NROTC Instant Scholarship

crair70

5-Year Member
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Feb 7, 2011
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My DS just got a call tonight from his NROTC officer asking f he would consider an ISR (instant scholarship). We didn't even know this program existed. DS has completed application to USNA, is 3Q with presidential (MOC Nom packets ready to go) and CVW in Oct. USNA and USAFA are his first 2 choices. From what we understand, if he was to accept the ISR through NROTC he would be committing to $180,000 scholarship to use at one of his 5 choices. What we don't understand is what type of commitment he will be making if he does get this scholarship and accepts it this early. Being the USNA and USAFA are his first choice (NROTC and AFROTC are plan b) he is not sure what he should do. Does anyone have any experience with this type of scholarship and the detail? Thanking you in advance for replies!
 
Appointments to an SA trumps scholarship. You will be able to walk away from the scholarship if he gets an apptmt.

This is truly a bird in the hand!
 
Pima- what about USAFA? I was reading that he could walk away for USNA but not certain about USAFA?
 
My DS just got a call tonight from his NROTC officer asking f he would consider an ISR (instant scholarship). We didn't even know this program existed. DS has completed application to USNA, is 3Q with presidential (MOC Nom packets ready to go) and CVW in Oct. USNA and USAFA are his first 2 choices. From what we understand, if he was to accept the ISR through NROTC he would be committing to $180,000 scholarship to use at one of his 5 choices. What we don't understand is what type of commitment he will be making if he does get this scholarship and accepts it this early. Being the USNA and USAFA are his first choice (NROTC and AFROTC are plan b) he is not sure what he should do. Does anyone have any experience with this type of scholarship and the detail? Thanking you in advance for replies!

There is some oldish information here: http://qnnoa.tripod.com/Folder Scholarship/ISD2002.pdf

I believe the commitment is the same as any NROTC scholarship midshipman... but then I'm just a parent

This is discussed somewhat on another thread here: http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?t=16311

There was some mention on the other thread that they could still go to academy, after accepting it, if they were accepted at the academy. But that might be urban legend and you should confirm it with the NROTC officer. I'm sure he or she could answer all your other questions as well.

This is real and is only offerred to very highly competitive candidates. The goal is to avoid losing them to other scholarship (non-military I assume) opportunites they may be given. It could have an advantage (especially if the above about the academy is true) even if you already have an appointment in hand... as it guarantees plan B is in your pocket provided he is still selected by the board which should be a formality. In some sense though it seems to be like an Early Decision commitment to a college (based on my reading)... you're locked in.... so if you have a plan C that later looks better than plan B you couldn't exercise it. But, again, I'm just a parent.

Congratulations to your DS, whether he accepts it or not, as these are very rare. He must be quite exceptional.

Hope this helps! :thumb:
 
I can't answer that, my suggestion is to talk to your ALO. If you feel uneasy about discussing it with his ALO pm Flieger or CC. for clarification.


Regarding the scholarship talk to them...there was a poster back in June/July that had your assumption of the 180, but it turned out the child was locked to an IS school.

Congrats!

kinnem. it is not urban legend. Appointment to an SA trumps the commitment for ROTC in that branch. I just don't know or would assume that an AFA apptmt trumps an NROTC scholarship.

Crair where are you from? I ask this because N/AFROTC are plan B. This is a very good sign, but if you are in a competitive state every assumption is thrown out the window for plan A.
 
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kinnem. it is not urban legend. Appointment to an SA trumps the commitment for ROTC in that branch. I just don't know or would assume that an AFA apptmt trumps a NROTC scholarship.

Thanks Pima. That's good info. I'm always reluctant to "confirm" something unless I've seen it on an official document/website, so I mention it and tell people to confirm it! Thanks again!
 
No problem kinnem

I am actually curious if someone could say that a sister branch apptmt trumps a scholarship!

JMPO, but I would bet it does.

Again pm Flieger. CC or Mongo, because they are all ALO/BGO's,

They are your go to poster.
 
ISR

My son was approved for an ISR two weeks ago and I signed the contract after reading it carefully. (You can Google it online if you want to look.) Your son is NOT bound to accept the scholarship. That condition has nothing to do with a SA. He could simply decide not to accept it. http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/publications/Forms/1100.32.pdf

My son has also applied to USNA and it might be late spring before he knows. (In some ways it would be better to get a 'no' earlier rather than later.) Our kids may need to reserve a NROTC slot before they hear from Annapolis, if they are thinking of popular units. They aren't guaranteed their first choice, but they are guaranteed a unit, providing they meet the conditions of the contract (top 20%, technical major, getting into a university or college with a unit, no DUIs, etc). Thus, he really can't apply for any early decision admission, because then he would be bound to attend that school whether there is space in the ROTC unit or not, and he would have to pull his USNA application.

