March 8th, 2011 AROTC Board

March 16th

Well, as much as I'd love the results to come out this week, too, I doubt it. This waiting is becoming very difficult, we have at least two more weeks by most of our best SWAGS, possibly longer. But on the upside, we don't live in Japan. Prayers to all of Japanese people struggling with waiting for food, water and warmth. It helped me put our situation in perspective, hope it helps some of you too. I think most of you would agree, thinking about others and their dire situations reminds me to be damn thankful for what we do have. Kids healthy?(not counting DodMERB issues)Pay check still coming? Electric still on? We're good. Hope this helps you as much as it does me.
 
Ohio2015Parent said:
Well, as much as I'd love the results to come out this week, too, I doubt it. This waiting is becoming very difficult, we have at least two more weeks by most of our best SWAGS, possibly longer. But on the upside, we don't live in Japan. Prayers to all of Japanese people struggling with waiting for food, water and warmth. It helped me put our situation in perspective, hope it helps some of you too. I think most of you would agree, thinking about others and their dire situations reminds me to be damn thankful for what we do have. Kids healthy?(not counting DodMERB issues)Pay check still coming? Electric still on? We're good. Hope this helps you as much as it does me.
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Agree whole heartedly ... Also agree that having kids that are able to even be competitive in this realm is a blessing. I teach a lot of troubled teenagers with a lot of serious issues in their lives that would be grateful for a shot at Podunk Comm College, much less have the future our kids have. Sad to say some don't even hope to graduate HS. It is all truly a matter of perspective.
 
Agreed

Ohio2015Parent said:
Well, as much as I'd love the results to come out this week, too, I doubt it. This waiting is becoming very difficult, we have at least two more weeks by most of our best SWAGS, possibly longer. But on the upside, we don't live in Japan. Prayers to all of Japanese people struggling with waiting for food, water and warmth. It helped me put our situation in perspective, hope it helps some of you too. I think most of you would agree, thinking about others and their dire situations reminds me to be damn thankful for what we do have. Kids healthy?(not counting DodMERB issues)Pay check still coming? Electric still on? We're good. Hope this helps you as much as it does me.
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This time of year doesn't have nearly the distractions that were available previously. Spring cleaning just doesn't cut it nor does watching the snow melt, although it's better than watching the snow fall.

DS's classmate received NROTC to Notre Dame this week, so that is encouraging. Hopefully the rest of us will have good news also.
 
paradoxer said:
This time of year doesn't have nearly the distractions that were available previously. Spring cleaning just doesn't cut it nor does watching the snow melt, although it's better than watching the snow fall.

DS's classmate received NROTC to Notre Dame this week, so that is encouraging. Hopefully the rest of us will have good news also.
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Spring cleaning is done, even the windows. Broom is still around and able to do its job. Pantry is organized, taxes filed, FAFSA done, no more snow(please, no more snow:wink:) and have helped DD already in college change majors. No a whole heck of a lot left here to distract me either. Although, sunshine and near 70 today will get me to a local park to walk more now.

Congrads to his friend, can't wait to congradulate you and DS too. The waiting will eventually end one way or the other.
 
bjkuds said:
Agree whole heartedly ... Also agree that having kids that are able to even be competitive in this realm is a blessing. I teach a lot of troubled teenagers with a lot of serious issues in their lives that would be grateful for a shot at Podunk Comm College, much less have the future our kids have. Sad to say some don't even hope to graduate HS. It is all truly a matter of perspective.
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Bless you for being in the classroom, especially with at risk kiddos.:thumb:
 
Anxiously waiting here in L.A. for AROTC! Waiting is not fun. Question. Does anyone know what the process is for a 3year scholarship? Son is planning on going to school of choice with or without 4year scholarship, hoping to apply for an on-campus based scholarship, but if that doesn't work out either, he will try for a 3year scholarship. How does that process work? Does he reapply? does it automatically transfer over and he gets thrown into 1st board for next year? any help/advice would be most helpful.
 
mhale said:
Anxiously waiting here in L.A. for AROTC! Waiting is not fun. Question. Does anyone know what the process is for a 3year scholarship? Son is planning on going to school of choice with or without 4year scholarship, hoping to apply for an on-campus based scholarship, but if that doesn't work out either, he will try for a 3year scholarship. How does that process work? Does he reapply? does it automatically transfer over and he gets thrown into 1st board for next year? any help/advice would be most helpful.
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Our family is in the same situation. What I have put together is that 3 yr awards are either from the current years board results(yeah, waiting sucks) or they are awarded as the "campus based funds" we keep hearing may or may not be available. I don't believe our kids roll over into next years boards in any way. Those board are for the incoming 2012 graduating class. So, campus based is their only other option, 3yr or 2yr, something will be better than nothing and getting the opportunity to commission may just cost some of our families a lot of money. Guess we will have to see what the 3/8 results bring...hope this helps at all.
 
