AROTC 4 Year Chances

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olympics1

USMA 2026
Joined
Apr 22, 2020
Messages
33
Hello, I am a junior interested in doing AROTC in college, and commissioning Active duty. I was wondering what types of scores, activities, and other aspects are needed to help get a 4 Year Scholarship. I recently shadowed an ROTC cadet and the program is fantastic, and I plan to do it in college. Here are my stats:
33 ACT, 34 Superscore
4.0 GPA
17 CCP/Honors Courses by Graduation
5 on APUSH Exam
Swimming Varsity 3 Years, State Tournament Qualifier,3 time District Qualifier
Cross Country Varsity 3 Years
Octagon Club Vice President, Varsity Academic Team, Student Senate, Chosen for Boys State, National Honor Society, Youth in Government, work as a manager at a small business
 
First, there is no list of extracurriculars or stats that will guarantee a scholarship. There are people every year who are qualified and do not receive one. However, you are actually looking really great! Continue to do well in school. Continue to take on those leadership roles. Start preparing for the fitness test.
The biggest factor in getting a scholarship is the interview. Start preparing for that now. There are many threads on here discussing questions that are regularly asked at these interviews. Look over those and start to think of what your answer might be. Do some practice interviews. If you feel comfortable during your interview and you look presentable and well kept you will be fine.
Good for you for shadowing an ROTC cadet! That's a great way to learn more about the program.
Last but not least don't forget to put time into your college applications and other scholarship applications. DO NOT put all your eggs into one basket and rely on the AROTC scholarship to attend college. Make sure you have a plan A, B, C, D, etc...
 
Please make sure when you submit your application that you show leadership skills very clearly in your ROTC application. We made that mistake of not spelling this out clearly and our son was not accepted for a scholarship. You have to be crisp on your application that you have leadership skills -- captain, did this, did that, etc Be very clear on your leadership in your app. We have a first son on a type 1 but we made mistakes with the second and he was not excepted for scholarship. Your scores look great but have a plan b, c and d and make sure you are crisp on your leadership activities when you fill out your application for ROTC.
 
Lmao, yes.
Just keep your grades up, do decent on the PT test, and be confident in your interview.

Aside from the normal “tell me about yourself” and predictable “why do you want to serve” questions, your interview will have questions directly drawing from an ROTC scholarship interview form that you can google. As always, have a clean haircut, wear at least a sport coat with a tie, and be confident. So yeah, you’re in good shape for a scholarship.

Last note:

For ROTC and USMA application statements, answer the entire question. If something asks about working with people of another race/religion/gender, answer all of those things specifically. If you are asked about leadership positions, state you position, describe your role, and define what leadership traits that you exemplified in that role (integrity is always a big winner).

As for other scholarships, you seem to be able to automatically qualify for a school’s presidential scholarship - it is typically offered without even having to formally apply for the scholarship, just the school. For example, Baylor and RIT both offered $89-95k over my four years if I accepted their offer. If you’re applying to an expensive university (which you likely are, considering your stats n’ stuff), however, they tend to not offer these types of scholarships since they like to strip you of all the money you have.
 
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ROTC loves to see leadership in whatever extracurriculars you choose to do. Make sure to put it on the application. However, there is not much space to elaborate specifically about how you led or how you impacted the extracurriculars you are in. This is one reason why the interview is so imperative. My interviewer asked many questions about my leadership experience: mistakes I've made, successes I've had, general elaboration of leadership roles.
 
olympics1 said:
Hello, I am a junior interested in doing AROTC in college, and commissioning Active duty. I was wondering what types of scores, activities, and other aspects are needed to help get a 4 Year Scholarship. I recently shadowed an ROTC cadet and the program is fantastic, and I plan to do it in college. Here are my stats:
33 ACT, 34 Superscore
4.0 GPA
17 CCP/Honors Courses by Graduation
5 on APUSH Exam
Swimming Varsity 3 Years, State Tournament Qualifier,3 time District Qualifier
Cross Country Varsity 3 Years
Octagon Club Vice President, Varsity Academic Team, Student Senate, Chosen for Boys State, National Honor Society, Youth in Government, work as a manager at a small business
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You have strong academics and extra curricular activities, and your a successful athlete.

I recommend that you apply for at least one service academy, whether that is USMA or USNW, in addition to AROTC. My DD applied to two service academies, as as AROTC, NROTC-MO, and AFROTC. She was selected for the AFROTC, AROTC, and NROTC-MO. Because there are so many highly qualified applicants, it’s best to cast a wide net and hope for the best.

The academy application process starts early, and you have the opportunity to build a solid application that will help you with your ROTC interviews. Furthermore, you should practice your interview with multiple people that will give you honest feedback.

