AROTC 3 yr AD getting an extra semester?

JMS

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I'm hearing that 3 yr AD AROTC scholarship awardees may be awarded an extra semester $. I guess if it happens they will contract early (Jan 2014 I suppose) rather than at the start of their soph year. (This is not the 'super senior ' semester some are given to complete their degrees.)
Has anyone else heard of this? Is it 'across the board' or selective?
It struck me as a bit odd owing to the 'extreme unction' the budget is reported to be suffering from, and runs counter to other posts here regarding services cutting slots and , presumably, needing fewer cadets. But since one of those cadets is mine, I'm thinking it is all good, if true!
 
An upgrade to a 3.5yr scholarship can happen, it will depend if the battalion has extra scholarship funds to award, if so they will select the top cadets to award the extra semester. Not all 3yr's get this upgrade, some battalion have none.
 
It all depends how much $$ a battalion has left over from scholarships and how they want to use it. In my battalion, they have chosen to use it to give 2 non-contracted freshmen 3.5 year scholarships in the spring semester.
 
My son was also informed that there is some money available to up him to 3.5 years (from 3YR AD)... pending waiver on his DODMERB DQ.

He has been waiting 3 months to hear his final DODMERB status.
 
My son was also informed that there is some money available to up him to 3.5 years (from 3YR AD)... pending waiver on his DODMERB DQ.

He has been waiting 3 months to hear his final DODMERB status.

We found that the HR person at my son's unit was very acquainted with the process for waivers and had working level contacts in the place that decides on waivers. Her efforts, I feel, moved my son's file to the top of the stack. I do not say she had any influence over the decision, but did get a decision made promptly. Could be, too, that my son's DQ was relatively simple to decide about.
You may wish to suggest your son ask the HR person to make inquiries. I'll bet they can get it pushed along.
 
Im a freshman on a 3 year, and the other week they had me fill out a resume and some paperwork to submit a packet to try and get it bumped up to a 3.5 or 4 year. I was surprised and I'm not expecting anything because of the whole budget mess
 
We found that the HR person at my son's unit was very acquainted with the process for waivers and had working level contacts in the place that decides on waivers. Her efforts, I feel, moved my son's file to the top of the stack. I do not say she had any influence over the decision, but did get a decision made promptly. Could be, too, that my son's DQ was relatively simple to decide about.
You may wish to suggest your son ask the HR person to make inquiries. I'll bet they can get it pushed along.

He has talked to Cadet Command; his packet has already been reviewed by the surgeon and on the Commander's desk for determination (They gave no indication on the surgeons thoughts or recommendations). His DQ is related to ear surgery so it may be a bit more complicated which could be adding to the time, who knows.

Since he is 3yr AD he hasn't stressed to much on the DQ, and is happily participating during his MS1 year and loving it so far. He is headed to Bn HQ tomorrow for his 'official' PT test.. he is the only MS1 who is going and is excited. His first semester grades are good, he should have no trouble performing well on the PT test (scoring in the 250 range at the Co PT test), and he is very active in the company. He is currently a Fire Team Leader in his squad, which is a huge honor for an MS1 cadet in his particular unit.

I think we as parents are stressing out more about this DODMERB DQ than he is. His statement was in passing... he said something like, "Oh hey, if my waiver comes through soon enough they want to contract me and bump my scholarship up to 3.5 years" before going on to tell us all about his upcoming FTX.
 
I'm just curious to hear (since I'm a 3 year AD as well), what is the process to get upgraded is at your Battalions?

At my Bn, there is no additional things/paperwork we have to fill out. We either get awarded one or we don't. We also don't find out, traditionally, until January.

My ROO told me he has no idea whether they will have upgrades at our Bn this year - all up what CC has to offer.
 
I'm just curious to hear (since I'm a 3 year AD as well), what is the process to get upgraded is at your Battalions?

I think you pretty much nailed it with your post.

Other then the battalion will most often select the cadets for an upgrade that are the highest on the Battalion OML. They will also have to decide to use what if any scholarship money they have to spend on either an upgrade to an existing scholarship, or a new scholarship to a cadet.
 
I think you pretty much nailed it with your post.

Other then the battalion will most often select the cadets for an upgrade that are the highest on the Battalion OML. They will also have to decide to use what if any scholarship money they have to spend on either an upgrade to an existing scholarship, or a new scholarship to a cadet.
That's the one thing that's different that I noticed. Due to the size of our program, we have two separate pools - one for on-campus scholarships, and one for upgrades ... although this year, who knows.
 
Just wondering if anyone else has heard something on this topic? My son is a freshman/MSI on a 3 year AROTC scholarship and they were all just told to make sure their paperwork and DodMERB stuff is all set since money is available. We're not sure if this applies to the "campus pool" for new scholarships or if they will be able to upgrade the 3 year scholarships to 3.5 years. (My son is checking but hasn't heard back yet.)
 
My MS I on a 3 year AROTC scholarship was upgraded to a 4 year and contracted 3 days before the government shutdown. So keep those fingers crossed!
 
My MS I on a 3 year AROTC scholarship was upgraded to a 4 year and contracted 3 days before the government shutdown. So keep those fingers crossed!
... one heck of an upgrade!! Congrats!

Just wondering if anyone else has heard something on this topic?
I haven't heard anything yet. My ROO told me that he would notify us once he finds out.
 
My DS is a MS1 and a non-resident student and was upgraded to a 3.5 and contracted last week. The other 2 cadets were in-state residents. I think it all just depends on how much upgrade $'s become available and how they want to spread it out. The school probably could have awarded 2-3 more upgrades to in-state students, but my DS's cadre rank the performance of all the freshman cadets. In my DS's case, he was in the top 5 (out of 25), which most likely helped in him receiving the upgrade despite being an out-of-state student.
 
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