AROTC scholarship acceptance. CONFUSED

jojmarie12

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Apr 16, 2009
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Hi I'm extremely confused with the acceptance of army ROTC scholarships process.

I have been offered 3 scholarships, but only one is to a school in my top 3. I updated the list and applied to new schools too late, after I had already been given scholarships to schools I no longer wish to attend.

I contacted another of the schools in my top 3, and they said they would help but I have not heard back in a while. The third in my top three was extremely unhelpful.

I have until January 17th to accept or decline, and I called Cadet Command for an extension but they refused. How is it fair that people who complete their application earlier have less time to decide?

I have not actually gotten in to ANY colleges yet. What if I don't get into the places I was offered a scholarship? Some people say I can switch the school later, but others say this is not true. What is the truth? How could I possibly switch it later to a school that didn't offer a scholarship yet?

Side note: does a 4 year scholarship mean full ride? How can we know the amount given? Sorry, I'm really couting on this and its necessary to have a scholarship to the school I go to.

Overall, is there anything I can do now? Should I just accept one and see what happens? Even if I end up not getting in to the school or not even liking it? (I haven't even had time to visit yet!)

Thanks for the help in advance.
Sorry for the length.
 
First off..congratulations on receiving the AROTC scholarship. Take a minute to pat yourself on the back....take a deep breath....

The AROTC scholarship process is a bit of a mystery, so don't overthink it.

In your situation, you have three choices:

1. Decline the scholarship...I don't recommend that option.
2. Accept the scholarship to the school you have the greatest chance of getting in to.
3. Accept the scholarship to your top pick of the 3, if Number 2 option doesn't apply.

Yes, it's very confusing.

When you say you have spoken to the schools, do you mean Admissions or do you mean the ROTC officer? Very different. Contact each ROTC unit and see where they are at with cadets. Your 3rd choice might say that they will always have a place for you.

Then make a decision...sign and send in.
The scholarship is for FULL TUITION. Do not give it away.

It is always a possibility to switch, but not guaranteed. Most kids don't know where they will be accepted. So do some recon and call the ROTC units.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the help, I think I am going to go with choice 3, and hope for the best. I'm visiting the school in my top 3 that offered a scholarship in the next 2 weeks, but that will be past the deadline. So hopefully I like it...

I contacted the ROTC units, not the schools themselves.

I'm just confused on how you can switch, when I feel like the ROTC board has already met and decided my fate and they are not going to re-look at it.

I definitely won't be giving it away!
And thanks again!
 
The scholarship is for FULL TUITION.
Please keep in mind that Room & Board is NOT included in your scholarship. Depending on which college you attend, R&B can be close to $12,000 per year. Some colleges offer free (or reduced) R&B to ROTC scholarship winners. When considering which colleges to apply to you might want to include at least one that will include R&B if finances are an issue.

If you are going with option #3 (which at this point sounds like a good idea to me) make sure that you apply to some other colleges with AROTC programs just in case you are not accepted into the option #3 school.

I feel like the ROTC board has already met and decided my fate and they are not going to re-look at it.
The fact that you have not been accepted into any schools yet is (or should be) a concern. You need some acceptances in hand to negotiate with their ROTC battalions. You were given some good advice on the following thread including the need to get some college acceptances at you top choices. What happened?
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/showthread.php?p=83977#post83977
 
Hi I'm extremely confused with the acceptance of army ROTC scholarships process.

I have been offered 3 scholarships, but only one is to a school in my top 3. I updated the list and applied to new schools too late, after I had already been given scholarships to schools I no longer wish to attend.

I contacted another of the schools in my top 3, and they said they would help but I have not heard back in a while. The third in my top three was extremely unhelpful.

I have until January 17th to accept or decline, and I called Cadet Command for an extension but they refused. How is it fair that people who complete their application earlier have less time to decide?

I have not actually gotten in to ANY colleges yet. What if I don't get into the places I was offered a scholarship? Some people say I can switch the school later, but others say this is not true. What is the truth? How could I possibly switch it later to a school that didn't offer a scholarship yet?

Side note: does a 4 year scholarship mean full ride? How can we know the amount given? Sorry, I'm really couting on this and its necessary to have a scholarship to the school I go to.

Overall, is there anything I can do now? Should I just accept one and see what happens? Even if I end up not getting in to the school or not even liking it? (I haven't even had time to visit yet!)

Thanks for the help in advance.
Sorry for the length.

It sounds like you are going to have to accept a scholarship at a school in your accepted list that you are most likely going to want to attend and hope that you can transfer it to your target school (based upon your acceptances) when CC sends out the letter in April. Everyone gets that letter asking if you are still going to use your scholarship at the school you intended or would like to transfer (subject to availability).

