NROTC Scholarship Question

Today my friend and I noticed that our NROTC scholarships decisions had been updated to actual decisions. He got the scholarship but mine states "We are sorry, you were not selected for a scholarship. You will receive a letter explaining other options available to you. " Does anyone know if this means I am out of the running permanently or that I am getting cycled over to the next round?

I was wondering the same thing. My son's status was updated today with the "We are sorry". We thought you just go the next cycle till all scholarships are awarded.

My status still reads "No decision has been made on your application".

USNAco2019hopeful said:

Today my friend and I noticed that our NROTC scholarships decisions had been updated to actual decisions. He got the scholarship but mine states "We are sorry, you were not selected for a scholarship. You will receive a letter explaining other options available to you. " Does anyone know if this means I am out of the running permanently or that I am getting cycled over to the next round?

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It means you're out of the running for this year. My DS got the same email when he was denied. The letter they send explains other paths you can take to pursue a commission. I too am a little puzzled as it seems early in the process for that. Perhaps they have too few scholarships left to award or perhaps they have all been awarded? Sorry about the bad news.

On the positive side you can always try NROTC as a college programmer. That's the path my son took and he won an in-school (sideload) scholarship during his sophomore year. I think being denied a scholarship initially actually helped him as he redoubled his efforts. He was going to show them! There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I also got the "we are sorry" status and was wondering the same thing.

Well this isn't good. My DS's account was just updated with the same "we are sorry" message. Very disappointing and so much work went into this. I thought there were more boards but...oh well.

There could be more boards, but they already have a very big pile of scored files. They know approximately how many more scholarships they have left to offer, so they have probably established a bottom cut off score and have sent out the letters to those applicants below it, so that they can move on to plan B. They don't want them to continue to sit around and hope they'll get the scholarship, when they know they already have enough higher scored applicants to finish out their offers. They are probably now just starting to board the last straggler applications that came in right at the deadline, to score them and see if any of them have higher scores than those already in the pile that have already been boarded.

Sorry to hear this news...brings back memories, 3/19/12 son received the "we are sorry..." e-mail and then 4/5/2012 received the TWE from USNA. He switched gears and enrolled in an AROTC program and was awarded a campus based 4 year (he was a committed non-stem major and felt that would decrease his NROTC chances). Kinnem outlines another route if you're committed to serve your country in the Navy/Marine Corps. I would recommend that whatever plan B is, make sure the college is the right fit. Don't compromise on that. DS knew there were no guarantees, so he chose the best school for his chosen major.

Thanks Kinnem et al. Thought we had a good pulse on the "likelihood" via our contacts at Navy recruiting..but again, that's all "pre-honeymoon" chatter with no visibility into the competitive pool. Kinnem, my DS is actually a computer science major with a potential minor in Russian. He took the federal language program at UNG (Russian) over last summer. Can I PM you for a bit more guidance on that alternative path?

One thing to remember when the raw emotions are healed, the competition is insanely stiff. Overall, only 16-18% of all candidates will be awarded a scholarship.

Scholarship recipients are in the minority when it comes to reporting to their unit in August/September.

You might have received the We are sorry letter for something as simple as your school choices. For example Notre Dame is a powerhouse, many kids would place it on their list as a reach or a match. Chances are the matches got it. Fill the entire school list with reaches or maybe matches and no safeties, the odds change.

Also rememrr remember 85% of all NROTCscholarships go STEM. Place those two together and it maybe the reason for the We are sorry....letter.

You can commission without being offered a scholarship straight out of HS. Keep pushing forward.

Good luck and smooth sailing.

Pima said:

You might have received the We are sorry letter for something as simple as your school choices. For example Notre Dame is a powerhouse, many kids would place it on their list as a reach or a match. Chances are the matches got it. Fill the entire school list with reaches or maybe matches and no safeties, the odds change

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School choice has no impact for NROTC Scholarships. Scholarship winners are determined based on their total file score without regard to their ranked list of schools. After the applicant is awarded the scholarship, then the school assignments are made based on how the recipient ordered them and if the schools still have scholarship slots available. If the top school is filled, then they work down the list until one has openings. If they are all full, you can be put on a wait list, or they will offer up a school that was not even listed by the applicant.

Have to say that DS went through the "wringer" last year with the NROTC scholarship process. He was told by the local recruiter that he was up for the ISR (which I believe is an Immediate Scholarship Reservation handled by the Regional Commanders). When it came time for the interview with the Commander the appointment was canceled at the last minute leaving us all confused. A reason never came from the local recruiter....she appeared to be the least organized person we have come across through this whole process. Anyway, because his app was held for the ISR he missed the first two boards. To make a long story short he eventually received the TWE from NROTC in early May after the last board. He also made the wait list for USNA which we heard had around 100 prospective candidates but he received the TWE in June. We too saw no postings from wait list candidates that were eventually appointed.

Happy to say, however, that he did receive a Type 7 AROTC scholarship on one of the early boards and a week later an appointment to USAFA . He is currently at USAFA counting down the days to recognition.

It really is a mystery as to what each academy or ROTC branch values most in a candidate. I agree with PIMA that the whole process is extremely competitive. I applaud anyone who ventures down this path and has the stamina needed to complete the entire application process. Based on the credentials and the desire to serve that my sons squad mates have and those of the applicants on this forum, I believe this country 's future is in good hands.