NROTC Board Review Schedule

No issue with your DD and I hope she gets the scholarship and school of her dreams. Just pointing out it doesn't make sense for NROTC to do what you suggested without the hook into admissions (to me anyway) and the implications for an applicant.
 
Your answers have all been very helpful and I thank you. As most people have experienced, DD and parents are in "WAITING and UNKNOWN" period which is stressful. Quick summary of what we know:

Everything we have read about HYP there seems to be "soft" hooks compared to sports "hard" hooks:
- Yale wants to grow program and articles have indicated cooperation between NROTC and admissions
- Harvard admissions attempts to coordinate with MIT battalion (Host Harvard students)
- Princeton just got underway in 2014 and threads have indicated their is cooperation

"Grasping at Straws...my suggestion was the dream scenario which does not exist"
 
It's hard waiting through this whether applying to HYP or your favorite Big State College. I remember going through it myself and it was hell. DS was calm throughout the entire process. I kept looking for signs and portents. The best advise I can give, and I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times already, is to keep working alternate plans. DS did not receive a scholarship and we didn't get the negative reply until mid-April. Because we had focused on backup plans we had plenty of time to pull the trigger on plan B which included a merit scholarship to his #1 school where he participated in NROTC as a college programmer. He's a 2nd Lt in Okinawa today. All came out perfectly. I actually don't think he would have worked as hard had he gotten the scholarship, but that's a comment about my kid and not one I would generalize.

Good luck to your DD. Hope her dreams come true.
 
I really appreciate your perspective and sharing you son's story. I think DD has a tight window of opportunity. If she does not get the scholarship awarded to her at this board (Feb 6-11), then I think her chance of having NROTC commander advocate for her will disappear. Plan B is prepared and ready to execute. I hope I can rubber stamp your statement.."All came out perfectly"
 
TexasCali said:
Your answers have all been very helpful and I thank you. As most people have experienced, DD and parents are in "WAITING and UNKNOWN" period which is stressful. Quick summary of what we know:

Everything we have read about HYP there seems to be "soft" hooks compared to sports "hard" hooks:
- Yale wants to grow program and articles have indicated cooperation between NROTC and admissions
- Harvard admissions attempts to coordinate with MIT battalion (Host Harvard students)
- Princeton just got underway in 2014 and threads have indicated their is cooperation

"Grasping at Straws...my suggestion was the dream scenario which does not exist"
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When my DS interviewed at Duke, they told him if he was accepted to Duke they were confident he would get a scholarship. Duke apparently considers NROTC the same way the consider diversity in admissions. They told him this, so I didn't get an explanation of how.

He doesn't have an answer from Duke yet 2nd choice, but has been accepeted to his 1st choice school (Michigan engineering) and his in state 3rd choice (mechanical engineering chosen major). Now we're waiting for a scholarship decision, which is sort of the inverse of what we were expecting.
 
Bluenose89. Best of luck to your DS. That is encouraging information he heard from Duke regarding their consideration of NROTC. My DS has also applied to Duke and has been awarded the NROTC scholarship, we are just waiting on admissions. Did your son apply to Pratt or Trinity?
 
If an applicant is good enough to get into Duke they are more than qualified for a NROTC scholarship. Not all scholarship winners are qualified to get admitted to Duke.
 
5Day said:
If an applicant is good enough to get into Duke they are more than qualified for a NROTC scholarship. Not all scholarship winners are qualified to get admitted to Duke.
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Quantitatively, yes. But not qualitatively. If the applicant doesn't have enough leadership, or sports, or does poorly in the interview, then ROTC might decline him or her while a Duke takes the applicant. My daughter got in early to MIT but only got a Type 2 scholarship with an approved Type 1 major. There was something that knocked her down.
 
