Freshman and Sophomore Years of High School

educateme said:
You should also make a plan B: the possibility that you may have to join ROTC as a non-scholarship candidate and finance your education without the scholarship through other means. You may already want to have this discussion with your parents and see what your family's financial situation will be like in a couple of years.
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I second educateme on this. DS was denied NROTC MO scholarship but was able to attend his #1 out of state school and participate as an NROTC College Programmer due to an academic scholarship he received from the school.

BTW - he only applied for NROTC scholarship as he was determined he was going to be a Marine one way or the other. Even though he wants to fly, AFROTC was not an option for him. But educateme is also correct in that if your preference for Navy is soft, you should apply for all ROTC scholarships.

There is more than one way to skin this cat. :thumb:
 
educateme said:
You should also make a plan B: the possibility that you may have to join ROTC as a non-scholarship candidate and finance your education without the scholarship through other means. You may already want to have this discussion with your parents and see what your family's financial situation will be like in a couple of years.
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How competitive would it be to join NROTC as a non-scholarship candidate? In my financial state, unless something drastically changes, my family should be able to afford many private universities, so the scholarship part is not as important to me than going through the NROTC program itself. Thank you.
 
NROTC would still require you to contract by no later than your rising jr yr in college.

Anyone who would tell you how competitive it will be in 4 yrs is blowing smoke up your arse.

Right now you need to be academically competitive to be accepted to a college with a strong NROTC program to fight for contracting.

You can't do it if you don't apply.

You can't do it if you walk in thinking money is the issue, and because we don't need the scholarship I am cleared to go.

You are so far ahead in this system that you need to take a new approach and work on the minutia regarding the factors of the process.

The ball is in your court. You have the opinions, advice and guidance from posters, what you do with this information is your choice.

Good luck
 
ajwilliams96 said:
How competitive would it be to join NROTC as a non-scholarship candidate? In my financial state, unless something drastically changes, my family should be able to afford many private universities, so the scholarship part is not as important to me than going through the NROTC program itself. Thank you.
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Talk to the battalion at the school you attend. I believe each has a somewhat different process but there is still an application, similar to the scholarship application, that needs to be done, along with a physical etc. They really aren't competitive unless, for some reason, the number of available slots to accomodate non-scholarship students is limited (classroom size, uniforms, who knows what might be the limiting factor).

You'll want to do this in the spring of your senior year at the latest (or perhaps over the summer) so you can complete everything in time for Freshman Orientation which is usually the week before the "civvies" begin arriving on campus. I don't think Freshman O is required if you just want to "walk-in" on campus, but you won't want to miss this bonding experience.

Cross-posted with Pima. Of course she's right. Once you're in it's very competitive. You'll want to at least achieve Advanced standing by your rising junior year or you're out of the program. I was answering from an initial, "get in the door" perspectrive.

PPS - It IS a very tough program. Many people with scholarships drop from the program because they can't hack it physically, emotionally, lack the necessary time managerment skills, can't achieve the needed grades, etc. etc. Doing ROTC will be difficult, but it can also be very rewarding.
 
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at least for AROTC, and I have a feeling that that this may be same for other brances, the scholarship is more than money. If you are a scholarship cadet, you can be contracted Day One, provided that you pass the fitness test. Then, you can take advantage of all the programs the Army offers to the ROTC cadets, such as summer overseas programs, and various summer training programs. Non scholarship ROTC cadets are not contracted until the beginning of the junior year, and as such, can't participate in any of these program till then.

Not a show stopper but something to think about.
 
That could be no further from the truth for AFROTC.

AFROTC:
1. Does not have summer training for rising sophs. Scholarship or not.
2. SFT/EA occurs as a rising jr.
~ Scholarship is "masked", in other words the board has no clue if the candidate is on scholarship, no edge either way.
3. AFSC = career fields
~ Scholarship again is masked. No points are awarded for the OML.


Do not get SFT as a C200 and they can drum you out of AFROTC. Selection rate is 55%.

If I am correct, NROTC has the same type of drumming out. If as a mid you are not selected for scholarship before your rising jr yr., you may be dis-enrolled. I do not know the rate.

AF/NROTC require all grads commissioned through ROTC to serve AD. There is no IRR or guard. It is AD hip to hip with the SA grads.

