January 4, 2011 AROTC Board

goaliedad said:
choosing schools where you will be in the top quintile of applicants will enhance your chances for . . . the National Scholarship.
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Do you mean to suggest that if you list, say, Princeton (with its high-achiever applicant pool) on your AROTC list of schools and, say, that school historically has had only a handful of scholarships, the applicant is in a MUCH worse position of getting an AROTC scholarship than someone who applies to a less-competitive school with a much larger ROTC student population???? Uh oh.:bang:
 
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I would second goliedads post.

My only thought would be this. During all the interviews my son had during this process he never asked about campus based scholarships. He did however ask at the end of each discussion "If I am not offered a national scholarship what would my other options be to achieve the same goal" Most of those he spoke with explained about the SMP program, joining ROTC and competing for a 3 year scholarship, and a few mentioned that they may have campus scholarships and that he would be considered. A couple of the PMS's told him they were glad to see he was considering all his options and that they would contact him if he was not selected by the 2nd board to explain in greater detail any of the other options available. Luckily for him he was selected on the first round and he didn't need the other options.

I guess my point is that while asking directly about campus scholarships may not be a good idea, asking about what the other options are doesn't hurt. It gives the PMS the option to bring up the subject without the perspective cadet going fishing.

Now, once they are in ROTC tell them not to be afraid to ask for anything, over the past 3 years my son has received some wonderful oppertunities and great leadership positions by basically just walking in and asking for it, sometimes he's amazed that no one else asked.
 
patentesq said:
Do you mean to suggest that if you list, say, Princeton (with its high-achiever applicant pool) on your AROTC list of schools and, say, that school historically has only had a handful of scholarships, the applicant is in a MUCH worse position of getting a scholarship than someone who applies to less-competitive school with a large ROTC student population???? Uh oh.:bang:
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The concept of MUCH worse is a relative term.

If your student is a kid who would be admitted to Princeton (I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a sure-fire Princeton admit), his/her competition for ROTC scholarships would be more likely to have similar credentials (ultra high GPA/SAT lots of ECs, etc.) than it would be for his/her uber safety State U competition (provided it isn't Berkeley,UVA,Michigan which really aren't even uber safeties for anyone these days).

CC assigns scholarships to the highest whole person score applicant first even within a board. The first board of the year is always full of the Ivy qualified recipients (and other high acievers) who tend to apply to very competitive schools. If that applicant has a less-competitive school on their list, it is in all likely hood going to show up on their list of scholarship offer list. Some highly competitive units have more 1st board ricipients listing them than they have scholarships available and the bottom of the 1st board applicants may not get a choice of all of their preferred schools.

ROTC scholarship recipients tend to be significantly above average students at the schools they attend. Where an applicant is in that spectrum has a lot to do with how competitive they are within the scholarship applicant pool.
 
Jcleppe said:
I would second goliedads post.

My only thought would be this. During all the interviews my son had during this process he never asked about campus based scholarships. He did however ask at the end of each discussion "If I am not offered a national scholarship what would my other options be to achieve the same goal" Most of those he spoke with explained about the SMP program, joining ROTC and competing for a 3 year scholarship, and a few mentioned that they may have campus scholarships and that he would be considered. A couple of the PMS's told him they were glad to see he was considering all his options and that they would contact him if he was not selected by the 2nd board to explain in greater detail any of the other options available. Luckily for him he was selected on the first round and he didn't need the other options.

I guess my point is that while asking directly about campus scholarships may not be a good idea, asking about what the other options are doesn't hurt. It gives the PMS the option to bring up the subject without the perspective cadet going fishing.

Now, once they are in ROTC tell them not to be afraid to ask for anything, over the past 3 years my son has received some wonderful oppertunities and great leadership positions by basically just walking in and asking for it, sometimes he's amazed that no one else asked.
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Excellent way of an applicant asking good questions to find opportunities to make his/her goal a reality.
 
Patentesq,

I would add just a couple things.