TexasCali said:
What is a reasonable candidate for any ivy is the $64,000 question? Everything we have read she is above or at 75th percentile for HYP. Has all her extracurricular stuff and sports leadership...etc..! Hard working kid and wants to be Naval Officer. She has already been admitted to some outstanding schools so she is trying to figure this all out. Reaching for her dreams while also being reasonable.
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You have to remember that there are a lot of kids at the 75th percentile. And that in that percentile, HYPSM are long shots for everyone. So much depends on the subjective parts of the admission package - the essay, the alumni interview, the letters of rec, etc. Also, schools may be looking to fill different demographics. Just look at the stories of kids applying to all Ivies but not accepted at all of them (or at a MIT, Stanford, Williams, Cal, etc.).
As 5day wrote, it's not a complicated process. But NRTOC does require some strategy - as has been mentioned, put a safety school first, and then, if accepted at a selective school, request the selective school be moved to #1.
 
TexasCali said:
Your answers have all been very helpful and I thank you. As most people have experienced, DD and parents are in "WAITING and UNKNOWN" period which is stressful. Quick summary of what we know:

Everything we have read about HYP there seems to be "soft" hooks compared to sports "hard" hooks:
- Yale wants to grow program and articles have indicated cooperation between NROTC and admissions
- Harvard admissions attempts to coordinate with MIT battalion (Host Harvard students)
- Princeton just got underway in 2014 and threads have indicated their is cooperation

"Grasping at Straws...my suggestion was the dream scenario which does not exist"
Click to expand...
Do you have links to those articles? Two of them could be relevant to my kid. :)
 
Agree completely unknown. The strategic question for the HYPSM is how much support "admissions" gives ROTC programs.

Is ROTC a "window dressing" diversity program at these schools? Here is an excerpt from an article about Harvard ROTC."...According to McDonough, who deals with recruiting and scholarships firsthand and stresses the “excellent working relationship” between the MIT ROTC and the Harvard Admissions offices, it’s also partially a numbers game. A couple of hundred qualified students might apply to Harvard and the ROTC unit based at MIT, but because of Harvard’s stringent admissions policies, only one or two might actually be able to make use of the scholarship. McDonough and other commanders at the unit may submit letters of recommendation or other materials about hopeful Harvard cadets to the Admissions Office, which may be factored into Harvard’s decision...."

"A couple hundred qualified students might apply at Harvard but only one or two can use the scholarship"....If you take this information at face value, you can conclude Harvard does not see ROTC as a key diversity driver. How can you have a healthy vibrant ROTC community with only 1 or 2 applicants admitted per class? Can you imagine if their athletic programs used that same approach. I am only picking on Harvard due to their President's recent vocal support of ROTC. I think out of 100 applicants at least 10-20 probably have 75% percentile stats and have the complete package for admissions. From all my and DD reading it seems Yale and MIT probably offer the best support for ROTC.


http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/2/26/rotc-at-harvard-scrutiny/
 
Bryantboy83 said:
Bluenose89. Best of luck to your DS. That is encouraging information he heard from Duke regarding their consideration of NROTC. My DS has also applied to Duke and has been awarded the NROTC scholarship, we are just waiting on admissions. Did your son apply to Pratt or Trinity?
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Pratt, and I now wish we had put down Physics or Math in Trinity as a second choice but he insisted engineering or bust.
 
Found this on College Confidential. Is this a good summary of the process?

05-22-2007 at 5:29 pm edited June 2007 in Naval Academy - Annapolis
This was posted on another site earlier this year. Sound advice for NROTC applicants.

"I've just finished serving as a recorder on the NROTC selection board. That's where 9 O-5s and O-6s (and me as a go-fer) go through ~450-500 applications every month for about 7-8 months.

Amazing process. If you are selected, congrats... The process, is damn near flawless. There are a lot of considerations and the smallest thing can really jam you/help you...So, needless to say, the more information, presented in an accurate and concise way, the better...

