Decision Made

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vareporter

5-Year Member
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Nov 29, 2010
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NROTC made my son's decision a whole lot easier by requiring him to accept his scholarship a full month before UVa notifies potential Wahoos whether they've been accepted. We feel confident he'll get in, but with a 33% acceptance rate one can never be too sure.

We finally got his paperwork in the mail on Friday (close to a month after his notification showed up on the portal). It states he must accept his scholarship by March 7th or it's voided. (Only 6 days after he received the paperwork)

He has always leaned towards taking his AFROTC scholarship over the NROTC scholarship, but this kind of seals it. We are traditionally a Navy family, but he wants to be the rebel and go AF instead. (Kidding here...so no lectures from anyone about it's his decision and all that...I've been a mom to three successful kids for 22 years, I've got the whole parenting thing under control)

I'm sure the powers that be have a really good reason for processing the NROTC scholarships like they do. But on the surface it seems it creates more chaos to require kids to accept the scholarship to a particular school before schools release their admission decisions. Then the chaos of attempting to transfer your scholarship ensues. My son has a friend that received his NROTC scholarship in December, immediately started the process of transferring it, and is still at square one in the process. So it almost feels like he is forced to take the AF scholarship. His first choice school is Embry-Riddle. When he went to visit the campus in February, the Navy detachment told him not to even bother trying to transfer his NROTC scholarship there, as there was already a waiting list of 40 kids.

And before anyone lectures me about how I should be grateful he has a choice between the two and all that, I'll save you the time typing. I KNOW how blessed he is. He has worked hard since the sixth grade to get where he is. He knows how fortunate he is and so do his parents.
 
Congrats! It must be soooo nice to have the decision made and start on the next steps. DS is on waiting list for USCGA, and waiting to hear from USNA and NROTC (accepted to three of the universities, but the other two wait until late March to start notifying about admissions), so we're all completely up in the air and it's getting very stressful for me not knowing where we'll be sending him 4 months from now. He tells me to relax, but by not having any decision until mid-spring, I'm afraid we're looking at a lot of scrambling in a short amount of time to get him wherever he's going. It really would be nice to have this part of the process done by now.
 
H2Omom said:
Congrats! It must be soooo nice to have the decision made and start on the next steps. DS is on waiting list for USCGA, and waiting to hear from USNA and NROTC (accepted to three of the universities, but the other two wait until late March to start notifying about admissions), so we're all completely up in the air and it's getting very stressful for me not knowing where we'll be sending him 4 months from now. He tells me to relax, but by not having any decision until mid-spring, I'm afraid we're looking at a lot of scrambling in a short amount of time to get him wherever he's going. It really would be nice to have this part of the process done by now.
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H2Omom - We went through the same thing. We didn't have all the input to make a decision until middle of April. Trust me, you have plenty of time to execute any plan as long as it's in place. And it's not as hectic as you might think. The main thing is writing and mailing the check which was the most financially painful 30 seconds of my life! Deep breaths!
 
H2Omom said:
Congrats! It must be soooo nice to have the decision made and start on the next steps. DS is on waiting list for USCGA, and waiting to hear from USNA and NROTC (accepted to three of the universities, but the other two wait until late March to start notifying about admissions), so we're all completely up in the air and it's getting very stressful for me not knowing where we'll be sending him 4 months from now. He tells me to relax, but by not having any decision until mid-spring, I'm afraid we're looking at a lot of scrambling in a short amount of time to get him wherever he's going. It really would be nice to have this part of the process done by now.
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My daughter attended the summer session at the USCGA. It is a beautiful place. We were so totally impressed with everything from the staff to the campus. Unfortunately, my daughter was medically DQ'd. Wishing your son the best! We have quite a few Coastie friends from our decade in the Navy. It is a close bunch.

My son is taking his AFROTC scholarship to Embry-Riddle, but will give it up in a heartbeat if the USAFA comes through. :shake: So everything isn't quite settled just yet. **sigh**
 
pipingplover said:
vareporter, aren't you allowed to accept both ROTC scholarships at this time?
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Actually, Pipinglover, it looks like you are correct. It says, "You can accept your Air Force ROTC scholarship even if you have already accepted a scholarship from another service branch or an appointment to any service academy. Once you enlist (i.e. sign a formal contract) in an ROTC program of another service branch or military academy, however, you forfeit your Air Force ROTC scholarship."

Thank you for making me read it again more closely. I guess when I read it before I equated accepting the scholarship with signing the contract. They don't actually "sign" the contract until the report to their school, I think. Let me read over everything again with the NROTC and AFROTC to make sure NOTHING says he is signing a contract by submitting his acceptance letters. :thumb:
 
vareporter said:
Actually, Pipinglover, it looks like you are correct. It says, "You can accept your Air Force ROTC scholarship even if you have already accepted a scholarship from another service branch or an appointment to any service academy. Once you enlist (i.e. sign a formal contract) in an ROTC program of another service branch or military academy, however, you forfeit your Air Force ROTC scholarship."

Thank you for making me read it again more closely. I guess when I read it before I equated accepting the scholarship with signing the contract. They don't actually "sign" the contract until the report to their school, I think. Let me read over everything again with the NROTC and AFROTC to make sure NOTHING says he is signing a contract by submitting his acceptance letters. :thumb:
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Speaking from our experience last year, I suggest accepting both. When my son was offered both and AROTC and AFROTC scholarship, we encouraged him to make a decision of one or the other, so that a scholarship could be released to go to someone else. It felt like the right thing to do at the time, but he really didn't have all of his ducks in a row. In hindsight would have been so much better for him to have taken them both and released one after all of his acceptances were in.
 
In case you are looking for another chance to visit Florida...ERAU is having their "Sneak Preview" next month. I'm sure my DS would be more than willing to spend some time with yours...and give feedback from a current AS100 point of view. Hopefully it will be a slower week than this last one. ..AFROTC midterm, 1 quiz, 2 exams, 1 essay due and NINE baseball games.
 
Than you so much for the offer, ERAUMattMom.

My son and husband actually made a speed run down there the week before the Daytona 500. He was able to speak to the Air Force, Navy, and go on the admissions tour. And as a little bonus, they were able to go to Saturday's dual race. He was over the moon excited about ERAU. Smitten, to say the least. My husband was also very impressed. So my son sent off his AFROTC letter of intent and ERAU admittance letter last week. So unless the USAFA pulls through for him, he's on his way to Daytona. I am very happy for him. Thanks, again, for your offer to help and encouraging words. It means the world to me.
 
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