NROTC-MO -- No National Scholarships for College Programmers

CatDog99

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DS is first year at SMC and a college programmer with NROTC-Marine Option (MO). He talked to Marine-Officer Selection Officer (OSO) today after submitting his online application for National Scholarship. Surprise -- OSO told DS that effective this year the USMC is offering no National Scholarships to college program students. According to OSO -- only the 2 and 3 year side-load scholarships are available to NROTC-MO College Program midshipman this year. DS is doing well at his SMC so I think he should be in the hunt for a side load -- although it is well known among this group that NROTC-MO scholarships are rare gems. Hoping DS follows the path of @kinnem son -- his story is inspiring for Marine aspirants.
 
Does this mean college freshman that are college programmers on NROTC- MO cannot earn the scholarship but sophomores and juniors can?
 
Thank you for the informative and really nice note above. Just to clarify, Does this mean for freshmen college programmers in the class of 2023 (now at college, participating but not on scholarship), the update is now they will not be considered for 4 year national scholarships that might previously have covered a part (half or maybe even retroactively all) of the student's freshman year costs - they are totally not going to get those costs covered? Instead, they may still compete for 2 and 3 year sideload scholarships which would potentially cover costs for the students junior/ senior year (2 year) or Sophomore/ Junior/ Senior (3 Year) year for tuition, fees, books, stipend? I'm just looking to better understand and clarify so that it may also help others.
 
@Herman_Snerd, that is what I took from the post, that they would not be considered as re-applicants for the 4 year national scholarships. In reality these became 3 year scholarships anyway, because the Navy does not pay retroactively and I believe the application could not be submitted until the end of the first semester of college. As the OP stated, freshman can still apply for the 3 year side load and sophomores can apply for the 2 year side load and Advanced Standing. Hopefully the OP will confirm this was the information received or not. I am curious if there was any reasoning given for this change.
 
I like how ProudDad17 reads it. It basically means there is just a different application process than what was used last year for current freshman. Stated another way they are back to their old process of not using the National High School Scholarship program for freshman anymore.

I would also like to point out we only have one source for this. Presumably if it's accurate then freshman everywhere will be notified.
 
Based on what DS told me, @ProudDad17 sums up the changes. DS learned this from the OSO -- not from the NROTC unit staff. As with all single source reports, it would be nice to have corroboration if anyone else hears the same news from another source.

My thoughts -- Evaluating college programmers at the unit level (i.e., the Side Load scholarship process), after a period of direct observation and college grades, is better than using the National Scholarship process that is used to evaluate High School students (with no experience in NROTC-MO).
 
Our DS is in the same situation. If you go to the NROTC website and check "Scholarships" you will see that any student with 30 college credits or greater is not eligible for the "National Scholarship". But they are eligible for the three and two year "side load" scholarships because they are in NROTC and College so they need PMS recommendations, and college transcripts. From everything we have heard, if you are a Tier I applicant with at least a 2.5 GPA and do well in NROTC as a Programmer, the scholarships are pretty normal, and if your Unit thinks you will make a good officer and complete the program then the scholarship (either 2 or 3 yr) is usually granted because you have already shown the ability to do college academics and ROTC work.

The letter and documents requesting this scholarship I think needs to be in by May 31st as the Board meets in July of 2020 for next fall semester. As said above I do not believe any of the ROTC programs pay in arrears.
 
this aligns with the specific direction given my DS, though it was not explicitly stated as a national direction.

And makes a bunch of sense, applying nationally in fall as frosh doesn't really allow enough time for there to be meaningful differentiation between Senior year HS app and an app 10 months later.

Couple that with the lack of retroactivity and this seems like a good decision.
 
The plural of "freshman" is "freshmen". :) "MIDN 4/C" also works.
Carry on.
And good luck to everyone.
 
I think the process is different for Marine option and Navy option Mids. I note that for clarity. Good luck to all!
 
I think the process is different for Marine option and Navy option Mids. I note that for clarity. Good luck to all!
Agreed. Navy and Marine option have different application processes. Your post was specific to Marine option. The tiers @Impulsive refers to are only for Navy option. The Marines don't care what your major is. Although I do wonder if this will apply to Navy options as well. As @kinnem noted, the change to allow college freshmen to apply for the 4 year national scholarship was only made a few years ago, perhaps they are walking that change back. It never made a lot of sense to me to allow this in the first place, when there is a 3 year side-load scholarship specifically for them.
 
One nuance is that you can reapply for the 4 year scholarship before setting foot at a university and starting to gather hours beyond 30. As soon as my son didn't get the 4 year scholarship the first round, he reapplied. He also enrolled as a college programmer, so that route was also open.
 
