Now that the CC Scholarship season is over, many of you are looking toward plan B or C.
Campus scholarships are probably at the top of that list.
The batallions that may have funds available for campus scholarships may handle the process in different ways. Some may make offers over the summer, some will make offers early in the Fall and some will wait until the first semester is over so they can evaluate the cadets.
My comments are directed to the latter of those options.
My advise is this, don't rely on your stats from high school to get you to the top of the list. Your past accomplishments will only carry a certain amount of weight. After watching my older son complete the first 3 years and talking with the ROO and PMS a couple examples come to mind.
The PMS told us that last year they had one campus scholarship left to award. They took the first semester to evaluate the new cadets. There were 3 cadets that were looking to fill that spot. 2 of them were cadets that had stellar high school stats and started the year at the top of the radar, the 3rd was a young man that had fair to minimum stats in high school. As the semester progressed the 2 top cadets seemed to rely on what they had done in the past thinking they were a lock for the scholarship. The 3rd worked his tail off, he out performed the other 2 in PT, was always the first to volunteer, was the first to PT and the last to leave, never missed a class or a lab. They laughed when they said "The kid asked everyday if there was something he could volunteer for". When it came time to offer the scholarship there was no question who would get it. The other 2 were to say the least shocked and disappointed, they both relied on their past efforts and thought they were shoe ins.
Don't make this mistake when you get to school, this will be a fresh start, look at this opportunity as if they know nothing about your past efforts, look at it as a time to prove who you are and show them what you can do.
The first thing you will do when you start ROTC is take the PT Test, be ready, train all summer, go to a local recruiting center and see if you can have someone give you a PT Test so you make sure you are doing it to regulation. Some batallions at local colleges may have someone during the summer that can administer a practice test as well, just call and ask. A high PT score is your first chance to make an impression on the cadre. Also, don't hink that because you did well on the PFT you will do well on the AFPT. My son ran PT last Fall and he told us that it was always funny to talk to the new cadets prior to the PT Test and hear them say that they did 65 push ups and 70 sit ups in one min. on the PFT for the application. Over half of those new cadets failed the PT Test the first time, they were shocked when the grader knelt next to them and just kept counting 3,3,3,3,3,3, over and over because the push ups did not meet regualtion.
So go to school and be ready to porve yourself and don't forget to keep your grades up that first semester, that counts as well.
Good luck to all of you.
Campus scholarships are probably at the top of that list.
The batallions that may have funds available for campus scholarships may handle the process in different ways. Some may make offers over the summer, some will make offers early in the Fall and some will wait until the first semester is over so they can evaluate the cadets.
My comments are directed to the latter of those options.
My advise is this, don't rely on your stats from high school to get you to the top of the list. Your past accomplishments will only carry a certain amount of weight. After watching my older son complete the first 3 years and talking with the ROO and PMS a couple examples come to mind.
The PMS told us that last year they had one campus scholarship left to award. They took the first semester to evaluate the new cadets. There were 3 cadets that were looking to fill that spot. 2 of them were cadets that had stellar high school stats and started the year at the top of the radar, the 3rd was a young man that had fair to minimum stats in high school. As the semester progressed the 2 top cadets seemed to rely on what they had done in the past thinking they were a lock for the scholarship. The 3rd worked his tail off, he out performed the other 2 in PT, was always the first to volunteer, was the first to PT and the last to leave, never missed a class or a lab. They laughed when they said "The kid asked everyday if there was something he could volunteer for". When it came time to offer the scholarship there was no question who would get it. The other 2 were to say the least shocked and disappointed, they both relied on their past efforts and thought they were shoe ins.
Don't make this mistake when you get to school, this will be a fresh start, look at this opportunity as if they know nothing about your past efforts, look at it as a time to prove who you are and show them what you can do.
The first thing you will do when you start ROTC is take the PT Test, be ready, train all summer, go to a local recruiting center and see if you can have someone give you a PT Test so you make sure you are doing it to regulation. Some batallions at local colleges may have someone during the summer that can administer a practice test as well, just call and ask. A high PT score is your first chance to make an impression on the cadre. Also, don't hink that because you did well on the PFT you will do well on the AFPT. My son ran PT last Fall and he told us that it was always funny to talk to the new cadets prior to the PT Test and hear them say that they did 65 push ups and 70 sit ups in one min. on the PFT for the application. Over half of those new cadets failed the PT Test the first time, they were shocked when the grader knelt next to them and just kept counting 3,3,3,3,3,3, over and over because the push ups did not meet regualtion.
So go to school and be ready to porve yourself and don't forget to keep your grades up that first semester, that counts as well.
Good luck to all of you.