How do my chances look?

[Coryshade1995]

Hey I'm a junior and I'm going to apply for the nrotc marine option scholarship.i currently have a 4.6 gpa like a 4.5 unweighted I'm in the project lead the way engineering program,played football my freshmen and softmore year on the wrestling team(since 9th and will be till senior year) in mcjrotc and have logged hundreds of hours in community service with the jrotc,run cross country,in the national honor society and national technical honor society,went to skills USA nationals last year in the engineering and technology competition,in the jrotc I can score a 300 on the pft but that's a 1 mile run.in the pft with a 3 mile run I can get like a 280.ican do 20 pull ups, 100 sit ups , and run the 3 mile in 20 mins flat (best cross country time) work as a referee at oc paintball,I drag race,I took the sats once didn't do to well got a 590 on my math and a 490 on my reading.

 

[dunninla]

I assume your GPA is on a 5 point scale, since your unweighted is 4.5?

No matter, Marine Option NROTC has a "Scholar" leg of the "Scholar-Athlete-Leader" stool as a pretty small leg! It's a lopsided stool. It's probably 45% Leader, 35% Athlete, 20% Scholar, if I were to make a guess at the relative importance of each leg based on reports here of who was awarded NROTC-Marine Option, and what their resume looked like. Same for the SAT... try to get into the high 500s on both Math and Science if you can, but as I say the SAT is part of the "Scholar" leg of S-A-L which is not that heavily weighted for Marine Option. You have to be smart, but not necessaily "academic" if you know what I mean. The combined Math + Critical Reasoning has to be above 1000, not Superscored (combining M and CR scores from different test sittings), but from a single sitting, which it looks like yours already is.

I think you look very competitive. However, you haven't listed any specific LEADERSHIP experience, which as I speculate above is the #1 selection criterion for NROTC - Marine Option. These include Team Captain, Student Government Pres/VP, Founding or being President of a Club or Service Group, and within your mcjrotc, having a signficant position of responsibility. If I were completing an NROTC-Marine Option application, and in the Interview and Essay, I would emphasize Leadership above anything else... so go get some Leadership specifics to talk about!

 

[kinnem]

I assume your GPA is on a 5 point scale, since your unweighted is 4.5?

No matter, Marine Option NROTC has a "Scholar" leg of the "Scholar-Athlete-Leader" stool as a pretty small leg! It's a lopsided stool. It's probably 45% Leader, 35% Athlete, 20% Scholar, if I were to make a guess at the relative importance of each leg based on reports here of who was awarded NROTC-Marine Option, and what their resume looked like. Same for the SAT... try to get into the high 500s on both Math and Science if you can, but as I say the SAT is part of the "Scholar" leg of S-A-L which is not that heavily weighted for Marine Option. You have to be smart, but not necessaily "academic" if you know what I mean. The combined Math + Critical Reasoning has to be above 1000, not Superscored (combining M and CR scores from different test sittings), but from a single sitting, which it looks like yours already is.

I think you look very competitive. However, you haven't listed any specific LEADERSHIP experience, which as I speculate above is the #1 selection criterion for NROTC - Marine Option. These include Team Captain, Student Government Pres/VP, Founding or being President of a Club or Service Group, and within your mcjrotc, having a signficant position of responsibility. If I were completing an NROTC-Marine Option application, and in the Interview and Essay, I would emphasize Leadership above anything else... so go get some Leadership specifics to talk about!

I agree with dunninla on the leadership. I would still recommend working hard at improving the SAT/ACT scores. This is a competition. There will be plenty of others you will compete against who have the same athletics and ECs and still have outstanding SAT scores. DS had 1310 Math + CR, wrestling 6 years, track 2 years, plenty of volunteer hours. Perhaps not enough leadership. Nevertheless he did not get a NROTC MO scholarship. As you know the Marine Corps is very demanding and scholarships are limited. Compete to win on all three legs of the stool.

I have to say your PFT looks very competitive.

Good Luck!

 

[dunninla]

perhaps not enough leadership

Yes, I think that is a really common thing with Applicants. High school is not geared to put a lot of emphasis on leadership, neither is college for that matter. Yet Officership is about leading, above all else. So a high school student can look around and think "man, I'm doing really well... top 10%, over 1300 SAT, 3.8 unweighted GPA, 200+ volunteer hours, 3 year Varsity letter winner in one sport, 2 Varsity letters in another, member of an Advisory Board, Honor Society, and active in Science Club", and I would agree, that student is making a mark in their school. But where in that list is LEADING?

 

[Coryshade1995]

Well my gpa I think is higher is because I took an a.p class.And for leadership I will be a captain of the cross country team next year and wrestling team,and I command a lot of drill teams at drill meats for ROTC.does that seem to cover leadership or what else should I try and do to highlight that aspect of my character?and I appreciate all the help.

 

[kinnem]

That should cover leadership, but if you do see another opportunity, grab it. After all that's what leaders do! But don't overextend yourself either.

 

[USMCGrunt]

Coryshade1995: take a look at the application which includes two essays. I would spend some time formulating your answer and then write the very best essay you can. This is where you can stress your understanding of leadership and you experiences as a leader. Write, rewrite and then rewrite again - making your essays better and better. Make sure your English teacher and others proofread it for you.

Good luck!

 

[Pima]

Be prepared that your cgpa will drop because it appears you are on a 5.0 scale. Your WCS PAR (academic portion) many time gets re-weighted because schools across the nation have different systems, and they need to place all applicants on the same footing. This is why the transcripts that are official (sealed) will typically include class rank and weighting system.

Plus, at least for the 3 hs's my kids attended they included the school profile...how many AP/IBs offered, scale (7 pt or 10), etc.

A 4.5 sounds great, but not so great if the re-weight comes to a 3.4 and your rank is the 50 percentile.

As others have stated, start preparing for the essays. I would approach your English teacher (pref. AP) and ask if you can have their email so they can edit it at their leisure.

Good luck