NROTC Scholarship Transfer Issues

[SA907]

I've seen several similar threads here about issues with NROTC scholarship transfers. Our DS was awarded an NROTC scholarship at his first choice school but rejected from the school. When he approached the NROTC director of his second choice (where he was admitted into engineering), it was full with a waitlist. The way the director put it was "At this point your scholarship and admittance are independent of each other. If you decide to come here, you will have the opportunity to compete for the scholarship once more. Your first year tuition will have to be out of pocket though." He seemed very negative at the idea of trying to transfer the scholarship.

I had no idea. I knew there was a possibility of a full program, but his second choice has a very large NROTC program and I naively figured it wouldn't be a big deal to transfer. He may have rethought the order of choices had we known you were so tied to one school in order to fulfill the scholarship. He applied to the 5 schools on his list, and 2 were pretty sure things (he got in to engineering at both) and the other 3 were mid-reach schools that he would love to attend. He was rejected by two and waitlisted on the last one. We have reached out to choice #3 hoping for good news but I'm now wondering if we're going to be in a bad spot. I was also very disappointed with the cold reply from the director of the second choice school. I would think a school would love having an NROTC scholarship recipient coming there (doesn’t it benefit the program?). But maybe being second choice made the person bristle? I also realize it’s not their choice necessarily, that there is a cap on scholarship recipients in each program.

This whole moving-piece gauntlet of ROTC scholarships-school admission-FAFSA applications/delays-Academy applications/waiting/pending is exhausting. But I'm trying to keep in mind that every no is an arrow pointing somewhere new, and that every difficulty/disappointment is an opportunity for our DS to learn valuable life skills like patience, resilience, decision-making and perseverance. I know I'm in good company here. Hats off to all of you parents and students riding this wild ride!!

 

[Just Bee-cause]

We're on a NROTC roller coaster too. I think it may be slightly different because DS is NROTC-MO, but his recruiting officer is helping him get into his #1 where the scholarship was assigned. The recruiter called the school's ROTC commander on his behalf. ROTC and admissions worked together to open an admissions appeal. DS had to file the appeal and interview with the ROTC commander. DS has the stats for the school, so it's not a far reach. We're waiting to hear if his appeal is successful. I'm not sure if Navy option involves a recruiter, but I'd contact them.

 

[applicant_24]

We're on a NROTC roller coaster too. I think it may be slightly different because DS is NROTC-MO, but his recruiting officer is helping him get into his #1 where the scholarship was assigned. The recruiter called the school's ROTC commander on his behalf. ROTC and admissions worked together to open an admissions appeal. DS had to file the appeal and interview with the ROTC commander. DS has the stats for the school, so it's not a far reach. We're waiting to hear if his appeal is successful. I'm not sure if Navy option involves a recruiter, but I'd contact them.

Out of curiosity, what school was your DS #1? I had kind of a similar situation.

 

[Just Bee-cause]

University of Florida - in state where we can combine with FL prepaid plan & state scholarships. #2 is Va Tech where he was accepted, but they said getting him admitted would be easier than transferring.

 

[Shiny Navy]

I've seen several similar threads here about issues with NROTC scholarship transfers. Our DS was awarded an NROTC scholarship at his first choice school but rejected from the school. When he approached the NROTC director of his second choice (where he was admitted into engineering), it was full with a waitlist. The way the director put it was "At this point your scholarship and admittance are independent of each other. If you decide to come here, you will have the opportunity to compete for the scholarship once more. Your first year tuition will have to be out of pocket though." He seemed very negative at the idea of trying to transfer the scholarship.

I had no idea. I knew there was a possibility of a full program, but his second choice has a very large NROTC program and I naively figured it wouldn't be a big deal to transfer. He may have rethought the order of choices had we known you were so tied to one school in order to fulfill the scholarship. He applied to the 5 schools on his list, and 2 were pretty sure things (he got in to engineering at both) and the other 3 were mid-reach schools that he would love to attend. He was rejected by two and waitlisted on the last one. We have reached out to choice #3 hoping for good news but I'm now wondering if we're going to be in a bad spot. I was also very disappointed with the cold reply from the director of the second choice school. I would think a school would love having an NROTC scholarship recipient coming there (doesn’t it benefit the program?). But maybe being second choice made the person bristle? I also realize it’s not their choice necessarily, that there is a cap on scholarship recipients in each program.

This whole moving-piece gauntlet of ROTC scholarships-school admission-FAFSA applications/delays-Academy applications/waiting/pending is exhausting. But I'm trying to keep in mind that every no is an arrow pointing somewhere new, and that every difficulty/disappointment is an opportunity for our DS to learn valuable life skills like patience, resilience, decision-making and perseverance. I know I'm in good company here. Hats off to all of you parents and students riding this wild ride!!

That's interesting. My DD's 1st choice was VTech and she was waitlisted, but awarded the NROTC scholarship there back in the beginning of March. Previous year's data showed that no one got off the waitlist last year so we looked into a transfer of the scholarship to #3 school. The NROTC unit was SUPER helpful with assisting with the transfer. They even followed up to make sure the paperwork was filed correctly. They were very transparent with the likelihood of getting off the waitlist and how the whole process worked. I'm confused why they would say you would need to pay for your first year of tuition and why it was full? I thought the transfers to the bigger schools were more likely granted. My DD's #3 school is smaller and we were told she got the "last scholarship spot" when the transfer was approved.

 

[jketron]

My DS is also on a waitlist. I don't have the confidence the wait list will come through since its a large school he waitlisted on.

 

[pa-outdoorsman]

One option if you are willing to consider an SMC is to reach out there. They may still accept an application for admission and they will typically bend over backwards to help ROTC scholarship winners.

So if you reach a dead end elsewhere perhaps you still have some options.

 

[SA907]

That's interesting. My DD's 1st choice was VTech and she was waitlisted, but awarded the NROTC scholarship there back in the beginning of March. Previous year's data showed that no one got off the waitlist last year so we looked into a transfer of the scholarship to #3 school. The NROTC unit was SUPER helpful with assisting with the transfer. They even followed up to make sure the paperwork was filed correctly. They were very transparent with the likelihood of getting off the waitlist and how the whole process worked. I'm confused why they would say you would need to pay for your first year of tuition and why it was full? I thought the transfers to the bigger schools were more likely granted. My DD's #3 school is smaller and we were told she got the "last scholarship spot" when the transfer was approved.

I was surprised too. I think because there are caps on number of scholarships their unit can hold he was saying there was a waitlist for that, even though DS was accepted to the school, and he would have to reapply for a scholarship next year to that school. We had success transferring to another school he had been accepted to, and I believe it’s all the way it was meant to be, but the process is a little bit of a rollercoaster!