NROTC Scholarship

120333

5-Year Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2011
Messages
14
I'm a junior in high school applying for the Navy option NROTC scholarship. Here are my stats:
-Unweighted GPA: 3.86, Weighted GPA: 4.11
-Class Rank: 20/274
-SAT: 1690 Verbal: 610 Math: 550 Write: 530
-Extracurriculars: Marching band (squad leader), Pep band, School newspaper staff (Web Editor this year, will be Editor-in-chief next year), Science academic team (co-captain this year, captain next year) Fellowship of Christian Athletes, IBA All-District Honor Band, Youth Group, Anime Club, Youth Writing Camp, Wind Band (section leader), National Honor Society, joining girl scouts soon, selected for Girls State, Envirothon Team
-Sports: Tae-kwan-do in 9th & 10th grade, earned brown belt
-Volunteer work: Animal Shelter, volunteer work for high school band competitions, enviromental service projects, will be starting volunteer work at the local hospital soon, church vacation bible school
-Awards: Perfect attendance, honor roll, Bronze medal ISSMA solo and ensemble contest (1st and 3rd division), First place & 3rd place awards in area academic team competitions, 3rd place are Envirothon competition (qualified for state), Band letter, academic letter
-Employment: average of 20 hours per week
-College: First school of choice Purdue University, Tier 2 Biomedical Engineering

Any suggestions on things that can improve my chances would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'm a junior in high school applying for the Navy option NROTC scholarship. Here are my stats:
-Unweighted GPA: 3.86, Weighted GPA: 4.11
-Class Rank: 20/274
-SAT: 1690 Verbal: 610 Math: 550 Write: 530
-Extracurriculars: Marching band (squad leader), Pep band, School newspaper staff (Web Editor this year, will be Editor-in-chief next year), Science academic team (co-captain this year, captain next year) Fellowship of Christian Athletes, IBA All-District Honor Band, Youth Group, Anime Club, Youth Writing Camp, Wind Band (section leader), National Honor Society, joining girl scouts soon, selected for Girls State, Envirothon Team
-Sports: Tae-kwan-do in 9th & 10th grade, earned brown belt
-Volunteer work: Animal Shelter, volunteer work for high school band competitions, enviromental service projects, will be starting volunteer work at the local hospital soon, church vacation bible school
-Awards: Perfect attendance, honor roll, Bronze medal ISSMA solo and ensemble contest (1st and 3rd division), First place & 3rd place awards in area academic team competitions, 3rd place are Envirothon competition (qualified for state), Band letter, academic letter
-Employment: average of 20 hours per week
-College: First school of choice Purdue University, Tier 2 Biomedical Engineering

Any suggestions on things that can improve my chances would be greatly appreciated.

Having just gone through the NROTC process, I can say (IMHO) that your SAT scores are too low to be competitive and the competition for these scholarships is intense and getting worse. Sorry, that is just the cold hard truth. The Navy wants a min. of 1200 math and CR and even that is not competitive. Your other stuff is good as is your choice of major. The Navy awards scholarships by tier, with the bulk going to Tier one majors. Read up on it at the NROtC site. https://www.nrotc.navy.mil
You are only a junior so you have a little bit of time. Take an intensive SAT prep course and then retake the SAT tests again and again and try to get the math and CR closer to 700. Good luck!
 
I'm a junior in high school applying for the Navy option NROTC scholarship. Here are my stats:
-Unweighted GPA: 3.86, Weighted GPA: 4.11
-Class Rank: 20/274
-SAT: 1690 Verbal: 610 Math: 550 Write: 530
-Extracurriculars: Marching band (squad leader), Pep band, School newspaper staff (Web Editor this year, will be Editor-in-chief next year), Science academic team (co-captain this year, captain next year) Fellowship of Christian Athletes, IBA All-District Honor Band, Youth Group, Anime Club, Youth Writing Camp, Wind Band (section leader), National Honor Society, joining girl scouts soon, selected for Girls State, Envirothon Team
-Sports: Tae-kwan-do in 9th & 10th grade, earned brown belt
-Volunteer work: Animal Shelter, volunteer work for high school band competitions, enviromental service projects, will be starting volunteer work at the local hospital soon, church vacation bible school
-Awards: Perfect attendance, honor roll, Bronze medal ISSMA solo and ensemble contest (1st and 3rd division), First place & 3rd place awards in area academic team competitions, 3rd place are Envirothon competition (qualified for state), Band letter, academic letter
-Employment: average of 20 hours per week
-College: First school of choice Purdue University, Tier 2 Biomedical Engineering

Any suggestions on things that can improve my chances would be greatly appreciated.