One nuance is that you can reapply for the 4 year scholarship before setting foot at a university and starting to gather hours beyond 30. As soon as my son didn't get the 4 year scholarship the first round, he reapplied. He also enrolled as a college programmer, so that route was also open.

Not certain there is a distinction between the last day of summer and the first day of class. I don't think there is a hard prohibition (i.e. you can submit the app), but the board is apparently not granting the scholarships for applicants in this situation
 
Not certain there is a distinction between the last day of summer and the first day of class. I don't think there is a hard prohibition (i.e. you can submit the app), but the board is apparently not granting the scholarships for applicants in this situation
That would be a change, then.

My son was selected during the early board for the national scholarship during his freshman year of school. He was notified in Dec that he got the scholarship. Behind the scenes, the NROTC unit was working the sideload. Now, he only got to take advantage of 3 years of the 4 year scholarship.
 
The MARADMIN 346/19 states this as far as qualifications:

3. Basic eligibility requirements for NROTC Scholarship Applicants:
A. Be a U. S. Citizen.
B. Be 17 years of age by 1 September of the first year of college and younger than 27 on 31 December of the year in which college graduation and commissioning are anticipated.
C. Be a high school graduate or possess an equivalent certificate.
D. Be physically qualified as set forth in Ref (A) and be within height-weight standards in accordance with Ref (B).
E. Personally exemplify and display the following:
(1) Character - Morally qualified and possessing officer-like qualities and character.
(2) No record of military or civil offenses. Marines awaiting trial or sentence, on probation, under suspended sentence, or under any other type of military or civil restraint as a result of violation of law or regulation or who have been convicted of a misdemeanor, the nature of which manifestly renders them unfit for commissioned service, are not acceptable.
F. A score of 74 on the Armed Forces Qualification Test, a composite score of 22 on the American College Test (ACT), or a combined score of 1000 in Math and Evidence Based Reading on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). SAT scores must be from the same test. ACT and SAT scores must be from the most recent test. Applicants must authorize release of SAT and ACT test scores to the NROTC Scholarship Program by indicating the four-digit program code, 0656, on the test registration form. Applicants should also be prepared to hand deliver test score verification to their local Recruiting Station Executive Officer (RS XO). No waivers for test scores are authorized.
G. Meet admission requirements of an NROTC affiliated college or university of choice.
H. Cannot have more than 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours of college credits at the time the application is submitted.
I. Time in Service: Active Duty or Reserve Marines must have at least one (1) year Time in Service as of 1 October 2019. This requirement is not waivable.
 
That would be a change, then.

My son was selected during the early board for the national scholarship during his freshman year of school. He was notified in Dec that he got the scholarship. Behind the scenes, the NROTC unit was working the sideload. Now, he only got to take advantage of 3 years of the 4 year scholarship.
Congrats to your son! My understanding is that there are only sideload scholarships once you are an NROTC-MO college programmer, effective this school year. Hoping my DS picks up sideload 3 year.
 
Congrats to your son! My understanding is that there are only sideload scholarships once you are an NROTC-MO college programmer, effective this school year. Hoping my DS picks up sideload 3 year.
I'm still skeptical on the no-scholarship thing this year based on the MCO that doesn't specifically call that out.

It was a wild ride at the time. Best of luck to your son.

Mine is currently at NAS Pensacola. Today was a stressful day there. He was literally walking into the building when the shooting started.
 
I'll do some checking next Friday on whether the messaging scholarship hold is consistent.
 
I'm glad your son is okay @rocatlin. That must have been a terrible day and some did not make it out. I was in Pcola for flight training in 1990-1992 -- I didn't have much contact with the foreign students, but I remember that some of the Marine 2LTs who were waiting to start flight training were running Saudi students through remedial PT. I look forward to hearing what you learn this week about the scholarship process for College Programmers. Much obliged.
 
My understanding is that college freshman may apply for the National Scholarships (provided they did not validate or transfer 30 college credits), but if awarded the four year it will not be retroactive and in effect it is a three year scholarship. Also, a caveat I believe (at least this year) was if you were a "walk on" non-scholarship 4C Midn in NROTC, you HAD to go through your unit for the "side load" (because there will be a military record for you, and you will need PMS recommendation and CO endorsment), but that if you do not join the Battalion until AFTER you submit you application, then you can go for the National Scholarship. If an applicant is an AP, DE, or IB Grad from HS they likely have at least 30 collage credits that are transferred on their collegiate record, and would have to apply thru their Battalion for the "side load" scholarship.
 
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