In a bit of a pickle… (USNA or NROTC)

S

SmartToaster

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Sep 25, 2021
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9
Hello all,

As of now, I’m still waiting to hear if I had received a nomination from my MOC, which I was told would be mailed to me mid-end of January. As of now, nothing has come in yet. Once I get my nomination, I am guaranteed an appointment with my LOA. However, there is one small problem I have with waiting until the end of January. I was chosen for the NROTC ISR scholarship award, which I am also very grateful for. The problem, however, is that I have until the end of January to finalize my NROTC application, meaning that I would have to accept or decline the offer before the end of January. In addition, I was told that it would be better if I let them know in advance if I declined the offer so they could give the scholarship to someone else. I am worried that if I wait until the end of January to know whether or not I had gotten a nom, it would be too late to accept my scholarship offer in the case I do not get one. I have contacted both my MOC and admissions director but have yet to hear from them. What do y’all think I should do?
 
Even if you find out by the end of Jan that you have a nomination, that is still not an appointment. If you decline the scholarship because you have a nomination, you may miss both boats.

Time to choose. A bird in hand may be worth more that a bird in the bush.
 
Ugh. 10 days is not a lot of wiggle room.

I agree with @kinnem. it is decision time.

If attending USNA is the most important thing to you, then you might wait longer (but not much more)..

If the goal is to commission no matter how you get there, I would grab the NROTC brass ring now.
 
One more thing.

I believe that if you accept the NROTC scholarship and somehow are fortunate enough to be offered a nomination and appointment afterwards, you can relinquish the NROTC scholarship in favor of USNA with no harm, no foul.

BGO's please correct me if I am wrong.
 

"ISR" NROTC Award comes with a pretty big Catch-22

I was bored, so I went on an instruction dumpster dive. I also hate it when recruiters mislead high school kids...I get they have to "meet mission," but it's distasteful and unethical at times. NSTC-M 1533.2D, Regulations for Officer Development, links CNRCINST 1533.4E via an NNOA link rather...
www.serviceacademyforums.com

Here is another thread that supports this.
 
Thank you all for the input. I had gotten in contact with my MOC’s office and they basically said that I’d be receiving a nomination and that the letter would come in next week. They also told me to keep the NROTC offer for now until I receive my official appointment (which I hope happens soon considering my LOA) but in the end, I’m choosing USNA so hopefully all goes well.
 
kinnem said:
Even if you find out by the end of Jan that you have a nomination, that is still not an appointment. If you decline the scholarship because you have a nomination, you may miss both boats.

Time to choose. A bird in hand may be worth more that a bird in the bush.
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I thought my LOA guaranteed me an appointment considering all application requirements were met? The only thing left is the nomination, which I was told by my MOC’s office that I had basically gotten and that the official letters would come in next week. Anyways, even if I did not have an LOA, I would take a chance and choose USNA.
 
SmartToaster said:
I thought my LOA guaranteed me an appointment considering all application requirements were met? The only thing left is the nomination, which I was told by my MOC’s office that I had basically gotten and that the official letters would come in next week. Anyways, even if I did not have an LOA, I would take a chance and choose USNA.
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That is almost always the case, but if you read back in history on the forum, there was at least one year that I remember when several candidates who had LOA's, nominations and were fully qualified, that did NOT receive appointments. I have only see this happen with USNA and not any of the other academies.
 
SmartToaster said:
Hello all,

As of now, I’m still waiting to hear if I had received a nomination from my MOC, which I was told would be mailed to me mid-end of January. As of now, nothing has come in yet. Once I get my nomination, I am guaranteed an appointment with my LOA. However, there is one small problem I have with waiting until the end of January. I was chosen for the NROTC ISR scholarship award, which I am also very grateful for. The problem, however, is that I have until the end of January to finalize my NROTC application, meaning that I would have to accept or decline the offer before the end of January. In addition, I was told that it would be better if I let them know in advance if I declined the offer so they could give the scholarship to someone else. I am worried that if I wait until the end of January to know whether or not I had gotten a nom, it would be too late to accept my scholarship offer in the case I do not get one. I have contacted both my MOC and admissions director but have yet to hear from them. What do y’all think I should do?
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Excuse my ignorance. What does ISR stand for? My DS is also waiting on nrotc news
 
SmartToaster said:
I thought my LOA guaranteed me an appointment considering all application requirements were met? The only thing left is the nomination, which I was told by my MOC’s office that I had basically gotten and that the official letters would come in next week. Anyways, even if I did not have an LOA, I would take a chance and choose USNA.
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You did say in your original post that you were still waiting to hear. If you're certain it's coming then there is no issue .. decline the scholarship. If you're not certain, and it sounded like you're not, then my recommendation applies.
 
This is a major decision concerning your future and the direction of your life for at least the next 9 years, I wouldn't worry about "it would be better if..." and the "someone else." Preferences are not requirements.

It's your spot. You earned it. Take your time to make your decision. If you have until Jan 31, you have until Jan 31.

I did some instruction digging a while back in a previous thread, pretty sure you can still take a USNA appointment over an NROTC scholarship later on. Money goes back into the pot to fuel another scholarship. Recruiter might get mad at you, but I still don't think that's a problem you need to worry about.
 
During our son’s cycle for class of 2024 he accepted four year NROTC tier 1 knowing that if he received an appointment he could be released. The only wrinkle was that they had implemented summer basic training for NROTC for the first time and if the appointment didn’t come through, juggling that scheduled report date would have been problematic.
There are many threads regarding the implied pressure of accepting an ISR on a specific time table.
 
nuensis said:
This is a major decision concerning your future and the direction of your life for at least the next 9 years, I wouldn't worry about "it would be better if..." and the "someone else." Preferences are not requirements.

It's your spot. You earned it. Take your time to make your decision. If you have until Jan 31, you have until Jan 31.

I did some instruction digging a while back in a previous thread, pretty sure you can still take a USNA appointment over an NROTC scholarship later on. Money goes back into the pot to fuel another scholarship. Recruiter might get mad at you, but I still don't think that's a problem you need to worry about.
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This is true. Thanks for the input. I’m going to trust my MOC’s office that my nom letter should be coming in by next week. If not, I’ll accept my scholarship until then.
 
AROTC-dad said:
One more thing.

I believe that if you accept the NROTC scholarship and somehow are fortunate enough to be offered a nomination and appointment afterwards, you can relinquish the NROTC scholarship in favor of USNA with no harm, no foul.

BGO's please correct me if I am wrong.
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My DGD also has an ISR NROTC scholarship offer plus a LOA from USNA. She was told that signing the ISR offer did not preclude her from taking the USNA offer when it comes. At this time, she is considering both (as well as other plans) as she awaits her DodMERB clearance.
 
AROTC-dad said:
One more thing.

I believe that if you accept the NROTC scholarship and somehow are fortunate enough to be offered a nomination and appointment afterwards, you can relinquish the NROTC scholarship in favor of USNA with no harm, no foul.

BGO's please correct me if I am wrong.
Click to expand...
This is the advice we were given...my son accepted his NROTC offer. Here is the wording from the email:
*** Acceptance of the NROTC scholarship DOES NOT prevent you from applying to any other service academy or ROTC scholarship program. ***
 
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