Contact the NROTC Unit at Purdue and at any other NROTC school you may be interested in. Although, they do not make decisions on awarding scholarships they have a wealth of information on how to put the best package forward as well as specifics on improving your application for the school itself which is a completely separate process. If you are at all able, set up an appointment to meet with an officer at a NROTC Unit, any Unit. Do not just rely on your local recruiter.
 
I took the ACT last week and am waiting for the results. I will be retaking both the ACT and SAT in early June.
 
120333 - NROTC is primarily (85%) a TECHNICAL major program. NROTC cares most about your Math SAT score. Under 600 is really not competitive. Your odds will increase if you can figure out a way to get your Math SAT score above 600.
 
Here are the three problems with that plan that can only be solved by scoring well into the 600s on the Math SAT, and also on the Math SAT II:

1) If 550 is the true representation of your elementary Algebra/Geometry/Trig capabilities, you don't want to be taking Engineering anyway. You'd need tutoring just about every day.

2) There aren't many quality Universities/Colleges that will admit a freshman into the Engineering school with under 675, or usually under 700 Math SAT and Math SAT II.

3) If 550 is not a true representation, then how would the Board know this? They will assume it is accurate and further assume you wouldn't last two quarters in an Engineering major in any top 100 school.

I sincerely hope for your sake you're actually very good at math, that a further taking of the SAT and SAT II will demonstrate this, that you enjoy math, and enjoy working hard for long hours in problem solving. Otherwise you'll HATE being an engineering major of any flavor.
 
I agree kids don't understand how difficult engineering is, they look at types of jobs in the field, and say "Cool, I would like to do that". They don't realize the difficulty of the job.

Most schools with reputable engineering programs, will say on day one, look to your left, look to your right, ONE of you will not graduate....now let's start!

For NROTC and AFROTC scholarships they are the most competitive scholarships out there. Stats for recipients are way higher. Think about 200 SAT points in just M and V. Yes, 1300 is where you want to be to feel even competitive, 1400 is where you can start feeling safe.

Key word is start.

The other issue I see that will be a problem unless you hit the PFA out of the ball park is sports. ROTC will require you to do PT, and they are going want to be sure you are physically fit. Having athletics on your resume gives then the sense you are fit.

They take a Whole Candidate Score (WCS) approach. They don't want just the book smart cadet. They want the cadet that is well rounded, because statistically these are the type of people that are successful in the military...remember their belief is they want to utilize you wherever in whatever capacity.

Also, understand that nobody here knows the profile of your school and it's rigor. The board will look at that, thus, take the most rigorous courses available to you. They will look at how many go Ivy, Private, Public, 2 yr, tech and straight to work. You can be the top 7%, but it weighs out differently to them if the top 15% go Ivy compared to 0% going Ivy.

It is wise to take the ACT because many kids do much better on the ACT over the SAT. You still want to try to hit that 31+ marker to start to feel safe.

Finally, the people you need to really compete against are the SA candidates. The reason why is 95% of them will apply for NROTC as plan B. ROTC and the SAs don't talk, they take the assumption X% will not accept, thus they do the math. If X % means nobody under 1350 SAT makes it, that is where the chips will fall. Don't live in a world where you believe only people who want to do ROTC apply for scholarships, in this economy it seems like everybody is throwing their name in the hat. Thus, the pool is becoming bigger, while the accepted remain the same.

You also need to be honest with yourself when applying because the NROTC program is like AROTC and not AFROTC. The scholarship is tied to the school and the candidate. If you place a school that is a reach, you may get the scholarship, but the rejection from the school or vise a verse.

It is good to have reaches, but make sure you have matches and safeties too.

Good luck.
 
I am studying for the math section every day and I have asked for additional help from my Pre-Cal teacher.
 
ACT scores:
Composite: 29
Math: 24
English: 35
Reading: 32
Science: 25
Eng.& Writing: 31
 
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