don't mean to be disrespectul but ... if you already know that your DS is going to the Naval Academy (ie: has received an appointment) couldn't you leave that NROTC scholarship possibility to somebody else rather than keep it in reserve as a back-up plan ? some of us may have to wait that much longer to find out if we've got a chance at all. it's kind've like the stories i've been reading about people with triple noms to the service academies ... as if there were 'plenty to go around'. that simply isn't the case - especially this year when its all so hyper competitive.
This happens more then you might think.
There are two type of applicants, one applies only to ROTC, and one will apply to an academy and ROTC as a back up.
There are a fair amount of applicants the receive both appointments to a SA and the ROTC Scholarship. Many will hold onto the scholarship until the last possible date. Usually this date is past the date of the last ROTC offers so when the scholarships are released they are not given out but just absorbed back into the system. We were told that some of the returned scholarships may be given out but it was unlikely.
The biggest reason appointees hold onto their scholarships is the fear of getting hurt before they report to the academy, you can show up to ROTC with a sprained ankle, you can't at the academy.
Unfortunatly this is the system that is in place, some ROTC applicants won't get a scholarship because they are tied up.
This is not exclusive to academy appointees, some applicants receive scholarships from more then one Service, some will accept and hold onto all the ROTC scholarships they receive until the last possible date. When they finally release the one's they don't want the unused scholarships go, well...unused.
If you don't receive a scholarship you really will never know if you could have had one of the unused. The best you can do is to go to school as a college programmer or in the case of the Navy, re-apply next year.
Good luck to you.
