Army ROTC PFA Dilemma Please Help

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casuallattice25

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Jan 10, 2025
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Hi, I am a high school senior applying for the Army national scholarship, and I have a few questions because I can't find a whole lot of information online. Also, scroll down to the bottom if you don't want to hear my whole life story lmao (I'm freaking out).

So basically, I had my PMS interview with the ROTC recruiter from my dream (definitely reach) school this week. At first, I was applying to the ROTC Scholarship as sort of a backup. I was having trouble deciding between West Point (which I have already received an appointment to) and a civilian college with no military component. I had come to terms that I was going to accept West Point's offer. BUT the recruiter shared a lot of insights and something clicked. I realized: I had to do ROTC at this school, even though it was a significant reach, and I was going to do anything to achieve that goal.

However, at the end of the interview, the recruiter made it clear that he expected me to submit all my materials by the Jan 20th board. He mentioned that if I got the scholarship earlier, it could bolster my application in admissions and allow for the program to vouch for me earlier. I immediately knew I needed to lock in and kicked myself for not thinking of that sooner.

I have all my materials ready except for the PFA- due to college applications (i applied to 20 bc I get massive fomo lol), the scholarships over the last month I have been applying to, and the fact that I have been sick and unable to workout for most of break, preparing for the ROTC PFA was something I was going to do for the March board (again, ROTC was supposed to be a backup, but now I really want to do it).

My main dilemma is this: I know that I definitely surpass the minimum requirements on one of the websites I found (i believe 13 pushups, 30 situps, 10:00 min mile are the minimums and Im at about 20 pushups, 35-40 situps, 8:45-9:00 min mile bc I havent worked out as I have been sick). However, I know I can do better than this (my CFA scores were significantly higher, even cut in half) and I don't want any chance to be disregarded from the scholarship or for my recruiter to doubt my ability because of poor physical performance. Additionally, there was a winter storm in my area and we do not have any indoor tracks/courses so running the mile will be difficult in the conditions and might negatively impact my score. I am female btw.

BUT because I leave next week for a trip and I will be gone until the deadline, the only time I can take my PFA with my fitness instructor is this Saturday.

However, I believe the rest of my application is decent. I've spent months refining my essays with my parents, I have a lot of leadership roles (founded multiple community orgs, raised 10s of thousands of dollars for iniatives, a leadership role in every club I am involved in, varsity and all-state athlete for four years, top 10 in my state competitive speech performer, internships in the U.S. Senate and finalist for many national scholarships), 34 act, 4.0 UW/4.927 W GPA, IB program. I was hoping this part of my application would carry, but I am unsure.

Should I take the PFA on Saturday (tomorrow) and submit the score for the Jan board and risk a lower physical performance, or should I wait until the March board to submit?

Thank you for listening to my rant, sorry I am freaking out, and I would appreciate any insight past applicants have!
 
Regardless of your decision regarding ROTC, accept your appointment. It becomes your backup.

Are you certain you want to take the ROTC path? Is the college affordable should you lose the scholarship or decide ROTC is not for you? I assume you're planning on covering room and board yourself? (a full ride at WP is hard to walk away from).

My own opinion, since you have what I assume is an acceptable backup, I'd wait on the PFT until you're well as it looks like your expecting a poor performance. Of course the decision is yours and if you think you need the units support to get accepted then now may be advisable. I don't think you can go far wrong in any case since you have the assured backup.
 
kinnem said:
Regardless of your decision regarding ROTC, accept your appointment. It becomes your backup.

Are you certain you want to take the ROTC path? Is the college affordable should you lose the scholarship or decide ROTC is not for you? I assume you're planning on covering room and board yourself? (a full ride at WP is hard to walk away from).

My own opinion, since you have what I assume is an acceptable backup, I'd wait on the PFT until you're well as it looks like your expecting a poor performance. Of course the decision is yours and if you think you need the units support to get accepted then now may be advisable. I don't think you can go far wrong in any case since you have the assured backup.
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Thank you so much for your quick reply! I'm still not entirely sure but I really want to get into this college bc it has been a dream of mine for a long time but also sort of a pipe dream that I never thought I could get into unless I had a boost (its Harvard lol). My parents never wanted me to worry about college expenses, and I have a pretty decent amount of scholarship money to afford the very high tuition + room and board.

