for NROTC-MO, expect it to take longer and more effort than you'd think!
Our regional POC emailed all candidates with open applications in late-August to announce the screening process for the first board in November. The date was the second Sat after Labor day, and was to take the PFT, submit all the additional paperwork (including a doctor-signed form saying OK to take the PFT), and conduct the interview. DS had under 4 weeks to get a doctor's appt, complete all the additional paperwork and get the high school counselor/teacher letters of recommendation. He almost didn't make it, which would have been unfortunate as he was selected for scholarship on the early board. So, for timeline purposes, though the board was first week of November, he had to be prepared/application complete by the second weekend in September. If your recruiting district operates like ours, know that the regional POC is likely the person who is briefing your application to the selection board - so meet their deadlines, and follow up with them as necessary to ensure your package is complete. They are dealing with multiple applicants in various stages of application readiness. Even though our POC was great, even he made mistakes (DS received an email saying info was missing from his application the week prior to the board - turns out his application was complete and the regional POC had simply erred when adding DS' email address to that reminder, but DS had to follow up once again to make sure).
Stuff always happens when you're in a rush to meet a deadline. As teachers did not receive email links from the application, DS had to coordinate with the regional POC who had the teachers email him their letters. DS had to follow up with teachers to know that they had completed the task on time. DS applied using ASVAB score as COVID had precluded taking SAT/ACT at that point, but the local recruiter could not access the score to put it on the correct form. The high school ASVAB coordinator jumped in at our request to talk with his counterpart at MEPS who verified over the phone DS' ASVAB score was in their system. Due to COVID, there wasn't someone with access to ASVAB info actually at MEPS everyday, so it was not possible to get the correct form from MEPS in the week leading up to the screening day. Turns out our HS doesn't release any scores to recruiters. Regional POC accepted the ASVAB letter results sent to DS at the HS, and subsequently contacted MEPS to get the official form. DS was able to take an ACT in early Sep, with results taking about 3 weeks to be sent in officially in Oct. DS contacted regional POC with the unofficial results to ensure he knew DS was adding ACT info to his package. Important, as regional POC was the one briefing his package to the district board.
