AROTC Interview 3/4 year??

A

arosu13

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Dec 20, 2017
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I just had my interview for the Army ROTC scholarship and my interviewer was very impressed. Here are some things that he put stars next to:
  • Recipient of Dwight D. Eisenhower Award (given by West Point Society of NJ)
  • Corps Commander of AFJROTC Unit
  • Vice Group Commander at Cadet Leadership Course Fort Dix
  • Varsity Letters (Soccer)
  • 3.8 GPA unweighted, 28 ACT composite
  • Class representative and club president
  • Lots of volunteering
He actually said I had a perfect resume and am very competitive.... for the THREE year scholarship. He said it as if it was nothing, but I am worried about whether he misspoke and meant to say four year scholarship, because that is obviously what I am striving for. I am applying for the second board, and I am fairly confident that I can obtain the 3 year, but can anyone provide any consolation that I may still be a strong candidate for the four year?
 
The two remaining boards will make 4 and 3 year offers. If you are board ready you have a chance of receiving a three or four year offer. Does that console you?

Make sure you have a plan B.
 
Do you think more four year scholarships are awarded to first board applicants? Thank you for the consolation, I'll probably be anxious about the results until I find out at the end of January.
 
There are still plenty of 4 and 3 year offers available, and if you don’t hear anything at the end of January (results will probably be released in the middle of February) remember that there will be a third round of offers made in March or April.
 
Keep in mind that even if you get a 3 year, it's *possible* but NOT guaranteed that if you show up for school next year in the best shape of your life, blow your APFT out of the water and then pull off a higher than average GPA the 1st semester, they can extend you and offer that will make it a 3.5 year scholarship.
 
abbyrosu said:
Do you think more four year scholarships are awarded to first board applicants? Thank you for the consolation, I'll probably be anxious about the results until I find out at the end of January.
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A little over 300 4-YR scholarships were offered after the first board. There will be 1000, 4YR offers and 1000 3YR offers in total. So the majority of scholarships have yet to be awarded. Just remember that your interviewer doesn't really know your chances at a scholarship, as they do not know your CBEF score and other scoring areas. They only know how many points they awarded you out of 200 for the interview.
 
My DD was told the same thing, very competitive and probably a 3 year, that is exactly what she got on the third board. It would of been fantastic if she would of received. a 4 year, but it really put her in the mindset after hearing about from several schools that she was a competitive 3 year candidate to think about what her plan A, B , C choices would be. I suggest you take the advice from Clarksonarmy to be thinking of your plan b seriously. She had a certain choice for plan A, a four year scholarship, she had another choice for plan B a three year scholarship and she had an even other school choice if there was no scholarship and to show up ready to still join ROTC. Then once she did get the 3 year she actually chose something totally different, she chose a school that offered room and board scholarships all 4 years, even to 3 year recipients and where the ROO felt she had a good likelihood of being upgraded to a 3.5 year, it was also the best academic school of her choices, and it has worked out well. She was upgraded and does not regret her school choice. So we were responsible for one semester tuition, and even though it was the most expensive school of her choices, in her situation it was the least. My point in telling you this is to prepare you to be open minded and do your research but just know you may not know the best choice for you until you know all of your options. And that might not come until after the third board. She is now a sophomore yet we still remember the waiting game and it felt like forever. Just keep all options open and choose at least one school you can afford one year in case of a 3 year scholarship and one school you can afford in the event you are not offered a national slot. Schools also offer campus based to cadets who applied but did not receive a scholarship nationally. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
MohawkArmyROTC said:
abbyrosu said:
Do you think more four year scholarships are awarded to first board applicants? Thank you for the consolation, I'll probably be anxious about the results until I find out at the end of January.
Click to expand...

