Are Women More Likely to Get an AFROTC Scholarship?

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Jan 17, 2018
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I guess this could apply to any branch. I was having a conversation today where the percentage of women in the military came up and since I'm in the AFROTC Scholarship mindset right now, I was wondering if they actively look for women for ROTC/offer them scholarships at a higher rate to attempt to create more balance. I'm not sure if anyone would know this, but I'm just curious. I couldn't find this question asked anywhere so I thought I might just throw it out there. What do you guys think?
 
There may or may not be more women this year than last year who get scholarships. They try to attract more women where they can in order to increase the selection pool. This is exactly what corporations do... increase the pool of qualified diverse candidates. Nevertheless a scholarship is awarded on merit and not gender. One earns it, and it's competitive.
 
There may or may not be more women this year than last year who get scholarships. They try to attract more women where they can in order to increase the selection pool. This is exactly what corporations do... increase the pool of qualified diverse candidates. Nevertheless a scholarship is awarded on merit and not gender. One earns it, and it's competitive.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking about colleges and how being a woman applying for say MIT where they have a 35%ish female population, that it could be a plus on your application. I don't doubt that merit comes first, but I wonder if being a female is just a little bonus the board may take into consideration. That probably should have been my question: How much do they take gender into consideration in the scholarship process?
 
There may or may not be more women this year than last year who get scholarships. They try to attract more women where they can in order to increase the selection pool. This is exactly what corporations do... increase the pool of qualified diverse candidates. Nevertheless a scholarship is awarded on merit and not gender. One earns it, and it's competitive.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking about colleges and how being a woman applying for say MIT where they have a 35%ish female population, that it could be a plus on your application. I don't doubt that merit comes first, but I wonder if being a female is just a little bonus the board may take into consideration. That probably should have been my question: How much do they take gender into consideration in the scholarship process?

This was discussed a few months back. Some ROTC staff claimed that the answer is "No" but I was personally told otherwise by the staff at my son's school when he graduated.
 
Look, there is nothing you can do to control the issue (unless you change genders). The mere discussion of it just messes with your head.

My children are all mixed race and perhaps could have played that up as "minority" status . I told them not to check any box. They all made it on their achievements, not their race. (Only my youngest is military).

You have loads of things that you CAN control. Worrying about this issue just gives you an excuse to explain why you did not make it.

Focus on being the best that you can be.

Good luck!
 
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There are definitely more women interested in joining the military as compared to years past, how that shakes out in percentages of successful applicants I have no idea.

My DD was awarded the NROTC 4 yr scholarship, here are a few of her numbers: top 5% in class, 4.25 career GPA with 10 APs stem heavy, 3 sport varsity athlete - 2017-18 Female scholar athlete of the year, 11 varsity athletic letters, extensive meaningful community service (over 600 hrs), NHS, student government.

I agree with the above comments about don't worry about it its moot. Worry about being the absolutely best qualified candidate you can be, and that starts years before you apply. The cream rises to the top as they say.
 
I guess this could apply to any branch. I was having a conversation today where the percentage of women in the military came up and since I'm in the AFROTC Scholarship mindset right now, I was wondering if they actively look for women for ROTC/offer them scholarships at a higher rate to attempt to create more balance. I'm not sure if anyone would know this, but I'm just curious. I couldn't find this question asked anywhere so I thought I might just throw it out there. What do you guys think?
Yes. Qualified women are coveted. More men will receive the award, but a higher percentage of women per female applicant will get the nod. IMO.
 
There may or may not be more women this year than last year who get scholarships. They try to attract more women where they can in order to increase the selection pool. This is exactly what corporations do... increase the pool of qualified diverse candidates. Nevertheless a scholarship is awarded on merit and not gender. One earns it, and it's competitive.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking about colleges and how being a woman applying for say MIT where they have a 35%ish female population, that it could be a plus on your application. I don't doubt that merit comes first, but I wonder if being a female is just a little bonus the board may take into consideration. That probably should have been my question: How much do they take gender into consideration in the scholarship process?

This was discussed a few months back. Some ROTC staff claimed that the answer is "No" but I was personally told otherwise by the staff at my son's school when he graduated.
Quick question: Do you mean your son's high school? Who at the school siad this and do they have a background or insight in ROTC selection - more so than the ROTC staff you talked to?
 
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There may or may not be more women this year than last year who get scholarships. They try to attract more women where they can in order to increase the selection pool. This is exactly what corporations do... increase the pool of qualified diverse candidates. Nevertheless a scholarship is awarded on merit and not gender. One earns it, and it's competitive.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking about colleges and how being a woman applying for say MIT where they have a 35%ish female population, that it could be a plus on your application. I don't doubt that merit comes first, but I wonder if being a female is just a little bonus the board may take into consideration. That probably should have been my question: How much do they take gender into consideration in the scholarship process?