You can get 3.5 and 4 year in-school scholarships. Just be fit, sign up for ROTC classes and be enthusiastic. If you can't impress the campus staff then maybe a commisionis not for you.
 
mhale said:
Anxiously waiting here in L.A. for AROTC! Waiting is not fun. Question. Does anyone know what the process is for a 3year scholarship? Son is planning on going to school of choice with or without 4year scholarship, hoping to apply for an on-campus based scholarship, but if that doesn't work out either, he will try for a 3year scholarship. How does that process work? Does he reapply? does it automatically transfer over and he gets thrown into 1st board for next year? any help/advice would be most helpful.
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Just a thought:
Many students who do not get a scholarship, enter via SMP (previous thread here),and get their schooling paid that way.
 
Thank you evryone for your suggestions. Very helpful. Just keep on waiting, then onto plan plan B,C. Someone mentioned SMP. How does that work? Not familiar with it. I read a bit about it, but not quite sure if I understand completely. Anyone have anymore insight on that as well?
 
Thank you Ohio parent for that. Which schools has your son applied to? Unfortunately my son only applied to private schools, which as you all know are expensive. So yes, it might be costly but it is truly in his heart of hearts to be an officer in the ARMY. I feel will be very worth it in the end. Just trying to see if there are other avenues we can venture out on, with out having to pay a whole lot! I was told today for a campus based scholarship, he will need to stand out, develop a good relationship with the battalion and ...............not sure what else. any insight on that as well? Good luck.
 
mhale said:
Thank you Ohio parent for that. Which schools has your son applied to? Unfortunately my son only applied to private schools, which as you all know are expensive. So yes, it might be costly but it is truly in his heart of hearts to be an officer in the ARMY. I feel will be very worth it in the end. Just trying to see if there are other avenues we can venture out on, with out having to pay a whole lot! I was told today for a campus based scholarship, he will need to stand out, develop a good relationship with the battalion and ...............not sure what else. any insight on that as well? Good luck.
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Fortunately, DS has applied/been accepted to state schools with some merit scholarships in play as well. Hopefully the private schools will be a little generous with the financial aid, our older DD was awarded a few nice packages from privates when she was choosing a few years ago. She ended up at an OOS with merit money making it cheaper than living at home at going to in state.

Campus based scholarships are competitive, so yeah, they better stand out and be jumping up every opportunity to show their cadre what they can bring to the table plus they need good academics too. DS already has a decent relationship with the ROO at his school so hopefully it will continue and he can knock their socks off when he's finally on campus.

The waiting is slowly making me crazy, so glad sunshine and warm weather are coming:smile:
 
Ohio2015Parent said:
Spring cleaning is done, even the windows. Broom is still around and able to do its job. Pantry is organized, taxes filed, FAFSA done, no more snow(please, no more snow:wink:) and have helped DD already in college change majors. No a whole heck of a lot left here to distract me either. Although, sunshine and near 70 today will get me to a local park to walk more now.

Congrads to his friend, can't wait to congradulate you and DS too. The waiting will eventually end one way or the other.
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Spring cleaning not done. FAFSA & Federal Taxes done. State & locals still to do. My Yard needs landscaped. Gonna get the most out of DS before he matriculates.:yllol: Oh and Ohio,,I'm not a school teacher,,don't want to be misleading,,youth pastor by night. 911 is my day gig:smile: And they are calling for snow/rain on Wednesday. Everything is still muddy here from the recent floods...thus I remain a gerbil on my treadmill in the basement for a few days longer. Waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. DS receiving a usable scholarship is a long shot though with him only wanting 1 school which he will go to regardless. Not sure if it would be worse to get no offer or an offer to an in state school that he won't go to and not be able to transfer it to OOS. In that regard we've painted ourselves in a corner without options, yet he is going where he wants. Any place else would be "settling" in his mind. I guess this is where making a decision to go for it and not looking back comes in.:smile:
 
bjkuds said:
Spring cleaning not done. FAFSA & Federal Taxes done. State & locals still to do. My Yard needs landscaped. Gonna get the most out of DS before he matriculates.:yllol: Oh and Ohio,,I'm not a school teacher,,don't want to be misleading,,youth pastor by night. 911 is my day gig:smile: And they are calling for snow/rain on Wednesday. Everything is still muddy here from the recent floods...thus I remain a gerbil on my treadmill in the basement for a few days longer. Waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. DS receiving a usable scholarship is a long shot though with him only wanting 1 school which he will go to regardless. Not sure if it would be worse to get no offer or an offer to an in state school that he won't go to and not be able to transfer it to OOS. In that regard we've painted ourselves in a corner without options, yet he is going where he wants. Any place else would be "settling" in his mind. I guess this is where making a decision to go for it and not looking back comes in.:smile:
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You still deserve the blessing, youth pastor isn't taking the easy way out by any means and my DH is a 25 year Fire/EMS worker so I know 911 earns their money being someone's best friend in some the worst moments of their lives. Good work.

