Re-applying for 4 yr vs Programmer and 3 year Side Load? - NROTC

[A6E Dad]

judging from some of the posts i've seen, DS is in good company with others who didn't receive the scholarship on the final board - many seem to be very qualified with very strong stats

i'm trying to understand the options for next steps - some of the posts i've seen are contradictory, and it seems that the rules for eligibility have changes in the past few years. from what i can tell there are two options:
1. Attend a college with NROTC, join as a College Programmer, and apply for a 3 year side load scholarship. Once you join the unit, you are no longer eligible to re-apply for the national 4 year scholarship. 3 yr scholarships are limited and very competitive (ie. >3.7 GPA required).
2. Re-apply for the national 4 year scholarship. Eligible as long as you have fewer than 30 credits, and are NOT a member of the NROTC unit. You would be competing with mostly high school seniors, competition would be more or less the same as this past year. If awarded, the scholarship would be for the remaining semesters to graduate - ie. 3.5 years or 3 years depending on when awarded.

Is that mostly right?
Is one option recommended over the other?
Do college applicants get any additional credit for college grades vs HS?
Is there any info available about the number of scholarships available with each option vs the number of candidates?
It seems that re-applying right away with basically the same package might lead to the same result. Whereas, joining as a Programmer, getting a high GPA and PRT scores, and earning a strong reputation in the Unit would make one a stronger candidate.

Is it possible to re-apply right away, then join as a Programmer after the app is submitted but before getting a result?

thanks

 

[rocatlin]

You can still be a member of a NROTC unit as a college programmer and apply for the 4 year scholarship -- provided you don't have 30 credits. You'll still only get 3 years benefit from it -- unless there are exceptions that I don't know about.

The unit staff will assist with the sideload.

The key thing is to establish oneself as very solid within the unit.

 

[kinnem]

+1 to rocatlin. Your DS should join the unit and re-apply for the 4 year national high school scholarship. He could start the application now but should not submit it until speaking with the freshman adviser in his unit in the fall. They may have some guidance to improve the application. If he fails to get the 4 year again, then he would begin to apply for the side-loads scholarships. These procedures changed this year so I'm sure there are older posts that contradict this, but this is the latest process.

 

[5Day]

Is one option recommended over the other?
The previous replies nailed it. As a freshman join NROTC, apply via the 4 year application in the fall and apply for a sideload scholarship in the spring

Do college applicants get any additional credit for college grades vs HS?
The 4 year is based on HS performance. Sideloads are based on college performance.

It seems that re-applying right away with basically the same package might lead to the same result. Whereas, joining as a Programmer, getting a high GPA and PRT scores, and earning a strong reputation in the Unit would make one a stronger candidate. Is it possible to re-apply right away, then join as a Programmer after the app is submitted but before getting a result?
Yes, but applying a second time shows some persistence and based on advice above, your new battalion may be able to help with your application to make it a winner.

Is there any info available about the number of scholarships available with each option vs the number of candidates?
Here is a repost of some earlier posted statistics on side load scholarships and advanced standing awards for your enjoyment:

From Aug 9 2016
3-Year Scholarships
Nominations: 304
Selects: 60
Non-selects: 244

2-Year Scholarships
Nominations: 200
Selects: 19
Non-selects: 181 (automatically considered for Advanced Standing)

Advanced Standing
Nominations: 228 (181 carried over from 2-year applicants)
Selects: 121
Non-selects: 97

From July 27, 2016
Advanced Standing is getting EASIER to receive the past couple years, as there are significantly more slots recently. The selection rate for Advanced Standing last year was well over 50%, and it will be similar this year. If you fail to get selected for a side load scholarship or Advanced Standing before your junior year, you will be automatically be dropped from the unit.

From June 21, 2016
Not having Calculus/Physics complete is going to be a major roadblock. Last summer the board awarded 29 2-year Side Loads. Of those selected, 29/29 were complete with Calc 1 and 2, and 24/29 were complete with Phys 1 and 2. I don't see you getting past the 2-year board with Calculus 2 incomplete.

Advanced Standing is a different story. The selection rate was over 50% last year (vice about 15% for the 2-year). Only about half were Calc complete, and only about a third were Phys complete. GPA and aptitude were more important- the average GPA was 3.18.

From June 22, 2016
Last summer, 199 rising juniors applied for 2-year scholarships. Of those, 29 were selected for the scholarship. The remaining students competed for 118 advanced standing slots. So, it was well over a 50% selection rate for advanced standing.

From May 31, 2016
Here is the selection data from the Summer 2015 Navy Side load/advanced standing board (stats are reflective of the group of individuals who were SELECTED for scholarship/advanced standing, not the entire pool of applicants; the board is national):

3-year:
Nominations: 303
Selects: 66
Avg. GPA: 3.48
% of Recipients Calc I/II Complete: 89.4%
% of Recipients Phys I/II Complete: 30.3%
% of Recipients Tech Majors (Tier 1/2): 93.9%

2-year:
Nominations: 199
Selects: 29
Avg. GPA: 3.48 (not a typo, same as 3-year)
% of Recipients Calc I/II Complete: 100%
% of Recipients Phys I/II Complete: 82.8%
% of Recipients Tech Majors (Tier 1/2): 89.7%

Advanced Standing:
Nominations: 195 (all 2-year side load non selects are automatically considered)
Selects: 118
Avg. GPA: 3.18
% of Recipients Calc I/II Complete: 57.6%
% of Recipients Phys I/II Complete: 34.7%
% of Recipients Tech Majors (Tier 1/2): 56.8%

So here are the big takeaways:
-The Navy values technical majors
-If you want to pursue a Tier 3 major, that's OK, but you need to EXCEL if you expect to earn a scholarship
-Apply for ALL scholarship opportunities; don't just pigeonhole yourself into advanced standing
-Calc and Phys completion and grades mean something

This is from @bman from June 22, 2016
2014 NAVY ROTC STATISTICS
· 220 were nominated for 2 year scholarships, 64 scholarships were granted
· 127 were given an offer of advanced standing
· There were 25 who wanted advanced standing (I believe this was 25 who accepted the offer, but he may have meant that there were 25 who wanted advanced standing but not a scholarship?)

2013 NAVY ROTC STATISTICS
· 30 applied for 2-year scholarships, 5 were granted, others had option to apply for advanced standing
· 20 applied for advanced standing, all 20 were granted advanced standing

2012 NAVY ROTC STATISTICS
· They gave 950 four-year-scholarships with the intention of commissioning 725 officers in four years
· They had 330 college students nominated for side-load scholarships for 271 slots.
· They gave 251 of these scholarships. Their goal is to fill all of their spots with scholarships, but they still had twenty slots to fill.
· They had 58 students apply for advanced standing to fill the final 20 slots, and gave 20 of these advanced standing (34%). Those who received advanced standing were divided among all three tiers.

 

[A6E Dad]

thank you for all the info, all very helpful.
i was under the impression that once you join as a college programmer, you are no longer eligible to re-apply for the 4 year scholarship - was that the old policy?

DS will be contacting the unit at college he's enrolled in and go from there

 

[kinnem]

i was under the impression that once you join as a college programmer, you are no longer eligible to re-apply for the 4 year scholarship - was that the old policy?

That was the old policy. Not sure why they changed it but who cares? It's another chance to take a bite of the apple.

 

[A6E Dad]

that was the info i was looking for

thanks!