Reporting ROTC Scholarships?

C

candide72

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Messages
158
I applied to a school and got in and it's my plan b to USNA with my NROTC-MO scholarship. The school's financial aid portion of the portal asks for any other scholarships you've received (including a listing for ROTC and military scholarships) but it asks for a dollar amount. Considering I don't know how much my tuition and fees will be, what would I even list?
And if I do list this before and grants or scholarships come out am I screwing myself over? My family is not helping me with school (they don't believe in it, it's not financial issues) so the last $10,000 for room and board won't be easy to come up with on my own and my friend (at the school) said I can still hope for some money from the school...

Any help/advice would be great...
 
Certainly you know or can find out the tuition. I've never seen a college web site without that information. I can't believe someone would apply somewhere without understanding that cost before applying. BTW - have you actually won a scholarship? What's the cost of Plan A tuition and how will you handle room and board with that. Did Mom and Dad fill out a FAFSA which they will need to do for financial aid?

You are not screwing yourself over. Most financial aid from colleges can only be applied to tuition anyway, so it's mox nix. If Mom and Dad aren't helping out then you'll need to find other sources. On the off chance they only want you to have skin in the game, maybe you can get them to go 50-50 on room and board, since they would cover it if you were living at home anyway (I assume). Assuming that's the annual cost then going into debt for it isn't the end of the world. Also, you'll have the stipend to help defray that.
 
I would call and ask the financial aid counselor at the school, tell them the situation and ask if you even need to fill that out. I believe it is more for planning. All three of my daughters have had this situation on their shcool’s website (1 ROTC, and 2 athletes with athletic aid), and we have never entered the other aid, it will be entered by ROTC or in the case of my other daughters their compliance office at some point. Once it is processed, the school removed the institutional aid that couldn’t be used. For example, with the athletes, the need based aid (school grants) were removed since the out of pocket for us was lower than anticipated, and the merit aid was also removed in the case of ROTC. Good luck and if you make that call let us know what you find out.
 
kinnem said:
Certainly you know or can find out the tuition. I've never seen a college web site without that information. I can't believe someone would apply somewhere without understanding that cost before applying. BTW - have you actually won a scholarship? What's the cost of Plan A tuition and how will you handle room and board with that. Did Mom and Dad fill out a FAFSA which they will need to do for financial aid?

You are not screwing yourself over. Most financial aid from colleges can only be applied to tuition anyway, so it's mox nix. If Mom and Dad aren't helping out then you'll need to find other sources. On the off chance they only want you to have skin in the game, maybe you can get them to go 50-50 on room and board, since they would cover it if you were living at home anyway (I assume). Assuming that's the annual cost then going into debt for it isn't the end of the world. Also, you'll have the stipend to help defray that.
Click to expand...
I didn't know if the 'cost of attending' is just an average or a final number, is that what I would put in? I have won the scholarship and plan A is USNA.
I filled out the FAFSA. I didn't know the money the school gives me couldn't be applied after room and board. I'll have to contact the school and see what they say about applying it to room and board or what I can do. I'm doing this on my own, so I feel kind of lost trying to figure it out.

I've applied to lost of $500-2500 local scholarships, that'll help. I'm also getting a job once my schedule frees up in April.
I doubt they'll go 50-50 but I guess I can see what their reasoning for not helping me is.

Thank you for the advice.
 
candide72 said:
I didn't know if the 'cost of attending' is just an average or a final number
Click to expand...

Cost of attendance is an estimated and published number that normally is posted by all accredited universities. Each college website should be searchable for this breakdown that itemizes tuition, books, misc expenses plus room and board if applicable.

Here is an example for University of Michigan:
https://finaid.umich.edu/cost-of-attendance/

….and USC (So. Calif).
https://financialaid.usc.edu/undergraduates/prospective/how-much-wil-my-education-cost.html

...and UCLA
https://www.admission.ucla.edu/prospect/budget.htm
 
Yes contact the school. Most likely there will be a financial aid counselor that is assigned to all ROTC students. It is overwhelming as it is a lot of money. The financial aid counselor should be able to help you in giving you real expectations of how they handle ROTC, merit scholarships, outside scholarships, etc., as well as letting you know what you need to do right now. You might also be able
to do a lot of this through email once you connect and find out who that person is. Their job is to help you navigate this part and be a resource, so use it!
 
candide72 said:
I applied to a school and got in and it's my plan b to USNA with my NROTC-MO scholarship. The school's financial aid portion of the portal asks for any other scholarships you've received (including a listing for ROTC and military scholarships) but it asks for a dollar amount. Considering I don't know how much my tuition and fees will be, what would I even list?
And if I do list this before and grants or scholarships come out am I screwing myself over? My family is not helping me with school (they don't believe in it, it's not financial issues) so the last $10,000 for room and board won't be easy to come up with on my own and my friend (at the school) said I can still hope for some money from the school...

