Heads up if you chose a competitive school

[goaliedad]

I am not sure how exactly it will work. Even if the battalion had their original 13 scholarships and they had 30 applicants, it is still a question of how they communicate to the Army selection board which 13 applicants they want. Do they only recommend X number via the interview process or do they recommend everybody they want and just wait for the board to determine who will get the scholarships? What happens if the unit is assigned only 6 (or 13) and the board awards 10, does the unit pick which 6 they want?

Obviously I don't have the answers. It is possible that the call was just a "gut check" to see if my daughter was really interested and to make her feel special by being one of the six, but I honestly don't know for sure. I will say that I've now heard from a number of different people that the Army is reducing the total number of scholarships. I don't think their need for officers has decreased, so it must either be that they have found another way to supply those officers, or their budget has been reduced for some unexplained other reason.

I pretty certain the batallions can pull the full files for each candidate who listed them in their top schools. They can look at the score and know who they will be asked for a or first. Cadet Command does give veto power over offering a scholarship in a specific Battallion to the PMS there, as they will usually check with admissions if there is a question of whether or not the applicant will be admitted.

If the Batallion has 6 scholarship to give and they rank their favorite candidates (not necessarily the ones with the highest score, but the ones they feel will accept and be the type of cadet they want). If only 4 of them on their top list are in the first board, they will veto others, so as to leave the other 2 slots open for subsequent boards, when their candidates get their offers.

This would not be difficult to engineer at all and would be consistent with their checking the applicants intent of accepting, if they feel that the next board will be where they finish filling their allotment.

 

[aglages]

This would not be difficult to engineer at all and would be consistent with their checking the applicants intent of accepting, if they feel that the next board will be where they finish filling their allotment.

Thanks for your thoughts goliedad. The selection may very well just as you speculated.

With the reduction in Army scholarships I think it is more important than ever to let them know as soon as possible about whether she will accept the scholarship (if it is offered).

 

[educateme]

whichever way we look at it, all this discussion makes sense only if the cadet command shares with the local battalion the list of candidates who put their battalion/schools. Do we know this to be the case?

 

[goaliedad]

whichever way we look at it, all this discussion makes sense only if the cadet command shares with the local battalion the list of candidates who put their battalion/schools. Do we know this to be the case?

They definitely have this information before a board awards a scholarship, as the schools have veto power over a candidate (especially one who is unlikely to be admitted).

As to how early in the process they have the interested candidates, that I am unsure of.

I don't see a reason why Cadet Command would keep the Batallions in the dark as to which candidates have selected them and where they rank on an applicant's list. I think Cadet Command want the units to select their candidates carefully, so as to get the best candidates their top schools.

 

[aglages]

They definitely have this information before a board awards a scholarship, as the schools have veto power over a candidate (especially one who is unlikely to be admitted).

As to how early in the process they have the interested candidates, that I am unsure of.

I think it is safe to say that at the time of the interview the battalions do not know whether they are even on the candidate's list or just happen to be convenient geographically. I'm sure my daughter was asked during the interview about which colleges she was applying and about her order of preference. Other than the battalion she interviewed with (which isn't the closest to us), she has also received a couple of emails from battalions at schools she was not applying, suggesting that she might be a good candidate for them. I remember one was Duke.

Clearly at some point (before the scholarship is awarded) the local battalions must have some input into the selection process. How it actually works is still a mystery (although some posters have done a fine job of speculation).

 

[MarineMom]

Hi All,

This is a very interesting discussion. My son did not make the cut at the first board. We visited one of his schools this past Friday and met with the PMS and the scholarship officer. Both were able to access his file. In fact, the scholarship officer commented that he had read my son's essay. One thing we were told was that the selection board was looking for candidates who were majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math) majors. My son is a Philosophy major - doesn't mean he won't necessarily get a scholarship, but might help explain why he didn't make the first cut. In my opinion, I would assume that the 'cream of the crop' would be given scholarships from the first board and that the selection board would be waiting to see who else has a complete package in by the next board.

For example, five years ago my older son applied. Originally, he was told he 'didn't bring enough to the table'. He joined the Delayed Entry Program for the Marines (hence my name). A month or so later, Cadet Command came back and said they would consider him and to go ahead and get his Dodmerb physical. Older son declined and stayed with the Marines. He's served four years so far as an enlisted Marine with two tours of duty in Iraq and the Marines are currently sending him to college and OCS.

 

[Pima]

marinemom,

Thank your son for serving, thank you for supporting his decision, and wish him god speed.

I am not shocked by this, last yr there were many that only received small amts of $$$. I think what we are seeing is that the economy is driving this, when the economy is in the tank people join for job security. Kids and parents are looking at the thought of doing 5 and diving to assist in paying for school. Many kids will not get the scholarship in hs, because of their major, but they still want to do ROTC, thus they go into as a freshman at college and apply for the 3 yr. I know in our DS's det 6 applied as freshman, 3 got it, 2 still stayed because they will be commissioned as officers and have a job after graduation.

The thing that is really important to understand, is like any company they all do strategic planning which includes personnel. By law they can only have so many % of flag to field to company grade officers. If the heirarchy does not retire, than that means they will have too many company, which will cause a RIF. To slow down this process, they need to slow down incoming officers. How do you do that? You give less scholarships out. They probably started last yr with less OCS acceptances. This yr it is ROTC on top of that, since the SA's are pretty set numbers.

I am also not shocked that the Army is going the tech route, the AF did this several yrs ago, and the Navy I believe did it 1 or 2 yrs ago. It is the trend they want, especially since our society is more technologically advanced.

All of that being said, if the stats are good, you will get one, even from a non-tech side. AF is 85 tech, 15 non-tech, and our DS got that golden ticket as a govt and politics major 2 yrs ago.

To really understand the military, you must see them as a medical condition, they are bulimic. They eat, eat, eat, and all of the sudden they realize it and then they purge. We are currently at the stage where they are calculating how much they ate, and whether or not they need to purge. 20 yrs as a spouse, and I have seen it played out many times...RIF in 91-92, AF pipeline shut down in 92, SERB in 93-94, AF excepts x-training in 97, RIF/Early out in 2001-02, 2008 AF takes back field grade retirees. Need those O-4 and O-5's to keep the % for the O-1,2,3's in the right balance. Binge and Purge.

 

[aglages]

To really understand the military, you must see them as a medical condition, they are bulimic. They eat, eat, eat, and all of the sudden they realize it and then they purge.

Quality analogy.

 

[educateme]

Marinemom said:

My son did not make the cut at the first board. We visited one of his schools this past Friday and met with the PMS and the scholarship officer. Both were able to access his file. In fact, the scholarship officer commented that he had read my son's essay. One thing we were told was that the selection board was looking for candidates who were majoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math) majors.

Marinemom, is your son applying to the Army ROTC scholarship?

I thought the overwhelming preference for science/engineering major is for the NROTC or AFROTC. I did not realize that it applies to the AROTC also.

Now, I am worried..... My son is not a science/tech/engineering type.

 

[goaliedad]

Marinemom said:



Marinemom, is your son applying to the Army ROTC scholarship?

I thought the overwhelming preference for science/engineering major is for the NROTC or AFROTC. I did not realize that it applies to the AROTC also.

Now, I am worried..... My son is not a science/tech/engineering type.

I think this may be a unit-specific preference, much like the other post that mentioned a school that requires the Army PFT instead of the Presidential PFT. I have had no such mentions from any of the units we are looking at.

I would contact the units your child is interested in and ask if they have any preferences or requirements beyond the standard Army ROTC requirement for getting into their battallion.