Introduction from a dad...

AROTC-dad

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Hi everyone,
I am a dad of a 17 year rising senior from the West Coast who is seeking a nomination to USNA, or USMA and has also applied to VMI and Citadel. He ultimately is seeking to serve in the Marine Corps.

This forum has been a huge resource to me and I am grateful to all who contribute here.

DS works two PT jobs (movie box office, and tutoring), Captain of Varsity Soccer, volunteer at local zoo, member of peer resource (Link Crew), 3.75 GPA unweighted, and is in the top 10% of his class. His SAT is low with 500M, 520R and 520W. He will rinse and repeat through October.

He realizes his chances are tough with his numbers but he has visited all four campuses last month and if he is ultimately turned down by Annapolis would still be excited and honored to attend the Citadel.

Thanks to everyone who shares their wisdom and experiences. Special appreciation to Bruno and TacticalNuke for helping to resolve technical issues with my profile.
 
GoKings, love love your doggie avatar!

of course you know, those SATs MUST come up, and soon. Take ACT too, as many times as you can afford. Take the classes.

Welcome!
 
GoKings, love love your doggie avatar!

of course you know, those SATs MUST come up, and soon. Take ACT too, as many times as you can afford. Take the classes.

Welcome!

Many thanks, for liking the avatar, FM! You can tell we are fans of Labradors!

Yes, DS plans to take the ACT too. It is not administered here in our area very often. Plus the cost of the exams is tough on the budget. He is NOT a great standardized test taker. He does well in classes and sports and EC's, but he just always has had a hard time on standardized tests.

I'm concerned after his very positive tour of Citadel, he may focus more there and not try as hard on improving the SAT/ACT. He loved USNA, and had a great interview with his BGO, but feels that his scores are too discouraging. I was out of work for a while so he knows it is financially tough on us to take so many exams (that is why he has two jobs).
 
Welcome aboard. There are tools to prepare for SAT online even if its just getting them to email you a question a day. It really helps.

I assume he's applying for an NROTC Marine Option scholarship. Also, if worse comes to worse he could always look at doing NROTC as a college programmer or doing the Platoon Leaders Course. Hope plan A works out! :thumb:

PS. Make sure he preps for the USMC PFT which he would have to take as part of an NROTC or PLC application. USMC likes to see high scores there.
 
Welcome aboard. There are tools to prepare for SAT online even if its just getting them to email you a question a day. It really helps.

I assume he's applying for an NROTC Marine Option scholarship. Also, if worse comes to worse he could always look at doing NROTC as a college programmer or doing the Platoon Leaders Course. Hope plan A works out! :thumb:

PS. Make sure he preps for the USMC PFT which he would have to take as part of an NROTC or PLC application. USMC likes to see high scores there.

Thank you, Kinnem!
Yes he is also applying for NROTC MO. With the reductions, I'm concerned that those too will also be competitive as heck. I only recently started understanding (thanks to this forum) more about college programming and the PLC.

He is a workout fiend...and his soccer program at the HS is intense. He was a company commander in JROTC and was a raider leader, so if anything he is most confident about both CFA and the USMC PFT.

As far as NROTC is concerned, he isn't sure if it is foolish to put a "reach" school (like UCLA) down on his list, lest he receive a scholarship and then get turned down by the college. Should he put all "safety" schools down? His preference is as follows: Citadel, VMI, UCLA, UC Irvine, Norwich.
 
welcome gokings!

I will speak to the reach school....my son had northwestern as his number one choice. A reach for him (like your son, his standardized test scores were not as high as they could be) and when he ultimately was not accepted, he switched his school order and within a week had an NROTC scholarship to UW Madison. He is thrilled with how it all worked out. Just know that your son can switch up the order of the schools at any time before the scholarships are awarded.

good luck!
 
welcome gokings!

I will speak to the reach school....my son had northwestern as his number one choice. A reach for him (like your son, his standardized test scores were not as high as they could be) and when he ultimately was not accepted, he switched his school order and within a week had an NROTC scholarship to UW Madison. He is thrilled with how it all worked out. Just know that your son can switch up the order of the schools at any time before the scholarships are awarded.

good luck!

Hi NMWB,
Thank you so much for the encouraging info! All the different options for the NROTC MO route are overwhelming! I am excited that everthing fell into place for your DS. Your advice is appreciated!
 
I say list the schools he WANTS to attend in the order he wants to attend them. I would also add that I would think twice before putting down a school I wouldn't attend without the scholarship. Not saying it should never be done, but there is always the possibility of losing the scholarship or deciding the lifestyle isn't for you. First year on scholarship is gratis. After that you're in pay back territory.

One more think to think about is how much he can bring up those SAT scores. Without a truly radical improvement I would think at least a few of those schools are definitely out of reach.
 
Thanks, Kinem.
and yes, you are preaching to the choir regarding the SAT numbers.
I would say the only realistic possibilities are Citadel, with VMI being a reach at this stage of the game.
 
GoKings...

My kid did the 36 hr Princeton Review SAT Prep program and it was well worth the money. His scores went way up. Oh, and by "Kings" do you mean MBA or NHL?
 
GoKings...

My kid did the 36 hr Princeton Review SAT Prep program and it was well worth the money. His scores went way up. Oh, and by "Kings" do you mean MBA or NHL?

Thanks for the Princeton Review tip, ABF. I will look into that.

