opinions if they have been in a similar situation because if I am *almost* guaranteed a scholarship at UDEL, I would like to save the money I would lose from putting down a deposit at multiple schools.

Matt: When you were offered an AROTC scholarship to thee colleges (UDEL, Hofstra, UCONN) the Army had room for you in each of those Battalions. After you made your selection (Hofstra) and the other scholarship awardees have made theirs, there may not be any "slots" available at either Elon or Udel. Fortunately at this time of year there is a lot of movement with people trying to move their scholarships for various reasons. I would strongly recommend that you call the AROTC Recruiting Officer at both of the colleges that you are considering (Elon & Udel) and ask them whether they have any room for you.

I can certainly appreciate that you want to save money by not making deposits at multiple schools. However, it does not seem as though you are going to find out about whether your AROTC scholarship will be transferred until after the May 1st deadline that most colleges have for deposit / commitment. You might want to call a couple of your colleges and ask them if you can get an extension beyond May 1st. How much of an extension is anybody's guess. We are talking about the Army and it may take months for a final decision to be made. While it may "waste" money, putting a deposit down at more than one school may be the "safest" course...but it is your money and you have to decide. Do yourself a favor and at least talk to the AROTC Recruiting Officer at both of the colleges that you are considering (Elon & Udel) and ask for their opinions.

Good luck.

I agree with the above information and also something else for others to consider in future years as they are applying/competing for ROTC scholarships.

When you form your list of schools that you would like to attend, please make very sure that you would be happy attending ANY of the schools on the list. Although certainly you will have a favorite #1 choice, generally because of funding issues that should be also be the most expensive college on your list. The reasoning behind this is that if you do have the opportunity to "move" your scholarship then funds have already been allocated which will cover the costs of another less expensive school.

However, the reality is that after a particularly competitive selection cycle, not everyone will get their #1 choice or be able to switch to another school. My daughter's #1 choice (dream school) had all 11 scholarships they were authorized to offer taken after Oct and Dec boards.

Many scholarship winners, unless they are selected very early in the process and also get into their top choice schools Early Action, might have to settle for second or even third choice schools. Please keep this in mind and forumulate your schools list very, very carefully. It is probably not a good idea to place all "reach" schools on your list if you dont have a shot at getting in.

Matt, best of luck to you and please do call the ROTC units that you are interested in, explain your situation and ask if they have any open slots or anticipate any. I hope everything works out the way you hope.

Thanks to all those who replied. I will contact the AROTC branches at each University and post their response.

-Matt

matt said:

Thanks to all those who replied. I will contact the AROTC branches at each University and post their response.

-Matt

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Matt,

Make sure you also are in contact with Cadet Command. The National Scholarships are decided upon by Cadet command this year as opposed to the schools themselves. We have found some "communication" errors at some individual AROTC battalions at each school as they are learning the new systems.
Keep in contact with both battalions, find out what they think your chances are and keep in constant contact with Cadet Command. If an allocation opens up at Elon or UDel prior to May they may be willing to transfer for you. It's Cadet Command that will do the transfer, not the schools at this point in time (though they may be able to help).