If you do not accept a scholarship, you cannot transfer it, nor can you re-apply for a later board. If you have any desire to use the scholarship anywhere, accept one this week.

In the meantime (between now and spring) you will need to:

1) Keep tabs on your admissions status at your schools. You should be able to get the information as to when admissions notifications are published from each school on your list. Have it in your calendar.

2) See if you can get a reading on your chances at your #1 from your GC at your school. Sometimes they may know someone in the admisssions department who will give you an early read. If you aren't going to get into a school, it is good to know so you can focus your efforts elsewhere. If you are likely to get in, you can use this information to your advantage (see below).

3) Keep in contact with your top schools' Cadre (especially your #1) if you know you are likely to get into that school. If the school is highly selective and you have information as to your likelyhood of admissions, you should advise them to check with admissions. For the most part, they will only hold slots for applicants who are likely to be admitted.

4) When you have an admissions decision in hand, make sure to follow up with the Cadre at your top choice and let them know that you are ready to accept if they have one available. Ask for advice as to whether or not you will be able to transfer in April. If not, move onto another choice with the same process.

Your top schools awarded scholarship offers to other students in this round. However, it is likely that all of the offers will not be accepted, as these applicants are likely to have choices to make between different schools. Your best strategy at this point is to make yourself an applicant who is likely to transfer your scholarship to that school, if a scholarship is not accepted by another applicant. There are no guarantees that there will be a slot or that any slot will be held for you to transfer to in April, as there are a lot of well-qualified applicants this year who are still to be awarded scholarships.

I wish I could give you a clear-cut path to your goal. As you can see, this is a messy process with schools trying to match applicants to schools with different admissions timeframes that don't necessarily square up very well. You are not alone in this process, as everyone else plays by the same rules.

To your last question - a 4-year AROTC scholarship covers all tuition (and I believe mandatory fees) at the school awarded. It covers all increases in those costs over the 4 years. It also grants a book allowance ($1200 per year if I am reading other threads correctly) and that monthly stipend starting at $300 per month (10 months a year), increasing $50 per month each year. You are still responsible for all Room and Board charges unless the school you accept your scholarship at offers a kicker (there is a sticky thread in this section with info on those schools). Any outside scholarships you bring in may be used for these R&B expenses (subject to the rules of the scholarship of course).

Hope this helps you.

Sorry to be redundant. I type slowly and didn't see other posts.
 
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Hey thanks everyone this all really helped a lot and I think I have had all of my questions answered.

I didn't know they actually mailed out that letter in April and that it allowed you to transfer it, this helps a lot thank you for clearing this up for me.

aglages, yes I did receive good advice in that thread, however, it didn't exactly help me get into that school. Also, my interests in colleges drastically changed after I had already gotten the letter back from ROTC so I was worried it might be too late. Contacting the PMS at the school of choice is not always working out for me.

I haven't been accepted anywhere, but I haven't been declined either. I applied regular decision everywhere so I won't be hearing back until April right? So I don't think that's that much of a problem, right?

I will make sure to keep in contact with them and to see what happens.
I'm going to accept one of the scholarships I was given.

The R&B price will be okay. I think one of them included it, but not sure, so I asked the PMS, I'll see what he says.

Thanks everyone for all the help, sorry if everything seems redundant and not that hard to understand. I'm slow and overanalyzing this. I'll stop freaking out now.
 
You're doing great! You're figuring this all out on your own, that's fantastic. If the PMS is not a help, try the scholarship/recruitment officer. They may know more. But also, every experience you have gives you an insight into the battallion.
 
Hey thanks everyone this all really helped a lot and I think I have had all of my questions answered.

I didn't know they actually mailed out that letter in April and that it allowed you to transfer it, this helps a lot thank you for clearing this up for me.

aglages, yes I did receive good advice in that thread, however, it didn't exactly help me get into that school. Also, my interests in colleges drastically changed after I had already gotten the letter back from ROTC so I was worried it might be too late. Contacting the PMS at the school of choice is not always working out for me.

I haven't been accepted anywhere, but I haven't been declined either. I applied regular decision everywhere so I won't be hearing back until April right? So I don't think that's that much of a problem, right?

I will make sure to keep in contact with them and to see what happens.
I'm going to accept one of the scholarships I was given.

The R&B price will be okay. I think one of them included it, but not sure, so I asked the PMS, I'll see what he says.

Thanks everyone for all the help, sorry if everything seems redundant and not that hard to understand. I'm slow and overanalyzing this. I'll stop freaking out now.

As to your acceptances, you might want to double check the admissions site to see what the acceptance dates are. Not all are the same, although the highly competitive tend to line up together. I'm surprised that you don't have a safety school that has a rolling admissions.

