How competitive is my son for a 3 year Army ROTC Scholarship

[rothnroll]

Greetings,
My son (Senior in HS) interviewed with an Army ROTC Officer a few weeks ago. We think it went well.
We got his SAT scores back today. He studied a bunch this summer, but standardized tests are not his forte. He has taken the SAT's 3 times now and he will continue to take it in an effort to get over 1,300
He received a 1220.
Here are some stats.
SAT: 1220 (His super score is actually what he made on this test)
PT Test (Administered by an Army Proctor) : 70 PU 71 Curl Up 4:40 1 mile (These are real numbers not fudged)
Cross Country Varsity for 3 years.
Track Varsity 3 years.
GPA: 3.45 (unweighted) WGPA 3.73
STEM Club member, Boy Scout Patrol leader, 2nd job at a Fence Installer company, other minor various Leadership positions.
Nursing Major
Two questions.
1. is his GPA good enough for a 3 year scholarship?
2. Is his SAT good enough to be competitive for a 3 year AROTC Scholarship?

Obviously his best attribute was his PT Test. He runs marathons and is in peak health. We are concerned about his SAT score, but he will continue to work on it. We figured he wasn't competitive for a 4 year scholarship.

v/r,

 

[eljay60]

Any chance he can make Eagle Scout soon?

 

[rothnroll]

Any chance he can make Eagle Scout soon?

None. He is too far from it. Most of his hobbies revolved around running, thus the mile time.

 

[USN16x]

Every year is different and no one can give a yes or no answer but there are some factors to play in. 1) Nursing scholarships come from a different pot of money (I am 90% sure of that) 2) school selection plays a significant factor, for example a popular bigger school might have an easier time filling their nursing quota where a smaller school might have a harder time meeting their quota and might be more inclined to offer a scholarship. Regardless have a back up plan! Best of luck! I had average SATs and gpa and got picked up for a 4 year scholarship a few years ago.

 

[sheriff3]

Stats look competitive but the nursing major may throw many of us off to give a best guess. Is his class ranking top 10%? I say he looks as competitive as most and should have a shot. Best of luck

 

[k2rider]

I say the answers are Yes & Yes. Has he taken the ACT? I always hear that some kids that struggle with the SAT do better on the ACT. Both my kids, who ended up with 4 year scholarships (daughter is an Army Nurse) never did well on standardized tests either but had very good GPA's and even better athletic related backgrounds (multiple varsity years & team Captain).

 

[Dckc88]

My daughter was offered a 3 year nursing scholarship two years ago on the third board. Ultimately she had a 26 super score on her ACY. She did not take the SAT. She waited and took it one more time in October of her senior year and applied for the second board. She had a 3.57 GPA. Basically she was not off the charts in any of the 3 categories of scholar, athletic, leader, but definitley well rounded.. The survey they take is heavily weighted so it is impossible to know what that score is. Basically he sounds competitive, but of course no guarantees. We thought we were going to go crazy waiting to know until April but it turned out to be worth the wait. Good luck to your son. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[GreenMountainPatriot]

Has he considered doing internships in some medical capacity? My DD volunteered working on the pediatric ward at the local hospital and did a 6pm - 10pm shift weekly with our local rescue service, working with EMTs, etc.

 

[Dckc88]

Has he considered doing internships in some medical capacity? My DD volunteered working on the pediatric ward at the local hospital and did a 6pm - 10pm shift weekly with our local rescue service, working with EMTs, etc.

This is good advice. My DD did a weekly 3 hour shift volunteering at the hospital her junior and senior years. I know the original posters son already did his interview but for others this was big in the interview discussion her choice of nursing as a career. Having experience working with nurses and also taking opportunities to spend school holidays shadowing on different floors was helpful too.

 

[JLur]

Current MS 1 4-year scholarship cadet here. This is what I've observed. Most of the cadets at my battalion with 3-year scholarships had around a 1200-1250. How Nursing works at my battalion is that national scholarship winners are given a year extension to finish their nursing degree due to the fact that it takes 5-years here(UTampa) I am also almost positive that there is a different pool of money that nursing scholarships go to but I can't verify. Talk to your son and make sure he really wants nursing. I find too many of my fellow cadets are nursing or premed and they are already struggling to maintain the balance. I can't speak for myself as I'm a political science major looking to go Infantry. In short though, yes 1220 should be fine as long as everything else is good.

 

[Dckc88]

@JLur brings up a good point about nursing. It is true it comes from another pool of money. While other scholarship recipients, called line scholarships can change their major, nursing students on scholarship for nursing cannot. My daughter is starting her second year, and is good friends with the junior and senior nurses, they are making the balance work. At their school the cadre is very aware of the difficulty and make sure school comes first, while also making sure they are getting well prepared to be officers. For example, my DD had 3 exams this week, all in science, she was able to not go to her MS class and will meet with her teacher on Friday to go over the material, this is not usual, but she expressed to him her anxiety about her exams and so he accommodated her situation. Asking specifically about nursing and ROTC when visiting campuses is key to picking the right school. And making sure nursing is the right profession is important, because if you change your major, you will lose your scholarship if you are given a nursing scholarship.

