Advice for AROTC Interview

I'll give you our experience. My son and I visited a university in April and met with the PMS of the ROTC program. This school is my son's #2 choice and PMS stated that this will be considered his interview...and he'll input the info in the system once the ROTC application has been submitted.

We entered the building and LtCol asked us both to come to his office. I offered to have son meet with LtCol alone, but he wanted us both to be there.

The interview was simply an enjoyable conversation that didn't feel like an interview at all. My son knew his important info: SAT scores, GPA, extracurricular activities, strengths weaknesses, plans for academies, rotc, and back up plans if all goes haywire. He knew at that time that he had about 4 schools on his list and which majors he was interested in. He had created a bullet point type resume and studied his high school life ahead of time. It's amazing what you forget you've done!

LtCol asked about all sorts of things and brought them up with no pressure. Nick had written down a few questions and was able to ask them towards the end. LtCol did not mind that son brought out his note pad to read the questions. He was even happy to see that son crossed a few questions off the list, meaning he had addressed those concerns.

After they talked for about 45 minutes, I was able to ask some more administrative questions like 'how does the actual application process work, besides just turning in the application?' 'what should you do if school choices #1 and #2 are on the list, but you are offered choice #2 because of rolling admissions and won't hear back from choice #1 until April?'

This interview went about the same as the several my oldest son went through at other schools. All in all, I have sat in on 7 meetings. Half have included "mom" with no problem, the other half of the meetings we all spoke together and then I waited outside for them to speak alone. Each PMS/scholarship officer/LtCol have been more than accommodating and very polite. Since we traveled far to visit these schools, it did not seem strange that I would accompany my son, but I made it very clear that I would wait outside until son was done.

The one thing that both of my sons have said was that everyone in the ROTC departments, no matter which schools we visited, were so polite and nice. Great sense of humor and very calm and at ease.

Think of it as an interview for you to choose them as your ROTC unit. This is what we were actually doing. Interviewing ROTC units to see where son fit in the best. Unfortunately, the ROTC units were all fantastic! It was the personality of the school that made the decision for him. (All must have gone well because youngest son got a call two days after he submitted the ROTC application with an offer from that same LtCol for full out of state tuition and room/board.)

Relax, have a list of questions, even if you know some of the answers already, know your personal stats, dress nicely (slacks and polo), clean shaven, firm handshake. You might even want to know how many sit ups, push ups you can do and your mile time. Strangely that came up! Son was even given the opportunity of working out with the cadets the next morning. LtCol showed up...and son was told that he rarely shows up!

LtCol's love to talk so start with questions about the batallion. How long has he/she been there? How many scholarships do you offer a year? What are the strengths of this batallion? Do you participate in the Ranger Challenge? Are there weekend drills or camp outs that the cadets attend during the school year? What is a typical week like for a cadet?

This will get the questions started and then you will feel more at ease. Don't forget that this is important and don't drop your politeness. But just know that these batallions want the best..and they want you!
 
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