Even the smaller state schools have more applicants on the first board then available spots. It is more of a realitive type thing. If all the schools listed on a application are highly competitive schools the stats of those selected will all be similar, that's even true for less competitive schools. Then the question becomes the number of applicants for each school. A school like Virgina Tech or Texas A&M will have hundreds of applicants which will surely raise the bar. So it more about percentages then anything.

A person can go crazy trying to figure out the ins and outs. Some try to stratagize the school selection process. Some list a couple dream schools and throw in a couple safety schools to balance it out. Then comes the hard part, they receive a scholarship but it's only for the safety school. Then the applicant has to decide whether to take the scholarship or go to the school they have always dreamed about. The decisions never get easier.

My son tried to strike a balance, he never really had a dream school he wanted to attend, what he had was a goal. He wanted to graduate with a degree in Political Science....The kid just loves politics...and become an Army Officer. He looked for schools where he was slightly above the average, schools that had the programs he liked, the facilities, and yeah the sports. He was not an Ivy League contender by no means, he had decent grades, a passable ACT and a ton of sports and EC's and leadership. He received a scholarship the first round and is very happy with his chioce and can't wait to get there. That's his story in a nutshell.
 
goaliedad and Jcleppe,

You two have just made my night! I've just come to the harsh realization that I've set up my DS to compete for an AROTC scholarship against "the No. 1 piano player in the world!" I thought this was supposed to be a NATIONAL scholarship competition!

You don't suppose it's too late to inform Cadet Command that my DS is thinking about . . . er . . . taking on-line lessons to learn how to play the triangle, do you? Geeeeeesh!!

images



Must. Think. Happy. Thoughts. . . .

Going to eat crow now and convey the "enlightening" news to my DS. He's such a great kid that he'll probably respond, "No worries, Dad, I bet that I've got a higher APFT score than the No. 1 piano player in the world."

(Note to Moderators: We need a "crying" smiley for this website!)
 
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Just broke the news to my DS. He responded in the positive way that I expected. He also said, "Life ain't fair. Get over it." (gee, I wonder where I've heard THAT before!).

I think the next kid who posts a "What are my chances with these stats?" question will get the following standard response from patentesq: "Depends. What school are you applying to?"
 
patentesq said:
goaliedad and Jcleppe,

You two have just made my night! I've just come to the harsh realization that I've set up my DS to compete for an AROTC scholarship against "the No. 1 piano player in the world!" I thought this was supposed to be a NATIONAL scholarship competition!

You don't suppose it's too late to inform Cadet Command that my DS is thinking about taking on-line lessons to learn how to play the triangle, do you? Geeeeeesh!!

Must. Think. Happy. Thoughts. . . .

Going to eat crow now and convey the "enlightening" news to my DS. He's such a great kid that he'll probably respond, "No worries, Dad, I bet that I've got a higher APFT score than the No. 1 piano player in the world."

(Note to Moderators: We need a "crying" smiley for this website!)
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If your son is excited about ROTC, he should contact the units where he is likely to attend (with or without scholarship), stop by the office and get to know some people (both cadre and cadet). Regardless of the scholarship situation, getting to know people in advance will help him to hit the ground running when he arrives and put him in a position to be a leader within his freshman class. ROTC is not a passive endeavor and it takes some freshmen a little while to figure that out.

And you know, maybe something unexpected may happen and a scholarship may come available. And who do you think they will call first?
 
patentesq

Must. Think. Happy. Thoughts. . . .!)[/QUOTE said:
:smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::
At this point its the best option

the system is what it is...good but imperfect. Try not to panic. I would pretty much bet your son will have a gazillion (Forrest Gump impression)great offers by spring. If not my DS will be happy to teach him piano:shake:
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Thank you, goaliedad. You are an inspiration.

He plans to do exactly just that. My son is focused on the end game of earning a commission. Sure, the money is nice, but earning a commission is even BETTER. Last time I checked, winning an ROTC scholarship is NOT a prerequisite to earning a commission as an Officer in the armed forces of the United States!

By the way, I never in my life thought that I would read the words "goaliegirl" and "hockey" in the same sentence. I'm impressed!! :thumb:
 
Astute parent actually

patentesq said:
I'm feeling like a totally INCOMPETENT parent right now. like.

