NavyHopefulMom
Member
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2022
- Messages
- 63
I've been wanting to share our story for a while in case it helps anyone who is in a current application process. We learned a lot from our experience and I would like to share what we learned.
First off, congratulations on considering applying for ROTC! Our son was set on NROTC, so I'll be speaking to that, but I assume it's similar with other branches. I'll cut to the chase and share that he did receive a 4-year NROTC scholarship, and we couldn't be more grateful and excited for his path and this opportunity. But it was a journey with a lot of twists and turns, and there are some things we wish we had known earlier on.
I'm also sharing because I think in many ways our son was not a typical candidate, and he came to the process later than most. Having been raised in a non-military family, a military path wasn't on his direct radar. (We would later learn that he had been thinking about military since 8th grade, but he didn't share his thoughts with us until much later because he was afraid we wouldn't be supportive - I think we proved him wrong! And now when we look back we laugh because his favorite toy when he was 3 years old was an aircraft carrier
.)
What made him an atypical candidate?
What did he have? A deep, true passion to serve in the Navy. He spent most of his free time reading books about the military and specifically about the Navy (and still does). He watched every film/documentary he could get his hands on related to wars, military history, etc. He studied history and current events and would discuss these topics at length with my husband every morning. He's been an aviator since birth (almost literally), soloed at 14, earned his private pilot's license at 16. He came to Civil Air Patrol later than most but once he started he was passionate about it and studied hard to earn his promotions as quickly as possible. After two years, he is now the commander of his unit and was just promoted to officer rank. He is a devoted student and has a strong unweighted GPA (3.96). Although he hadn't been an athlete, he poured himself into his fitness routine and maxed out on the fitness test. He transformed his body within a short amount of time because he was totally devoted to this path. Finally, he had glowing recommendations, including a letter from his math teacher. While he didn't score well on the math section of the SAT, he is actually a gifted math student, so perhaps the recommendation counteracted the test score.
When it came time for the interview, he was excited and ready. He fluidly responded to each question because the answers live authentically inside of him. We'll never know what tipped the balance for him, but we did read that there was a lot of importance placed on the interview this year, so perhaps this worked in his favor.
Now for the twists and turns:
He applied to his first choice college back in the fall (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) and was accepted. Because he was accepted so early, he didn't place a lot of importance on the other four applications, and ended up applying to schools that have a very low out-of-state acceptance rate (all UC schools in California).
Mistake #1: We didn't guide him to apply to other safety schools because we didn't see any reason for it. Now we know - and this is what I want to impart to you - that we cannot always foresee why Plan A could fall through, but it can. We wish we had had a solid Plan B AND Plan C school.
He was placed on the alternate list in February. We were both happy and worried; at least he was still in the game but of course we had hoped that the waiting would be over. At this point we had heard that his top school, Embry-Riddle, had reached capacity for their NROTC unit. This should have shifted us into high gear and he should have applied to other colleges at that moment. But he hadn't heard back from the UC schools, so we thought/hoped he would get into one of those.
Mistake #2: Act on the information you have as soon as you have it. Don't live on hope when other information is staring you in the face.
On March 31st, he learned that he had received the scholarship. Joy! But the day before he had been rejected from the final UC school on his list. Now he was left with a scholarship but no college.
At this point (with the sage guidance of Captain Meyers on this forum to whom we are eternally grateful), our son applied to four more schools that had late deadlines. He was not excited about any of these schools, and he was very disappointed at the prospect of not being able to attend Embry-Riddle. However, he was absolutely clear that he would NOT forfeit the scholarship under any circumstances. He applied, was accepted, we took another college trip, and he submitted his transfer request. We learned a lot through this process as well. If anyone finds themselves in a similar boat, I'm happy to share more details.
The day after he submitted his transfer request, at the 11th hour, he received an email letting him know that a spot had opened up at ERAU. He was overjoyed, grateful, and deeply relieved. He would have been fine with the new Plan B, but it's wonderful that he now gets to attend his dream school with the scholarship.
So the lessons?
1. If you are passionate about this path, don't underestimate yourself. We had heard over and over again that you have to have a certain math score, be a varsity athlete, etc. Our son did not have those stats, but he has other skills and gifts. Captain Meyers has said many times on this forum to have faith in the process, and we did see at the end of the day that they do take a holistic approach when assessing applicants.
2. Have a solid Plan B and Plan C regarding not only what you will do if you're not accepted into a SA or ROTC but ALSO what you'll do if your dream college falls through, even if you've already been accepted! When considering the five colleges that you will apply to, make sure that at least two of those are safety schools.
3. Apparently there are some units that fill up some years. This year it was Embry-Riddle and San Diego. It might be different in the future, but it's good to know this going in so that you can plan accordingly.
4. There are many paths to service. If the most important thing is to serve, you will find a way to do it.
I hope that's helpful. Happy to answer any questions or offer support. This forum was an incredible support during the process, and I encourage you to rely on it. As parents, this is our journey too, and we need each other to get through it.
Good luck!
