Mom needing some advice

[KeepCalmAnd]

Keep posting we have a LOT to talk about! And good luck to your son, big decisions ahead.

Thank you! To clarify, my DD is finding she likes soccer more than track. Plus she misses her teammates. I've also read and heard from others that spring of sophomore year through summer is the time when recruiting occurs.

 

[Dckc88]

Thank you! To clarify, my DD is finding she likes soccer more than track. Plus she misses her teammates. I've also read and heard from others that spring of sophomore year through summer is the time when recruiting occurs.

For top programs yes, for majority it is just starting.

 

[USMA 1994]

I have to chime in here with very similar experiences from my daughter. She played soccer all of her life but knew that DIV I college soccer was probably not in the cards and also did track as a hobby after the soccer season. She had some minor interest from the same type of DIV III schools to play soccer and had more interest from these schools to run track. She told me one day that track and soccer would not pay her bills for the rest of her life and she would not sacrifice her educational opportunities just to play a sport.

She ended up picking a private school in Dallas that her ROTC scholarship covered most of the tuition and had additional academic aid. She walked into to track coaches office and told him she wanted to be part of his team. His response was "I do not have any money left, but we would be happy to have you if you want to come and work hard everyday." The amount of support provided to the athletes will surprise most people. Title IV is an amazing thing for the athletes that are not football players. Everything in the athletic department is geared to helping these kids succeed from mandatory study hall, dedicated tutors, individual academic counselors, nutritionist, trainers and it is offered to all athletes.

The school she picked does not have a local ROTC Battalion and she has to commute across the Dallas Metroplex at least once a week for ROTC.

If your student is passionate enough about these things, they will be successful. The tools are all in place and the colleges typically provide the support to ensure success.

 

[Dckc88]

I have to chime in here with very similar experiences from my daughter. She played soccer all of her life but knew that DIV I college soccer was probably not in the cards and also did track as a hobby after the soccer season. She had some minor interest from the same type of DIV III schools to play soccer and had more interest from these schools to run track. She told me one day that track and soccer would not pay her bills for the rest of her life and she would not sacrifice her educational opportunities just to play a sport.

She ended up picking a private school in Dallas that her ROTC scholarship covered most of the tuition and had additional academic aid. She walked into to track coaches office and told him she wanted to be part of his team. His response was "I do not have any money left, but we would be happy to have you if you want to come and work hard everyday." The amount of support provided to the athletes will surprise most people. Title IV is an amazing thing for the athletes that are not football players. Everything in the athletic department is geared to helping these kids succeed from mandatory study hall, dedicated tutors, individual academic counselors, nutritionist, trainers and it is offered to all athletes.

The school she picked does not have a local ROTC Battalion and she has to commute across the Dallas Metroplex at least once a week for ROTC.

If your student is passionate enough about these things, they will be successful. The tools are all in place and the colleges typically provide the support to ensure success.

Very good advice!!! Honestly for my ROTC kiddo she let athletics go to pursue the path she is on also knowing she was not a DI athlete, and decided she didn't want to "pay to play" in college. For my non-ROTC kids, they are part of a minority that were getting athletic offers as early as end of 8th grade to pay for school (both made their decisions mid-sophomore year) there are a whole lot of scenarios in between!!! My daughter is at a DI school and there are several ROTC cadets that also are on Shelton teams. It can be done.

 

[AROTC-dad]

Simply put the demands of the reserves may outweigh the

As far as your son is concerned @AROTC-dad has a son who did not get the Navy options he wanted, picked an affordable school for AROTC, received a 3.5 year campus based scholarship and has not looked back! I am sure he would be more than happy to share the story and give some insight for your son.

My DS applied two years ago to USNA, receiving a nomination but getting TWE'd very late in the game. He was accepted to The Citadel, but at $50K out of state and having been turned down for the NROTC/MO scholarship, it would have been a financial challenge to attend El Cid.

My ended up choosing to attend a local State University (Nevada) where he received reduced tuition but only had access to Army ROTC.

There were three reasons for choosing Nevada:

• MUCH less tuiton...we could afford to pay out of pocket all four years.
• Closer to home....3 hours drive away.
• He had access to the Sierra Nevada mountains where he could snowboard. (Became an instructor)

He enrolled into AROTC as a "walk-on" cadet. He busted his rear (academically, fitness and EC's) and ended up earning a 3 year AD scholarship by November of his freshman semester. By February, they extended it to 3.5 year and paid for his spring semester as well.

Overall, my DS feels he made a great choice, because of a variety of reasons. One reason I suspect is that he wanted to be closer to home to see his girl friend at the time. Of course he broke up with her anyways, so a lesson to note is that the criteria and motivation will morph over time! In general, he is thriving at the college because he enjoys the school, has earned the respect of his battalion and he was able to start school with minimal worries about money.

The chances of earning a campus based AROTC scholarship are substantially higher than a "side load" NROTC/MO scholarship. This certainly worked in his favor as well.

@MohawkArmyROTC, who is a ROO has stated on the board that there seemed to be a fewer number of AROTC applicants this year. That would seem to reinforce the chances of earning a campus based award as well.

