MIT NROTC

The hard part is...

USNA2017 said:
How hard is it to get accepted to the NROTC program at MIT?
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Well, the hard part for most folks is probably getting accepted by MIT. Since you have an LOA for the academy I'm assuming you would have a good chance of being accepted. You could certainly do NROTC as a college programmer with no problem provided you're accepted by MIT. Getting an NROTC scholarship is another matter. I'm confident very few are given to MIT due to the cost. However those odds are greater than 0, but if you haven't applied for the scholarship yet (I see no mention in your other posts) then you've already missed some of the boards and those scholarships may already be given out. Kind of late to be working plan B but it's not totally hopeless.

Have you heard from your MOCs yet on nominations? Have you applied for VP nomination? If you haven't applied for VP nom yet get on it if the deadline hasn't passed. You only need one nom from a Senator or congressman or VP. Doesn't matter which. :thumb:
 
My DS was awarded a NROTC scholarship, five years ago, there. Which is a long time ago. If you have the academics, to be accepted there and meet all the requirements to be accepted. You are good to go. If you apply and go for the interview, please pay attention, to what the interviewer is telling you. My DS did not and lost it all. He is now a high school science teacher at a private prep school in Alabama. He wanted to the next Einstein.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress,

RGK
 
Hi Kinnem,

Thanks for the info. Yea I finished my entire application for NROTC a month ago and I was just wondering if a nrotc scholarship for a particular college was harder than another. I applied for all of my nominations and since I live in NJ, I won't hear back till the end of January. The only college I would go to besides USNA would be MIT.

Also, do you happen to know how many ppl get a nrotc scholarship to mit?
 
USNA2017 said:
Hi Kinnem,

Thanks for the info. Yea I finished my entire application for NROTC a month ago and I was just wondering if a nrotc scholarship for a particular college was harder than another. I applied for all of my nominations and since I live in NJ, I won't hear back till the end of January. The only college I would go to besides USNA would be MIT.

Also, do you happen to know how many ppl get a nrotc scholarship to mit?
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No idea on how many get NROTC scholarships to MIT. I would think the cadre there could answer that question and it may be helpful to give them a call in any case.

I must say though that you need to wake up and smell the coffee. I understand you're extremely qualified academically. With the LOA that's a given. And you might even be able to be sooo picky as to only go to USNA or MIT. But let's pretend for a minute that for some reason you are unable to go to USNA and you don't get a scholarship to MIT. Can you afford MIT in that case? Make sure you have applications into other schools on your NROTC application mister, and make sure you can afford at least one of them without the scholarship or vast amounts of financial aid. There are other extremely fine schools in this nation besides those two, and engineering schools to boot! You need to make sure you have a plan for going to college on your own dime. If you can afford MIT without financial aid and you're absolutely certain you'll be accepted there, then case closed. Otherwise work those backup plans. You're smarter than this. (Of course I'm sure you were merely speaking figuratively but one never knows),
 
Sorry if I came out cocky in any way.
What I meant to say that MIT and USNA are my top choices.
Also, I will be apply for financial aid as well for MIT and I have applied to other schools for NROTC such as my state school rutgers.
I have been admitted to rutgers honors and I plan to go there if I end up unable to be accepted or appointed to either mit or usna.
 
@USNA2017
Would you willing to share your stats that got you your LOA?
 
Sorry I didn't see this post until now. My son is currently a sophomore in the NROTC program at MIT. There are approximately 8-10 students each year from MIT (and others from Harvard and Tufts) in the battalion. Having the NROTC scholarship assigned there can give you an edge in the admissions process for MIT. Curious why you didn't apply EA already though?