Also, an ISR means they bypass the board. The CO has final authority. Ours told us it then goes up the chain to make sure all the paperwork is OK. You should be proud; they only offer about 150 of these nationally.

My son's singular goal is to serve as an officer in the USN. He has already visited several units and knows what a great opportunity this is. He's pretty stoked. So are Mom and Dad.
 
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Just to clarify- DS doesn't have the ISR yet... Call came asking him if he would consider it and meet Friday to interview. He did mention this was all based on his application being viewed as competitive. He encouraged DS to talk it over and call him tomorrow. He did mention he was aware he had applied to USNA, USAFA and AFROTC and so he needed to be willing to commit. Thus my reason for all the questions about binding commitment.

DS did email his BGO to see if he had an experience with this as well.

Pima- we are in sunny CA. Competitive... I know! How would this affect the situation? Can you explain...
 
Your son is NOT bound to accept the scholarship. That condition has nothing to do with a SA. He could simply decide not to accept it. http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/publications/Forms/1100.32.pdf

... Also, an ISR means they bypass the board. The CO has final authority. Ours told us it then goes up the chain to make sure all the paperwork is OK.

Thanks Candidad. This is excellent info and would seem to answer the question regarding AFA acceptance.

Talk about a no-brainer! :thumb:
 
Okay; as a student given ISR designation this past June, I have to comment. I'm quite certain that we do not skip the board. In fact, having had the ISR paperwork turned in for some months now, I must confirm that I haven't heard a thing since, aside from some reassurances by my CO. Parents of the recent ISR appointees: have your recruiters said anything about scholarship confirmation?
 
Wondering if any of those offered ISR can post your SAT/ACT/PFT stats.
DS just finished his initial interview. He has a 31 ACT. Wondering if that is high enough to be in the ISR range.
Also, I've heard that ISR's are specifically designed to target URM's. DS does not fit into that category. Can anyone with knowledge comment? Thanks all.
 
There is no PFT for ISR selection, but the fitness test is required for scholarship activation. My son completed his CFA at NASS with no problems, so that will transfer over. He told me his scores, but I forgot what they were other than maxing out on situps and pushups, pullups in the low teens, and a 5:40 something mile. I think he did OK on the basketball throw and shuttle.

The minimum SAT for an ISR is 1230 (CR+Math) with a minimum 600 Math. Alternatively the minimum ACT is 54 combined Math + English with a minimum 26 Math. My son will take both tests one more time each in October to be more competitive for college admission, but the CO said he didn't need to report his scores as far as he was concerned.

An ISR is offered for those meeting minimum academic criteria (top 20% of HS class, the minimum scores listed above) based on the whole person concept. (ECs, leadership, volunteering, varsity sports, music, etc.) Everything else (DodMERB, etc.) applies and they have to get into a school on their own. My son is DodMERB qualified and working on getting into a school.

They do not want to reserve the immediate scholarship for those they sense are shopping for back pocket Plan Bs. They want these to be used. Expect a line of questioning if you have applied to 5 SAs and 3 ROTC scholarships. "Are you serious about Navy ROTC?" From statistics I found online, fewer than 50% of the offered ISRs in that one particular year were activated. I suspect appointments to USNA or another SA make up the bulk of the difference beyond attrition to other opportunities, but have no concrete evidence to support that guess.

ISRs do not specifically target URMs. ISRs are open to anyone who qualifies and anyone the recruiters want to specifically target, so they are not lost to other scholarship opportunities.

Paragraph 17 of the linked document indicates that ISR recipients will not go before a board. Those who do not qualify or are not selected for an ISR will remain in the scholarship pool and go before boards. The CO has the final interview for the ISR. That was made clear to my son numerous times. The CO was the last person to sign the ISR contract.

You have 30 days once the contract is signed for everything to clear. We were told that scholarship confirmation would come on the NROTC website. It has been more than two weeks since his ISR was signed, but his status has not changed: 'Processing officer interview.' My son has contacted the District recruiting officers to make sure everything is OK and is waiting for a return call. Applying to universities with an outside scholarship in hand makes for very attractive candidates. He wants to include this information on his Common App Supplements.

