ROTC Scholarship Questions

I hope some of you might be able to help me out with a few issues. I have read in other documentation that it may be disadvantageous to apply for multiple ROTC scholarships due to the fact that the boards may see this as a lack of commitment to one service. Here are my questions.

1. Any truth to the above mentioned rumor?

2. If only applying to one service - Is there a ranking of which ones are more competitve than the others?

Thanks,

Bill

Bill1899 said:

I hope some of you might be able to help me out with a few issues. I have read in other documentation that it may be disadvantageous to apply for multiple ROTC scholarships due to the fact that the boards may see this as a lack of commitment to one service. Here are my questions.

1. Any truth to the above mentioned rumor?

2. If only applying to one service - Is there a ranking of which ones are more competitve than the others?

Thanks,

Bill

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Absolutely no truth to the rumor. Cadet Command has plenty of other things to do besides ask the other services about their applicants.

AF and Navy are far more "competitive" if you are talking about the average ACT score of applicants and recipients. None are a gimme. And you absolutely cannot receive a scholarship at any of them if you don't apply.

AF and Navy are looking for technical majors, engineering etc. Math and Science are key. Navy (non marine option) will require 2 semesters of calculus and 2 of calculus based physics. Navy wants 85% of midshipmen to be Tier 1 majors. Don't know percentages for AF.

just the opposite, if you ask me. Increases your chances with both.

When the interviewer asks about how committed the interviewee is about serving in the X,Y,Z, the interviewee demonstrates a strong commitment by saying they have applying to more than one ROTC program, plus an Academy or two.

Interviewers are human. You tell a Navy interviewer you're also applying Army, you don't think that makes him/her actually want you MORE? They're competitive. It's just human nature.

ROTC Application

I see people on here that have multiple ROTC and service academy offers. They act like that is a badge of honor. To me it looks self centered. Especially with the service academies, you have screwed a friend or a neighbor out of his chance at an appointment.

We have too many self centered officers in the military already.

BarrettaM59

I see people on here that have multiple ROTC and service academy offers. They act like that is a badge of honor. To me it looks self centered.Especially with the service academies, you have screwed a friend or a neighbor out of his chance at an appointment.
We have too many self centered officers in the military already.

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Alternatively their neighbor has screwed himself out of these opportunities by his performance to date in high school academics, athletics and extracurriculars compounded by his lack of preparation for his interview process. Welcome to grown up life- the people who look like they have a lot of potential are usually sought after by multiple sources and they shouldn't feel guilty about that. In fact they should feel pretty good about the hard work and preparation that has resulted in multiple offers. It certainly isn't their fault that someone else has not done as well and rather than being selfish on their part- it seems rather selfish and self centered to resent their success.

bruno said:

Alternatively their neighbor has screwed himself out of these opportunities by his performance to date in high school academics, athletics and extracurriculars compounded by his lack of preparation for his interview process. Welcome to grown up life- the people who look like they have a lot of potential are usually sought after by multiple sources and they shouldn't feel guilty about that. In fact they should feel pretty good about the hard work and preparation that has resulted in multiple offers. It certainly isn't their fault that someone else has not done as well and rather than being selfish on their part- it seems rather selfish and self centered to resent their success.

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+1
Not only that, ppl should realize that this is in fact the time to be selfish. This is the time where you are no longer a child with a large margin for error and a parent to take over cleaning up your mess. Mistakes now cost you time and opportunity, or in other words, money. With the stakes being so high, it should not be considered shameful to cast a wide net. I personally didn't know about the service academies until it was too late, but I heard about the other ROTC scholarships in time to apply for all. I didn't though. I wanted Air Force and no other branch. I knew what would suite me and what wouldn't. For me it wasn't about being an officer, it was about being an officer in the Air Force. And that's Ok too. Life is a witch, it's not fair, if you don't look out for you, no one out there will.