Well, when we returned home, he started working on his ACT every day, going to ACT prep class 4 hours a day for over two months.
When the ACT score reports came out this fall, we learned that he received an ACT composite score of 34.
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Here's the deal, you knew that your son was capable of taking on your challenge and also able to score well on the ACT. This is ASTUTE not incompetent to encourage your DS to pursue this route. The abilitity to give him the time, money and encouragement to do this is FANTASTIC! Most parents would not be able to see how a 34 ACT could change your life pathway. Many would say a summer job is what you need to pursue. Celebrate this amazing convergence of your vision and his hard work as both were needed.
 
January 21

Well today DS and parents are off to hear about SMP options and visit with the cadre @ Ohio U. Hoping we're wasting our time with SMP info, but since we don't know yet about AROTC gonna check this out.

The thread took an interesting turn yesterday. Patentesq, I completely agree with Paradoxer - you are not an incompetent parent by any measure. Your DS has great stats, strong family support and sounds like an amazing young man, he should aim for the fence!! Also, if I remember correctly, he wants to become a doctor? If so, where he does his undergrad will be VERY important when applying to Med school in a few years. As parents we can only assess their aptitude, goals and what we know of the world, hope for the best and cheer from the sidelines as they accomplish their dreams. Oh, and be there if the dream turns into a nightmare.

Hope everyone has a fabulous day - I'm outta here until late Saturday.:smile:
 
AROTC

We live in Charlotte, NC. My son is graduating in June 2011. We are also waiting on board results from the Jan board. The Jan board was his first look. My husband and I are both Army Rotc graduates and are now retired from the Army. He has always planned to join the military. He is also a swimmer and has plans to swim in college. We are in the same boat and are anxiously waiting the board results. Good luck to all young adults who are looking to reach their goals in the future.
 
Another curiosity

So I'm checking the usual sites to see if there is any change. I find the usual on the ROTC aplic site ("up for an interview"), but the DodMERB site
(https://dodmerb.tricare.osd.mil/default.aspis ) is acting weird. I've used Safari web browser and firefox... both which have worked fine in the past. Any ideas?
When I go there I get the following message;

***You are not authorized to view this page
The Web server you are attempting to reach has a list of IP addresses that are not allowed to access the Web site, and the IP address of your browsing computer is on this list.

Please try the following:

Contact the Web site administrator if you believe you should be able to view this directory or page.

HTTP Error 403.6 - Forbidden: IP address of the client has been rejected.
Internet Information Services (IIS)***

:ban:
 
January 23rd

Good morning everyone. The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind. DS is reeling with information about the SMP options and other information about his 1st choice school. Also, he received a full merit scholarship to his 2nd choice school in the mail Saturday when we returned home. He has a lot on his mind. This week will hopefully prove to have some answers to all of our biggest concern -- will our DD/DS be offered a scholarship to the schools they truly desire to attend. Well, buckle up-its a long week filled with a lot of twist and turns, IMHO.
 
Ohio2015Parent said:
he received a full merit scholarship to his 2nd choice school in the mail Saturday when we returned home.
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Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is terrific news!

Let me put my "lawyer" hat on for a second. As you well know, it is important to read the fine print of all the offers your fine boy has in front of him. At the end of the day, it may be a better deal for your to reject the AROTC scholarship, take the merit scholarship that has NO STRINGS ATTACHED, and then walk on to ROTC to see if he really likes it.

I really get annoyed when 17 yr old kids say they've wanted to be in the military their whole life. To date, their "whole life" was watching war movies and running around in the back yard playing Army man. For me, I grew up my "whole life" as an Army brat, moving from post to post. I thought that I wanted to be in the military my "whole life." I even thought in my first few years as a 2LT that I wanted to be in my "whole life". Well, my "whole life" changed.

If you have a merit scholarship with NO strings attached (and is renewable), that is a FAR better deal than any of the services can offer. Of course, at some point along the ROTC path, you DS will have to contract and will incur a time commitment once contracted. The risk with the merit scholarship is that you risk losing it if grades go down -- The Army will put you on "probation" first and has a lower minimum requirement than most other scholarships. In short, read the fine print -- every word.
 
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