Would acceptance to an ROTC program help you in college admissions?

Also, RPI and WPI aren't generally thought of as cutthroat.

(Think about it: they're PRIVATE schools. They are under no pressure to "weed out" entry level engineers; quite the opposite. They need the tuition revenue and will likely do everything they can to help you stay in/succeed/keep paying tuition.)
 
Pima said:
Our DS received an AFROTC scholarship. Never applied to UNC Chapel Hill. He received a letter from admissions congratulating him on admissions. I thought it was a scam. Few weeks later he received something like that from NYU. Found out it was the same thing.

Yes, it does happen, but I would not bank on it. I would also tell you that it can vary yr to yr.,.
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This is amazing! This offers more hope and inspiration to those sometimes fall in doubt, even with excellent qualifications. It is a competitive landscape and I’m glad your DS’ admissions offer in the way he received it demonstrate that schools reward ROTC Scholarship winners with Admissions offer.
 
tman9285 said:
Hey all,
I'm currently applying for NROTC MO and I have some very competitive colleges in my list of five (I have a safety just in case). I already have most of my package in, but I'm now worrying about one thing. If I get into a program, will that unit push for my admission into that university? UCLA is my first choice, and my stats are not necessarily on the high-end for mechanical engineering, my prospective major (4.24 GPA and SAT TBD), so anything helps. I'm also going for USC, Villanova, Yale, and Purdue in that order. Insight would help quite a bit. Thanks!
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I'm currently a 4/C at Purdue (Navy Option), so I'm obviously a little biased towards our unit. I would say if you want to do engineering, there is no better place. A TON of our battalion is doing FYE (First year engineering...you must do this to be placed in your requested track in engineering) or a specific engineering track. Feel free to PM me and I can put you in touch with some people here.
 
tman9285 said:
thibaud said:
Look at some other out of state public universities as well, especially in the Great Lakes/Big 10 areas where our powerhouse mechanical engineering schools such as Purdue first developed.

Michigan is probably the best Mechanical Engineering program, but most of the public Big 10 schools are also top-notch, including Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Northwestern is also excellent, as are Cornell and Carnegie Mellon.
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Those are all programs that I hear are very cutthroat, and I already submitted my online package so it's a done deal. I guess I should let the wait begin. And apparently the engineering admissions dean at UCLA says that NROTC likes engineering students and the unit there will try to get you admitted, but I just wanted to make sure that wasn't a myth. I guess I shouldn't take that into account based on what you just said.
If it helps, I got a nice Dept of Naval Research internship as a SEAP intern, which was quite competitive and involved some nice engineering research experience at SSC Pacific in Point Loma. While not quite focused on mechanical, I hope it looks good.
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While you may have already submitted your application with your top five schools, it is certainly not a "done deal". Prior to receiving a scholarship, you can re-order or add/drop schools. If you are awarded a scholarship and want to change to school where it is assigned, you can do that as well, as long as the school you are requesting still has space for scholarship students. So, I would encourage you to keep researching schools and applying if you are looking for other options. For reference, my DS is a 3/c at Michigan. He has not experienced any "cutthroat" behaviors, at least not yet. He also hasn't had any stories of this from upperclassmen in the engineering program. When we visited Michigan and Purdue, both stressed a collaborative atmosphere and working with your classmates as partners, instead of as rivals.
 
tman9285 said:
Hey all,
I'm currently applying for NROTC MO and I have some very competitive colleges in my list of five (I have a safety just in case). I already have most of my package in, but I'm now worrying about one thing. If I get into a program, will that unit push for my admission into that university? UCLA is my first choice, and my stats are not necessarily on the high-end for mechanical engineering, my prospective major (4.24 GPA and SAT TBD), so anything helps. I'm also going for USC, Villanova, Yale, and Purdue in that order. Insight would help quite a bit. Thanks!
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I’m currently an MS4 in AROTC at UCLA. When I applied to UCLA there was a question on the application that specifically asked if I was going to be a scholarship winner for ROTC there. It could have changed since it has been 4 years since I applied, but I feel that it might have helped me out a little. I didn’t have stellar statistics and the year I applied was the first year UCLA recieved over 100,000 freshman applications. Send me a message of you have any questions about UCLA. Good Luck, and Go Bruins!
 