And yes, I get the gokings question a lot! It is the NBA Kings, as I'm not a big hockey guy. I was a Laker fan back in the Earvin Johnson days, but when Shaq arrived, I actually stopped following Basketball. I moved to NorCal in 1998 just when the Kings got really good, and fell back in love with the game. Unfortunately, it has been a long dry spell for them. :mad:

PS - ABF, when your DS improved his score, can you give me an idea about how much in percentages? Was it better in one subject vs another?

Thanks!
 
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Well, your Kings might have a chance now that the Magoofs left town.

As for the prep course... My kid took the Spring SAT as a junior and again October of his senior year. He did the prep course on the weekends over the summer. He was like +80 math, and +20 on both reading and writing. His increase made the difference. He probably wouldn't have gotten into his school of choice had he not made the improvement.
 
gokings814: I suggest you read the "scholarship application - helpful information" pdf found on the North Carolina State website. http://naval.dasa.ncsu.edu/visitors

Glad to hear your son is interested in Marine Option and is willing to go from coast to coast in his school selection. My recommendations:

1. Get the application in early!
2. Reconsider your school list based on your DS' scores and his realistic chances of getting in.
3. Consider some "sleeper" schools. Not too long ago, there were NROTC units that didn't meet their allotments. I know for a fact that Marquette often fell short of a full class - I don't know why but assume that it is often a fall back school for Notre Dame and other top tier schools and when all the shuffling works itself out, they would find themselves short of a full class. May not happen now, but give some thought to where your DS would be a very strong candidate in a 2nd tier school. That may be a winning approach.
4. As Kinnem suggests, pick schools you would enjoy going to - things don't always work like you think they will
5. Repeat: Get the application in early!
 
As far as NROTC is concerned, he isn't sure if it is foolish to put a "reach" school (like UCLA) down on his list, lest he receive a scholarship and then get turned down by the college. Should he put all "safety" schools down? His preference is as follows: Citadel, VMI, UCLA, UC Irvine, Norwich.

Remember the ROTC application is separate from the college admission application. Getting an ROTC scholarship does not guarantee admission to any college, so it may be in your DS's best interest to list one reach school with more safety schools. Since you are a CA resident, I would guess getting into any of the UC schools with 500-550 SAT scores will be hard, if not impossible. There is so much competition from out-of-state and international students, especially at UCLA. Being from SoCal and having two nieces graduate from CA public high schools in the last 6-9 years, at the top of their classes with high SAT scores, I remember it was suggested to them to attend community college first, then transfer to a state school (it's that hard to get into the larger CA public universities). Instead one went to CSFullerton and the other went to Chapman on full scholarship. Maybe your DS could look at some smaller schools in the area that have NROTC, just as Plan C after the SAs and SMC. Good luck!
 
gokings814: I suggest you read the "scholarship application - helpful information" pdf found on the North Carolina State website.

Glad to hear your son is interested in Marine Option and is willing to go from coast to coast in his school selection. My recommendations:

1. Get the application in early!
2. Reconsider your school list based on your DS' scores and his realistic chances of getting in.
3. Consider some "sleeper" schools. Not too long ago, there were NROTC units that didn't meet their allotments. I know for a fact that Marquette often fell short of a full class - I don't know why but assume that it is often a fall back school for Notre Dame and other top tier schools and when all the shuffling works itself out, they would find themselves short of a full class. May not happen now, but give some thought to where your DS would be a very strong candidate in a 2nd tier school. That may be a winning approach.
4. As Kinnem suggests, pick schools you would enjoy going to - things don't always work like you think they will
5. Repeat: Get the application in early!

Great list, USMCGrunt! I appreciate the ideas.

I will definitely review this with DS. We have San Diego State as another NROTC "safety" school. His numbers should be fine for those. I have tried to get him to look at Purdue as a "sleeper" school.
 
Remember the ROTC application is separate from the college admission application. Getting an ROTC scholarship does not guarantee admission to any college, so it may be in your DS's best interest to list one reach school with more safety schools. Since you are a CA resident, I would guess getting into any of the UC schools with 500-550 SAT scores will be hard, if not impossible. There is so much competition from out-of-state and international students, especially at UCLA. Being from SoCal and having two nieces graduate from CA public high schools in the last 6-9 years, at the top of their classes with high SAT scores, I remember it was suggested to them to attend community college first, then transfer to a state school (it's that hard to get into the larger CA public universities). Instead one went to CSFullerton and the other went to Chapman on full scholarship. Maybe your DS could look at some smaller schools in the area that have NROTC, just as Plan C after the SAs and SMC. Good luck!

Thanks for the info, Ca2MWmom!
I am aware of the difficulties (admittance and financial) of entrance to the UC system. Oldest son and oldest daughter are UCLA grads, and youngest daughter is a UCSB grad. Paid out a huge chunk in tuition to these schools and they still call me for donation money.

DS is focused on USNA or more likely the Citadel, but he has also selected some local safety schools. SDSU (NROTC), Nevada Reno (AROTC).

Congratulations on the full scholarships at Chapman! We have some money set aside in a 529 plan so a full ride NROTC MO is not necessary, but it would be nice to get a 2 or 3 year and not have to worry about getting turned down in the Junior year for College Program and getting dumped.
 
A UC family! Love it! I'm a UCSD '86 grad. Good luck to your DS and hold on for the roller coaster ride that is the service academy/ROTC application process. :shake:
 
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