Got NROTC MO scholarship! But denied school!

ebfarrar

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Hi everyone, My son was notified last week that he did get the 4 year NROTC MO scholarship to his first school of choice - UVa. However, on the same day UVa posted that they weren't interested - at all, not even wait listed. The UVa recruiter said to call him back if he was waitlisted and he could help - but he wasn't. Son has already sent a request to change school to Virginia Tech where he applied later (not one of first 5) and has already been accepted in Corps. Also we have applied rolling admission to several other schools this week as back up. We are sot of freaking out. He DOES NOT WANT TO LOSE THIS OPPORTUNITY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! MARINE FIRST! Can anyone tell us how the process will go from here? Request for change sent by email - havent received official papers yet. how do we approach this once they come and what do we do to avoid any mistakes and losing scholarship!

Thanks!
 
Hi everyone, My son was notified last week that he did get the 4 year NROTC MO scholarship to his first school of choice - UVa. However, on the same day UVa posted that they weren't interested - at all, not even wait listed. The UVa recruiter said to call him back if he was waitlisted and he could help - but he wasn't. Son has already sent a request to change school to Virginia Tech where he applied later (not one of first 5) and has already been accepted in Corps. Also we have applied rolling admission to several other schools this week as back up. We are sot of freaking out. He DOES NOT WANT TO LOSE THIS OPPORTUNITY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! MARINE FIRST! Can anyone tell us how the process will go from here? Request for change sent by email - havent received official papers yet. how do we approach this once they come and what do we do to avoid any mistakes and losing scholarship!

Thanks!

NROTC has quotas per school (this year, I was told from several NROTC cadre that it is 25 per school). This means that if VT has filled its 25 already, then getting admitted to VT won't help. You need to (1) get admitted to a school, and (2) there must be open slots available (many are already filled). If you gain admission to a school, the scholarship is worthless if the school's 25 slots are full (you can get on the NROTC waiting list for the school, however). The only way you can do this is to get on the phone with the units asap.

This is the way it works for NROTC. Marine Option may be different, though, but I don't think so.
 
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Thanks! That's what we will start doing!! Nothing he does is ever easy! :)
 
Others may have more infor, but does NROTC MO have capabilities to provide you the schools with available NROTC MO space?
 
Others may have more infor, but does NROTC MO have capabilities to provide you the schools with available NROTC MO space?

Actually, DS was advised to contact Pensacola on that point. They have a list of available schools with openings.

Also, as Pima's DS experienced, many schools let you apply after the published deadline if you have a scholarship in hand. My DS is in the same boat, he's getting email offers of admission and hasn't even applied!

Another strategy might be to get into a school with Marine Option, and see if you can transfer to No. 1 school (with the scholarship in tow) next year. Keep that door open.
 
Hi everyone, My son was notified last week that he did get the 4 year NROTC MO scholarship to his first school of choice - UVa. However, on the same day UVa posted that they weren't interested - at all, not even wait listed. The UVa recruiter said to call him back if he was waitlisted and he could help - but he wasn't. Son has already sent a request to change school to Virginia Tech where he applied later (not one of first 5) and has already been accepted in Corps. Also we have applied rolling admission to several other schools this week as back up. We are sot of freaking out. He DOES NOT WANT TO LOSE THIS OPPORTUNITY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! MARINE FIRST! Can anyone tell us how the process will go from here? Request for change sent by email - havent received official papers yet. how do we approach this once they come and what do we do to avoid any mistakes and losing scholarship!

Thanks!

As well as getting in touch with all of your other schools, get in touch with UVA. Get in touch with the recruiter, admissions, and ROTC and see if there is anything that can be done in light of the scholarship there.
 
Thanks for everyone's advice!!!! Sounds like we are on the right track. We called schools we are waiting to hear on because we applied later and several have spots. When Plan A doesn't work out - have to go to plan B. He has sent email request - waiting on papers. By the time they get here I think he should be several more schools (they're not that competitive). And like you've mentioned maybe he transfer to a more competitive school later!

Tired Mom
 
good news and good scrambling.

A good example why ROTC candidates need to take advantage of college early admission/early decision process whenever possible.
 
Oh and does anyone know how to contact Pensacola if you haven't gotten papers in mail yet? Couldn't find one on website. His recruiter put a note on his papers (whatever papers he has) that he was sending to Pensacola yesterday. He seemed very laid back about the situation. My son is not a laid back kind of person.:smile:
 
Naval Service Training Command Officer Development, NAS Pensacola, 250 Dallas Street, Pensacola, FL 32508-5220 ~ 1.800.NAV.ROTC
https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/

hope this helps. I also recall previous post that listed NROTC contact info
 
Thank you! Email has been sent to there but a phone call can't hurt! Everyone has been so helpful!

Grateful Mom
 
Another wait....