There are lots of excellent schools with rolling admissions. 6 out of 7 schools on Goaliegirl's list are that way. She has already been admitted to non-rolling under an EA program. Right now her boarding school is clearing up the last of the SANFUs in the paperwork (letters of rec, transcripts) at the schools that haven't accepted her yet. Now, given her circumstances (on/near-campus ROTC + Womens D3 ice hockey), none of her schools are considered highly competitive, and being a recruited athlete, admissions wasn't as much of a concern (if they really want her, admission will happen) primarily because she wasn't in the bottom quartile of any school she appplied to. Basically she had 7 match/safety schools.

Her biggest challenge is getting a hockey (coach) decision to coordinate with the ROTC decision. With goalies, (unlike skaters) you only need to bring in 1 (or occasionally 2) in a year. An early decision and scholarship offer helps in our situation which I can understand is different from your situation.

Keep up posted on your progress in picking your initial choice and then working the admissions/Cadre at other school(s) that you are hoping to upgrade to.
 
You're doing great! You're figuring this all out on your own, that's fantastic. If the PMS is not a help, try the scholarship/recruitment officer. They may know more. But also, every experience you have gives you an insight into the battallion.

Agree 100%. This will prepare you better for life in the military than you know.
 
I'm surprised that you don't have a safety school that has a rolling admissions.

There are lots of excellent schools with rolling admissions. 6 out of 7 schools on Goaliegirl's list are that way.
Agreed. My daughter had 8 of 10 school acceptances by Dec 31st. EA and RD matches, slight reaches & safeties both academically and financially. The two that she is waiting on are both BIG RD reaches. One will let her know by 2/15 and the other by the end of March.

Like Goaliedad, I'm surprised that you don't have at least one safety school that had early or rolling admissions. Of course that is your choice. However, if you had then you might not be guessing as much right now as to which school to select.
 
Well actually I had a couple safety schools.

I just found out today that I got into Dayton University (safety school) but I really do not want to go there.
Many of the schools I applied to, I was told I should get in okay, so I'm not TOO worried, but definitely not cocky about it. For a couple others, I'm getting worried but I think I should hear back by Jan15th from some.

However, 2 of my top three I actually found out about very late and only applied about a week ago. Including the one that I got an ROTC scholarship to.

I know it's not smart and not the most comforting way to do it, but that's what I did.

Thanks for all the support! I really appreciate it and I will keep you guys updated.
 
Good luck jojmarie12! I hope you get into the schools that you want most. I think you'll find the ROTC personnel a lot more agreeable once you tell them you have an acceptance letter to one of their schools.:thumb:
 
Well actually I had a couple safety schools.

I just found out today that I got into Dayton University (safety school) but I really do not want to go there.
Many of the schools I applied to, I was told I should get in okay, so I'm not TOO worried, but definitely not cocky about it. For a couple others, I'm getting worried but I think I should hear back by Jan15th from some.

However, 2 of my top three I actually found out about very late and only applied about a week ago. Including the one that I got an ROTC scholarship to.

I know it's not smart and not the most comforting way to do it, but that's what I did.

Thanks for all the support! I really appreciate it and I will keep you guys updated.

Given that you received an December scholarship, I would think that you are an outstanding student, so I wouldn't sweat too much about slow paperwork on later applications. Your application is being processed with the rest of the student who put off things a bit (plenty of them).

Applying to a school after you receive a scholarship isn't exactly the best thing to do, but it is water under the bridge.

If you really want to do some internet work to help you assess how you stack up against your peers with regards to applications, look for "common data set" information about the schools in questions. You will find SAT/ACT score 25th/75th percentiles, etc. NCES (a government agency) provides some of that "common data set" information for all schools. You can google that. Unless you get into schools that reject more than they accept, if you are above their 50th percentile, you should be in. With a resume that gets you a ROTC scholarship, you can go a bit lower without a problem.
 
I just found out today that I got into Dayton University (safety school) but I really do not want to go there.
Many of the schools I applied to, I was told I should get in okay, so I'm not TOO worried, but definitely not cocky about it. For a couple others, I'm getting worried but I think I should hear back by Jan15th from some.

My son is kind of in the same boat. He's been accepted to and received AROTC scholarship for a school he'd attend, but would rather go somewhere else. His 2nd school listed on AROTC list he'll find out about in late March.

He's also admitted to 2 other schools with full tuition scholarships (that he has accepted) in case something goes wrong with ROTC. But, both of these schools also have all 3 branches of the ROTC, so there is even a possibility of transferring the ROTC scholarships.

The school he applied ED to, he did not get in. This was after EVERYBODY told him he was a shoe-in. So, you can never be to sure of your sure bets.