First off, congratulations on considering applying for ROTC! Our son was set on NROTC, so I'll be speaking to that, but I assume it's similar with other branches. I'll cut to the chase and share that he did receive a 4-year NROTC scholarship, and we couldn't be more grateful and excited for his path and this opportunity. But it was a journey with a lot of twists and turns, and there are some things we wish we had known earlier on.
I'm also sharing because I think in many ways our son was not a typical candidate, and he came to the process later than most. Having been raised in a non-military family, a military path wasn't on his direct radar. (We would later learn that he had been thinking about military since 8th grade, but he didn't share his thoughts with us until much later because he was afraid we wouldn't be supportive - I think we proved him wrong! And now when we look back we laugh because his favorite toy when he was 3 years old was an aircraft carrier
.)What made him an atypical candidate?
- He was not a varsity athlete. In fact, he wasn't an athlete at all until he shifted into high gear with his intentions to serve.
- He did not have stellar test scores (1240 SAT).
- As stated, he did not come from a military family.
- Because he attended a very small school, he did not have AP classes, no class rank, no weighted GPA.
What did he have? A deep, true passion to serve in the Navy. He spent most of his free time reading books about the military and specifically about the Navy (and still does). He watched every film/documentary he could get his hands on related to wars, military history, etc. He studied history and current events and would discuss these topics at length with my husband every morning. He's been an aviator since birth (almost literally), soloed at 14, earned his private pilot's license at 16. He came to Civil Air Patrol later than most but once he started he was passionate about it and studied hard to earn his promotions as quickly as possible. After two years, he is now the commander of his unit and was just promoted to officer rank. He is a devoted student and has a strong unweighted GPA (3.96). Although he hadn't been an athlete, he poured himself into his fitness routine and maxed out on the fitness test. He transformed his body within a short amount of time because he was totally devoted to this path. Finally, he had glowing recommendations, including a letter from his math teacher. While he didn't score well on the math section of the SAT, he is actually a gifted math student, so perhaps the recommendation counteracted the test score.
When it came time for the interview, he was excited and ready. He fluidly responded to each question because the answers live authentically inside of him. We'll never know what tipped the balance for him, but we did read that there was a lot of importance placed on the interview this year, so perhaps this worked in his favor.
Now for the twists and turns:
He applied to his first choice college back in the fall (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University) and was accepted. Because he was accepted so early, he didn't place a lot of importance on the other four applications, and ended up applying to schools that have a very low out-of-state acceptance rate (all UC schools in California).
Mistake #1: We didn't guide him to apply to other safety schools because we didn't see any reason for it. Now we know - and this is what I want to impart to you - that we cannot always foresee why Plan A could fall through, but it can. We wish we had had a solid Plan B AND Plan C school.
He was placed on the alternate list in February. We were both happy and worried; at least he was still in the game but of course we had hoped that the waiting would be over. At this point we had heard that his top school, Embry-Riddle, had reached capacity for their NROTC unit. This should have shifted us into high gear and he should have applied to other colleges at that moment. But he hadn't heard back from the UC schools, so we thought/hoped he would get into one of those.
Mistake #2: Act on the information you have as soon as you have it. Don't live on hope when other information is staring you in the face.
On March 31st, he learned that he had received the scholarship. Joy! But the day before he had been rejected from the final UC school on his list. Now he was left with a scholarship but no college.
At this point (with the sage guidance of Captain Meyers on this forum to whom we are eternally grateful), our son applied to four more schools that had late deadlines. He was not excited about any of these schools, and he was very disappointed at the prospect of not being able to attend Embry-Riddle. However, he was absolutely clear that he would NOT forfeit the scholarship under any circumstances. He applied, was accepted, we took another college trip, and he submitted his transfer request. We learned a lot through this process as well. If anyone finds themselves in a similar boat, I'm happy to share more details.
The day after he submitted his transfer request, at the 11th hour, he received an email letting him know that a spot had opened up at ERAU. He was overjoyed, grateful, and deeply relieved. He would have been fine with the new Plan B, but it's wonderful that he now gets to attend his dream school with the scholarship.
So the lessons?
1. If you are passionate about this path, don't underestimate yourself. We had heard over and over again that you have to have a certain math score, be a varsity athlete, etc. Our son did not have those stats, but he has other skills and gifts. Captain Meyers has said many times on this forum to have faith in the process, and we did see at the end of the day that they do take a holistic approach when assessing applicants.
2. Have a solid Plan B and Plan C regarding not only what you will do if you're not accepted into a SA or ROTC but ALSO what you'll do if your dream college falls through, even if you've already been accepted! When considering the five colleges that you will apply to, make sure that at least two of those are safety schools.
3. Apparently there are some units that fill up some years. This year it was Embry-Riddle and San Diego. It might be different in the future, but it's good to know this going in so that you can plan accordingly.
4. There are many paths to service. If the most important thing is to serve, you will find a way to do it.
I hope that's helpful. Happy to answer any questions or offer support. This forum was an incredible support during the process, and I encourage you to rely on it. As parents, this is our journey too, and we need each other to get through it.
Good luck!
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