Denying a Scholarship

[AJC]

A rejection from NROTC-MO almost always includes an invitation to explore PLC.

 

[kinnem]

Yeah I love to PT/lift, so staying in shape would easily be all taken care of on my part. And yeah my top choice school sadly doesn't have an NROTC Unit, but they have a USMC Officer Selection Team located 10 minutes away from the University campus.

Well, that helps explain why you might be going through this decision process.

 

[kinnem]

it'll be PLC for sure for me

If I only had a dime for every time I heard that. I know several guys who dropped from NROTC MO because of no scholarship who insisted they were going to do PLC instead. Never happened.

 

[gabetrini]

If I only had a dime for every time I heard that. I know several guys who dropped from NROTC MO because of no scholarship who insisted they were going to do PLC instead. Never happened.

Well, I very much want to join the USMC as an officer, so I definitely have to seek out every possible commissioning source if the NROTC MO program doesn't work out. If PLC doesn't work out either, then I'll try the OCC Program.

 

[gabetrini]

My DS was in the following position, two years ago. He always grew up thinking Marine Corps infantry.
He applied to USNA, and The Citadel plus NROTC/MO. He also applied to a local university out West a few hours from home.
He was nominated but not appointed to USMA.
He was accepted to The Citadel but rejected for the NROTC scholarship.

The Citadel was out of state tuition and very expensive, plus across the country.
The local university offered him a small scholarship, plus we could afford to pay for it for four years. The problem was that it did not have NROTC either, but it DID have Army ROTC.

He ended up choosing to attend the local college and joining Army ROTC as a "walk on" About a month in, he received a call from the Marine Corps OSO suggesting he join PLC while also doing AROTC. My DS thought this over but decided it would be disloyal to his AROTC battalion and politely declined. By November he had earned a Army 3 year scholarship, later extended to another half year.

At this point he is in the top 10% of his battalion and should commission in 2019.

My point is that there are many alternatives to "quitting altogether"

I definitely want to stay in the Marine Corps branch of the US Military, so my options are NROTC MO, PLC, and OCC. I didn't want to apply to the USNA for other personal reasons, so these three programs are my all my options to receive a USMC Officer Commission

 

[5Day]

IMHO of all the ROTC programs Navy and Marines has the best "guarantee" of active duty. Obviously there is no guarantee for just about anything in the military, but if you get through the program, you get active duty, there is no reserve option like Army. Also, even if you skate by and only maintain required minimums (grades, military performance, morals, etc) you will not lose your scholarship unlike the Air Force 2+2.

There are many fine NROTC colleges, you should be able to find one that comes close to your first choice. The advantages of a 4 year NROTC-MO scholarship are huge especially if your desire is to be a Marine.

 

[kinnem]

IMHO of all the ROTC programs Navy and Marines has the best "guarantee" of active duty. Obviously there is no guarantee for just about anything in the military, but if you get through the program, you get active duty, there is no reserve option like Army. Also, even if you skate by and only maintain required minimums (grades, military performance, morals, etc) you will not lose your scholarship unlike the Air Force 2+2.

While I agree, the skating by part could be pretty painful. Many units put you on mandatory study hours long before you reach the minimum acceptable grades. Also, I know units a few years ago were told to only send candidates to OCS who were 285 or higher on the PFT (which I hardly call skating by). I'm sure there were exceptions but statistically, folks with lower PFT scores are at much higher risk for injury while at OCS. I'm sure it can be done while skating by but I wouldn't want to be that midshipman. Of course, I know I'm preaching to the choir but wanted to say something for lurkers.

 

[gabetrini]

While I agree, the skating by part could be pretty painful. Many units put you on mandatory study hours long before you reach the minimum acceptable grades. Also, I know units a few years ago were told to only send candidates to OCS who were 285 or higher on the PFT (which I hardly call skating by). I'm sure there were exceptions but statistically, folks with lower PFT scores are at much higher risk for injury while at OCS. I'm sure it can be done while skating by but I wouldn't want to be that midshipman. Of course, I know I'm preaching to the choir but wanted to say something for lurkers.

That makes sense(only sending candidates with a 285 or higher PFT), since they'll be less likely to wash out. And it's a waste of time for someone with a low PFT to go to OCS since they probably wouldn't make it anyway, so the unit is actually looking out for candidates so that don't waste their time. My PFT currently is a 255-260, so I'd definitely not make it through OCS in my current cardiovascular condition(my pull ups are at 24 and crunches are at 107, it's just my run time which needs to improve a lot).

 

[gabetrini]

While I agree, the skating by part could be pretty painful. Many units put you on mandatory study hours long before you reach the minimum acceptable grades. Also, I know units a few years ago were told to only send candidates to OCS who were 285 or higher on the PFT (which I hardly call skating by). I'm sure there were exceptions but statistically, folks with lower PFT scores are at much higher risk for injury while at OCS. I'm sure it can be done while skating by but I wouldn't want to be that midshipman. Of course, I know I'm preaching to the choir but wanted to say something for lurkers.

269** PFT(just calculated it)

 

[5Day]

"Skate by" was a poor choice of words. I don't think any Marine skates by when it comes to training. The intensity they exhibit in my DS battalion is impressive. My point was more towards comparing it to the other ROTC programs.