Minutemen Scholarship vs ROTC

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veronicawhite

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Jun 14, 2018
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Hello! I am a rising senior and I am interested in joining the military. I want to do the AROTC but I will probably not get it because of my gpa. I read about the Minutemen scholarship and I wanted to know the answer to a couple of questions:

1. How competitive is it? I have a 3.39 gpa and 1400ish SAT
2. Do I have to do basic or AIT before I get it (it says 4-year scholarship)
3. When should I start the application?
 
Talk to an AROTC ROO about it. They can provide you with all your options and their own professional insight. Perhaps on of the ROOs that hang out here will chime in.

EDIT: Oh yeah, apply for the AROTC scholarship even if you don't think you'll get it. They look at far more than GPA. Think Scholar, Athlete, Leader. They consider the whole package along with SAT/ACT scores, etc. The only way to know for sure you will, or won't, get an AROTC scholarship is to apply.
 
Maybe you worded it incorrectly, but you can get into AROTC with any GPA. I would assume you meant scholarship
 
I agree, you should still apply for the AROTC National Scholarship, your GPA and SAT scores are not bad as long as you can have a strong application in regard to Athletics and Leadership.

As it was stated, you can join AROTC without a scholarship and then compete for a Battalion Scholarship if available through your Battalion.

The main thing to remember is that if you do receive a Minuteman Scholarship you would be required to commission into the Reserves/National Guard, you would not be able to go Active Duty.

I also strongly agree that you should be talking with the ROO at the School/Battalion you are looking to attend to get all the information and options regarding ROTC. Do not simply go to a regular recruiter, they will work to get you to enlist and do not have the information you will get from a ROTC Battalion ROO.
 
Also as a SMP cadet you will be required to attend all drills and maybe even AT depending on your summer training schedule. Just keep that in mind when weighing your options.

A bonus is you’ll get lots of high speed gear your unit may issue you so thats a plus :) (ie medium rucks and IOTV and ACH)

When concerning BCT and AIT, it all depends on how much time you have. If you do have enough time, you will attend BCT. AIT on the other hand differs. Depending on your situation, you may do split op or be required to do a MOS that gets you out fast enough for college (ie infantry, combat engineer, or transpo 88m just to name a few)
 
my gpa and sat was lower and recieved scholarship. Still apply
 
veronicawhite said:
Do you mean you received the minutemen scholarship, or the rotc scholarship?
Click to expand...

Both scholarships are ROTC scholarships, one requires you to serve Reserve/National Guard and the other allows you to compete for active duty.

I assume he is referring to the National ROTC Scholarship.
 
Yes!!! Apply! It is a whole person score, and GPA is just one piece and your SAT scores and even your GPA are competitive for Army ROTC. The higher the better of course, but over a 3.0 gives you full points on your PMS interview for GPA. Another thing is if you do not get a national scholarship, having done the application might help your us get a campus based earlier. Most schools want to see how you do first semester before giving you a campus based scholarship, however, every year we hear of applicants that do not get a national scholarship but end up getting a call from one of their listed offering them one directly. Here are some suggestions to think about -

1. Do you want to have the possibility of serving Active Duty? if yes, DO NOT accept a minuteman scholarship at this time.
2. Do you know for certain you want to serve in the NG or Reserves and do not want to do Active Duty? Then a minuteman scholarship is a great option.
3. Make sure to visit some of your schools as soon as possible, preferably before you have to submit your application, meet the ROO (recruiting operations officer) while visiting the school. Their contact info is usually on the school’s ROTC web page.
4. The first year of ROTC with or without a scholarship is non-binding, which means you have your freshman year to decide if it is really for you before you have any commitment to serve.

My daughter had a slightly higher GPA and a much lower test score in 2016 and received a 3 year national scholarship on the 3rd board. She chose a school that provided room and board to all scholarship recipients for all four years, even 3 year Advanced designees and she got upgraded to a 3.5 year scholarship a month into the school year. She feared she would not get one as well but was determined to join ROTC even if she didn’t. She had a plan A (scholarship all 4 years), Plan B (schools she would choose with a 3 year scholarship) and a plan C (no national scholarhship), and she applied to all schools and school based scholarships as if any of those could happen. She had been approached about NG, but she knew her plans A, B and C all included active duty. Answer the Active Duty question for yourself and that should direct you in the right direction. But definitely login to the ROTC scholarship and apply, it costs no money, just a little of your time and just the experience itself will be valuable! Good luck to you and please keep us posted.

One more thing there is a great blog post by a current ROO and SA forum member that explains the whole person score, hopefully this will help convince you to apply, the scoring is so much more than your GPA and test scores! The break down in 2018 might be different than 2012, but at least it will give you perspective on the process.

https://goldenknightbattalion.com/2012/07/13/the-whole-person-score-what-is-it/
 
The moral of the story is to let them say no to you (hopefull yes). If you tell yourself no, there is no way it could ever be yes
 
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