In your experience, do you think my barely passing scores that I listed above will weigh that much? I've heard PFA is only 10%. I really want the units support to get accepted. I'm willing to do anything, even push myself to my physical breaking point to get this.
 
My DS had a bit of a different experience last year. He got his 4-year ROTC scholarship in January, and the WP appointment came later. He stated, "It's WP, so there's saying no to that." If you have ROTC at heart, apply, and you can always improve your PFT and submit new scores if you are not considered for the January board. PFT is one thing of your entire application so you could never go wrong. When he got the award for the ROTC scholarship, there were admission officers from WP who attended the event and one captain from WP told him, "We want you at WP!"That was an added boost for him. Now he's enjoying WP, involved himself in 2 clubs, traveled to several states already. So many opportunities for him compared to ROTC.
 
Wave2016 said:
My DS had a bit of a different experience last year. He got his 4-year ROTC scholarship in January, and the WP appointment came later. He stated, "It's WP, so there's saying no to that." If you have ROTC at heart, apply, and you can always improve your PFT and submit new scores if you are not considered for the January board. PFT is one thing of your entire application so you could never go wrong. When he got the award for the ROTC scholarship, there were admission officers from WP who attended the event and one captain from WP told him, "We want you at WP!"That was an added boost for him.
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Thank you so much for replying! I love WP, but I also love Harvard, the college that is my first choice for the ROTC app and who I interviewed with. WP definitely has a lot of opportunities that a traditional college doesn't have.

So, according to your comment, if I apply to the Jan board and they decide my PFA score isn't high enough, I can apply again during March? Or is that not how it works.
 
With my DS, he submitted his PFA scores at least 2 or 3 times if I am not mistaken. You can always upload new and improved scores if not considered for the first round, Others get 3 years that would kick in during your sophomore year, and others get upgraded to a 4-year during the March Board. If Harvard is your dream, I would say, go ahead and apply. Based on your qualifications, you have a very high chance of getting a 3 or 4 year-scholarship. You can always submit another PFA even after you are boarded in your portal.
 
Wave2016 said:
With my DS, he submitted his PFA scores at least 2 or 3 times if I am not mistaken. You can always upload new and improved scores if not considered for the first round, Others get 3 years that would kick in during your sophomore year, and others get upgraded to a 4-year during the March Board. If Harvard is your dream, I would say, go ahead and apply. Based on your qualifications, you have a very high chance of getting a 3 or 4 year-scholarship. You can always submit another PFA even after you are boarded in your portal.
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Thank you so much. I didn't know we could do this! This is probably going to be my plan of action!
 
All I can add is that it seems Sean McDonough's endorsement may be quite helpful. My son got into MIT after Sean said he'd add a note to his application (he was blessed to have had ROTC on the radar early so his app was done early.) I'm not saying he couldn't have been accepted on his own, but we were all (pleasantly) surprised/shocked 😂. Also, a friend who's at Harvard now and in the Paul Revere Battalion also thinks Sean's endorsement helped his application. I know it's only two anecdotes, so take it for what it's worth and best of luck!!

Edited to add: just saw that you did awesome on the PFA: congrats! Go get 'em!
 
HeyMeg said:
All I can add is that it seems Sean McDonough's endorsement may be quite helpful. My son got into MIT after Sean said he'd add a note to his application (he was blessed to have had ROTC on the radar early so his app was done early.) I'm not saying he couldn't have been accepted on his own, but we were all (pleasantly) surprised/shocked 😂. Also, a friend who's at Harvard now and in the Paul Revere Battalion also thinks Sean's endorsement helped his application. I know it's only two anecdotes, so take it for what it's worth and best of luck!!

Edited to add: just saw that you did awesome on the PFA: congrats! Go get 'em!
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Congrats on your son! He also gave me a note on my application but I was deferred. Great school and great unit over there
 
as25 said:
Congrats on your son! He also gave me a note on my application but I was deferred. Great school and great unit over there
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I'm sorry for the deferral but hope it comes through later this spring. Best of luck! 🙏🏻
 
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