Son will accept AROTC scholarship to the school he's already been accepted to and then wait until spring to see what happens in the end. He's got AFROTC Type 1 plus waiting on NROTC and USNA. March will be a big month.

Good luck. Take the sure thing, and hope for other opportunities to pan out.
 
So here is the update that really is not getting me anywhere.

I got in almost everywhere I applied, and have not gotten rejected anywhere yet. I applied to a ridiculous amount because I'm indecisive, and have heard from 6 out of 10 schools.

I have been awarded and have accepted a 4yr AROTC scholarship out of the 3 choices I was given. However, it is not my first choice.
Today I got a letter saying I got into this school.

NOTE: when applying for an ROTC scholarship, my top choice school was not on the list. I didn't even know it existed. So it wasn't considered by the board. I called them and let them know I was interested and they seemed happy and said they would try to help.

However, I have been emailing them with no responses from ANYONE. I have been letting them know of my strong desire to go there and that I really need to transfer this scholarship if possible, but I feel like they are just getting annoyed with me and are ignoring me? Is it too late for me?
 
Yes, CALL.
They are busy. very very busy. very few people to handle LOTS of kids. they are not annoyed with you and it's not too late.
 
So here is the update that really is not getting me anywhere.

I got in almost everywhere I applied, and have not gotten rejected anywhere yet. I applied to a ridiculous amount because I'm indecisive, and have heard from 6 out of 10 schools.

I have been awarded and have accepted a 4yr AROTC scholarship out of the 3 choices I was given. However, it is not my first choice.
Today I got a letter saying I got into this school.

NOTE: when applying for an ROTC scholarship, my top choice school was not on the list. I didn't even know it existed. So it wasn't considered by the board. I called them and let them know I was interested and they seemed happy and said they would try to help.

However, I have been emailing them with no responses from ANYONE. I have been letting them know of my strong desire to go there and that I really need to transfer this scholarship if possible, but I feel like they are just getting annoyed with me and are ignoring me? Is it too late for me?

You will receive a letter in April/May asking you if you still intend to use the scholarship at the school you accepted it to. You will then be able to request to use it at another school which will be taken under consideration. The school does have to have an open allocation and you had to have been accepted in order for them to accomplish this request

Did you put the school on your school list of intent? You can't put all 10 on there even if you're interested in all 10. You can list up to 7. I'm not sure that you can change the list after you have accepted a scholarship prior to the April/May letter.

I would call the PMS or ROO at the school and call and email your point of contact at Cadet Command and do it quickly. They will get back to you with an answer. No matter what, these are the sources that will be able to give you concrete answers so make sure to go to them.

Good luck!
 
lack of response

Okay so I still have not gotten that letter mailed in April or May and am getting nervous about meeting deadlines but am still waiting to deposit.

The school I had been attempting to transfer the scholarship to is looking pretty grim, but its okay because I think I'm pretty set on the school that had been my first choice originally.

I emailed and called them a while back and they sent back one line that essentially said "sorry call Cadet Command."

Which I did, and they said that they couldn't really do anything and to call the PMS at that school.

So weeks/months later (now) I've been calling everyday to no response and leaving one or 2 voicemails and I emailed them the other day to no response. I simply asked them if they have any scholarships that someone might have declined and has decided to go to another school. I told them I already contacted Cadet Command.

What do I do if nobody answers ever? It's my number one school but its pretty disheartening when they are so unhelpful. Should I annoy Cadet Command some more too?
 
If you are calling everyday and noone is answering or returning your phone calls at the #1 school, are you sure you have the right phone #? What is your #1 school by the way? Do you have acceptance and ROTC scholarship at that school? Have you asked to speak to PMS rather than ROO? Also something to consider, if you are indeed having this much difficulty attempting to get a question answered by this ROTC department, do you really want to commit to 4 years there? Do not know all the details and might be asking this unfairly, but something to consider.

Most schools are not going to be able to tell you whether or not they have any available scholarships until after May 1st, because they don't know yet. Many scholarship winners wait until the deadline to notify schools of their final decisions. Maybe not fair to those who wait, and a little stressful to all involved in the process, but the way that it works.

Cadet Command is not really going to be able to tell you much either right now- as they are in the same boat- not knowing what is left to offer - until after May 1st deadline; That is why paperwork is sent to scholarship winners asking for intent ( what school they plan to commit to)

I know it is confusing and frustrating. If you could post some additional information regarding your acceptances, and where you can take your ROTC scholarship to( at this point) and what your feelings are regarding going to those schools then maybe some people on the forum might be able to help you sort through your choices.

I agree though with earlier posters that you should definitely accept ROTC scholarship and then try to figure out where to take it based on acceptances /openings afterward.

Everything will work out in the end, don't worry overmuch!
 
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