If you haven't been in touch with the battalion yet, I'd strongly recommend you do so. They can lobby for you with admissions and the more they know about you the better. As far as receiving a scholarship to MIT, pretty much ALL students in the battalion are on scholarship and most received it beforehand. But the issue is the same as getting a scholarship from NROTC for any school - meeting the NROTC board and qualifications. If you do that and are eligible for a scholarship, getting it assigned to MIT won't be a problem as they never fill all their slots. Did you list MIT as your first choice? Alternatively, if you get into MIT on your own and simply join NROTC, they will find a scholarship for you (at least for everyone so far in my son's experience). Most people though could use that admissions boost so getting in touch with the battalion even before you know if you have the scholarship and definitely once you do (before MIT RD decisions in March) is worth the effort.

If you haven't checked out the Battalion website, you can get a lot of info there at http://nrotc.mit.edu/ If you have any specific questions, my son is home until Saturday morning and I can ask him anything or get him in touch with you. His initial first choice was also USNA and he had his appointment there in December and was deferred by MIT but once he got the MIT acceptance in March and visited in April, it cemented his decision. Seems like many (if not most) of the students there were considering both and have parents/siblings, etc. from one of the academies.

Do you know what community you're considering in the Navy? I will say that MIT is very strongly geared towards Subs/Nuclear Surface. If you're looking at anything else (ie Aviation), expect to be pressured otherwise!
 
Hi marciemi,

I didn't apply to mit early because at first I wanted to ED to columbia but a couple of days before the deadline, I decided I liked other schools more than columbia. So I didn't have enough time to get my transcript, interview and recommendations in within the deadline.
I listed MIT as my first choice and completed my application around a month ago. I'm also interested in submarines and nuclear power. Do you know if there is someone i can contact like via email at mit's battalion? It only had a phone number and I don't think they'll be open the next few days because of the new year. Thank you.
 
USNA2017 - I will send you a PM with the POC's at MIT. There will be 2 officers, who would be the ones to start with as far as input on your application. Also, I'll give you the recruiting officer (a midshipman) who's a friend of my son's and the person to get the official PR side of things from and my son's email, who is always willing to talk anyone's ears off about the battalion or the Navy as a whole! Let me know if you haven't received it in an hour or so (I need to get the emails from my son first).

Also, just FYI, the next month at MIT is IAP (Independent Activities Period) which is kind of an optional/fun/down month so classes (and NROTC) don't start back up again until February. I'd still expect people to be around, but not the same reaction time as you'd be likely to get at other times of year. On the other hand though, the mids should be available and not stressed with classes so it's a great time to talk with them.

Edited to add that I sent the PM
 
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USNA2017 said:
Sorry if I came out cocky in any way.
What I meant to say that MIT and USNA are my top choices.
Also, I will be apply for financial aid as well for MIT and I have applied to other schools for NROTC such as my state school rutgers.
I have been admitted to rutgers honors and I plan to go there if I end up unable to be accepted or appointed to either mit or usna.
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Cocky is OK. I have no problem with cocky. Sounding like you have no plan beyond USNA and MIT is not. Glad to hear you have the backup plans in place. I figured you did but then you wouldn't be the first kid on here who didn't. Good luck. Hope the nominations come through. I suspect they will. :thumb:
 
marciemi

could you possible send me that contact information for the Battalion. I would like to contact them about questions we have about getting a waiver for my DS. He received a medical waiver for the Naval Academy and an appointment already but we have been waiting to hear from NROTC about a waiver from them. I read a post on this site that we should contact the command and that is why I am asking. He has already received the NROTC Scholarship and has been accepted to MIT so the waiver is the last thing we need to complete the deal.
Thanks
 
Marciemi,

You appear to be someone who knows about MIT & the NROTC program there.

My student is being recruited for sports, yet just got deferred. He also wants to do NROTC. We do not come from a military family and I am not very familiar with the NROTC. As part of letting him mature, I have let him do all the applications etc. on his own. Besides MIT, he did get into the USNA. But, he prefers to NROTC at MIT (that is if he get in).

So I have so many questions. My first question is regarding playing Varsity sports while doing NROTC @ MIT. The website says they can. With MIT already a time pressure, is it really feasible to do both?

