Do you think I would be a competitive applicant for any ROTC program?

[catherine994]

I am a junior, but will apply next year. I really want to get into rotc, ANY! I want to be in the military and become an officer!

About Me:

I'm currently a junior in High School. 17, female.

My Freshman year, I took all the advanced classes I could, my gpa was about or above 3.9

My Sophomore Year, I took two AP classes, Chem and World History. Both of those I had A's in all year. I also took advanced and the most challenging non-ap courses. My GPA was about 3.75 or 3.8

This is my Junior year. I am taking five AP Classes; French, Calc AB, Language and Comp., Physics B, and US History. My non AP class is advanced photography.
my GPA will most likely be 3.6 to 3.7, keep in mind there are 5 AP classes.

My senior year I will take six AP Classes; French, American Lit, Statistics, Government, Environmental Science, and Biology, (all AP)
I will not have problems with these classes, they are the "easier" AP Classes. I predict I will have a 3.7 GPA

I am an athete as well, Varsity Cross Country and Track. I have a president's volunteer service award, I am a leader in my school (ASB Cabinet), and I am in knowledge bowl, as well as honor society. I also have a weekend job, if that counts for anything.These activities have been throughout high school! not just one year.

I plan to apply for the AIM week at the coast guard academy, and attend that. I think going there would increase my chances of getting into ROTC. (Also, I am going to apply to all of the service academies although the only one I think I would attend is the Coast Guard Academy) I want the college experience as well, so ROTC would be nice

I am physically fit, not overweight or have any health problems. I'm outgoing and friendly, all of my teachers seem to enjoy me! Do you think I could be accepted to any branch of the ROTC program? It is my dream to. I can't wait to join a branch of the military and go through my career serving the country
ALSO! My dad was in the Navy, I believe that helps. I am also applying for an interview for a congressional nomination.

 

[vira]

Have you taken the SAT/ACT yet?

 

[kinnem]

There is the usual caveat that no one on this board can really chance you. A lot has to do with what schools you apply to (with budget cuts you have better odds with in-state schools), your SAT/ACT scores, your class rank, your interviews and fitness test scores, and you planned major. STEM majors will have much better odds with NROTC and AFROTC.

All that being said you look to me like a competitive candidate for both ROTC and the Academies. Some suggestions:
1. Try to land a team captain slot - they like that
2. Shoot for president of something.
3. Try to attend Girls State. Contact your local American Legion Post for details.
4. Investigate the physical fitness test (if required) for each service you're interested in. Prepare for it. I recall a football player on these forums recently who was doing his pushups incorrectly and found, when he started doing them correctly, he couldn't do a single one. You cannot over-prepare for this. I'm sure you would do fine on any run but crunches, situps, pullups (or flexed arm hangs), pushups etc may require training on your part.
5. Start and complete all your applications early if at all possible. The sooner its in the better your odds.
6. Learn everything you can about the services/academies you plan to apply to. This will help you in interviews and could also assist you in developing questions for said interviews.

Good Luck. Hope your dream comes true.

 

[dunninla]

^ ditto. Everything Kinnem said, especially point #5. You need to start your applications the day they are available at the Academies, as well as ROTC. This will get allow you to get rid of the bottlenecks early, which tend to be Teacher Recommendations and Interview.

 

[kinnem]

Apply this spring

I am a junior, but will apply next year.

I was just reviewing your initial post and the first sentence really caught my eye. You need to apply this spring to both ROTC and Academies. You need to have it done over the summer and most of it done before school breaks for the summer. ROTC Selection boards can start as early as August and some Congressional interviews will be completed by October. They are all rolling admissions so earlier is better, while making sure you've taken the time to submit a quality application.

 

[Pima]

For the AFA, the application process does not open up until March, and after filling out the PCQ, you wait until end of June/early July before they notify you if you move onto becoming an applicant

For AFROTC it is June.

The reason why is they want to clear out all of the previous yrs candidates from their system prior to opening up the next yr.

It is important that before you finish your school yr., you start at least investigating the application process because you will need recs and transcripts. This can become a delay issue if the school is not in session, and the only people there are front office staff.

You also want to start in the spring because for the SA's you will be required to take the CFA, which is different than the PFA for ROTC. That means 2 test dates, and they can only be administered by specific people, ALO, coaches, PE teachers. Which again could be a scheduling issue if you do not ask them to do this over the summer prior to the end of the school yr.

Finally, both the AFA and the AFROTC are time consuming to complete, it is not just your name, birthdate and social security #. For the AFA it is also essays, plus you must compete for a nom. Most MOC's will require essays, transcripts, and maybe a letter of rec. Most will have a close date of late Sept/mid OCt. One other correction, MOC noms are not rolling.

Now add that all in, plus working a job, practicing the CFA/PFA, socializing with your friends and starting your college applications, it becomes apparent that this will become in essence a part time job to get it done early...