With the AROTC application, I recommend that add at least two letters of recommendation and any other documents to the file upload portion of the application. Lastly, have someone that is objective and willing to give you honest feedback look over your application, especially the essays and the file upload section.
 
airborne1030 said:
You have strong academics and extra curricular activities, and your a successful athlete.

I recommend that you apply for at least one service academy, whether that is USMA or USNW, in addition to AROTC. My DD applied to two service academies, as as AROTC, NROTC-MO, and AFROTC. She was selected for the AFROTC, AROTC, and NROTC-MO. Because there are so many highly qualified applicants, it’s best to cast a wide net and hope for the best.

The academy application process starts early, and you have the opportunity to build a solid application that will help you with your ROTC interviews. Furthermore, you should practice your interview with multiple people that will give you honest feedback.

With the AROTC application, I recommend that add at least two letters of recommendation and any other documents to the file upload portion of the application. Lastly, have someone that is objective and willing to give you honest feedback look over your application, especially the essays and the file upload section.
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Sorry for the typos. I’m on a cell phone. My thumbs are clearly in the way.

USNA and you’ve had success in athletics
 
My kid recently got rejected by USMA and USNA but managed to receive a 4 year AROTC national scholarship at the first board last October. Your stats are similar but your test scores are higher (DS got a 1280 SAT and only a 26 on the ACT. He has a 3.89 GPA but is only 19/100 in class rank (our wonky school does not weight GPA and has 10 or so co-valedictorians every year, no chance of bumping those with a 4.0!) So he is not at the very top. He was on football, hockey and track and was in Army JROTC for four years. NHS and jr and sr class president and some volunteer work. He'll have 24 credits from early college dual enrollment classes that will transfer, making his load in college a little less. He stated he is going to major in civil engineering (thanks for telling your mom about that, DS!) so maybe that played a role as well. I hope there is some flexibility in switching majors because most 18 y.o. don't even know what is out there yet! Just do your best and don't get caught up in the comparison with others (even though I listed DS's stats just to show you, if he got one, you can too!) Do lots of research and find the schools and ROTC programs that make your heart sing! And ones that will cover room and board! Good luck to you!
 
You can be a scholar and an athlete, but the interviewer might flag you on the interview. Ensure you practice the interview as stated above.

The standard questions. "Tell me about yourself." "Why do you want to serve?"
 
When my daughter and I were touring schools, we tried to meet the ROTC "adults" whenever possible. When it came time for her PMS interview, we flew halfway across the country so she could interview at the school she wanted to attend, primarily because she felt comfortable with the PMS. He had given her some great information about the branches, he was honest about ROTC & the college experience, he offered some helpful tips as she completed her applications, and he had given her lots of time to ask questions. She felt like she could get a fair interview from him more so than she could a stranger that works at the universities near our home. She was able to go into the interview relaxed and could think and speak clearly. I truly believe that was the difference between her 3AD scholarship and no scholarship.
 
ghostwritergirl said:
When my daughter and I were touring schools, we tried to meet the ROTC "adults" whenever possible. When it came time for her PMS interview, we flew halfway across the country so she could interview at the school she wanted to attend, primarily because she felt comfortable with the PMS. He had given her some great information about the branches, he was honest about ROTC & the college experience, he offered some helpful tips as she completed her applications, and he had given her lots of time to ask questions. She felt like she could get a fair interview from him more so than she could a stranger that works at the universities near our home. She was able to go into the interview relaxed and could think and speak clearly. I truly believe that was the difference between her 3AD scholarship and no scholarship.
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Not a bad idea but I caution everyone that the system is designed to interview at your closest school to prevent the implied implication you must travel for your interview to be successful. I have not recommended a student for a scholarship and he was coming to my school. Surprisingly PMS’s talk and share info on candidates.
 
Montana State Army ROTC said:
Not a bad idea but I caution everyone that the system is designed to interview at your closest school to prevent the implied implication you must travel for your interview to be successful. I have not recommended a student for a scholarship and he was coming to my school. Surprisingly PMS’s talk and share info on candidates.
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That makes total sense, and he did tell us she was free to schedule her interview anywhere. We chose to travel because that's where she felt most comfortable. (And she almost didn't end up going there!) It was all about reducing anxiety so she could have the best interview possible.
 
ghostwritergirl said:
When my daughter and I were touring schools, we tried to meet the ROTC "adults" whenever possible. When it came time for her PMS interview, we flew halfway across the country so she could interview at the school she wanted to attend, primarily because she felt comfortable with the PMS. He had given her some great information about the branches, he was honest about ROTC & the college experience, he offered some helpful tips as she completed her applications, and he had given her lots of time to ask questions. She felt like she could get a fair interview from him more so than she could a stranger that works at the universities near our home. She was able to go into the interview relaxed and could think and speak clearly. I truly believe that was the difference between her 3AD scholarship and no scholarship.
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My DS took the same approach, but lucky for us, the school he felt most comfortable was also the closest (because he had visited there most often). He was going to do the PMS interview at his #1 school (in case of a possible advantage with admissions) but then we decided that it was most important for him to do the interview where he was most comfortable. That school was #3 on his list, and he did not end up going there, but was offered a 4-year.
 