Next, It appears from your post that a student can join NROTC AFTER getting accepted. Then (if there is availability) get the NROTC Scholarship. So, that leads me to wonder HOW would a student get the NROTC Scholarship at that time (I thought it had to be done before Freshman year)? Then, let's say there are NO NROTC Scholarships available, where is the point that the student becomes commited to service? So, is there the posibility that they be obligated to pay for the remaining years of MIT on their own while still being commited to serve?

I have so many questions, but I'll stop here.

Thanks for your input in advance.
 
Inquiring_Parent said:
Marciemi,

You appear to be someone who knows about MIT & the NROTC program there.

My student is being recruited for sports, yet just got deferred. He also wants to do NROTC. We do not come from a military family and I am not very familiar with the NROTC. As part of letting him mature, I have let him do all the applications etc. on his own. Besides MIT, he did get into the USNA. But, he prefers to NROTC at MIT (that is if he get in).

So I have so many questions. My first question is regarding playing Varsity sports while doing NROTC @ MIT. The website says they can. With MIT already a time pressure, is it really feasible to do both?

Next, It appears from your post that a student can join NROTC AFTER getting accepted. Then (if there is availability) get the NROTC Scholarship. So, that leads me to wonder HOW would a student get the NROTC Scholarship at that time (I thought it had to be done before Freshman year)? Then, let's say there are NO NROTC Scholarships available, where is the point that the student becomes commited to service? So, is there the posibility that they be obligated to pay for the remaining years of MIT on their own while still being commited to serve?

I have so many questions, but I'll stop here.

Thanks for your input in advance.
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While I think doing sports at MIT while doing NROTC would be very difficult I'll leave it to others with more knowledge in that area.

I have some expertise regarding an on campus (or NROTC sideload scholarship) as my son just won one. Each semester, beginning the second semester of freshman year, your DS would complete an application for a sideload scholarship. This is a national competition just like the 4 year high school scholarship is. If he is awarded a scholarship, he contracts, and is then committed to active duty when he graduates. The number of scholarships available nationwide varies each year but I think for this class year and the next there is about 120 scholarships available each year. There was a thread within about the past week that had the exact numbers.

If he doesn't win a scholarship, he continues in the program and tries again the next semester. If he fails to win a scholarship by his second semester of sophomore year, that same application is used to determine if he will be given Advanced Standing. Advanced Standing entitles him to the monthly stipend and allows him to continue in the program with the obligation to serve on active duty after graduation. If he does not get Advanced Standing he is dropped from the program and has no obligation to serve since he received no money.

If he is contracted under any scholarship, and drops, or is dropped, from the program for whatever reason after completion of his freshman year he is obligated to either enlist or repay the scholarship at the choice of the Navy. He could be dropped for not maintaining an acceptable GPA, or for a DUI, or other various and sundry reasons. In these times of tight money and budget cuts it seems to pretty much mean he'll need to repay the scholarship. He would continue his education on his own dime. The terms for repaying the scholarship are generally a term of 5 years (at least that's so for an AFROTC case I'm aware of) and the obligation starts immediately, not after graduation from college (at least that's my understanding). Given the amount of tuition they pay for MIT this could be quite a considerable sum of money.

So in theory, there is a scenario where he drops or is dropped from the program because they allow him to enlist to "repay" the obligation if he won a sideload scholarship. As a practical matter this seems unlikely and instead he would be under some level of debt burden.

Hope this helps.
 
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Kinnem,

You have been very helpful.

And I would assume that the ability to get a sideload scholarship or Advanced Standing varies college by college - correct?

And if I read the NROTC liturature correctly, the service commitment after college is 5 years if there is a Scholarship (reg. Freshman NROTC or sideload) and if we pay (or college financial aid), then only 3 years of service - correct?

Everytime I get more informtion, I just seem to come up with more questions. I thank you so much for input!!
 
Inquiring_Parent said:
Kinnem,

You have been very helpful.

And I would assume that the ability to get a sideload scholarship or Advanced Standing varies college by college - correct?