kinnem said:
CrewDad said:
Exception of Senior Military Colleges, at most of these campus ROTC is a student interest activity or treated like an official school club. Mandatory military training is set in the summer after competing Junior Year in college. So if you are seeking a military experience all 4 years you are not going to get it in ROTC.
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That's a pretty broad brush and doesn't match my experience at all. Some schools are close to military bases and spend time training there. DS trained often at Ft. Jackson and twice a year at Parris Island. Land Nav training, drill training, rucking, etc don't even require a military base or large acreage. You don't need a lot of facilities to be working out by lifting telephone poles with a team of ROTC kids on a Friday evening. Is it an SMC? No, Is it an academy? No. Can it require 20+ hours a week to address your responsibilities? Yes. A student interest activity or an official club? I'm sure there are some out there, but in general, I don't think so.
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I have to agree with @kinnem here completely. They are definitely not clubs. And while they are not an SMC ROTC (my DD goes to one), there are many college programs that are very active. At Jacksonville University, for example, the NROTC program is located right in a town with three Navy bases (air, surface and sub) which provides them with lots of additional training opportunities - even for non-scholarship students. Also, being one of the one of the older units around and the first in Florida, they have exceptional alumni and speakers that come. I can tell you that they have top notch equipment and simulators, they are definitely not treated as a club, they meet many hours during the week and often attend weekend trainings. (Disclaimer - I work at the university :) - however, I see how active the Mids are and how respected the program is here and that is what you should look for in any traditional ROTC program).

Remember - with respect to military science, pro labs, and summer trainings they will all be administering a uniform curriculum (because that's branch national). But, to be fair, there are some college programs that are not that robust in the other aspects - this will be the challenge in identifying the right school for you. My DD ended up selecting an SMC (Virginia Tech) after touring 4 other schools in the mid-Atlantic that simply didn't seem to care that much about their program in the life of the students (or at least didn't seem to integrate them into the fabric of the university). Besides the weekly activity in the unit, she also looked to see if the admissions tour guides were knowledgeable, whether there were any pictures of the NROTC midshipmen in any of their materials, and if they even knew where the building was located. You would be surprised. Suffice it to say, some schools did well, others did not. This mattered to her, it might not matter to you. When you tour schools, meet with the unit, ask to talk to a cadet/midshipman, ask what leadership opportunities there are, how often they drill, do PT, do optional or additional trainings, any special equipment or relationships they have with area bases, or active duty or retired leaders. Most of all, congratulations for seeking a life of service. Good luck to you in your scholarship application and in your school search!
 
tman9285 said:
Hey all,
I'm currently applying for NROTC MO and I have some very competitive colleges in my list of five (I have a safety just in case). I already have most of my package in, but I'm now worrying about one thing. If I get into a program, will that unit push for my admission into that university? UCLA is my first choice, and my stats are not necessarily on the high-end for mechanical engineering, my prospective major (4.24 GPA and SAT TBD), so anything helps. I'm also going for USC, Villanova, Yale, and Purdue in that order. Insight would help quite a bit. Thanks!
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It seems you getting a lot of replies that are veering form the question. :) As Kinnem wrote above, it may or it may not. All you can do is when you get yourscholarship, contact the units at the schools and let them know that you recevied a scholarship and have applied to the school. My kids also called admissions to let them know they recevied the scholarship in order to update their admissions package because this is a significant award that the admissions committee should know about.
My two kids recevied NROTC and AFROTC scholarships. From conversations, it appeared to acceptance to MIT, Notre Dame, and Cal (for aerospace engineering as a major). We have also heard as stated above that it helps with UCLA. My daughter ended up choosing AFROTC and MIT and loves the unit and the school (they've been named best small detachment the last two years and had the cadet of the year in 2018).
Based on the acceptence rates at your choices of schools, Yale and UCLA appear to be your reaches, followed closely by USC. Then it seems you're putting Purdue and Villanova as safe reaches. This link might interest you. It has the average SAT scores of accepted students at top engineering schools. You can also link to a scattergram that shows data for GPA and test scores in terms of admissions. https://www.thoughtco.com/sat-scores-for-top-engineering-schools-788646
Good luck! You've got some great school choices there but you may want a couple of more safer schools to broaden your reach.
 