I am not trying to antagonize you or your position, but I do get upset when blanket statements are made, such as:
I have a feeling that that this may be same for other brances, the scholarship is more than money. If you are a scholarship cadet, you can be contracted Day One, provided that you pass the fitness test. Then, you can take advantage of all the programs the Army offers to the ROTC cadets, such as summer overseas programs, and various summer training programs. Non scholarship ROTC cadets are not contracted until the beginning of the junior year, and as such, can't participate in any of these program till then
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I get you had a feeling, and you didn't know for a fact, and I do sincerely want to stress I do not mean to antagonize you. I just get worried that there are more lurkers than posters and this post would create an illusion which can't be farther from the truth.

I am sure that is the AROTC world, and every poster/lurker should take this as truth. It just isn't AFROTC world.

We again are getting off topic. The OP wants NROTC and wants direction for NROTC scholarship in HS.

We can dance around this subject by diverting it because we don't want to say the hard truth.

NROTC is the most selective ROTC scholarship out there. Right now between your GPA and PSAT you have an uphill battle.

However, the boards like to see gpa rising, and honestly IMPO, if you give up the ultimate frisbee (you can do it on Sunday afternoon with your best buds at your house) or Chess (again do it Friday night) you will now be able to spend time after school at home studying instead of at school throwing a frisbee.

aj it is up to you now.

The military life will require personal sacrifices, and if you can't or won't give up Chess, Frisbee, and the 20 other EC's you have for what matters, than maybe the military isn't a match for you.

Harsh, I know, fact, yes! You need to decide how badly you want the scholarship. You want it bad enough you will cut back on EC's and pull up the gpa. You don't want it bad enough you will be on Ultimate Frisbee next yr.

Your path, because the ball is in your court. You are young and can change it in a heartbeat. Buckle down this spring and drop some EC's so you can pull a 3.7 for 2nd semester, 3.4 for the yr., would place you at a 3.2 cgpa. Next yr you pull a 3.6 uwcgpa, 4.1 wcgpa, 5 APs and you could be at 3.5.

Study the SAT/ACT, pull a 1300 or 30 ACT.

Keep up with Tennis, swim, X-country.

You now are a candidate to be reckon with.

You need to address your weaknesses, and the GC is your 1st stop.

Your GC also can tell you who is the BGO for USNA in your area. You may want to contact them early summer. Right now until May they are busy clearing out the 2016 class, and that is their priority. Come May dust has settled, and you can ask them for guidance on course selection as a jr to make you competitive in 14.
 
for Army ROTC: you don't need to be a scholarship cadet to graduate from college and commission. You could be non-scholarship and if you make the AD cut off, you will be an active duty (AD) officer. If you don't make the cut off line, you will be a reserve duty officer.

My son (MS I: 4 year scholarship) tells me that there is a sizable number of non scholarship cadets all the way to MS IV (senior). And, becoming a cadet as a non scholarship ROTC member is a no biggie. You show up, you enroll, and you do your best. If you stand out as a cadet, then it does not matter whether you are a scholarship cadet or not. Again, you won't be able to benefit from summer programs and what not till you are a junior. On the other hand, contracted scholarship cadets can participate in these programs from the summer after the freshman year (that is, the first summer break in college).

By the way, the score for AD determination is again 40% GPA: single most important and weighty item. Note that the Army takes academic work darn seriously. My son, who was rather cavalier about GPA while in HS, is dead serious about his GPA for this reason because he wants to be commissioned in a very competitive branch upon commissioning. He studies MUCH HARDER now than he ever did while in high school. On the other hand, his very good friend (year older) who is a perfect officer material in every other aspect is dropping out of the ROTC program because for whatever reason, his GPA has always been a problem, though he is pretty smart: perhaps a time management skill issue.....

So, all the prospective ROTC students must think about this: you must be in a very good shape once in college in terms of your readiness to perform well on the academic front.
 
educate,

We are diverting this thread. The OP wants Navy, not AF and not Army.

The OP has to get in 1st, and since he wants NROTC he has to be competitive for IS college programmer if he does not get NROTC scholarship.

What the Army does for AROTC has no impact for the OP. Look at his other posts they are all branches which are water related. USMMA, USCGA, and USNA. He has shown no desire to be on land or air.

We are not here to defend/sell any ROTC program. If in the future he decides to go another branch, there will be a new thread.

