Contacted By AROTC Units Before Any Board Results?

KKreis

5-Year Member
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Jun 16, 2016
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My DS has been contacted by two Army ROTC units after submitting his scholarship package. One of the schools is in his list of 5 schools, and one wasn't.

Is this normal?
 
This is not unusual.

When my younger son applied back in 2010 he received emails from a couple schools, some not on his list. He made contact with one and he actually ended up adding them to the list and we made a trip to visit the school and program, when he received his scholarship this school was on the list, he ended up selecting a different school.

Some ROO's are a bit more proactive and will go fishing/recruiting among the applicants that did not list their school, some ROO's from his listed schools will reach out as well. If he is contacted by one of the schools on his list it's not a bad idea to communicate back with them, never a bad thing to start a relationship with the program early. If one of the other schools look interesting by all means make contact, you never know.
 
My daughter was contacted by (2) of the schools on her list very early on. One of them, Michigan, even jokingly asked why Ohio State was even on her list. Late in the process, but before she even received the scholarship, she received a letter from a school not on her list, the University of Portland. She ended up taking a trip up there and fell in love with the campus. She made them #1 on her schools list and soon after was awarded the scholarship. It was hard to turn away Michigan but when it was 20 degrees BELOW zero on the day we were set to tour campus, it made it easier.
 
Before receiving a scholarship our dau visited her #2 school and the ROO joked there was a friendly competition between her #1 and #2. As she left the #2 school she decided she liked that one better and texted the ROO told him #2 was her first choice and asked if she should change her preference sheet? He said no. She was offered a scholarship to #2 not #1. It seems like the two schools worked together to fill their slots.
 
My DS has been contacted by two Army ROTC units after submitting his scholarship package. One of the schools is in his list of 5 schools, and one wasn't.

Is this normal?

Bottom line: It all depends on the ROTC Program. I'd classify myself as a very proactive ROO, but due to the sheer volume of applicants who put Penn State on their list (500+ per year), it's hard to justify the amount of time it takes to contact each and every one. Clarkson can back me up on this one...90% of the justification for my hesitancy is the system we use to collect all the performance data and contact information. It does not allow precise collection of that data in any manageable way.

Prior to any board results, we work hard to build the relationships with the folks who interview or visit Penn State (i.e. the most proactive candidates), then push hard to best represent our program to the individuals who were awarded scholarships to our school. For contrast, I also recently assumed ROO responsibilities for a school on the opposite end of the Battalion size scale. Since they only have 20-30 applicants per year, those cold calls and personal contacts are critical to attracting both scholarship winners AND individuals who DON'T win scholarships, since we can often build the non-scholarship cohort for campus based boards in the future.
 
My DS was contacted by a school that was not on his list and one which we hadn't considered. The ROO not only called him, but called back to speak to my DH and me, and provided a lot of information for the school and why it would be a good fit for DS. While DS ultimately decided against that particular school (Niagara University) because he would be the 3rd generation of his family to attend his first choice, I was extremely impressed by Niagara's ROO. So much so that when kids talk to me about ROTC and NYS schools, I encourage them to look into Niagara. That personal contact really made a difference...
 
I prefer not to "spam the list". I could pull the emails of every applicant, and send them an email, but I'm not going to do that. Could you imagine getting 270 emails, one from every ROTC program in the nation?

List one of my schools and you will get as much attention as I can give you, visit one of my campuses and we will meet and discuss your options. Contact me through my websites and you'll get a response within 24 hours. I'll even help you if you contact me and ask for help, but aren't interested in a school close to Canada. But I will not send you an unsolicited contact unless you play ice hockey.

Glad to hear my friend at Niagara is getting aggressive. I know he doesn't have the national draw of a Penn State, or the reputation as a top engineering school like Clarkson.
 
My DS is working on his NROTC Scholarship (Marine Option) application. He is mainly interested in schools that have NROTC on Campus.
From what I can see, in Florida we have 2. UF and USF. He visited and liked both however feels that he doesn't have a chance at getting accepted to UF...
tough competition in recent years. He did love USF so it's his top choice for State Universities right now. Should he still put UF on the list or concentrate on schools he feels he has a better chance at? He's having a difficult time coming up with a list. He has visited several state universities and Citadel, which he loved and would be a great fit for him.
This week he also approached an Army officer in uniform to thank him for his service and had a nice chat. Afterward he told me his goal is to serve his country so he would also be honored to be considered for Army.
Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions are greatly appreciated. He's completed several college applications however has not hit the SUBMIT button yet!
This is our first one going to college so all of this is new to me!
 