Tman: Glad to see you pursuing a NROTC MO scholarship. The answer to your question is: "it depends". Anecdotally, I would say that in the majority of the schools, a NROTC scholarship does not help ensure admission to the university but clearly there are exceptions.

Your five choices have been submitted but you can request a change if desired. One thing I want to highlight is the process schools use to manage the numbers in the Engineering College. Some schools will accept darn near everyone and then have a quota after years 1 or 2 on how many can enter the Engineering school. Other schools accept you into the College from the start but have a minimum GPA necessary to progress in the college after year 1 or 2 (Purdue used to be this way - not sure anymore). Finally, some schools let you move into and out of the colleges pretty liberally.

My final point is that in looking at your listed schools there is a significant difference in setting (urban, suburban, rural). That may not matter to you - just wanted to point out the obvious.
 
AROTC-dad said:
A school "club"? Really?
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As always I only share my views on this Forum from encounters and experience. I don’t pretend to be an expert. Some of the colleges we visited definitely treat ROTC like another school club. Even the school Instructors made this statement to us who’s an SA Grad. Some definitely don’t. We weeded out those didn’t treat ROTC properly and DS Applied only to those that treated ROTC with respect and school resources. It’s the reality. So best to visit schools if you can and choose well.
 
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Ref the original question:
My DS, a 4 year AROTC scholarship winner, was wait listed for acceptance at RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). He called the school's ROO, who told him that their unit had a good relationship with admissions and he that he would give them a call. Within a couple of days, RPI informed DS that he was fully accepted into the school with his first choice of majors (chemical eng). Selection for his choice of major was important, since he had been accepted at other schools but not with his top major choice. Only a few wait listed applicants subsequently receive admission. DS is now a senior set to graduate in 19.
 
Nieuport28 said:
Ref the original question:
My DS, a 4 year AROTC scholarship winner, was wait listed for acceptance at RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). He called the school's ROO, who told him that their unit had a good relationship with admissions and he that he would give them a call. Within a couple of days, RPI informed DS that he was fully accepted into the school with his first choice of majors (chemical eng). Selection for his choice of major was important, since he had been accepted at other schools but not with his top major choice. Only a few wait listed applicants subsequently receive admission. DS is now a senior set to graduate in 19.
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Thanks! Hopefully my latest SAT score will set me in the ballpark for at least wait-listing at some of my tougher schools, so this gives me a lot of hope!
 
unkown1961 said:
It seems you getting a lot of replies that are veering form the question. :) As Kinnem wrote above, it may or it may not. All you can do is when you get yourscholarship, contact the units at the schools and let them know that you recevied a scholarship and have applied to the school. My kids also called admissions to let them know they recevied the scholarship in order to update their admissions package because this is a significant award that the admissions committee should know about.
My two kids recevied NROTC and AFROTC scholarships. From conversations, it appeared to acceptance to MIT, Notre Dame, and Cal (for aerospace engineering as a major). We have also heard as stated above that it helps with UCLA. My daughter ended up choosing AFROTC and MIT and loves the unit and the school (they've been named best small detachment the last two years and had the cadet of the year in 2018).
Based on the acceptence rates at your choices of schools, Yale and UCLA appear to be your reaches, followed closely by USC. Then it seems you're putting Purdue and Villanova as safe reaches. This link might interest you. It has the average SAT scores of accepted students at top engineering schools. You can also link to a scattergram that shows data for GPA and test scores in terms of admissions. https://www.thoughtco.com/sat-scores-for-top-engineering-schools-788646
Good luck! You've got some great school choices there but you may want a couple of more safer schools to broaden your reach.
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Is your daughter still at MIT? My DD received AFROTC type 1 this year and listed MIT and CalTech as her two schools. She’s been in contact with the rotc unit and is currently waiting on the admission decision - mid- December! I wondered if her scholarship would have any influence on her chances? There are 3 others from her school that are also applying. It’s going to be tough !
 