31 pages of NROTC recruiting details including ISR are here if anyone is inclined to read it:

www.cnrc.navy.mil/publications/Directives/1533.4.pdf

You don't find an ISR; it finds you.
 
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Wondering if any of those offered ISR can post your SAT/ACT/PFT stats.
DS just finished his initial interview. He has a 31 ACT. Wondering if that is high enough to be in the ISR range.
Also, I've heard that ISR's are specifically designed to target URM's. DS does not fit into that category. Can anyone with knowledge comment? Thanks all.

Since I'm looking at Navy Option NROTC, no PFT component was included. However, I'm a varsity athlete for track and field, and the standards for females isn't anything that would pose a concern to me.
I have a 1490 SAT (800 CR, 690 MA), with an 800 in writing (though the writing score is not considered).

There is no PFT for ISR selection, but the fitness test is required for scholarship activation. My son completed his CFA at NASS with no problems, so that will transfer over. He told me his scores, but I forgot what they were other than maxing out on situps and pushups, pullups in the low teens, and a 5:40 something mile. I think he did OK on the basketball throw and shuttle.

The minimum SAT for an ISR is 1230 (CR+Math) with a minimum 600 Math. Alternatively the minimum ACT is 54 combined Math + English with a minimum 26 Math. My son will take both tests one more time each in October to be more competitive for college admission, but the CO said he didn't need to report his scores as far as he was concerned.

An ISR is offered for those meeting minimum academic criteria (top 20% of HS class, the minimum scores listed above) based on the whole person concept. (ECs, leadership, volunteering, varsity sports, music, etc.) Everything else (DodMERB, etc.) applies and they have to get into a school on their own. My son is DodMERB qualified and working on getting into a school.

They do not want to reserve the immediate scholarship for those they sense are shopping for back pocket Plan Bs. They want these to be used. Expect a line of questioning if you have applied to 5 SAs and 3 ROTC scholarships. "Are you serious about Navy ROTC?" From statistics I found online, fewer than 50% of the offered ISRs in that one particular year were activated. I suspect appointments to USNA or another SA make up the bulk of the difference beyond attrition to other opportunities, but have no concrete evidence to support that guess.

ISRs do not specifically target URMs. ISRs are open to anyone who qualifies and anyone the recruiters want to specifically target, so they are not lost to other scholarship opportunities.

Paragraph 17 of the linked document indicates that ISR recipients will not go before a board. Those who do not qualify or are not selected for an ISR will remain in the scholarship pool and go before boards. The CO has the final interview for the ISR. That was made clear to my son numerous times. The CO was the last person to sign the ISR contract.

You have 30 days once the contract is signed for everything to clear. We were told that scholarship confirmation would come on the NROTC website. It has been more than two weeks since his ISR was signed, but his status has not changed: 'Processing officer interview.' My son has contacted the District recruiting officers to make sure everything is OK and is waiting for a return call. Applying to universities with an outside scholarship in hand makes for very attractive candidates. He wants to include this information on his Common App Supplements.

31 pages of NROTC recruiting details including ISR are here if anyone is inclined to read it:

www.cnrc.navy.mil/publications/Directives/1533.4.pdf

You don't find an ISR; it finds you.

I would wonder about that 30-days rule myself. I was the first ISR of the year in my area; interviewed with the CO and signed the contract in late May. Needless to say, my status on the NROTC website still indicates that my application is at Pensacola for "final processing" and that decision will go from August to April. Not sure what to make of it. I, too, would love to include NROTC on the Common App.
 
the big thing about ISR my son was told is it is all about the total package. Yes, strong academics but must also be outstanding in EC- especially leadership. Also agree- ISR was something brought to my sons attention after his packet was almost completed based on his total package. Didn't even know it was an option.
 
Thanks to all for the great info.....just wish I had found this forum a few months ago. More questions, but I will move it over to the chances thread.
Congrats to those of you (or your child) who got a scholarship offer.
 
I was the first ISR of the year in my area; interviewed with the CO and signed the contract in late May. Needless to say, my status on the NROTC website still indicates that my application is at Pensacola for "final processing" and that decision will go from August to April. Not sure what to make of it. I, too, would love to include NROTC on the Common App.

Based on our experience last year, the Navy is notoriously sloooooow on updating the web site. :confused:
 
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