A little over 300 4-YR scholarships were offered after the first board. There will be 1000, 4YR offers and 1000 3YR offers in total. So the majority of scholarships have yet to be awarded. Just remember that your interviewer doesn't really know your chances at a scholarship, as they do not know your CBEF score and other scoring areas. They only know how many points they awarded you out of 200 for the interview.
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I'm just curious, but the following (admittedly aged, from 2010) US Army news release quoted ROTC scholarship levels at around 2600 (four-year) annually.

https://www.army.mil/article/43561/army_rotc_awards_51_million_in_scholarships

If it's currently about 2000 per year, this represents a drop of 30%.

I know there's been downsizing in the ranks since 2010, with sequestration budgets, declining demand for troops in Iraq/Afghanistan, but the 30% decrease figure sounded high to me.

I'm more interesting for selfish reasons than concern over national security demands, as my high school senior DS is keeping his fingers crossed for the 2nd or 3rd boards. Smart as a whip he is, but more at home in "outdoors" activities (i.e. football captain, lacrosse, ice hockey, track) than as a scholar.

Also, the article I quoted stated that, for scholarship winners, the average GPA was 3.5 & SAT score ws 1186. Yet it seems like most of the posts from applicants (or their parents) cite GPAs of 4.25 & SAT scores of 1600 & speaking five languages fluently & being class presidents & honor society honchos.

Is there any hope (scholarship-speaking) for 3.1 GPA or 1100 SAT types ????
 
Day-Tripper said:
I'm just curious, but the following (admittedly aged, from 2010) US Army news release quoted ROTC scholarship levels at around 2600 (four-year) annually.

https://www.army.mil/article/43561/army_rotc_awards_51_million_in_scholarships

If it's currently about 2000 per year, this represents a drop of 30%.

I know there's been downsizing in the ranks since 2010, with sequestration budgets, declining demand for troops in Iraq/Afghanistan, but the 30% decrease figure sounded high to me.

I'm more interesting for selfish reasons than concern over national security demands, as my high school senior DS is keeping his fingers crossed for the 2nd or 3rd boards. Smart as a whip he is, but more at home in "outdoors" activities (i.e. football captain, lacrosse, ice hockey, track) than as a scholar.

Also, the article I quoted stated that, for scholarship winners, the average GPA was 3.5 & SAT score ws 1186. Yet it seems like most of the posts from applicants (or their parents) cite GPAs of 4.25 & SAT scores of 1600 & speaking five languages fluently & being class presidents & honor society honchos.

Is there any hope (scholarship-speaking) for 3.1 GPA or 1100 SAT types ????
Click to expand...

That article was a bit misleading, all of the 2579 scholarships they mentioned were not 4 year but a mix of 4 and 3 year.

Not really sure what the number was for last year's scholarship awards but the trend has seemed to be lower then talked about in the article. I remember reading a while ago that the Army was going to award fewer National 4 and 3 year scholarships while leaving a bit more room for individual Battalions to award campus scholarships to cadets that excelled after arriving at school. The article talked about trying to lower the number of scholarship cadets that drop the program after the first year.

As far as the "Rock Star" applicants, not everyone fits into that category, remember that GPA and SAT/ACT is only one leg of the Athlete/Academics/Leadership Whole person score. An applicant could be lower in one category and be much higher in the other two and still be awarded a scholarship. There are so many factors and nobody really knows how the board makes their decisions. The positive is that for some if they work hard when they start their first year they may have a chance at a campus scholarship.

Best of luck to your son.
 
According to every school my DD visited (a few years ago), everyone said a 3.5 and a 26 ACT is competitive, which a 26 is equivalent to around a 1190/1200 depending where you look. Which is right in line with what you read. Remember these are averages, which means you need the 4.0's and the 3.0's mixed in. There was a kid on here the year my daughter got her 3 year on the 3rd board that received a 4 year on the 1st board and I think his ACT was a 23 and his GPA low 3.0's but had a rockstar resume outside of school. There is always hope and there is always enrolling in ROTC non-scholarship and competing for a campus based. Good luck to your son and keep us posted!
 
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