Need Advice, was boarded.

Hi there,
I am applied for Army ROTC. I was rejected in the second board and here are my qualifications.
SAT:1230
GPA: 3.63
Extracurricular: NHS, ESAB(executive student advisory board), senior capstone... a lot of volunteering. I’ve worked many jobs(water park attendant, babysitting, reffing, lawn care, some construction and camp ground worker for a church).
Sports: 1 year of wrestling, year and a half of MMA, 2 years of soccer( freshman /j.v), 3 years track(varsity), 4 yearsclub soccer(captain).
Advanced classes: AP U.S history, AP government, and now taking AP psych.
Fitness assesment: 7 min mile, 41 push ups, 58 sit ups.... should I retake it. However I messed up my knee and need surgery?
Accepted to BGSU, MSU, EMU, CMU
Is there anything I can do to make myself more competitive for the final board? As previously stated i Messed up my knee which prevents me from doing quite a bit.
Also for all those who were previously accepted could you tell me how I compare to your scores? Thank you.

The only thing I can see is that your fitness scores are a little low. You should be at or around 60 pushups and situps at your age, and a sub-7 mile. Retake that test. That's assuming you're male, of course.

SAT is a little low too. Better to be 1300+, but your GPA is fine and you got the AP box checked...

That knee is going to be a challenge with the DODMERB.

Unless your interview wasn't that stellar, you're probably on the edge. Redo what you can, but don't go crazy if you don't get it. The end goal is a commission, right? Whether or not you get a scholarship is not necessarily critical if you think about it. Start figuring out how to accomplish your ultimate goal (degree and commission) even if you don't get it the third round. Flexibility, dedication, and adaptability are a key tenets here.

Tbpxece said:

The only thing I can see is that your fitness scores are a little low. You should be at or around 60 pushups and situps at your age, and a sub-7 mile. Retake that test. That's assuming you're male, of course.

SAT is a little low too. Better to be 1300+, but your GPA is fine and you got the AP box checked...

That knee is going to be a challenge with the DODMERB.

Unless your interview wasn't that stellar, you're probably on the edge. Redo what you can, but don't go crazy if you don't get it. The end goal is a commission, right? Whether or not you get a scholarship is not necessarily critical if you think about it. Start figuring out how to accomplish your ultimate goal (degree and commission) even if you don't get it the third round. Flexibility, dedication, and adaptability are a key tenets here.

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Thank you very much. The day before I took the fitness test me knee blew out. But, you are right I will keep at it. Thank you.

9voltjolt said:

Thank you very much. The day before I took the fitness test me knee blew out. But, you are right I will keep at it. Thank you.

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Man, that really sucks-- I'm sorry to hear that.

Seriously, though, you're likely going to have to resolve any needed joint surgeries before passing the DODMERB. ROTC requires a lot of PT, and it's only going to worsen with time. Much better to get it fixed now, join ROTC afterwards, and press forward.

And yes, keep at it-- great attitude!

I find this strange since your stats are above mine in several categories. On the second board, I qualified for a 3 year scholarship.
Here are some stats
SAT: 1160
ACT: never took it
GPA: 3.6
Work experience: none
Top 10% in my class
NHS
Key Club VP
Debate secretary
Online tutor
Took AP classes
Also took JROTC
My PT test was complete trash and I never took athletics. At this point I think it’s pretty much just random. Hopefully, you can get a 4 year scholarship on the third board like others have before. I wish mine had gone to the third so I could get a 4 year, but that won’t happen now.

PVET said:

I find this strange since your stats are above mine in several categories. On the second board, I qualified for a 3 year scholarship.
Here are some stats
SAT: 1160
ACT: never took it
GPA: 3.6
Work experience: none
Top 10% in my class
NHS
Key Club VP
Debate secretary
Online tutor
Took AP classes
Also took JROTC
My PT test was complete trash and I never took athletics. At this point I think it’s pretty much just random. Hopefully, you can get a 4 year scholarship on the third board like others have before. I wish mine had gone to the third so I could get a 4 year, but that won’t happen now.

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And this is why stats aren't very useful to see. It's not random. Undoubtedly there was something in your essay, or interview, or hardship you overcame, or something else not visible in the stats, that won you a scholarship.

Please correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't it also depend upon which schools are on your list?

HiSpeedLoDrag said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't it also depend upon which schools are on your list?

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No. The determination to award a scholarship is entirely unrelated to the schools on your list. Schools are only looked at by a second board which determines which schools they will award the scholarship for.

Ah, OK. Thanks, @kinnem, for the clarification! So, if the "school of intent" list does not have any spots open, what would they do? Or, is that where the mandatory "at least one of your choices is a college in your home state of residence" comes into play?

HiSpeedLoDrag said:

Ah, OK. Thanks, @kinnem, for the clarification! So, if the "school of intent" list does not have any spots open, what would they do? Or, is that where the mandatory "at least one of your choices is a college in your home state of residence" comes into play?

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Not sure what they would do and it probably varies on a case by case basis. I know of one time that a kid was awarded the scholarhsip to some school that was not on his list, and he hadn't applied to, but they helped get him admitted. I would expect that's extremely rare though.

kinnem said:

Not sure what they would do and it probably varies on a case by case basis. I know of one time that a kid was awarded the scholarhsip to some school that was not on his list, and he hadn't applied to, but they helped get him admitted. I would expect that's extremely rare though.

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Hopefully that was a really high quality school...

kinnem said:

HiSpeedLoDrag said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong - but doesn't it also depend upon which schools are on your list?

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No. The determination to award a scholarship is entirely unrelated to the schools on your list. Schools are only looked at by a second board which determines which schools they will award the scholarship for.

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Kinnem - I'm not sure the Army ROTC board is completely blind to schools on an applicants list. The reason I say this is that there are federal and US Code goals for assignment of Army ROTC scholarships to Jr Military Colleges, HBCU, and HSI institutions. The OML might be blind but assignment of scholarships to a specific school, like branch assignment for accessions, looks at more than OML in order to meet these goals.