Since I'm in the inquisitive mode here's another question for someone in the know. Can a XROTC recruit who has accepted a scholarship, play varsity sports such as football, track, wrestling and if so wouldn't Varsity sports interfere with the routine military requirements while attending school?
You aren't compelled to accept a scholarship if offered. Some kids get a scholarship then later get an appointment to an academy so they forego the scholarship. Also you can play varsity sports and be in ROTC. This is fairly common especially at schools like Norwich, VMI, The Citadel, Maine Maritime, etc. There were two varsity rowers at Holy Cross who were NROTC for example. Good luck.
RepIII, Relax! You will have well into the spring... and also if you get a last minute appt to an academy after you have accepted your scholarship then you can get out of your scholarship to go to the academy. Also, if you accept a 4-yr scholarship and were not appointed to an academy and re-apply the next year, get an appointment you can get out of your scholarship. It is a viable option for someone who does not make it the first try. In fact, at least for AROTC, you are offered a scholarship to a specific school by that ROTC program. You can be offered the scholarship before you are accepted by the school. The possibility exists that you could be offered a scholarship and not be accepted. So choose your schools wisely! The ROTC program will work around you if you are an athlete. Go ahead and get your application done if you have not completed it already!
Ooops! Sorry, I should have done my "homework" and figured out you were the parent! Good for you son to have a NROTC interview, my daughter has her AROTC interview soon... she hasn't applied to NROTC yet because only one civilian school she is interested in offers it. Anyway, I know what you mean about the forum thing... she doesn't have the time or patience to keep up with this stuff--- and it will only get worse when school starts and then they won't have an extra moment! Is your son applying to USCGA as well? My daughter "discovered" it this summer and started her application there and is really enthused.
To take Just a Mom's above post one step further. For candidates who don't make the Academy on the first attempt, one year of ROTC is not only a very viable source, the ROTC units can actually nominate midshipmen/cadets to the service academies so it counts as a nomination source.
My S talked with a large state school ROTC program over spring break about this subject. It differs with each unit, at the school we spoke with they stated that is difficult to do a sport and still do leadership roles in the unit. The current commander of the unit was a NCAA swimmer and had to quit because she wanted a pilot training slot. So if you don't want a great job after then you can do it. At GT the AROTC allows you to play a club sport and have that count as your weekly PT. So long as you pass the fitness test done. As to the scholarship part, the AF allows you to make up your mind after the freshman year. Only if you are offered a 4 yr scholarship. Right now the AF is shrinking and they are offering fewer scholarships. They are also offering fewer in college scholarships and not offering contract to those who wish to enter without scholarships. At this big state school, they only had 5 students on scholarship as a freshman class of 2009. Only one was a 4 yr.
Just beware...the ROTC officers at colleges can sometimes be nasty if you change your mind. My son applied for an Army ROTC scholarship at a large state college. He made it clear to them that his first choice was to attend USMA and if he was offered an appointment he would turn down the ROTC scholarship. Last March he was offered a 4 year ROTC scholarship and accepted it because he was still waiting to hear from USMA. In April he was offered the civil prep option from the West Point AOG, which he took so that he can attend West Point next year. As soon as he accepted the civil prep offer he contacted the ROTC rep at the college and explained what he was doing. He wanted to free up the scholarship money quickly so they could give it to someone else. The ROTC Capt. was really rude to my son. The Capt. said, among other things, something like this: "You can do ROTC and be a 2nd Lt. in 4 years or do the civil prep option and be a 2nd Lt. in 5 years." Like my son cares it will take an extra year to be a 2nd Lt.! His dream is to graduate from West Point, so he is doing what it takes to make that dream come true. I know they were probably disappointed that he was not going to attend their college, but he had made it clear from the beginning that his first choice was West Point and that he would do whatever it took to get there. As a mother I was surprised they had such a snotty attitude.
I am not suprised as they are all sort of in competition with each other. I would not let that discourage any academy applicants from pursuing an ROTC scholarship. It is best to have one's bases covered. I have one even better for you. Last June my daughter was called by an Army Reserve Recruiter. She was home, I was not. He started talking to her about the reserves and she politely informed him that she was pursuing West Point and and AROTC scholarship. Thinking he would be impressed. He asked her for her gpa and class rank. He informed her that she was not good enough for either one and she should join the reserves. I found out a week later (she spent that week moping about) and was furious. She is a AROTC finalist for a scholarship and is a candidate at West Point and the Naval Academy. Bottom line is yes they are going to have their feelings hurt but you gotta do what you gotta do!!
I wonder when your granted an ROTC scholarship is it contingent upon your acceptance to the school or are you only given one after youve been accepted?
ROTC scholarship and offers of admission are awarded separately. ROTC scholarships are awarded by the ROTC dept at the school you apply to, depending upon their budgets. Depending upon the school, you could be awarded your scholarship before you know if you are accepted into the school. If you apply to a school that offers admissions all at once say in March or April then you could have your ROTC scholarship in hand before then. If you are denied admission to the school then you cannot use that scholarship. Since you are in the process of or have applied for your ROTC Scholarship already (right?), then it would be good to get a realistic handle on whether you could gain admission to a particular school before you get excited about an ROTC scholarship there. Since you can put down multiple schools it is not a bad idea to include a "safety" school on your list if you can. To the best of my knowledge the ROTC dept's and admissions do not talk to each other. If you interview with a Prof of Mil Science at a school and he gets excited about having you, practically guarantees you a scholarship..... be wary. Understand that you must gain admissions to the school.
i think i have a good cance of getting into my top two choices (norwich, citadel) thanks for the info J_A_M I am taking my DODMERB exams on the 13th and 14th of sept. and plan on scheduling an interview at norwich (going there from long island, not that far), so uhh... good luck to me
Chip, I am sure you will schedule an interview with admissions as well while you are at Norwich. They have a rolling admission policy so as soon as they receive your completed package they will begin to review it. I worry more about kids applying to schools notify the enitre incoming class all at one time say, March 1 or April 1. Those dates make it quite late for a plan B. I also think the senior military colleges will give you a good idea if you are a quality candidate for admission. Some civilian school encourage the whole world to apply so they can look like they are "more selective". Good luck with your interviews and scholarship. One more thing.... my "parental" advice to you is to concentrate on your academics and football (I think you play football, right?) even if that cuts into your "senior year" social life! The reward to you will come later in the year but will be worth it!
The SMC's usually arent as selective as they are more interested in having quality people attend who have an admorable character rather than just 4.0's,2400's and a menu of academic achievments because the majority of their students will be officers in the US military, Thats what i think. Oh and with football im not going all out, taking it a little easy. would really suck if i get injured right before the DODMERB
