AROTC and College Applications

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efirestone14

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Does applying for an Army ROTC scholarship have an impact on my regular application to colleges listed on my ROTC application? There is really no place on my college applications to note that I have applied for an ROTC scholarship, so should I just contact the Recruiting Operations Officer at each college and let them know that I have applied for an ROTC scholarship to their schools and will also be competing for admission? How much of an impact does the ROO at each school have on applications for admission?
 
efirestone14 said:
Does applying for an Army ROTC scholarship have an impact on my regular application to colleges listed on my ROTC application? There is really no place on my college applications to note that I have applied for an ROTC scholarship, so should I just contact the Recruiting Operations Officer at each college and let them know that I have applied for an ROTC scholarship to their schools and will also be competing for admission? How much of an impact does the ROO at each school have on applications for admission?
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The ROTC Battalion sometimes have a good relationship with the admissions office at their college. The standard line is that you need to be able to gain admission on your own. That doesn't mean that some battalions have some pull, it really just depends on the school and the admissions office.

The only time this will help you is if you atually receive the AROTC Scholarship to the school. Simply applying for the scholarship will not give you any edge with admissions.
 
Any time you can talk to anyone in the admissions process or the ROTC application process it is a good thing. Open a dialogue with as many people as possible. Mention in your admission interview that you are interested in ROTC. The Admissions counselor is going to note that, and when they review your file for admissions they will take that into account. At Clarkson the admissions counselors all know who we are. The know what we bring to the school. They annotate in their prospect management system when you schedule a visit with ROTC. They will put prospects in touch with me if that prospect expresses interest. Are all schools the same? Absolutely not. Jcleppe is right that some Battalions have a little bit of influence in the admissions process, the two processes are seperate.
This is one of my favorite topics, and I encourage all applicants to talk to people on campus. If you think filling out a form and sending it in is all you have to do you are wrong. This is a sales process. You need to sell yourself to the school and to Cadet Command.
 
Thanks to both of you for your replies. I will work over the next few months to sell myself to both the colleges and the ROTC Recruiting Operations Officers.
 
Admission edge

If you have a clear plan for your educational goals, a declared major and defined path, your chances will be greater for acceptance. Your major must be inline with the hard sciences not a degree in dance. The admissions will recognize you are there with a purpose and a plan.

Push Hard, Press Forward
 
tug_boat said:
Your major must be inline with the hard sciences not a degree in dance.
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Who told you this?? I'll take a dance major who is fully qualified and willing to participate fully any day of the week. Yes, the Army is looking for STEMs, but they are also looking for SAL's. Someone who is looking to major in dance and has a 1200 SAT and a 3.9 GPA and is an eagle scout and runs track will be as competitive as any other applicant with similar stats.
 
tug_boat said:
If you have a clear plan for your educational goals, a declared major and defined path, your chances will be greater for acceptance. Your major must be inline with the hard sciences not a degree in dance. The admissions will recognize you are there with a purpose and a plan.

Push Hard, Press Forward
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Not quite sure your major needs to be inline with a "Hard Science" to have an admissions edge. Quite a few Liberal Arts and Business Majors may disagree with that. I'm sure Dance majors have a purpose as well or universities would not offer the major.

It's not a good idea for anyone to select a STEM major just to better their chances for either admissions or a ROTC scholarship, that's a recipe for disaster.

**Sorry, Clarkson beat me to it.
 
efirestone14 said:
Does applying for an Army ROTC scholarship have an impact on my regular application to colleges
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Possibly. Not so much the scholarship application, but if you indicate you plan to participate in ROTC while at University, that is something that sticks out as unique about you. This is important at elite colleges where almost all applicants have high SAT and high GPA, with excellent ECs. It is something distinctive that allows an admissions officer to notice you -- whether you are ultimately awarded an AROTC scholarship, or not.

Others have commented already that some PMSs have pull with admissions (to get a qualified "wait list" candidate into "Accepted"), and some PMS do not. No PMS can get a candidate that doesn't even qualify for "wait list" into "accepted".
 
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