I know this is an old thread, but I figured I would throw in a resource. As others have stated, there's no way to know for sure whether or not a scholarship gives you a boost in admissions as that changes from year to year and from school to school. However, an easy indicator that you might get a boost is if the school is giving additional benefits to ROTC midshipman/cadets.

For NROTC you can find a list of benefits by school here:
 
nrotcmid23 said:
I know this is an old thread, but I figured I would throw in a resource. As others have stated, there's no way to know for sure whether or not a scholarship gives you a boost in admissions as that changes from year to year and from school to school. However, an easy indicator that you might get a boost is if the school is giving additional benefits to ROTC midshipman/cadets.

For NROTC you can find a list of benefits by school here:
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For AFROTC, go to this page, type in the specific school, then click "see more" for any additional benefits: https://www.afrotc.com/college-locator/
 
Swimmomstl said:
Is your daughter still at MIT? My DD received AFROTC type 1 this year and listed MIT and CalTech as her two schools. She’s been in contact with the rotc unit and is currently waiting on the admission decision - mid- December! I wondered if her scholarship would have any influence on her chances? There are 3 others from her school that are also applying. It’s going to be tough !
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I'm guessing it did help, even if in terms of adding another kudo to the kid's app that admissions can look at. And I have to believe that admissions see a scholarship as a good thing since that money can be used for somebody else. If your daughter got a Type 1, she should be pretty smart and have a good set of extracurricular activities. I know the wait is hard, but that is all you can do at this point. Good luck!
 
unkown1961 said:
And I have to believe that admissions see a scholarship as a good thing since that money can be used for somebody else.
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That's another big thing, the vast majority of students at private schools don't pay full tuition so colleges are constantly looking for ways to bring in additional tuition money. That guaranteed tuition from uncle sam is quite appealing to most colleges.
 
nrotcmid23 said:
That's another big thing, the vast majority of students at private schools don't pay full tuition so colleges are constantly looking for ways to bring in additional tuition money. That guaranteed tuition from uncle sam is quite appealing to most colleges.
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And they know the kid will be a solid student given that they received this scholarship. I would just add that this helps as long as the applicant checks all of the other competitive boxes - GPA, test scores, activities, and both top-notch essays and well-written LORs that stand out to a selective school admission committee.
 
If you look at all these experiences I think you'll find that just about every school will say it doesn't help, most ROTC units will say it doesn't help. But in the end it helps for some, doesn't help for others. Combination of unit's representation, scholarship type (I - III), the ROTC guaranteed tuition for 3-4 years, and who your ROTC officers know within Admissions all play a part. You should not count on it and like all college applicants apply for a spectrum of colleges.
 
unkown1961 said:
I'm guessing it did help, even if in terms of adding another kudo to the kid's app that admissions can look at. And I have to believe that admissions see a scholarship as a good thing since that money can be used for somebody else. If your daughter got a Type 1, she should be pretty smart and have a good set of extracurricular activities. I know the wait is hard, but that is all you can do at this point. Good luck!
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My daughter submitted her application to MIT before she received her AFROTC scholarship news. She received a congratulatory email from the ROTC contact, who is on staff at MIT, but she has not "notified" MIT admissions. Should she? She did check that she was applying for scholarship when she submitted her app. She is very qualified, but so are her 3 classmates. We don't take anything for granted.
 
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