NROTC Unit visit

DS has arranged a visit to the NROTC unit where he has been awarded a scholarship. He is viewing this as an interview from both directions (he has not been accepted to the university). He’ll have an opportunity to be with the unit for about 6 hours.

Any advice on specific things to look for or ask.

JJ2016 said:

DS has arranged a visit to the NROTC unit where he has been awarded a scholarship. He is viewing this as an interview from both directions (he has not been accepted to the university). He’ll have an opportunity to be with the unit for about 6 hours.

Any advice on specific things to look for or ask.

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How many in unit, on scholarship, on Advanced Standing?
Avg GPA in unit, % tech majors?
If MO, how do they prepare for OCS. How many complete OCS?
What clubs/teams do they have? Aviation? Spec Warfare? Pistol?
How do they get funds for the unit's social activities?

Basically, I would think he would want to ask questions that give him a sense of the unit, its composition, how many who start actually commission, how active the unit is, etc. Its going to be his home away from home for 4 years. He needs to figure out if he would be comfortable there and that they can help him to be successful in achieving his own goals.

For example, my son's unit started with 40+ at freshman orientation, and are now down to 25. If he's not seeing attrition in the unit then either everyone is really good, or the unit isn't tough enough? (At least that's the conclusions I would draw). One thing that really drew my son to the unit was that they had 100% completion rate at OCS while an SMC in the same state did not. That was something they were proud of.

Keep in mind there is no thing as a dumb question - unless the answer is already on their web site. I'm sure he's reviewed everything publicly available about the unit already.

I would recommend you try to time your visit to see the Battalion on Drill day to observe this aspect of midshipman life.

If possible, I would request to attend physical training with the unit the day before or the day after.

I would also ask if some freshmen midshipmen might volunteer to take him to regular classes so he sees what these are like (and get to know some of the midshipmen)

If you are going, it is a great time for a meeting with a staff member to ask questions as well. (This recommendation may be met with criticism - it seems that this issue is equally divided on this forum) But it does offer a good opportunity to get your questions answered while you son is off doing other things.

Good luck to both of you!

kinnem said:

How many in unit, on scholarship, on Advanced Standing?
Avg GPA in unit, % tech majors?
If MO, how do they prepare for OCS. How many complete OCS?
What clubs/teams do they have? Aviation? Spec Warfare? Pistol?
How do they get funds for the unit's social activities?

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Great questions! I would also ask questions about how they choose units, how to advance/network with others, etc. Ask about the social aspects of it and about any events they host/run.

I think this is a little trickier than it might appear on the surface.

Assuming this future mid will ultimately end up in *this* Battalion, first impressions are pretty important.

On the one hand, your DS wants to know a lot of detail about the Battalion, so he/you can make an informed choice between accepting this Scholarship offer and: 1) other ROTC offers, 2) Academy offers, 3) University Scholarship + college programmer at another school, 4) requesting transfer of Scholarship to another school, 5) deciding against NROTC-MO period.

On the other hand, this future mid doesn't want to give an impression to cadre or fellow mids that they have to prove themselves to him, that they might not meet his standards, or that personally he's pushy, nosy, judgemental, high maintenance, etc.... that's the fine line. There are good ways and not good ways to get a lot of detailed information without coming off as superior or self-important.

Congratulations and good luck to your DS in getting into the school! He should definitely ask the Cadre whether they are able to contact admissions on his behalf and possibly increase his chances of getting into the school. Some Battalions have influence with admissions, other's don't.

Thank for all the great input.
DS will be attending the Battalion during drill. The LT he has been talking to is a NA grad and indicated they do talk with admissions. DS is very excited to visit, but has no idea if NROTC or the NA is right for him. We’ll continue to support his quest. Thanks again for the input

Taking the same path

JJ2016,

My son is making a 2nd. tour of the schools he has on his list but this time he is going directly to the college of engineering as well as the NROTC unit. This is what the LT. at each unit told me. Once your child has the scholarship have him call or visit the unit to be certain it's what he / she wants. When your child is firm on this being their path they should tell the NROTC unit as well as the admissions of the school.

There is no sure fire way they will get in; however, if they have the scholarship in hand is plays a part in the admissions process. Again, there is no firm yes or no but it does help. This in not from me this is information we got from the admissions at each school as well as the NROTC unit. They also said that a 2nd. visit also sends a message that your child wants that school. Again, not a sure fire yes or no but it helps.

Blacklab said:

if they have the scholarship in hand is plays a part in the admissions process.

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I think that is probably correct with almost all schools, but not so much with, say, top 20 schools like Notre Dame, Vandy, Northwestern, Cornell, Duke, Penn, MIT, Stanford, etc. Those admissions departments reject 80-94% of applicants, and almost all of those rejected are generally of an academic and (usually) leadership quality to qualify for an ROTC scholarship.

I am with Blacklab on this. Admission boards are made up of different perspectives within the university. A strong ROTC unit will impact the decision when it comes to admission.

In the end of the day there will be 2 people competing for 1 slot. ROTC scholarship recipient, same gpa, background, and the non-ROTC applicant. College has ROTC do they take the ROTC scholarship recipient or the other applicant?

Think about it, the DOD will pay the cost for tuition for one, and the other student has no guarantee when it comes Sept. or may require work study/grants, etc that would impact their endowment.

OBTW, in case you don't know ROTC pays rent to the school for classrooms to hold ROTC. They are actually off setting their costs as a college.

WOW What An Impact...

I can assure you that a visit to the NROTC unit will play a roll. My DS and I went, I stayed in the visitor center and let my DS walk the walk. The meeting went very very well. As you would assume there is no promise; however, the office my DS meet with liked him a lot, respected the fact that I stayed out of it and the officer said he would be talking to the admissions. Again, no promise but if others can do as well it's is so worth the effort. More to come!!

Blacklab said:

JJ2016,

if they have the scholarship in hand is plays a part in the admissions process.

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That statement is a gross generalization. While it may be true at some schools it is not true across the board. My DS was told by the recruiting officers at the Paul Revere battalion (AROTC - Harvard MIT and Tufts) and the incoming NROTC recruiting officer at the new Yale program that while they have a cordial relationship with administration, they have no influence in the admissions process.

Respectfully...

Respectfully, "gross generalization" is not quite fair to what I said. I mentioned there was no promise. In other words if something is said it does not mean it will hold water with admissions. Sometimes networking works other times it does not The other point is it did not hurt and it was a good experience. Nothing more.

jocomom... that's what I was getting at in post #8.

My Miss Guided Information...

Sorry to all, I was just trying to help and let you know how it worked for my DS. I did not mean to give any miss guided information if that's the way it came over. I did say "I can assure you" I should have used other words. It was not fair of me to assure anything. So in short yes this was "gross generalization" and I'm sorry for that. On another note my feedback was to be that of: It was a very positive visit.

jocomom, dunninla,, thank you for allowing me a chance to explain my failed communication. I should have read the posts prior to get a better understanding of what your thoughts were.