**Technical majors. HUGE point getter as long as you do well in math/science and they are under the quality of APs/IBs (or whatever is highest offered at your school ----MAKE SURE TO HAVE YOUR COUNSELOR INCLUDE "Completed highest offered math course, etc" IN HIS/HER STATEMENT).

**Leadership. Break out in whatever you do. If you do boy scouts, take it to the Eagle level. If you do CAP/JROTC, Pick up a billet. Run for class office, etc. There were no extra credit points offered for being in 30 clubs but not leading in them. There were, however, smaller points awarded for these "non-athletic" events.

**Physical Fitness. Get in a sport and do it starting no later than 11th grade. It doesn't matter if you are a stud or not. You'll get the leadership points if you pick up captain, but stronger points were awarded just for participating. If you are out of height-weight standards...you'll be deducted BIG TIME if you're not documented as participating in physical activities.

**Grades. Don't get below a C and you'll be fine, as long as you don't have more than 2-3 Cs. Ds/Fs REALLY drag down the score.

**Arrests/Law troubles. IF YOU DON'T INCLUDE THAT YOU'VE LEARNED SOMETHING FROM IT ... or, if you are a repeat offender, you're starting out bad. This is one of the first things the board looks at. There is DEFINITLY NOT a 0 defect policy (I was shocked some of the selects, but the board memebers understand you're freakin' going to make mistakes when you're young...BUT, realize that it's a big deal, learn from it and don't EVER do it again.)

**PERSONAL STATEMENTS. BIG one here. TAKE YOUR TIME and ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION! SO MANY applicants had 700+ SAT VERBALS and wrote like $hit, or had a 1 sentence answer. ELABORATE. MAke it look like you give a damn and took some time to read it, re-read it and spell check it. It's an electronic application people...you have spelling errors and the board will probably dock you big time...Relate personal, ACTUAL events that influenced your decision to apply for NROTC. Also, you can have people look it over, but remember they are YOUR statements. Don't trust others to edit content, because the board will see right through that crap."
 
I understand that this dribbling out of NROTC scholarship awards is totally normal, but still.... Kids are having to make decisions about where to go and what deposits to make where and the lack of any kind of indication as to whether an NROTC scholarship is forthcoming makes it almost impossible to plan. You almost have to make decisions on the assumption that you wont' get one and if you do get one, then it's gravy. Frustrating to say the least.
 
godeacs93 said:
I understand that this dribbling out of NROTC scholarship awards is totally normal, but still.... Kids are having to make decisions about where to go and what deposits to make where and the lack of any kind of indication as to whether an NROTC scholarship is forthcoming makes it almost impossible to plan. You almost have to make decisions on the assumption that you wont' get one and if you do get one, then it's gravy. Frustrating to say the least.
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Pardon me, but everyone has to deal with this and after years of reflection, it's no different than the normal college application process. Deposits are generally not required until May 1. Many kids don't know where they will be accepted until March or even April. They also don't generally know about financial aid until April 1. Many plans cannot be finalized until April even when a ROTC program is not involved. I know it's frustrating, but you need to lay out plan A if that can come to fruition, plan B, etc. It's the same thing you would do in the normal college application process. Hang tough. It's worth it.

DS did not get a negative reply on his NROTC scholarship application until mid-April. Because we had been diligent in working alternate plans we were still able to easily execute on plan B with plenty of time available to do so. Plan B wasn't so bad. It included a merit scholarship to his #1 college and participating in NROTC without the scholarship. He later earned an NROTC scholarship during his sophomore year. Things work out the way they are supposed to. Deep breaths.

EDIT: If you think of the NROTC Scholarship as financial aid, and remember that you don't generally hear about financial aid packages until April 1, then the time waiting for the scholarship doesn't appear so bad.
 
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Trying to take deep breaths and chill, but it's difficult when you have no ideas about when the answer may come! Waiting on appointment to USNA while also waiting on NROTC scholarship while also waiting on admissions to other schools is brutal for a parent! I'm trying to forget about it but not having much luck!
 
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