Rejection, Plan B and some questions

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Navyintheblood

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Yesterday, DS received rejection from NROTC. His Plan B is to "walk on" to a unit and try for the three year scholarship - the rejection has not made him waiver in his passion to serve our country in the Navy. He has the GPA, he has the standardize test scores and the sports, so it must have been the lack of significant leadership that caused his rejection (quieter kid in a larger competitive high school). My question is how can he start gaining meaningful leadership experience to help develop him as a type of leader that is appealing to the Navy? Are their summer programs specific to this end? Does anyone have a success story they can share to steer us.
 
Have your DS reach out to the unit he plans to be a college programmer at. This lets them know of his passion and proactiveness. It will also allow communications to open up about the possibility of attending NSI this summer. Show up in shape and ready to be a good team mate. Same goes for showing up at his unit. Being fit is a great first step, listening to his upper class, supporting his classmates who might be struggling and seeking out opportunities that interest him. Part of leadership is learning to follow. The SA and ROTC experience is set up this way. He will learn to follow and then progressively grow in leadership opportunities. Being a good team mate who supports his classmates is a great first step. Good luck to him.
 
This is more of a side note (i'm also not sure if this is the same for NROTC) but for AROTC if you want to compete for a "walk-on" scholarship one of the best things you can do is pass/excel at the PT test on your first try. Definitely puts your DS on cadre's radar right away.
 
One of the ways leadership is demonstrated at the lowest levels are: 1. answering questions or will be willing to say things and 2. participation levels in the program. If your son is quiet, he needs to start becoming more vocal....have him go up to people and talk with them- in church, school activities, clubs, etc. Get him more used to the discomfort and pushing thru it versus giving into it. If the school is close, have him go over and meet with the cadre in advance of school to introduce himself and see what they can tell him is the best way to gain a scholarship in the program.
For a summer job, can he find one where he has to be in charge of others? Teaching computer skills? Something that will get him to talk with others and instruct them while keeping order?
This is about getting him noticed versus the crowd....in addition to what was offered above as PT is an excellent way to differentiate as well.
 
He should make sure he participates fully in NROTC his first. Semester and knock the PFT out of the park. He needs to excel academically. If he does well in NROTc and GPA he may be able to snag a leadership billet as a squad leader his second semester. This isn't meant to exclude other leadership roles elsewhere
 
You may want to look into some summer leadership experiences. There are a variety of leadership camps and programs out there, as well as Boys State. And agree as usual with @kinnem, DS was a squad leader 2nd semester his 4/c year. There will be leadership opportunities in a variety of positions in the battalion. And @NavyHoops advice about being a good teammate and learning to be a good follower is spot on as well.
 
Navyintheblood said:
Does anyone have a success story they can share to steer us.
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Sorry about the rejection, but don't give up the ship! I do have a success story to share.

Last year my daughter didn't get accepted by the Naval Academy. She had her heart set on that option and did not complete her NROTC application so didn't have a backup plan, really. However, she got into a college but was too late to even apply to the NROTC unit as a programmer. Nonetheless, she was able to participate in the NROTC activities as a "drill and ceremonies" member. She attended all the workouts and formations, and signed up for a Naval Science class even though it wasn't required for her type of membership.

My advice to her was to take advantage of any opportunity offered, as it's always good to have additional knowledge and one can create opportunities for oneself. DD actually listened to me (!) and did just that. She competed for a university-wide leadership development program and was one of only two members of the Corps to be selected. She also volunteered for extra duties outside of her major and impressed the teaching staff so much that they offered her a paid teaching assistant position starting this second semester of her freshman year. (As a bonus, while volunteering, she learned from a visiting admiral of a distant relative who was the admiral's shipmate.)

In the meantime, she transitioned from a drill and ceremonies member to a college programmer member of the NROTC unit for the second semester. This time, she completed her NROTC application and was selected for a national scholarship on the first board she was eligible for. I would have had a little less gray hair had she done this last year, but all's well that ends well!
 
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Navyintheblood said:
@ProudDad17 - have you heard of this summer leadership opportunity and if so, your thoughts? Can you recommend any others to research, please? https://armyandnavyacademy.org/summer-programs/ or this one since we live on the East Coast https://www.educationunlimited.com/camp-sessions/display/camp/a-summer-leadership
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I've not heard of either of those. Just a quick glance at their home pages and my first impression was that both look like pricey endeavors. If that is something that is in yours means, you are comfortable with and believe your DS would benefit from, then you may want to explore it further. I don't know much about Boys State, but it has been mentioned here many times as an excellent program and I believe American Legion sponsors participants. But leadership does not have to come from a formal program. It can be shown in many jobs and volunteer positions. In addition, if your DS works hard in the NROTC program, he should soon be given leadership opportunities. DS has a friend who did not receive a scholarship out of high school, but joined as a college programmer and earned a scholarship his freshman year. Lots of young men and women achieve it this way.
 