My DS is working on his NROTC Scholarship (Marine Option) application. He is mainly interested in schools that have NROTC on Campus.
From what I can see, in Florida we have 2. UF and USF. He visited and liked both however feels that he doesn't have a chance at getting accepted to UF...
tough competition in recent years. He did love USF so it's his top choice for State Universities right now. Should he still put UF on the list or concentrate on schools he feels he has a better chance at? He's having a difficult time coming up with a list. He has visited several state universities and Citadel, which he loved and would be a great fit for him.
This week he also approached an Army officer in uniform to thank him for his service and had a nice chat. Afterward he told me his goal is to serve his country so he would also be honored to be considered for Army.
Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions are greatly appreciated. He's completed several college applications however has not hit the SUBMIT button yet!
This is our first one going to college so all of this is new to me!

It can't hurt to add UF to the list. It may be a long shot but he also just may well get it as well.

You didn't come right out and ask but I think you were thinking about asking about applying for the Army ROTC scholarship as well? If so, it definitely can't hurt if he has any true interest in going that route. Many, many people apply for every ROTC scholarship and multiple Academies every year. We have a friend who's daughter ended up having to choose between (3) academy nominations and (2) ROTC scholarships.
 
@Swag I agree with @k2rider (I usually do) about both points above! He should definitely add UF to the list and apply. You never know. My daughter had a school in that same situation, she listed it 4th. She was initially wait listed to the school and later accepted and was granted that as one of her Army ROTC scholarship choices, she leaves for that "stretch" school in 9 days for ROTC orientation!

I also agree on the point that it never hurts to apply for more than one ROTC scholarship. Remember, he is under no obligation to take it if he earns it and it might open up more doors for him. Good luck to him and to you, it is a looonnnggg process!
 
@Swag I agree with @k2rider (I usually do) about both points above! He should definitely add UF to the list and apply. You never know. My daughter had a school in that same situation, she listed it 4th. She was initially wait listed to the school and later accepted and was granted that as one of her Army ROTC scholarship choices, she leaves for that "stretch" school in 9 days for ROTC orientation!

I also agree on the point that it never hurts to apply for more than one ROTC scholarship. Remember, he is under no obligation to take it if he earns it and it might open up more doors for him. Good luck to him and to you, it is a looonnnggg process!
OMG 9 days!!!!
 
Some schools will even tell you if you got the scholarship well before they are supposed too, for recruiting purposes. I received a 3 year to my current school, but another school (I won't give names) called and said they would transfer it over, give me more benefits, etc. This did not make my PMS happy.
 
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Jacksonville University (JU) has one of the largest NROTC programs (with the Marine Option and Nursing Option) available here in Florida. Yes, they are private - but they are very NROTC friendly. They current provide housing to the NROTC scholarship students (all 4 years). Just another Florida option to look at.
 
My DS is working on his NROTC Scholarship (Marine Option) application. He is mainly interested in schools that have NROTC on Campus.
From what I can see, in Florida we have 2. UF and USF. He visited and liked both however feels that he doesn't have a chance at getting accepted to UF...
tough competition in recent years. He did love USF so it's his top choice for State Universities right now. Should he still put UF on the list or concentrate on schools he feels he has a better chance at? He's having a difficult time coming up with a list. He has visited several state universities and Citadel, which he loved and would be a great fit for him.
This week he also approached an Army officer in uniform to thank him for his service and had a nice chat. Afterward he told me his goal is to serve his country so he would also be honored to be considered for Army.
Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions are greatly appreciated. He's completed several college applications however has not hit the SUBMIT button yet!
This is our first one going to college so all of this is new to me!
Go Bulls! USF Alum if DS had had that as one of his options would have suggested it more than his pick.. But you can also do University of Tampa which is amazing for Engineering, Math and Physics. I'll also suggest he join the Sailing Club if goes to USF they have a gorg property on Lake T and are very active at Davis Island Yacht Club he can get smaller craft Captain's licenses which might be pluses for NROTC.
USF &UT both have AROTC and NROTC which is good as well since covered for either option.
 
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