AROTC Board #1 Scholarship Winners

Did anyone receive the ROTC ECP SCHOLARSHIP to the junior military colleges during first board? B/C i did and Im not sure if I want to go this route. If I decline what are my chances to receive a 3 or 4 year scholarship?
 
Razrbck said:
It appears times have really changed over the last 9 years!
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Exponentially so. We have a 16 year age gap from oldest to youngest child. It's a completely different ball-game in every respect. With our older kids, a 1200 SAT was getting you in to most schools with the exception of Ivy's. Now most top university's won't even look at you with a 1200. Not sure that's a good thing, either.
 
Jcleppe said:
I think that's what makes trying to compare stats when results are posted so hard, it's difficult to compare with just the basic resume stats, the outliers as you mentioned always make some shake their heads on why they were not offered on that particular board. My younger son received an scholarship on the first board to his four top schools, his GPA was 3.5 u/w and a 24 ACT, to look at just those two stats it would really make people wonder why, The PMS he interviewed with told him it was the strength of the rest of his application that made the difference. Just to be transparent, his application was made in the fall of 2010.

The main point is to control what you can control, don't worry about the stats of others and remember that the vast majority of scholarships are awarded on the second and third boards.
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I fully agree! My DS won a NROTC scholarship THIS YEAR on the first board. His SAT/ACT scores were definitely not off the charts when he submitted his package. In fact, they were pretty average at 1250 and 24 respectively. He has since improved upon those scores.

He does take a rigorous Honors/AP course load at a private college preparatory high school, has maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout HS, is a NHS member, and has great stats as far as athletics/leadership. After his interview, he was told by the PMS from a SMC, that his interview was the best he'd ever done! The interview was done via Facetime, and lasted more than an hour.

Conversely, his AROTC interview conducted with a ROO took approximately 30 minutes. I was shocked that he walked out so quick and said it was more of a conversation rather than an interview. The ROO, from the time my son reached out to him to schedule the interview, seemed disinterested. Repeatedly, my son sent emails that went unanswered. I can't help but wonder if his write-up and lack of interest was a factor in not being selected this go round.

There are many factors that can make an applicant/candidate attractive or not attractive. Test scores, in my opinion, are given too much weight. They offer only a glimpse of what someone is capable of. If in the position, I'd always take a highly motivated candidate with average test scores over a less motivated candidate with high test scores!
 
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