That's not to say anyone should step on toes or be malicious or anything, but they should go for what they want and take as many opportunities as they can. One can apply for all branches or just one, either is ok as long as you can live with it. Ppl like to believe that something was taken away from them in competitions because it displaces blame, but that thought process doesn't change the reality, it only makes them bitter and angry. They should instead be honest with themselves and look at how they could have been more competitive. The kid that won out must have had something that you didn't, or perhaps they were able to sell themselves better than you were. If you succeed in the end, ultimately it's your fault, if you don't, then it's still ultimately your fault. It is up to you whether your efforts were something to be ashamed of (i.e you half-did it, were not on top of things, played around with school) or not(i.e. you gave it your all, the circumstances were not right, you did everything you knew how to do on your end). Just pick yourself up, work on improving, and go at it again.

Barretta, for you to say that it's wrong to apply to multiple academies/programs is totally ridiculous. Would you tell someone to only apply to one college so that they don't screw someone out of an admission offer?

For a 17-18 year old, the prospect of college and scholarship applications can be intimidating, and it's foolish to bank on one option if there are other options that could work. I would absolutely never fault someone for making sure they have multiple options open, and would certainly never resent someone who had demonstrated they were competitive enough to receive offers from multiple academies/ROTC programs.

I certainly received my fair share of rejection from other academies/colleges/scholarships this year. As upsetting as that was, I'm glad the academies and ROTC programs are taking steps to select the most talented young people.

BarrettaM59 said:

I see people on here that have multiple ROTC and service academy offers. They act like that is a badge of honor. To me it looks self centered. Especially with the service academies, you have screwed a friend or a neighbor out of his chance at an appointment.

We have too many self centered officers in the military already.

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This really sounds like sour grapes. It is wise to apply for all opportunities that one is interested in. When more than one opportunity is offered the preferred opportunity is selected and the remaing are declined. If you had researched how the process works you would realize that nobody gets screwed out of an appointment because someone more qualified received multiple opportunities.

BarrettaM59 said:

I see people on here that have multiple ROTC and service academy offers. They act like that is a badge of honor. To me it looks self centered. Especially with the service academies, you have screwed a friend or a neighbor out of his chance at an appointment.

We have too many self centered officers in the military already.

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Interesting comment from someone that applied to both AROTC and NROTC Marine Corps Option.

I am a little confused, you posted back in March that your son was offered a 3 year AD Scholarship, then you later posted that he received TWE from both the Army and Marines.

Checking up on me, eh?

Just to be clear. There are several reasons to apply to every academy and ROTC program that I would find appropriate.

First and foremost... If you want a pilot spot then by all means apply to all of them. All branches need pilots.

As been pointed out in other threads, if you want to be in a submarine, don't apply for the Air Force or Army.

When I asked my father when I was a child why he didn't join the Navy, he said that he swam like a rock. He wanted his feet squarly on the ground. He was in the Army at the age of 15 in 1948. He served through the Korean War.

Regarding my son's application process for MO and Army: My son wants to serve his country in the Infantry. Both branches have infantry.

I disagree that someone more qualified will receive the appointment when one is turned down. We have no idea. We only know that the kid next door probably won't get it.

Luke 12:48 shines some light on this subject, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

and the parable of the talents:

Matthew 25:28,29 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

I don't feel the need to judge the "appropriateness" of the decision to apply to multiple programs, and that you feel the need to is a little jarring. There are plenty of jobs each branch has other than pilot, and at least as many completely "appropriate" reasons to apply to these programs that may not fit your ideals.

I'm glad you're providing quotes, but it's totally irrelevant to someone who, at the time of applications, has NO idea of how many bags of gold they're going to have by the time May 1 rolls around. To say that it is selfish for young people to open as many doors as they may potentially want to pass through is a little offensive.

I guess i plead ignorance

When DS started the application process we were told to apply for everything. We went about that as good advise. We then started visiting colleges. When I described what we were doing to an Army Col. in Virginia, he was quite offended. How could we fill out applications to every service academy and ROTC program and say that each of them were what DS wanted? On his advice we changed our direction.

There are probably many well meaning young people who filled out essays and used generic statements like they want to serve their country. They may have even received appointments to more than one service academy. That is because of their many talents. They would be accepted anywhere and receive full rides wherever they applied. Good for them, bad for the single talent people.

My son was encouraged by an Army Col, and an AF LT Col to apply for all opportunities available in any branch he was willing to serve. I guess it depends on who you ask.
My son applied Army, AF and CG.