Bash On said:
Sorry about the rejection, but don't give up the ship! I do have a success story to share.

Last year my daughter didn't get accepted by the Naval Academy. She had her heart set on that option and did not complete her NROTC application so didn't have a backup plan, really. However, she got into a college but was too late to even apply to the NROTC unit as a programmer. Nonetheless, she was able to participate in the NROTC activities as a "drill and ceremonies" member. She attended all the workouts and formations, and signed up for a Naval Science class even though it wasn't required for her type of membership.

My advice to her was to take advantage of any opportunity offered, as it's always good to have additional knowledge and one can create opportunities for oneself. DD actually listened to me (!) and did just that. She competed for a university-wide leadership development program and was one of only two members of the Corps to be selected. She also volunteered for extra duties outside of her major and impressed the teaching staff so much that they offered her a paid teaching assistant position starting this second semester of her freshman year. (As a bonus, while volunteering, she learned from a visiting admiral of a distant relative who was the admiral's shipmate.)

In the meantime, she transitioned from a drill and ceremonies member to a college programmer member of the NROTC unit for the second semester. This time, she completed her NROTC application and was selected for a national scholarship on the first board she was eligible for. I would have had a little less gray hair had she done this last year, but all's well that ends well!
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This is my favorite kind of story.

There was a lesson learned. There was no looking back. Opportunities were exploited.

Best of luck to your DD!
 
Bash On said:
Sorry about the rejection, but don't give up the ship! I do have a success story to share.

Last year my daughter didn't get accepted by the Naval Academy. She had her heart set on that option and did not complete her NROTC application so didn't have a backup plan, really. However, she got into a college but was too late to even apply to the NROTC unit as a programmer. Nonetheless, she was able to participate in the NROTC activities as a "drill and ceremonies" member. She attended all the workouts and formations, and signed up for a Naval Science class even though it wasn't required for her type of membership.

My advice to her was to take advantage of any opportunity offered, as it's always good to have additional knowledge and one can create opportunities for oneself. DD actually listened to me (!) and did just that. She competed for a university-wide leadership development program and was one of only two members of the Corps to be selected. She also volunteered for extra duties outside of her major and impressed the teaching staff so much that they offered her a paid teaching assistant position starting this second semester of her freshman year. (As a bonus, while volunteering, she learned from a visiting admiral of a distant relative who was the admiral's shipmate.)

In the meantime, she transitioned from a drill and ceremonies member to a college programmer member of the NROTC unit for the second semester. This time, she completed her NROTC application and was selected for a national scholarship on the first board she was eligible for. I would have had a little less gray hair had she done this last year, but all's well that ends well!
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This brings us hope! Was the school one of the 6 Corp of Cadet programs or a regular ROTC? Do you think it makes a difference?
 
Navyintheblood said:
This brings us hope! Was the school one of the 6 Corp of Cadet programs or a regular ROTC? Do you think it makes a difference?
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She's at one of the six maritime academies that has a Corps of Cadets. Probably made a difference for her to have the drill and ceremonies option available. She was late to hear from USNA (mid-April) and the NROTC programmer application deadline was April 1 (IIRC). At least your son heard early enough to get some options in place, rather than playing catch-up like we did. Good luck!
 
I graduated from NROTC years ago with a 4-year scholarship and am a former SWO. We had numerous non-scholarship (ie, college program) NROTC students in our unit. They were treated the same as any other. Do well in school and in your Unit. I dare say most kids who were 'college programmers' got 2 or 3 year scholarships. Stay on course and you will get a scholarship!
 
I wouldn't overthink it too much with regard to summer "leadership" opportunities. As others have said, college programmers who do well academically and do well in their unit have a good chance of getting a scholarship in the next round. My son applied to NROTC as a high-school senior and was not awarded a scholarship. Over the summer he continued his job in a bike shop. He did a little bit of assistant coaching in boys' and girls' rugby. In the fall he joined his university's NROTC unit as a college programmer, and by April he had been awarded the national scholarship (to cover the remaining three years). I think that all programmers his year won scholarships.
 
learningNavymom said:
I wouldn't overthink it too much with regard to summer "leadership" opportunities. As others have said, college programmers who do well academically and do well in their unit have a good chance of getting a scholarship in the next round. My son applied to NROTC as a high-school senior and was not awarded a scholarship. Over the summer he continued his job in a bike shop. He did a little bit of assistant coaching in boys' and girls' rugby. In the fall he joined his university's NROTC unit as a college programmer, and by April he had been awarded the national scholarship (to cover the remaining three years). I think that all programmers his year won scholarships.
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Ill take it that if you show up, maintain a good gpa, and are physically fit, most college programmers get a 3 or 2 year scholarships?
 
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