I have a son and daughter who both received AFROTC and NROTC scholarships (my daughter got an ISR but had better grades than my son). And my daughter got into MIT (along with Cal, Notre Dame, and Harvey Mudd). Did being female help? I don't think so. I think it was more so due to having a more holistic application package and backstory that set her apart from other candidates - in other words, she did more than just STEM. She did debate, student senate, cross country, track, got selected to selective summer programs (e.g., Notre Dame's all-expense paid summer seminar for leaders). She actually had no STEM clubs and only one STEM-related activity.
As with most selective colleges, when MIT compares equal students, they may look at gender to help round out a broad-based student body. But, they will also look at where the person is from geographically, socio economic class, culture, and what they can contribute to the university (this is seen in essays that are required to be well written and written at a level above what you submit to your local state college), etc. (Some other selective schools will also consider family donations, are they the son of a Senator or a President of a foreign country or a UN ambassador, or are they the star of Harry Potter films, etc.)
To be honest, most males who don't get in probably don't make the cut because of the quality of subjective things, like the essays or letter of recs (these also need to be at a level higher than what is written for most colleges - the writer needs to specifically quantify the student's standing, demonstrates a knowledge of the student's interests and resume accomplishments, etc.).
I'm sure ROTC is similar - if there are two equal candidates and there is a deficiency of qualified females, they'll probably look at the female.
 
Thanks for the replies. Again, not worrying about it, I was was just curious. I couldn't find any info out on this, so I just didn't know if this very college-process thing was also an aspect in ROTC Scholarships. From these replies, it kind of affirms what I originally thought: it could, but not really. Merit is obviously first, like it should be.

Thanks again.
 
There may or may not be more women this year than last year who get scholarships. They try to attract more women where they can in order to increase the selection pool. This is exactly what corporations do... increase the pool of qualified diverse candidates. Nevertheless a scholarship is awarded on merit and not gender. One earns it, and it's competitive.

Yeah, that makes sense. I was thinking about colleges and how being a woman applying for say MIT where they have a 35%ish female population, that it could be a plus on your application. I don't doubt that merit comes first, but I wonder if being a female is just a little bonus the board may take into consideration. That probably should have been my question: How much do they take gender into consideration in the scholarship process?

This was discussed a few months back. Some ROTC staff claimed that the answer is "No" but I was personally told otherwise by the staff at my son's school when he graduated.
Quick question: Do you mean your son's high school? Who at the school siad this and do they have a background or insight in ROTC selection - more so than the ROTC staff you talked to?

The ROTC staff at my son’s college told me directly that in today’s Army, EVERY facet of diversity is factored in to scholarships offered, branching, who gets AD vs being forced Reserve (my sons unit saw that first hand as well). This staff member was thankful he was retiring as well.
 
From these replies, it kind of affirms what I originally thought: it could, but not really. Merit is obviously first, like it should be.

Thanks again.

I disagree. Boys grow up playing Army. Shoot em up. G.I. Joe's, etc. Boys tend to be in more contact type sports. That eventually makes for a bigger pool of male applicants than female. An outstanding female applicant is going to stand out. If you are a top notch female candidate you are most likely going to get an offer. Not always, but most of the time.

If you are a top notch male candidate right out of high school, you may get an offer, but your competition is more severe. Females are much desired by academies and ROTC programs. When a qualified, sharp candidate comes along they are snapped up.

Example: I know of a caucasion Eagle Scout with a 1450 SAT, private pilot's license, top 5%, Good sports, NHS, interviewed great, etc. that did not receive an appointment. I believe any female with the same credentials would have been offered a quick LOA.
 
Example: I know of a caucasion Eagle Scout with a 1450 SAT, private pilot's license, top 5%, Good sports, NHS, interviewed great, etc. that did not receive an appointment. I believe any female with the same credentials would have been offered a quick LOA.

One of my female USNA applicants a few years ago was this tier of candidate except all county/conference in two sports and did not get an LOA nor into USNA. Her plan B was USMMA and she is there now.

NOTE: Highly competitive (for USNA) Northern NJ Congressional District.
 
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My daughter received an ISR from NROTC and got into MIT early, but only got a Type 2 from AFROTC. Yet, I saw posts about sons getting Type 1's for any major and/or going to less selective schools - and with the same or lesser stats.
It's very subjective. Honestly, I think the interviewer is key - does he or she know how to write up a solid review for instance. The young AF LT who interviewed my daughter seemed like he was stepping into a new position for him. And as such maybe he wasn't so good at writing up interview summaries (or whatever they call them) or asking the right questions. The Army Major who interviewed my son got on him for only getting a B+ in AP US History. Does that mean the Major would have lauded my son if he got an A in regular US History? He noted on my son's interview form that my son was lacking in the area of academics, though he had a 3.9 GPA.
What I'm trying to say is that there is subjectivity that can play into getting an ROTC scholarship, such as with who is doing the interview or how the applicant did in the interview (e.g., they might have had a bad day and had trouble recalling solid leadership examples).
As I said before though, I don't think there is an outright preferential treatment for underqualified women or minorities. But, I'm guessing that if there are candidates of equal standing, there probably is preference given to the one who might make a more well-rounded applicant pool.
Who knows? The whole ROTC and college admission application process is at times a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma (to paraphrase Churchill).
 
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