ROTC process education needed.

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Coach62

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Is there one single good source of ROTC scholarship info that lists schools, differences between the services, etc.? All I've been able to find is what each service has listed, some sites are better than others.

I'm just trying to help my son out as his plate is pretty full. He already has an LOA from Navy, but we need a plan B & C as they say.

Please don't take this wrong but he has Ivy League quality stats. 34 ACT, 5.7 GPA, etc. So I'd like a top notch Ivy League quality school. If anyone has a list of the top schools I'd really appreciate that as well.

Thanks a ton. Between sports and his course load he literally goes about 14+ hours a day so I'm just trying to do some basic research to help him out.
 
There's plenty of information on this website but really it just comes to preference and career choice. Different branches have different careers. For example, you wouldn't necessarily go to Army ROTC if you want to be a pilot or RPA. Just use the search function. There's also a bunch of tips on scholarships. I don't think there's a single source just because there's so much in each branch.

I'm not going to take it the wrong way, and I understand that those scores may seem high but a 5.7 GPA on what scale? Ivy League is a reach school for everyone. Like you say, you need plan B&C. I've known many people who got into the academies but rejected from Ivy Leagues mainly because there's much more applicants. Remember you're competing with perfect GPA & test scores as well as AIME qualifiers.

I don't know what you mean by a list of top schools. If you are asking top schools that offer ROTC or what schools to apply for a scholarship. I'd say go for a school that makes him happy.
 
Google the university and the ROTC branch you want. They will vary. For example I know UPenn has NROTC, but I believe the mids go to Drexel for ROTC. I know Columbia also has ROTC, and I believe all of them also go xtown. Princeton cadets go to Rutgers.

The common theme is that yes, they accept ROTC scholarships, but sometimes it is only one particular branch, maybe 2, and most of the time they will go xtown for their ROTC activities.

I do agree with Phyzix. Although your DS's stats are strong, since most accept a superscore there will be a ton of applicants with a higher ACT (35/36). I am sure they will also use their own algorithm for his cgpa. I can bet that USNA has rejigged his cgpa too. Most universities use a 4.5 weighted scale, not a 6.0.
~ I am not saying that he won't get accepted, but Ivies typically have an acceptance rate of 5-7% compared to 16-18% for the SAs.

I would say to place at least 1 safety on your list. It is smart to have plan B in place, but I would also say you need him to get that plan B done, as in yesterday. NROTC boards started to meet months ago, and AFROTC/AROTC will convene their 1st board in early Dec. He will need to do the interviews for ROTC at a university. This can become an issue since they will go on break for Thanksgiving, thus if he doesn't get it done soon, his interview may be held too late (1st week of Dec) to meet the Dec. board.

As stated by Phyzix, this is not going to be just 4 years of his life, it is actually 9 because for N/AFROTC they WILL go Active Duty. AROTC is the only one that has the option of going Reserve or Guard. My DS only wanted AF, his goal was to be a pilot, but he didn't want helos nor did he want to land on a ship. Thus, it was AF all the way because if he didn't go rated, he knew he didn't want to be in a tank or at sea and the AF had his lan B, C and D career fields.
 
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Also, just as things can go wrong between now and reporting to USNA (hence the plan B & C), things can go wrong while in ROTC causing your son to lose his scholarship. In that case be prepared to pick up tuition or transfer to another college.
 
I forgot to say, many of the Ivies are basically what I would call invite only. IOWS don't expect them on common apps.

It will be for each and every specific Ivy.
~ Caveat, that was how it was years ago for my DS.

If he has limited time, it might be even more difficult to get both the applications and the scholarship done in time.
 
+1 to Pima.
Also Yale NROTC meets on campus and MIT meets on campus (with Harvard meeting there also).
34 is a bit low of an ACT score, and most Ivy's don't factor wgpa. For academics they will factor together SAT score (or converted SAT from ACT), class rank, and SAT subject test scores.
 
bman said:
34 is a bit low of an ACT score
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I wouldn't say it is low, but I would say it is the median for many, and a tad low for some.

The thing is as kinnem implied many leave the program for various reasons, and if that scholarship is a must to pay for the college than rethink applying.
~ Many kids decide that ROTC is not a fit for them during their freshmen year, and leave after that 1st year. If you cannot afford the school than you will be forced to decide between him transferring to a school you can afford or going into debt so he can stay.

I get it Coach, once that nom. comes down he will be offered an appointment, but you still need to think plan B.
~ He is a little behind the 8 ball for applying ROTC scholarships when it comes to A/NROTC. The reason I state that is for them the scholarship is tied to the school. For AFROTC it is tied to the cadet, not the school. That means there is a limited number of A/NROTC scholarships and with everyday/week the board will meet and those spots will fill up. He can get admitted, but not the scholarship.

Finally, the majority of SA applicants will apply for ROTC scholarship as plan B, but that is not true for ROTC applicants applying to an SA as plan B.
~ The scholarship process is different than the SA process. It starts off nationally. NROTC will also look at their major along with college selection.
 
5.7 weighted on a 4.0 scale - not a 6.0 He hasn't had a B since 7th grade and that was in art:(. I'm not sure why his ACT is only a 34. He has a 35 in both math and science and only one 33, I think that was reading? So I'm not sure how that average works out.

I've spent time on the ROTC sites for each service, leaves a lot of questions though. Like I have no idea what you mean by Princeton cadets go to Rutgers.

I was hoping there would be one centralized source of info to clear up the questions.

I had tried to post this earlier but my iPad froze. Thanks for the help, this is a bit more confusing than I had anticipated.
 
