Accepting Army ROTC Scholarship

krone

5-Year Member
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Dec 18, 2013
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I recently received an AROTC scholarship. The letter (the one online I still haven't gotten one in the mail) said that I must notify them of my intent to accept or decline by the end of the month. My question is, can I say I intend to accept, then actually end up not accepting it say, if I get an offer of appointment to a service academy? I ask this because I still have yet to hear anything from USAFA, USMA, or USNA, and on the USNA website it states that some candidates may not know until April.
 
I recently received an AROTC scholarship. The letter (the one online I still haven't gotten one in the mail) said that I must notify them of my intent to accept or decline by the end of the month. My question is, can I say I intend to accept, then actually end up not accepting it say, if I get an offer of appointment to a service academy? I ask this because I still have yet to hear anything from USAFA, USMA, or USNA, and on the USNA website it states that some candidates may not know until April.

Yes you should accept. An academy appointment takes precedence over the scholarship.
 
Yes you should accept. An academy appointment takes precedence over the scholarship.

What if DS has already accepted his appointment to West Point? Should he accept the scholarship as back-up?
 
In my AROTC scholarship contract, it said that if I reported into an academy (namely USMA), the AROTC contract will be void. So if you DO accept an academy appointment, AROTC will find out and you won't be penalized. So my advice is to accept the AROTC scholarship and if you receive an appointment, then go to the academy! Good luck!
 
What if DS has already accepted his appointment to West Point? Should he accept the scholarship as back-up?

Legally you can. There are two schools of thought on the moral aspect. Injuries, etc. can happen that keep you out of the academy but would heal in time for ROTC. Personally I would have my DS accept it, but you need to search your own hearts. BTW this generally comes up in the context of the reverse order, scholarship prior to appointment. There are past threads that thoroughly discuss this topic. You might want to search for them.
 
Kinnem is correct. Legally you can accept both. It is in my personal opinion a family decision. This topic here is always a hot one, so take the time read those threads and determine which works for you.

The only thing I would add is if your child plays spring sports think about your decision long and hard, especially if your school goes into mid June. A broken leg because they slid into home base on June 8th can mean medical turn back before I day. However, if you pay the back up plan deposit it means they will have a college to attend come Aug.

Good luck and congrats.
 
Yes you should accept. An academy appointment takes precedence over the scholarship.

Not sure what this means...I don't think either offer takes precedence. You can accept offers from multiple sources, but you can only accept the ROTC scholarship offer to one school. We don't show up to your house and make you come to our school if you accept our offer. What is always nice though is if an applicant keeps us apprised of their options and their intentions. Nothing worse than finding out in the fall that one of the winners I've been emailing constantly over the summer ran off and joined the circus and isn't coming.
 
Out of curiosity, if the scholarship is declined, either outright or after first being accepted, which school gets the $$$? Say the candidate received a 4 yr to 3 schools, and accepts to school #3 but later declines because he has accepted an appointment to a SA, does school #3 get the $$$? What if the scholarship is declined outright because the candidate received a 2nd ROTC scholarship to a different branch? Then does the $$$ go back to CC?
 
Out of curiosity, if the scholarship is declined, either outright or after first being accepted, which school gets the $$$? Say the candidate received a 4 yr to 3 schools, and accepts to school #3 but later declines because he has accepted an appointment to a SA, does school #3 get the $$$? What if the scholarship is declined outright because the candidate received a 2nd ROTC scholarship to a different branch? Then does the $$$ go back to CC?

Hang on while I run out into the yard to read some chicken entrails....
OK. I'm back. I just let them fall to the ground and low and behold it spelled out "Who knows?". Of course there was no punctuation.

Why would you even be worried about that?
 
Hang on while I run out into the yard to read some chicken entrails....
OK. I'm back. I just let them fall to the ground and low and behold it spelled out "Who knows?". Of course there was no punctuation.

Why would you even be worried about that?

Not worried, just curious...
 
Scholarship money isn't paid to the school until after the student registers, attends, passes a PT test, etc. If the student initially accepts a scholarship but ultimately declines in order to attend an SA, the money obviously wouldn't get paid to the college. It stays in the Army's wallet.
 
Not worried, just curious...

Scholarship money isn't paid to the school until after the student registers, attends, passes a PT test, etc. If the student initially accepts a scholarship but ultimately declines in order to attend an SA, the money obviously wouldn't get paid to the college. It stays in the Army's wallet.

Thank you. So how are the on-campus scholarships funded?
 
