NROTC scholarship....

I applied for NROTC at Georgetown, Miami University (in Ohio), Cal Maritime, Northwestern, and U of Tampa - in that order. However, I only have a 3.3 GPA (at a top 100 HS in the nation, and I currently have a 4.0 for the semester while taking an honors physics course (6th science course), Statistics (my 4th year of math)) and a 29 ACT composite, 33 Reading, 29 Science, 31 English, and 25 Math.

My extracurriculars include starting Varsity Softball at my high school since frosh year, volunteer at youth softball clinics, volunteer as a U12 softball coach, volunteer as a U10 soccer coach, I ran Cross Country this year, I started my own video production company, am webmaster of a travel softball team, am President of Ski Club (which I founded), attended a Jewish Teen Leadership conference in DC, and am part of a 2 year program that teaches Jewish teens how to advocate for Israel.

Also, I applied Tier 2 Economics, but also applied for the LREC program, with fluent Hebrew under my belt.

How do my chances look for a scholarship? And for the LREC program (my first choice)? I'm kinda freaking out here, especially with all of the talk about "flaws" with the NROTC board and lack of available funding...

If I don't get a scholarship this year, I will probably apply again next year, as it will be really difficult to pay for my schools without the scholarship (but if my only option is going with no scholarship, I will take out loans and follow my dreams of becoming a Naval officer, scholarship or not).

Hey,

First off, economics is Tier III, not Tier II, unless it is a form of econometrics or a very small field the Navy calls "Quantitative Economics", or some other kind of econ out of the math dept. That makes a pretty big difference so could you clarify whether the Econ offered at your colleges is in fact Tier II? As you probably know Tier III scholarships are capped at 15% of the total, with Tier I currently at around 40%, and Tier II (science, math) at about 45%, so there are maybe 2-3 Tier IIIs for the incoming freshman class at even large Battalions, and maybe none at smaller Battalions.

Second, with your 3.3 GPA why did you put Georgetown as your #1 choice? If the Navy awards you a scholarship to Gtown, and you don't get in through Gtown admissions, you might not be able to get NETC to find room in another college to which you were actually ACCEPTED. The odds are you will not gain acceptance to Georgetown with a 3.3 even from a tough high school, and the odds of Northwestern are probably under 10% with your stats, though of course I HOPE you do get into both.

If I were you, I would email NETC today and rearrange my college priority list to have my #1, #2, and #3 choices as schools where your stats are at or not far below the 75% on SAT enrolled students, and above the GPA ave. You can find this data easily and quickly at collegedata.com. You can also go to their College Match section to see scattergrams of accepted vs. denied students and their stats. Sure you could still not get into that college, but at least you have pretty good odds.

Thanks for the quick reply

I listed Georgetown as #1 because if I get in, that is where I want to go, no question. But I can change the order (to Miami, Cal Maritime, Tampa, Georgetown, Northwestern) if that makes more sense and will significantly raise my chances at a scholarship.

They are all regular economics but there is emphasis in econometrics... does that make it Teir II? Because otherwise, I will switch to Statistics, as that was my second choice and I would love to major in that as well. So should I contact all of my schools now and change my intended major to stats (even though I wrote essays specifically regarding econ?)

scutrules said:

.. if that makes more sense and will significantly raise my chances at a scholarship.

Click to expand...

As I understand the process: which colleges you put in which order does not affect your chances of receiving a NROTC scholarship. The NROTC board does not look at your college choices when deciding whether to award you a scholarship. They look at the list afterwards to determine which school to assign your scholarship based on room in the NROTC Unit and your preferences.

The advice about which schools to list in which order was based IMO on which schools you are most likely to be admitted. For instance: you would not want to have the good fortune of being awarded a NROTC scholarship to Georgetown and then be denied admission to Georgetown. What would you do with your NROTC scholarship? Transfer it to Miami? Great...as long as Miami has room in their NROTC unit AND the NROTC agrees. Otherwise you could be scrambling around in April trying to find a college that you can (or already are) accepted AND one that you can transfer your NROTC scholarship to AND has room in their unit for you. The advice you were given was to put a college at the top of your list that you have a good chance of being admitted AND one that you would be willing to attend. You can always try to transfer the scholarship to Georgetown in April if you are fortunate enough to be admitted and also selected for a NROTC scholarship.

FWIW - I would only consider selecting a college major that you are seriously interested and can see yourself using for a non-military career. Just an opinion...