Currently, we need to guide him on how to be competitive for NROTC scholarship.

To do so, we must acknowledge his gpa is low, and address his college selection list along with majors.

You and I can boast all day long about the positive attributes for AROTC and AFROTC, we can also go in to great detail about their differences, but ajwilliams does not want AROTC or AFROTC, he wants NROTC.

ajwilliams. in the end of the day NOT one of us can give you guidance if you do not give us more info.

3.2. uwgpa or weighted?
School choices? VT (SMC) or ERAU?
Major? Engineering or Communications?

You may decide not to share this info, and we will all respect that fact, but just know if you don't, any post/response will be worth the paper it is printed on...NOTHING!

The ball is in your court.
 
Pima;225260You and I can boast all day long about the positive attributes for AROTC and AFROTC said:
Well...as the old saying goes..."You can want in one hand and....." You get the idea.

Information about other programs gives anyone including the OP other options to look at. Many applicants will submit applications to more then one program. As young people read through these threads they may find information that helps them explore those options.

The OP did state that he didn't initially identify which ROTC to keep the information general, he may want NROTC but information regarding other programs helps expand his options.
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educateme said:
for Army ROTC: you don't need to be a scholarship cadet to graduate from college and commission. You could be non-scholarship and if you make the AD cut off, you will be an active duty (AD) officer. If you don't make the cut off line, you will be a reserve duty officer.

My son (MS I: 4 year scholarship) tells me that there is a sizable number of non scholarship cadets all the way to MS IV (senior). And, becoming a cadet as a non scholarship ROTC member is a no biggie. You show up, you enroll, and you do your best. If you stand out as a cadet, then it does not matter whether you are a scholarship cadet or not. Again, you won't be able to benefit from summer programs and what not till you are a junior. On the other hand, contracted scholarship cadets can participate in these programs from the summer after the freshman year (that is, the first summer break in college).

By the way, the score for AD determination is again 40% GPA: single most important and weighty item. Note that the Army takes academic work darn seriously. My son, who was rather cavalier about GPA while in HS, is dead serious about his GPA for this reason because he wants to be commissioned in a very competitive branch upon commissioning. He studies MUCH HARDER now than he ever did while in high school. On the other hand, his very good friend (year older) who is a perfect officer material in every other aspect is dropping out of the ROTC program because for whatever reason, his GPA has always been a problem, though he is pretty smart: perhaps a time management skill issue.....

So, all the prospective ROTC students must think about this: you must be in a very good shape once in college in terms of your readiness to perform well on the academic front.
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One thing to remember regarding non-scholarship cadets, they still need to get the recommendation from the PMS to move on to the Advanced Course their junior year. As the needs of the Army drop it will be harder and more competitive to get those Advanced slots.

I know...the OP mentioned NROTC but it never hurts to get more information should he decide to widen his options.
 
pima

no problem with limiting our input to NROTC for the OP.

However, I do feel that our input is being seen by a lot of applicants not just the OP, and I don't necessarily feel that we should limit our input just for the one person who started the thread.

If there are other HS sophomores who are reading this discussion (after all, the title of the discussion is non-specific), they could benefit from your wisdom and experience regarding AFROTC, for instance. Or, getting some input on AROTC.

I have no intention to "sell" Army ROTC. Why would I? Does not serve my or my kid's needs one way or the other.....
 
educateme,

I agree there are many lurkers and posters that benefit from discussing all ROTC programs. My only concern was, me included, we were starting to divert the thread away from the OP's needs and wants.

I did not think you were selling AROTC, just like me with AFROTC, you have experience in that realm and were informing all of us about the AROTC system. Your posts are invaluable because there will be many at this point (sophs) who have yet to decide which if any ROTC program they want. Many will have all 3 and until they understand the differences between all 3, even in ROTC selection they will not be able to proceed as a competitive candidate compared to the ones that do understand.

Happy New Year to all!
 
Pima,

you are one of the most valuable members on this board advising prospective ROTC cadets and currents ones also. When my son was applying, I learned so much from you though my son was applying to Army ROTC.

I hope other parents and kids continue to benefit from your unvarnished wisdom and input.

Happy New Year!
 
I also forgot to include that I am the Vice President of my school's Sports Writing Club (though that is probably irrelevant at this point).
 
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