My DS has a 3 yr scholarship. His school told him that they, depending upon the amount of student who accept and choose his school, have been able to convert many 3 yr to 4 yr scholarships using the University’s own ROTC funding.
 
FormerCTR said:
My DS has a 3 yr scholarship. His school told him that they, depending upon the amount of student who accept and choose his school, have been able to convert many 3 yr to 4 yr scholarships using the University’s own ROTC funding.
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May I ask what school
 
Montana State Army ROTC said:
Not a bad idea but I caution everyone that the system is designed to interview at your closest school to prevent the implied implication you must travel for your interview to be successful. I have not recommended a student for a scholarship and he was coming to my school. Surprisingly PMS’s talk and share info on candidates.
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My daughter went to her closest school to interview, even though it was not her first choice. Fast forward 3-4 months later when getting her 3 year AD scholarship offer, this closer school was one of her 3 choices given, and ultimately where she decided to go even though her 1st and 3rd choice schools were higher choices and also an option. The reality was that she liked what she experienced at the interview and also the ROO was more aggressive when trying to get her to go there. She is now a 2LT and no regrets, had a great 4 years there both academically and in ROTC!
 
olympics1 said:
Hello, I am a junior interested in doing AROTC in college, and commissioning Active duty. I was wondering what types of scores, activities, and other aspects are needed to help get a 4 Year Scholarship. I recently shadowed an ROTC cadet and the program is fantastic, and I plan to do it in college. Here are my stats:
33 ACT, 34 Superscore
4.0 GPA
17 CCP/Honors Courses by Graduation
5 on APUSH Exam
Swimming Varsity 3 Years, State Tournament Qualifier,3 time District Qualifier
Cross Country Varsity 3 Years
Octagon Club Vice President, Varsity Academic Team, Student Senate, Chosen for Boys State, National Honor Society, Youth in Government, work as a manager at a small business
Click to expand...
You have some real solid stats here. AROTC superscores so don't worry about your ACT; it will be counted as 34. For your GPA, while it would matter what kind of classes you took, assuming you took several honors/AP courses, it couldn't get any better. You also have varsity letters and furthermore you're a district qualifier which will look extra strong on your application. Your other EC look phenomenal.

Now that your basic stats are strong enough, I would strongly advise you to dominate that interview/essay. Do your own research about the Army. Think about why you really want to become an officer and link that up with your own personal experience and write them out. They will come in handy once you are interviewed by a PMS which is typically a LTC in the Army and the board will read your essay thoroughly (unlike USMA where they only use essay for extra reference) and numerically evaluate it with a score.

Last but not least, ace that PT test. PT test will only be 1 min of push ups, 1 min of sit ups, and a 1 mile run. You can always score pefect on that as long as you prepare for it months prior to the test. Just simply make fitness your daily routine as it will be a huge part of your life once you join ROTC and eventually enter the bigger Army. But I'm assuming that won't be a challenge for you as you are a varsity swimmer already.

Hope that helps and feel free to reach out to me if you have any further questions. I'll be happy to help you as a 4 year scholarship winner for both AROTC and NROTC-MO from last year (both 1st board).
 
foxtailsean said:
You have some real solid stats here. AROTC superscores so don't worry about your ACT; it will be counted as 34. For your GPA, while it would matter what kind of classes you took, assuming you took several honors/AP courses, it couldn't get any better. You also have varsity letters and furthermore you're a district qualifier which will look extra strong on your application. Your other EC look phenomenal.

Now that your basic stats are strong enough, I would strongly advise you to dominate that interview/essay. Do your own research about the Army. Think about why you really want to become an officer and link that up with your own personal experience and write them out. They will come in handy once you are interviewed by a PMS which is typically a LTC in the Army and the board will read your essay thoroughly (unlike USMA where they only use essay for extra reference) and numerically evaluate it with a score.

Last but not least, ace that PT test. PT test will only be 1 min of push ups, 1 min of sit ups, and a 1 mile run. You can always score pefect on that as long as you prepare for it months prior to the test. Just simply make fitness your daily routine as it will be a huge part of your life once you join ROTC and eventually enter the bigger Army. But I'm assuming that won't be a challenge for you as you are a varsity swimmer already.

Hope that helps and feel free to reach out to me if you have any further questions. I'll be happy to help you as a 4 year scholarship winner for both AROTC and NROTC-MO from last year (both 1st board).
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Thank you, I got a 147 out of 150 on the PT test when I shadowed a cadet, so I'm going to use that for my scholarship.
 
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