Recieved 4-Year Army ROTC Scholarship (UNG or The Citadel), Planning to Re-Apply to SA's (Likely WP)

NChanceP

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Apr 13, 2020
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Background:
To begin with, I have dreamed of attending one of the SA's since I first learned about them my Freshman Year in high school. They seemed to be the best opportunity in the world to me: a top education with extensive military training and a guaranteed career in the military upon graduation. I had no delusions that it wouldn't be a difficult task, especially for me. I come from a challenging background. I am the oldest child in a family that struggles to pay the bills and - sometimes - food on the table, and I had faced many challenges throughout elementary and middle school that set me far behind my peers in the classroom. By the time I was a Freshman in high school, I was just starting to get back on track, yet circumstances outside of school continued to affect my performance in school. However, I became motivated not to let my circumstances define me or my future. It was a struggle, but I chose to go out of my way to improve myself and my academics. I started staying after school with teachers, clubs, and sports only to have to traverse nearly five miles on foot to get home most days. By this year (Senior year), I had gone from a below-average student to an all 'A' student taking four AP classes concurrently. However, because of my transcript and my lack of substantive extracurricular involvement my Freshman and Sophomore year, it was no surprise to me when I received notification that I have been rejected by the SA's.

Now:
Despite not receiving an appointment to any of the SA's, I received the 4-Year Army ROTC Scholarship. That came as a surprise to me (I was only expecting to receive a 3-Year scholarship because of my academics), but I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. However, I would still like to play my cards at competing for appointment to an SA one more time before the cost becomes greater than the opportunity. This time, I'm planning on consolidating my attention on my West Point application to improve my chances.

Before I can focus on that, though, I have the tough responsibility of choosing between the University of North Georgia and The Citadel. Both schools are amazing and offer different opportunities that are difficult to pass up. The Citadel offers tough, SA-like experiences. UNG offers a realistic view of military life after college. The Citadel provides the opportunity to network with cadets contracted in other branches. UNG focuses entirely on being an Army Officer. The Citadel is an Engineering school. UNG provides easier academics. Cost is not a differentiator: UNG is almost fully covered under HOPE, Pell, and ROTC; and I've worked with The Citadel to minimize my cost to attend to only a small loan which I could easily cover my first year after graduation as an Army Officer.

I really don't know which school to choose. UNG would likely be better in terms of reapply to West Point (easier academics, army-focused, etc.), but I also really like The Citadel and feel that I would regret not going to El Cid if I don't receive an appointment from West Point again.

Conclusion:
I would greatly appreciate any advice that you could offer - be it in terms of reapplying to an SA or in terms of selecting the best college for me.

Thank you for your time.
 
I recommend seeking out input from people in the programs already. Although it’s simple, they have very good points of views from a participants standpoint. I was in a similar position with an AROTC scholarship and talking with cadets on the programs really helped me. :)
 
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