And if I read the NROTC liturature correctly, the service commitment after college is 5 years if there is a Scholarship (reg. Freshman NROTC or sideload) and if we pay (or college financial aid), then only 3 years of service - correct?

Everytime I get more informtion, I just seem to come up with more questions. I thank you so much for input!!
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For NROTC the competition for scholarships is national. Your DD would be competing against the other college programmers across the nation for the scholarship. I'm not sure how the college comes into play, if at all.

You are correct that for Navy Option MIDN on scholarship the service commitment is at least 5 years. Particular jobs (eg. pilot) will have a longer service commitment so the Navy can recoup its costs of training. Navy Option MIDN who get Advanced Standing are committed to three years Active duty. So yes you are correct. However, I'm not certain what the commitment is if, say, one gets a scholarship in the sophomore year. I'd like to think its 4 years but I really don't know.

I assume your DD is interested in Navy Option and not Marine Option? I only ask as the active duty requirements for Marine Options on scholarship is only 4 years.

I fully anticipate you'll have plenty of questions to ask as you dig into this. That's the normal course of affairs here. This stuff involves the government and is therefore, by definition, not simple. :biggrin:
 
kinnem said:
I'm not certain what the commitment is if, say, one gets a scholarship in the sophomore year. I'd like to think its 4 years but I really don't know.
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Not. A scholarship granted at any time (includind 2 yr. at the end of sophomore year) comes with a 5 yr. ADSO/
 
I apologize for the delay. We were on a cruise to celebrate our 25th anniversary and I wasn't in contact. ltcornmom - I gave you my email in the other thread and will be glad to give you contact info that way. Would prefer not to post it here.

Inquiring_Parent - feel free to PM me if you'd like and I can give you my email (or use the one in the other thread). As I said earlier, in my son's experience in NROTC, everyone gets a scholarship if they join and are qualified. People who joined during freshman year got it retroactively applied back to the beginning of the year. Due to requirements, it would be hard to join much after second semester of freshman year. So as far as I know, everyone has that 5 year requirement. I don't know how it works if you paid on your own but you would need to commit by the end of your sophomore year in order to do the (required for graduation) cruise that summer. You'd also have to fit Cortramid in there somewhere so I'm thinking again it wouldn't be possible to join much after the start of second semester (freshman year) and in that case they'd find you the scholarship (of course this could all change at any time).

As far as varsity athletics, they strongly encourage it with ROTC. Athletics at MIT (with the possible exception of Crew) are far different than at most schools. ROTC will work with you to make sure you can do it. My son estimated about half the ROTC students do both and the schedules are worked out so there aren't conflicts (or they're simply excused from ROTC ones). However, it is of course a LOT of time commitment so your student would have to see if it was possible for them. My ROTC son finds there aren't enough hours in the day as it is and really, really seems to have to work to keep up the grades and get everything done. My youngest son is a freshman at MIT as well (and not in ROTC but in a sport) and so far hasn't seemed to have to study at all. :rolleyes:

Incidentally, my son who is in ROTC was also deferred in December when he applied. I think ROTC tends to wait and compare all candidates and "make their bids" once March rolls around (kind of like the academies are doing more now too - at least USMA and USAFA). Is your son in contact with the officers there? I honestly believe (as do most of the parents I talked with) that they have some pull with admissions when the time comes around as long as they're qualified on their own right (ie ROTC won't get them in if they're not a good candidate already, but might give them the edge over someone else if they are). I can give you the best officers to contact who might have input on the boards if you'd like to email/PM me. Does your son have the NROTC scholarship? Is it assigned to MIT if so? I think that makes a big difference in how much they'll back you as far as gauging how serious they are about the school/commitment. Is he applying to any other ROTC programs? My son had both AF and Navy ROTC scholarships and I think having both branches putting input on his behalf had to have helped!

Again, feel free to email me and I'll be glad to answer any specific questions and/or get your son in touch with my son rather than babbling aimlessless like I seem to be doing here! Good luck to you and your son!
 
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