Any help/advice would be great...
Click to expand...

I commend you in your resourcefulness and your going after what you need/ want all on your own! These things are difficult for us parents to navigate let alone a senior in high school. Wishing you luck and all the best! This forum can help you tremendously and you should utilize all off your resources!
 
Also, keep in mind what you are filling out now will be used to estimate your financial aid award. It can be adjusted up or down once numbers are finalized. For example, the cost of attendance at U of M that @AROTC-dad posted are for Fall/Winter 2018-2019. I can guarantee that number will go up next year, but use it for now. Tuition will be updated in the next few months and the Financial Aid office should update your file. The most important things right now are your parents income, assets, etc and other scholarships you have received. Even though your parents are not helping you out, there will still be an an amount your family is expected to contribute that will be used in calculating how much of what type of aid you qualify for. Maybe one you get that information, you can approach your parents and have a discussion about what they may be willing to do. I'm not sure what you mean by "they don't believe in it". If that means the value of a college education in general or your interest in serving in the military. Try to understand what their position is, so you can better present yours. Also, be sure to contact the Financial Aid office with any questions you have about filling out the forms. They can be confusing and, like @Dckc88 said, it's their job to help you navigate the process. Best of luck.
 
One other thing, there are several schools that give R&B discounts or even free R&B to ROTC students. You might want to check them out to see of one is a good option (if it's not too late to apply).
 
Dckc88 said:
Yes contact the school. Most likely there will be a financial aid counselor that is assigned to all ROTC students. It is overwhelming as it is a lot of money. The financial aid counselor should be able to help you in giving you real expectations of how they handle ROTC, merit scholarships, outside scholarships, etc., as well as letting you know what you need to do right now. You might also be able
to do a lot of this through email once you connect and find out who that person is. Their job is to help you navigate this part and be a resource, so use it!
Click to expand...
Thank you! Once I hear back from USNA (not keeping my hopes up...) is this something that's okay to contact my unit about too? I've already gotten a lengthy email about the unit from them that said to email them any questions I have.

Worst case, I can work for probably half of the cost and leaving college with $20,000 in debt isn't bad compared to most people.
 
candide72 said:
is this something that's okay to contact my unit about too? I've already gotten a lengthy email about the unit from them that said to email them any questions I have.
Worst case, I can work for probably half of the cost and leaving college with $20,000 in debt isn't bad compared to most people
Click to expand...

Absolutely yes! Your cadre will know the ins and outs about funding R & B.

Also, it is possible you can get a job as an RA (resident assistant) in the dorms and earn free room and board while also showing leadership and responsibility. Many cadets and mids do this.
 
AROTC-dad said:
Absolutely yes! Your cadre will know the ins and outs about funding R & B.

Also, it is possible you can get a job as an RA (resident assistant) in the dorms and earn free room and board while also showing leadership and responsibility. Many cadets and mids do this.
Click to expand...
Can freshmen be RA's? I always thought this was a job for upperclassmen.

Edit: found the school's policy on this.
 
You all have been really helpful, thank you for the advice in this thread. I feel much better about being able to handle this now...
 
Last edited:
I want to give a little bit of advice.

I had a friend that was in your shoes. He was here at my college for 1.5 years, and transferred back to one of his state schools. The primary reason why he came here was because my college provides free room and board for ROTC scholarship recipients, which means if he went here he'd have a full ride.

Prior, he knew he didn't want to come here, and knew he wanted to go to his state school. It fit his personality through and through.

His father was like your family. He was former Air Force, and told him his parents never paid for his educations, so why should he use his money on him.

When he told people here he was transferring, people told him to stay, and so on, but I encouraged him to get out of here.

There was nothing that this school had to offer him besides an extra $10,000 a year.

We don't have the major he wants, and now he's going to have to graduate as a 5th year senior at the college he is at right now.

His parents were frustrated, but he had already decided he wanted to become his own man, and now owns his own apartment near his state school and not looking back.

I've kept in touch with him, and he is enjoying his life a lot more, and pursuing his dream of being an Army veterinarian. Yes, he has to work to pay the bills, but he is the type of guy that likes to work (not a full-time school nerd like me).

Anyways, to sum things up, you shouldn't always follow your wallet instead of your heart. *Be reasonable about your choices, but don't full on follow those green bills dangling in your face.*

Keep grinding dude.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top