...especially as I see you are a fall sport athlete, which means if your school is like ours, you start training about a month before school goes back in. Doing the CFA/PFA would not be smart when you are also training for XC.

 

[Pima]

I will take the assumption that since CGA is your top choice, NROTC will be your top ROTC choice.

Remember AF/NROTC awards 85% to STEM majors, so it will be an impact.

Also, the big difference between those 2 is the fact that NROTC awards the scholarship to the candidate for a particular college. AFROTC awards a type of scholarship to the candidate and not tied to any particular college.

It is important that this spring you really visit as many colleges that are on your list as you can, because just like branches have their own feel, so do colleges, and no matter how much time on the net you investigate the school, you will not be able to get a feel for the college atmosphere.

Inevitably every yr there are posts here that have people questioning if they can change their list after submission. For many it is because they finally visited the campus, or investigated the school even deeper and realize that they want to remove some and add some.

Good luck, you are in great shape, not only academically, but also because you have actively started to investigate your future. You are in front of the 8 ball.

 

[Packer]

As usual Pima gives some good advice. I will say start early in preparing to apply. You can't actually start doing any of the applications until late spring and early summer but you can get ready. Take SAT's and ACT's, line up teachers to do recommendations, make arrangements for getting transcripts over the summer and work on preparing for the various fitness tests. Each fitness test is different so research and prepare for them all. My son applied for USAFA, UCMA, USCGA, AFROTC and AROTC. This required him to take 4 different fitness tests. These tests are harder than they appear so just because you are an athlete don't assume you will do well without practicing them.
You appear to have the credentials to be a strong applicant but you have to present yourself well and make sure you cross all of the t's and dot the i's.
Good luck.

ps. My son did not apply to NROTC so some of what I stated above may not pertain to NROTC.

 

[Pima]

Packer is correct about the CFA/PFA as a runner you should have no problem with the shuttle or the distance run, but as a female, you may have an issue with the upper body strength tests like pullups/hang time, and Bball throw plus proper push ups.

It is important to practice it according to how it must be submitted, including not only the form, but the amount of rest time.

Hint: AFA openly acknowledges the max points for the CFA, do not waste your energy passing that level. You are wasting your energy for something that will not make a difference in your score.

I.E. for guys it is 18 pull-ups, 19 and above you score the same as 18.

These tests are not max one and bust another to give you an avg. You must pass all of the components of the test. So 18 pull ups and 15 ft BBall throw will equal you failing.

For the AFA, and AFROTC you cannot re-submit unless they decide you are a candidate that they feel you are worth a 2nd shot. The portal is closed once you submit and only they can open it up again.

Most of the time the common problems are:
Pull-up/hangtime
BBall throw

For other posters/lurkers, if you are some one that does not train in the summer (FB, soccer, XC) for fall sports...RUN during the summer at different times of the day in all types of weather, including rain. It will not only prepare you for your ROTC/SA career, but also, you may not know the weather the day you plan to do the test. 95 degrees with 90% humidity will impact your run time compared to 85 degrees and 40% humidity.

I did not include the fall sports candidates, because at our school, starting the 1st of July FB players are on the field for 3 a day practices, and including pouring rain. Soccer and XC start here at the end of July. They all are out there for hours physically training in the heat.

This is also why I state if you are playing fall sports, it would be wise to get the PFA/CFA done prior to starting practices, or at the very least do not practice that day and than do the test.

One last thing for athletes when it comes to DoDMERB, which may be given as early as July. If you are an athlete, you need to be cognizant of drinking a ton of water 48 hours prior to the exam. You will be given a protein test, and sometimes these kids fail because they trained the day before and had not drank enough water. It is not a biggie, but again it is the most popular question that pops up with athletes..."I failed the urine test, now what?" Just drink tons of water to flush your system.

Although the OP has stated they are healthy, again from a DoDMERB pov, review your medical records. Since your Dad is military, I am assuming you are using on base health care or Tri-Care, if that is the case when they send you the letter to go to X doctor off the installation, just call and ask if you can use the Navy doc. We did that with our DS.

My dad was in the Navy, I believe that helps.

Actually it will help if Dad was in long enough for you to get another nom...Presidential for the SA's.

However, that is about it unless Dad has some strong networking connections for recs. or really high up there. Just being a military child will not give you an edge at the college ...except for maybe legacy.

For some it can also be a negative, because the interviewer may fear that you are doing this for Dad, and not for you. It is not uncommon for them to probe a little deeper regarding your motivation.

I am sure like 99% of military children you are doing it for yourself, but there is still that 1% and they want to make sure.

Finally, as much as you are willing to go any branch, expect the interviewer to weed out if you want to be in that branch or throwing all of your darts at the same time hoping one will stick.

We are all here for you. As you learn more, you will have more questions. Pose them because there is no such thing as a stupid question from a poster. If you are wondering about something I am willing to bet 10 others have the same question, but also are afraid to ask.

Knowledge in this scenario will make the process less stressful.