Sorry to hear the chores are adding up, but, yeah, I'm getting my DS's strong back to do a lot before he leaves too. We have 10, yes, I said, TEN cats that use a lot of liter boxes, so I'll miss his help on the scoop patrol:wink: next year.

Hoping the waiting gets done soon. The sunshine today was amazing:biggrin:
 
mhale said:
Someone mentioned SMP. How does that work?
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Major Toth (clarksonarmy)has a great blog post on SMP Here

For a broad overview of SMP Click HERE

This covers the various options, money wise; click HERE

It's not quite the 'great deal' that a four yr scholarship is,
it takes more time and commitment, but it does have some
real advantages as well; experience, training, time in service,
and in some cases more money.
Much more complicated, lots of options, research and caution required.
 
Good luck to all of you as the process closes out. If you have not picked up on it yet, this whole process and philosophy behind it has changed significantly this year, adn unfortunately changed mid-stream. There is far less money, there will be fewer scholarships, choices will be limited especially for those that have hopes set on high cost privates schools, and many will have to accept alternate paths.

Remember why your students are doing this and remind them - service to nation. No one needs a scholarship to participate in ROTC or to commission. If you are not selected and truly want to serve than enroll in MSI classes when you get to summer freshman registration, attend PT, Leadership labs, and do exceptionally well in school. If any on campus money is at your school it will be very competitive - but it will be out there for those that fight for it.

Consider seriously SMP options if money is an issue. Tuition assistance is pretty good for the USAR and fantastic in some states for the National Guard. And yes, you can still commission active duty as an SMP. The time with troops before commissioning is invaluable and a big missing piece for many USMA and scholarship cadets.

Last word of advice, and a repeat from an earlier post. If you are pinning your hopes for a particular school (especially a high cost private school) on this process you are making a terrible mistake. Treat ROTC like sports at a Div III school. It is an awesome opportunity and experience, it sets you aside from the masses... but you can't count on it to pay for school just because it is there.
 
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57Redleg said:
Good luck to all of you as the process closes out. If you have not picked up on it yet, this whole process and philosophy behind it has changed significantly this year, adn unfortunately changed mid-stream. There is far less money, there will be fewer scholarships, choices will be limited especially for those that have hopes set on high cost privates schools, and many will have to accept alternate paths.

Remember why your students are doing this and remind them - service to nation. No one needs a scholarship to participate in ROTC or to commission. If you are not selected and truly want to serve than enroll in MSI classes when you get to summer freshman registration, attend PT, Leadership labs, and do exceptionally well in school. If any on campus money is at your school it will be very competitive - but it will be out there for those that fight for it.

Consider seriously SMP options if money is an issue. Tuition assistance is pretty good for the USAR and fantastic in some states for the National Guard. And yes, you can still commission active duty as an SMP. The time with troops before commissioning is invaluable and a big missing piece for many USMA and scholarship cadets.

Last word of advice, and a repeat from an earlier post. If you are pinning your hopes for a particular school (especially a high cost private school) on this process you are making a terrible mistake. Treat ROTC like sports at a Div III school. It is an awesome opportunity and experience, it sets you aside from the masses... but you can't count on it to pay for school just because it is there.
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Excellent Post.

The only thing I would disagree in part with would be that being "with troops" before commissioning is invaluable. There has been a long debate on whether this is truley a benefit. SMP is a great program, make sure you research it well. There are many different ways you can participate in SMP, not all have tuition assistance, it depends on whether you complete BCT and AIT. Good point about National Guard, they have scholarships as well for those that wish to serve as a reserve in the NG.

57redleg is spot on in respect to school selections, listing an in state school will give you a boost.

There is one other thing all applicants need to be aware of, DODMERB. Getting medically qualified can sometimes be just as hard as getting the scholarship. They don't spend much if any time talking to you about this process and just how difficult in can be for some applicants. My advice would be to google the Dodmerb Medical History form and look it over. Find the list of disqualifiers and read them as well. You may be surprised at what can disqualify a cadet. There is a waiver process but waivers are given on a case by case basis. Make sure you read over the Dodmerb process and if you think you have any issues prepare early.

Get your application in early and try to be ready for the first board. Make sure you apply early to all the schools on your list. The second board this year gave out far fewer selections of schools. On the first board my son was offered the scholarship to 5 schools, Many of those offered the second board only received the offer to 1 school, and not always their first choice.

There are two types of applicants, those that have a dream school in mind and if they get the scholarship great, if not they will still attend that school. The second is an applicant that wants the scholarship and is less set on a certain school. You need to think about which catagory you fall in when making your school list.

Again Great post 57redleg, you captured the process in a nutshell.
 
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