ROTC and admissions

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Worriedparent2

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Hey everyone,
So I posted a similar thread regarding an email received from GT, but this thread is more general. My Ds asked me whether rotc has a pull in admissions at certain schools and whether he should reach out to the detatchments or not. I don’t know the answer and was looking for any info regarding this idea. Ds received an email back from one of his top school choices saying they will let admissions to take a better look as an applicant. How much bearing does this actually have on his application. Lastly was wondering if Cornell had contact info to reach out too.
 
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I’m not exactly sure if this would help or not, but why not give it a try? Worst case scenario is that that they respond saying they can’t have an impact on admissions. However, if you are a solid applicant and they really want you in their unit I am sure they would pull a couple of strings to convince admissions to let you in. Obviously I am not an expert, but in my opinion it is worth the effort to reach out and show interest.

Best of luck to your DS! Cornell has an amazing ROTC unit and also hosts an annual military excellence competition (MEC) which I competed in this year.
 
I would say that your DS should contact Cornell and/or all of his top choices. It really does vary school by school, yr by yr.
~ My assumption @Worriedparent2 you are talking about my response.

I will repeat this again. Many schools if they have multiple ROTC units (A/AF/NROTC) and have them sit on the admissions board they will rotate each branch. This yr at Cornell it could be AROTC, but he wants NROTC....an example It will not hurt to inform them that he is NROTC all the way and wants Cornell if given admission and the NROTC scholarship (maybe a fiscal reason why without he can't and they get that)

The thing you also need to realize is that ROTC units as a cadet might not have a lot of interaction....school doesn't dorm them together like they do at an SMC. However, the AD personnel (on campus) actually may know each other bc as an AD officer at a det as a PMS, there are very few of them on any campus and that is on top of if they rotate admission boards.
 
In short, yes at some schools do have pull. Consider having your son contact the Cornell ROTC unit and explain that the school is his top choice and ask the contact's advice on whether he (the student) should contact Admissions to let them know of an additional Award. If the response it "we'll do that on our end" vs. "yes, that's a good idea on your part" then you have an indication of possible influence. I'm guessing Cornell will see an applicant with full tuition as attractive.
 
Agree with above, sometimes they do, however the more selective the school the less likely it matters. This would be a question for the specific school. If a scholarship is offered, then contacting and alerting the school admissions and the ROTC unit would be valuable. My DD was on a wait list for the most selective school she applied to (but in the grand scheme only a moderately selective school), once she received an Army ROTC scholarship she told the ROO at the school and also admissions. There were no promises made when notifying admissions, she was told decisions on the waiting list would be made on a certain date later in the month, however, within 24 hours she received an email welcoming her to the school and notifying her that an official acceptance letter would be coming in the mail. I have also heard on here stories where it has not helped. Good luck and keep us posted!
 
Money talks. The schools gets full tuition, which could help in a decision to admit.
 
Worriedparent2 said:
Hey everyone,
So I posted a similar thread regarding an email received from GT, but this thread is more general. My Ds asked me whether rotc has a pull in admissions at certain schools and whether he should reach out to the detatchments or not. I don’t know the answer and was looking for any info regarding this idea. Ds received an email back from one of his top school choices saying they will let admissions to take a better look as an applicant. How much bearing does this actually have on his application. Lastly was wondering if Cornell had contact info to reach out too.
Click to expand...

My son went through the ROTC process last year and is currently a Freshmen at Cornell in AFROTC. He also had an NROTC scholarship but decided the AF was a better fit for him job wise. Based on his experience I would say yes, some schools have influence with admissions while others don't. Some detachments interview candidates separately from the school interview as well. I'm not sure of how much influence, if any, Cornell ROTC units have on admission. DS does like both the school and the ROTC unit there and they interact with the other branches. Feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions.
 
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