Coach62 said:
5.7 weighted on a 4.0 scale - not a 6.0 He hasn't had a B since 7th grade and that was in art:(. I'm not sure why his ACT is only a 34. He has a 35 in both math and science and only one 33, I think that was reading? So I'm not sure how that average works out.

I've spent time on the ROTC sites for each service, leaves a lot of questions though. Like I have no idea what you mean by Princeton cadets go to Rutgers.

I was hoping there would be one centralized source of info to clear up the questions.

I had tried to post this earlier but my iPad froze. Thanks for the help, this is a bit more confusing than I had anticipated.
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Princeton goes to Rutgers because Princeton does not host ROTC thus cadets would have to commute to a host school of that branch. 5.7 on a 4.0? How does that work? Anyways, our valedictorian got all A's and maxed AP's our school offered and got 4.76/4.0.

34 is average. Don't count on an Ivy being a safe school regardless if he applies to all. Pick 1 safe school. After all, ROTC cadets end up in same place wherever they go. Instead of schools with ranking, looking into schools with good programs & campus. Environment is important to one's success.
 
Coach62 said:
I've spent time on the ROTC sites for each service, leaves a lot of questions though. Like I have no idea what you mean by Princeton cadets go to Rutgers.
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Coach, I think Pima is saying that Princeton does not have a ROTC program on campus, but the Rutgers program allows Princeton students to enroll in their program, cooperatively. While this can work, it is logistically more difficult for a cadet as now travel time is involved and there may or may not be PT programs on their own campus.

Also, I don't follow on how the math works on a 5.7 out of 4.0 grade scale.
"..I cannot change the laws of physics, Jim" - Scotty.
 
What my son’s $63,000 per year private university is not in the top 25! He needs to transfer!

We found true the statement that most students will “know” when they recognize the college they want to be at. Just have to be realistic about cost vs. benefit.

ROTC is for those who want to be a military officer. It can help them pay for a good college education, but foremost they must want to be in the military, and willing to work for it. While called scholarship, more a loan that they will pay it back in service time. Also know the ROTC time commitment is not just couple of hours a week for classes and lab. It is closer to that required for year long Division 3 varsity athletic team.

On the question re: going to other colleges for ROTC. Colleges with ROTC can be host or satellite colleges. The host has the program, that is where cadre is located, and the PMS assigned, and majority of classes held. Other colleges that are allowed to participate in ROTC usually grant credit to their students for ROTC classes, and they may be approved as scholarship schools. Some hosts may allow registration to students who will not get credit at their schools. I am not familiar with details there. There are pros and cons attending host or satellite. Down side for satellite is commuting time, and cadets do not get as much face time with battalion or cadre at host.
 
Do you not have "weighted" GPA's? he takes all college level and AP classes, including a Laureate.

Here is a cut and paste explanation of a weighted GPA:

A weighted GPA is based on the simple idea that some high school classes are much harder than others, and these hard classes should carry more weight. In other words, an 'A' in AP Calculus represents a much greater accomplishment than an 'A' in remedial algebra. Thus, a student who got straight 'A's and took nothing but AP classes could have a 5.0 GPA on a 4-point scale.

As to the Ivy League ACT scores, this is what I was going by. If you look up the ACT scores of Ivy League, a large percentage get in with less than a 34.

Ivy League Universities

Average ACT Score

(Middle 50%)

Harvard University

32-35

Princeton University

31-35

Yale University

31-35

University of Pennsylvania

30-34

Dartmouth College

30-34

Brown University

29-34

Columbia University

32-35

Cornell University

30-33

I do appreciate the reality check though. I think the ROTC process seems more confusing than the Service Academy process did.
 
Not trying to be argumentative on the GPA.

We ALL understand that AP and IB classes get an extra weighted point (5.0) on the 4 point scale. Based on this how do you get an average that exceeds 5.0? If you take all AP classes and ace all of them, you would have a 5.0 GPA on a 4 point scale.

Do Laureate classes get more than 5.0?
 
Coach62 said:
As to the Ivy League ACT scores, this is what I was going by. If you look up the ACT scores of Ivy League, a large percentage get in with less than a 34.
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Which include among others:

Legacies
Underrepresented Minorities
Underrepresented regions of the country
Females in STEM
First in the family to go to college
Payers of full freight
Children of large donors
Recruited Athletes
Showcase Musicians (And I don't mean lead tenor in the Swing Choir)
Former Taliban (Yes. They did it at Yale. You can check it out)

If DS is not one of them, then he better be in the upper slice of the top 25% quartile.

By all means aim high. Just do so with open eyes.
 
When my DD was in high school, an AP class counted for a max of 4.4. Thus if she took all AP classes all four years of high school, her maximum weighted gpa would be 4.4. That is the reason Ivy's don't use weighted gpa; high schools weigh courses differently. Instead they are interested in class rank to see how you did in comparison to others in the same school. Also depending upon the difficulty and size of the particular school, a class rank of 5 in one high school may be seen as preferable to a rank of 1 in another school.
As for ACT scores for admittance into Ivy's, bear in mind that the "average" is different depending upon which pool you are in: foreign student, recruited athlete, legacy, underrepresented minority, child of major donor or national figure, etc. Those who don't have a "hook" so to speak will require a higher score on standardized tests for admittance. Even for recruited athletes there is a minimum score and a somewhat higher minimum average for each team, meaning that for star athletes who have a below average score, there has to be a corresponding athlete on the team with a higher than average score.
 
bman said:
Instead they are interested in class rank to see how you did in comparison to others in the same school. Also depending upon the difficulty and size of the particular school, a class rank of 5 in one high school may be seen as preferable to a rank of 1 in another school.
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bman +1.

And they know everything about every High School.
 
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