When I applied for the NROTC scholarship I applied to 5 universities at the same time, and each had to offer the degree and the NROTC. My NROTC scholarship went to my first choice school, but after visiting the schools, I made a different choice for number 1. SO, I am wait listed at two. So thus begins the NEXT wait, to see what happens after all appointments are out, etc. and I have to see who has an opening, if one becomes available to one of the two schools.
 
When I applied for the NROTC scholarship I applied to 5 universities at the same time, and each had to offer the degree and the NROTC. My NROTC scholarship went to my first choice school, but after visiting the schools, I made a different choice for number 1. SO, I am wait listed at two. So thus begins the NEXT wait, to see what happens after all appointments are out, etc. and I have to see who has an opening, if one becomes available to one of the two schools.

Yikes! Waiting, waiting, waiting.
 
NROTC has quotas per school (this year, I was told from several NROTC cadre that it is 25 per school). This means that if VT has filled its 25 already, then getting admitted to VT won't help. You need to (1) get admitted to a school, and (2) there must be open slots available (many are already filled). If you gain admission to a school, the scholarship is worthless if the school's 25 slots are full (you can get on the NROTC waiting list for the school, however). The only way you can do this is to get on the phone with the units asap.

This is the way it works for NROTC. Marine Option may be different, though, but I don't think so.

I'm not so sure this is accurate. I asked the unit commander at BU this question just last week. He said their unit is full but that isn't conclusive. It means they have been assigned their limit of students, but not all of these students will decide to enroll there. That frees up spots for others on the wait list. He advised us to get on their wait list if my DS gets the scholarship (still waiting) and spots will likely open up. The Navy only begins this shuffling around after all the scholarships are awarded.
 
I'm not so sure this is accurate. I asked the unit commander at BU this question just last week. He said their unit is full but that isn't conclusive. It means they have been assigned their limit of students, but not all of these students will decide to enroll there. That frees up spots for others on the wait list. He advised us to get on their wait list if my DS gets the scholarship (still waiting) and spots will likely open up. The Navy only begins this shuffling around after all the scholarships are awarded.

You are correct. The wait list "frees" up as USNA appointees commit and NROTC awardees select other schools. I heard the 25 number multiple times, though. All others are on the wait list -- it's first come, first served.

In years past, the 25 number was higher (like, 35).
 
tpg - excellent point about transfers. In the haste of college admission anxiety, the transfer angle is often over looked. Two of my siblings went the transfer route, one to ND from regional state school and the other to Cornell from community college. ....It is not where you start, where you end is what is important.
 
tpg - excellent point about transfers. In the haste of college admission anxiety, the transfer angle is often over looked. Two of my siblings went the transfer route, one to ND from regional state school and the other to Cornell from community college. ....It is not where you start, where you end is what is important.

We immediately tried to find a satellite school so he could stay with his UVa company and transfer in. He was willing to go to community college and transfer in. Of course, that was too convenient.:smile: But we have still kept that option in mind. It's so hard for these kids - they've worked hard, they're eagle scouts, they've taken 6 APs, etc etc and it's still not enough. Fortunately for him - the scholarship is the crown jewel. And you have to learn sooner or later that sometimes your best just has to be enough. The life lessons learned through this process are definitely invaluable.
 
Everything usually works out in the end. My DS did not get into No. 1 school for NROTC but was able to transfer scholarship within a week to No. 2. Contacted No. 2 ROTC program and Pensecola and everything went smoothly. Also, DS denied admission to UVa, but rejection letter asked him to apply for transfer to UVa for the next year....he had UVa as top of his list for his AROTC scholarship. End result, DS is at USNA.

Definitely keep in touch with ROTC detachments/batallions, etc. They know what their numbers are, and kids may be deciding between several scholarships, several schools and service academies. Their numbers may change.
 
Thanks for sharing experience. it really is helpful to hear other people's stories (and interesting). Official papers arrived yesterday and had already emailed change for request. Mailing in acceptance letter today. After receiving papers, I have a lot better understanding of how it works. If his transfer is denied, then he can be wait listed for up to 5 schools but then we have to wait until after May 15 for that process in general. Looks like we may have to put a couple of deposits down if that's the case!
 
Thanks for sharing experience. it really is helpful to hear other people's stories (and interesting). Official papers arrived yesterday and had already emailed change for request. Mailing in acceptance letter today. After receiving papers, I have a lot better understanding of how it works. If his transfer is denied, then he can be wait listed for up to 5 schools but then we have to wait until after May 15 for that process in general. Looks like we may have to put a couple of deposits down if that's the case!

Others have posted on different links (not my personal experience) that if you call the schools admissions office and explain that your DS is interested but waiting on a scholarship they may waive or give you an extension on the deposit. It may save you a few bucks, especially if its multiple schools.
 
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