Thank you. So how are the on-campus scholarships funded?
Those funds come from two places: 1) Cadet Command at the start of the Fiscal Year allocates money for National Scholarships, as well as On-Campus Scholarships. I don't know, but assume the on-campus money is managed at the Brigade level, then each Battalion gets its own budget pushed down from Brigade for the on-campus scholarships. Each Battalion then needs to figure out if that money should be used for new, 4, 3.5, 3, 2.5 or 2 year scholarships, or to upgrade existing incoming 3 Yr. AD scholarships into 3.5 or 4 years scholarships.

2) Then, during the Fiscal year, more money might be allocated for on-campus scholarships. Again, I assume Cadet Command divides it into the Brigades, who then divide it into the Battalions, and the Battalions decide how to best use that budget to upgrade scholarship cadets, or reward non-scholarship cadets with new scholarships. It's like any job that is responsible for allocating resources… the PMS and ROO try to get the most bang for the bucks they've got.
 
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A couple of important disclosures here before I chime in: 1) DS's AROTC scholarship acceptance/declination experience occurred two years ago - after the 3rd and final board and 2) the offer was for the 3 year AROTC scholarship.


So this was the case back on May 10, 2012, FWIW.


"DS’s OSU ROO mentioned something in the phone conversation yesterday that really put our minds at ease and it had to do with the very likely 'turn back' of the 3 year AD scholarship that DS was awarded through the 3rd and final AROTC board. Today marks the acceptance/declination day for this scholarship. The ROO was very clear that DS should mark the ACCEPT box on the form even though the USNA Foundation offer is the path that DS will choose if/when it is completely confirmed. The ROO was aware that it may only be a few days more before the USNA Foundation/prep school offer is completely confirmed, but as of now, the tangible, hold-in-the-hand documents from the selected prep school have not arrived.


The question was asked, 'Will accepting this [the AROTC 3 year Advance Designee scholarship] now and then later turning it back instead of outright declining right now be bad for those who are on a wait list?' Well, first, there is no wait list at this point, the ROO said, not after the 3rd board – all the national scholarships for this cycle that would be offered have been offered – there are no more selection boards, waiting lists, etc. AND, and this was a big, mind-at-ease-now AND – by accepting the scholarship now (the scholarship can only be accepted for one of the schools listed on the form – OSU was the top school for DS and the only school a deposit was sent in for) and the very likely turn back a little later, the money that would have gone to DS beginning with his sophomore year is put in the OSU’s AROTC on-campus 3 year scholarship pot to be awarded to another OSU cadet. So VERY GOOD NEWS…1. the urging by the ROO to accept the award 2. the explanation that no one is hurt or left in the cold because of acceptance now (on May 10) and then the likely declination in the near future (as soon as next week or right up until 'August 22nd when OSU classes begin and you are not there,' the ROO said) and 3. the ROO’s statement that quite probably someone will actually benefit from DS accepting now and declining later as in a hardworking, competitive, promising non-scholarship OSU Freshman AROTC cadet - a 3 year on-campus scholarship will be his or hers at this time next year!"


Like I said at the outset, all this happened two years ago with a 3 year award offered up in the final board. (DS wound up attending NMMI as a USNA Foundation sponsored prep 2012-2013 and is now a midshipman - USNA Class of 2017.)
 
Hang on while I run out into the yard to read some chicken entrails....
OK. I'm back. I just let them fall to the ground and low and behold it spelled out "Who knows?". Of course there was no punctuation.

Why would you even be worried about that?

"Chicken entrails"... Man, you're killing me! Funny? Yes. But dang, that was a little rough don't ya think? (I'm the abrasive one around here lately, not you.)
 
Hang on while I run out into the yard to read some chicken entrails....
OK. I'm back. I just let them fall to the ground and low and behold it spelled out "Who knows?". Of course there was no punctuation.

Why would you even be worried about that?

How is the haruspicy business these days? Is it something I can learn over the internets? (I'm thinking about a second career). Also, are you allowed to barbecue the chicken afterwards?
 
I think as long as you don't violate the 5 second rule you're fine to BBQ the chicken.
 
How is the haruspicy business these days? Is it something I can learn over the internets? (I'm thinking about a second career). Also, are you allowed to barbecue the chicken afterwards?

Yes you may barbecue the chicken afterward. I did. Yum.

You will be pleased to know you can learn haruspicy over the internet. Just send me a check for $10,000.00 and I'll give you access to my secure website with all the info. There are a series of guided lessons with videos for the how-to portion and a lot of additional commentary on the actual art of reading. If you call now I will include the cookbook of my personal favorite chicken recipes. Operators are standing by. :biggrin:
 
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