AROTC 3rd Board Chances

[AH1999]

I was not able to get in for the second board and I was wondering what my chances were for the third board.

High School Senior
GPA: 3.80 Unweighted, 4.39 Weighted
Major Applied: Computer Science
ACT: 29

Cross Country 1 Year, Sophomore
Track and Field 3 Years Sophomore to Senior, 2 Years Varsity (Sprinter)
All semesters, Superintendent's Award
Varsity Speech and Debate, 1 Year, Senior
Teacher's Assistant, 1 Year, Senior
2 Jobs, Energy Specialist(1 Summer) & Private tutor(4 Years),
Bioinformatics Club, Tech Chair and Computer Science tutor, 1 Year
National Honors Society Member, 3 Years, Sophomore
Eagle Scout
Worked/Organized a Political Campaign, Junior Year

PA:
Push ups: 76
Sit ups: 37
Mile: 8:56

I am generally unfit in the sections of sit ups and my mile time, and I hoped it didn't hurt me too much.

 

[ROTCparent]

Your gpa and ACT score look very good. Your extracurriculars seem decent. It seems kinda surprising to me that you didn't make the 2nd board, especially with your ACT score and gpa; I would think you have a very good chance of making the third board. Have you checked to see if you can take the PA again and try to up your scores? That might help if you are allowed to do that -- but it may be too late to add to you file, I'm not sure (others may know if you can re-take the PA this late in the year). My DS made the 2nd board with the same ACT score as you, and a slightly lower GPA. He is a three-sport Varsity athlete with letters in all three sports, game captain in football, sportsmanship award in wrestling, plus a letter in robotics with leadership positions there; his PA scores were pretty good. But he didn't do scouts -- I would think you being an Eagle Scout would be a big plus for you -- that's impressive. If you've been accepted to any colleges or universities where you would use an AROTC scholarship you should email the letter of acceptance to Cadet Command. My DS was accepted into his 1st choice AROTC school a month and a half before the second board convened, so we sent them the letter of acceptance. When they emailed him back to say they would add the info to his file they congratulated him on being accepted into the college. Maybe it helped him, I'm not sure, but it certainly didn't hurt (his scholarship was placed there, and at another school). Good luck to you!

 

[AH1999]

Thank you for the advice and kind words, however I don't think I would be able to take the PA again as according to my interviewer there isn't much I can do after being boarded. Would I upload the acceptance letter on the application website? I'm not quite sure who to email and I hope I can do so in time as a majority of my college admissions decisions will be informing me sometime roughly March. Also it maybe a bit late but congratulations on your son making the ROTC scholarship.

 

[MohawkArmyROTC]

You are competitive based on what you have listed, however that is only a portion of what is used for your Board Score. Here are the totals that are used for scholarship selection. A better PFT score would not have that much of an impact.

 

[ROTCparent]

Thank you for the advice and kind words, however I don't think I would be able to take the PA again as according to my interviewer there isn't much I can do after being boarded. Would I upload the acceptance letter on the application website? I'm not quite sure who to email and I hope I can do so in time as a majority of my college admissions decisions will be informing me sometime roughly March. Also it maybe a bit late but congratulations on your son making the ROTC scholarship.

You can email your acceptance letter(s) to the email address listed in your application portal -- click on "additional information" and then "application checklist" and there is an email address located there -- listed under the Cadet Command address. That is the email address where my DS sent his acceptance letter. But as I noted above, I'm not sure whether it helps any, but it certainly can't hurt. Even if it doesn't help in terms of increasing your chances of getting a scholarship, I would think if you do get the scholarship, it might help in terms of getting the scholarship assigned to that school. Note that the portal says that the deadline for updating your application with "any data that is required after you submit your application" is February 29th. I'm not certain what they mean by "data required after you submit your application" in regard to the deadline pertaining to updates you can send in; it is confusing, because if your application has already been boarded and scored such that the score can't change, why would they even mention a deadline for "update data." Maybe it is for SAT/ACT scores for applicants who applied later in the process (maybe someone reading this knows the answer and can shed some light). It might be worth checking into if you have other achievements you've gained since submitting your application. If you do have some additional achievements, you could email Cadet Command through the "contact us" messaging portal and ask them what sort of updates are allowed -- and if you can submit an updated PA on or before February 29th. Though the above commenter is right, it might not make all that big a difference. (And thanks re: my DS.)