 

[MichUSNA2021hopefulparent]

Every year is different and no one can give a yes or no answer but there are some factors to play in. 1) Nursing scholarships come from a different pot of money (I am 90% sure of that) 2) school selection plays a significant factor, for example a popular bigger school might have an easier time filling their nursing quota where a smaller school might have a harder time meeting their quota and might be more inclined to offer a scholarship. Regardless have a back up plan! Best of luck! I had average SATs and gpa and got picked up for a 4 year scholarship a few years ago.

The school does not offer the scholarship. The Army ROTC selection boards made up of PMS's decide who is awarded scholarships across 3 boards annually. The top 1,000 awardees received 4 year AROTC scholarships this past year 2017, and the next 1,000 received 3 year scholarships. Leadership positions play a very large role in the scoring; don't discount that. Any class officer positions, student council involvement, athletic team captain positions (even JV teams, shows leadership ability also). You get more points in the scoring equation for varsity captain. Any volunteering? Church group involvement?

 

[rothnroll]

Stats look competitive but the nursing major may throw many of us off to give a best guess. Is his class ranking top 10%? I say he looks as competitive as most and should have a shot. Best of luck

We are not sure what his ranking is. He just switched schools due to my PCS. I didn't want him to move his senior year.. but the Army had other plans.

 

[rothnroll]

I say the answers are Yes & Yes. Has he taken the ACT? I always hear that some kids that struggle with the SAT do better on the ACT. Both my kids, who ended up with 4 year scholarships (daughter is an Army Nurse) never did well on standardized tests either but had very good GPA's and even better athletic related backgrounds (multiple varsity years & team Captain).

Hello, he has not taken the ACT. He went to a Kaplan thing that was put on at his school that tried to determine if he was better at the SAT or ACT. They determined he was about even on both. He should register for the ACT. He is retaking the SAT in OCT.

 

[rothnroll]

My daughter was offered a 3 year nursing scholarship two years ago on the third board. Ultimately she had a 26 super score on her ACY. She did not take the SAT. She waited and took it one more time in October of her senior year and applied for the second board. She had a 3.57 GPA. Basically she was not off the charts in any of the 3 categories of scholar, athletic, leader, but definitley well rounded.. The survey they take is heavily weighted so it is impossible to know what that score is. Basically he sounds competitive, but of course no guarantees. We thought we were going to go crazy waiting to know until April but it turned out to be worth the wait. Good luck to your son. Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks. I hope he competitive. We will find out! I am an active duty ANC Officer by the way..

 

[rothnroll]

Current MS 1 4-year scholarship cadet here. This is what I've observed. Most of the cadets at my battalion with 3-year scholarships had around a 1200-1250. How Nursing works at my battalion is that national scholarship winners are given a year extension to finish their nursing degree due to the fact that it takes 5-years here(UTampa) I am also almost positive that there is a different pool of money that nursing scholarships go to but I can't verify. Talk to your son and make sure he really wants nursing. I find too many of my fellow cadets are nursing or premed and they are already struggling to maintain the balance. I can't speak for myself as I'm a political science major looking to go Infantry. In short though, yes 1220 should be fine as long as everything else is good.

He is pretty set on nursing. He went to a mentorship program which enabled him to do clinicals in a hospital. He seems to like it. He is also very good at science. I think it's a good path for him. I was a little apprehensive at first, because I am an Army Nurse. Everyone has their own path, and I didn't want him to pick nursing just because it's familiar to him.

 

[rothnroll]

Every year is different and no one can give a yes or no answer but there are some factors to play in. 1) Nursing scholarships come from a different pot of money (I am 90% sure of that) 2) school selection plays a significant factor, for example a popular bigger school might have an easier time filling their nursing quota where a smaller school might have a harder time meeting their quota and might be more inclined to offer a scholarship. Regardless have a back up plan! Best of luck! I had average SATs and gpa and got picked up for a 4 year scholarship a few years ago.

The school does not offer the scholarship. The Army ROTC selection boards made up of PMS's decide who is awarded scholarships across 3 boards annually. The top 1,000 awardees received 4 year AROTC scholarships this past year 2017, and the next 1,000 received 3 year scholarships. Leadership positions play a very large role in the scoring; don't discount that. Any class officer positions, student council involvement, athletic team captain positions (even JV teams, shows leadership ability also). You get more points in the scoring equation for varsity captain. Any volunteering? Church group involvement?

He is varsity captain and has volunteering. He teaches children's church. He is pretty well rounded.

 

[rothnroll]

My son ended up as a 3 year winner for Army - 4 Year Type 7 AFROTC. He improved his SAT scores slightly

SAT: 1290 Superscore 1260 Non superscoring for the AFROTC
PT Test (Administered by an Army Proctor) : 70 PU 71 Curl Up 4:40 1 mile (These are real numbers not fudged)
Cross Country Varsity for 3 years. CO-Captain Conference MVP And Conference Cross-Country Champion
Track Varsity 3 years.
GPA: 3.45 (unweighted) WGPA 3.73
STEM Club member, Boy Scout Patrol leader, Civil Air Patrol for 1 year, 2nd job at a Fence Installer company, other minor various Leadership positions.
Nursing Major