 

[KeepCalmAnd]

Thank you @AROTC-dad! It's a good reminder that plan B's can be plan A's in disguise. I think it would be good for my DS to visit the ROTC units affiliated w/our local university. The local university is minutes away from our home so he/we would save on room & board as well. He was accepted into the BS + MS program for Computer Science, a 5 yr degree path that allows him to earn a master's along w/a bachelors. How would this program affect service requirements associated w/ AROTC scholarship? I see the key for him whether it's at NROTC school or the AROTC school is to work his butt off.

 

[Dckc88]

Thank you @AROTC-dad! It's a good reminder that plan B's can be plan A's in disguise. I think it would be good for my DS to visit the ROTC units affiliated w/our local university. The local university is minutes away from our home so he/we would save on room & board as well. He was accepted into the BS + MS program for Computer Science, a 5 yr degree path that allows him to earn a master's along w/a bachelors. How would this program affect service requirements associated w/ AROTC scholarship? I see the key for him whether it's at NROTC school or the AROTC school is to work his butt off.

I think the scholarship itself is a one degree scholarship, but what a great question for him to ask the ROO there when he visits. I think visiting even before knowing the final word on the NROTC scholarship while school is still in session would be so good for him to see a possible alternative path. Options and alternate plans are so good to help these kiddos see the big picture!

 

[kinnem]

You sort of need permission to participate in a 5 year program. It happens, and is pretty common for engineering. I do not know how it works, nor do I know if that 5th year's tuition is covered. I also don't know if the MS degree would be covered. Normally only an undergraduate degree is covered and graduate degrees are not. Your DS would need to explore this more with whichever unit he plans on attending. They should have the details.

EDIT: Cross-posted with Dckc88

 

[lucky8]

You sort of need permission to participate in a 5 year program. It happens, and is pretty common for engineering. I do not know how it works, nor do I know if that 5th year's tuition is covered. I also don't know if the MS degree would be covered. Normally only an undergraduate degree is covered and graduate degrees are not. Your DS would need to explore this more with whichever unit he plans on attending. They should have the details.

EDIT: Cross-posted with Dckc88

I actually talked to the lieutenant at an nrotc unit about a cs bs/ms 5 year program and the answer was an immediate no, no matter what. He said that the navy will likely pay for you to go to grad school later in your career, but never immediately after college (unless you get accepted into a medical program). We also talked about the fifth year coverage and there was a 1/c midn who was in his second 1/c year because he double majored in aero and mechanical engineering. He had to apply for tuition benefits but he received them.

 

[KeepCalmAnd]

I have to chime in here with very similar experiences from my daughter. She played soccer all of her life but knew that DIV I college soccer was probably not in the cards and also did track as a hobby after the soccer season. She had some minor interest from the same type of DIV III schools to play soccer and had more interest from these schools to run track. She told me one day that track and soccer would not pay her bills for the rest of her life and she would not sacrifice her educational opportunities just to play a sport.

She ended up picking a private school in Dallas that her ROTC scholarship covered most of the tuition and had additional academic aid. She walked into to track coaches office and told him she wanted to be part of his team. His response was "I do not have any money left, but we would be happy to have you if you want to come and work hard everyday." The amount of support provided to the athletes will surprise most people. Title IV is an amazing thing for the athletes that are not football players. Everything in the athletic department is geared to helping these kids succeed from mandatory study hall, dedicated tutors, individual academic counselors, nutritionist, trainers and it is offered to all athletes.

The school she picked does not have a local ROTC Battalion and she has to commute across the Dallas Metroplex at least once a week for ROTC.

If your student is passionate enough about these things, they will be successful. The tools are all in place and the colleges typically provide the support to ensure success.

I don't see my daughter playing DIV I, either. She's not on an ECNL or Development Academy team, though she is a starter on a tier I club team in Southern California. I think she could contribute to a DIV II team.

 

[Dckc88]

I don't see my daughter playing DIV I, either. She's not on an ECNL or Development Academy team, though she is a starter on a tier I club team in Southern California. I think she could contribute to a DIV II team.

I sent you a PM

 

[cjcm43a]

thanks everyone for the thoughts and ideas. My DD was originally pursuing D1 schools for soccer but in her research discovered that she liked a smaller size school and the atmosphere/structure of D3 soccer. It was a surprise to both of us but a much better fit. She fell in love with the school when she visited in the fall and has never waivered in her interest. It isn't really realistic to go to the school and then hope for a 3yr scholarship because if it doesn't happen we can't/wont' sustain that type of financial investment/debt without the scholarship. It is not Harvard or Princeton so we have to weigh the academic level with our personal financial investment. She is very interested in the reserves and what it has to offer but is still interested in additional scholarship money once she gets to the school so she will be looking into ROTC and minuteman scholarship. We are getting scholarship money from the school with her academics so it isn't just about paying to play soccer. So many programs and pathways to consider - that is the stressful part, trying to make sure we are thinking through everything to make the right decision.