ROTC Four Year Scholarship Tips

[CadetAviator]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I was wondering if some of you could give me some tips as well as estimate what my chances are at receiving a AROTC, AFROTC and or a NROTC Scholarship.
Class Rank: 72 out of 540 (I switched schools my junior year and my rank was not accounted for from my previous two years)
GPA: UW 3.95 W 4.67 (I have had three AP Classes so far with good AP scores and two Honors level classes)
SAT: Taken Twice May 2017 1310 (640V and 670M) January 2017 (660V and 690M as well as 6 on all three parts of the written exam)
Extracurriculars: Civil Air Patrol in which I am an Amelia Earhart recipient which is Cadet Captain, a fully qualified SAR Ground Team Leader, Mission Scanner (which is I am qualified to go up and conduct Air Search and Rescue in a CAP Aircraft) a Cadet Deputy Commander and Cadet Emergency Services Officer for my unit (I manage the search and rescue team for my unit) as well as several other duty positions and lastly various other SAR qualifications through CAP. I have been a member of a number of school clubs such as NHS, International Student Association, Salsa Dancing Club and Chinese Club. I also have been doing swing dancing outside of school for two years in which I have instructed a number of friends. I was also in Sea Cadets for little over a year in which I got to Cadet Seaman and did several trainings including RT and Master at Arms. I work at the local country club (I have worked several other jobs before throughout high school and middle school) in which I work around 30 hours a week during the school year and over forty hours a week during the summer.
PT: For CAP (we test to military standards such as breaking 90 on pushups, etc) I usually test at as follows: Mile: 6:25 to 6:45 Push-ups: 50-55 Crunches: 50 (in one minute)

Some other things to note, I have some pretty good essays (my ROTC applications are in the latter stages now and should be board ready by the end of the month) and I have had my applications reviewed by several former military officers. I know I do not have really any sports involvement however I do have a number of community service hours through CAP and Sea Cadets. I also have dealt with adversity as I have an estranged mother and had to deal with a nasty divorce in which my mother (who had custody of me during the weekends) would not let me engage in sports or do weekend activities up until my Junior year when I broke off ties with her.

 

[brob]

There really is no accurate way to estimate your chances - it depends on the merit of the other candidates applying and on how strong all parts of your application end up. Too many variables to judge.

My thoughts, though:

• Even though you don't have sports, it sounds like you have plenty of physical training thru your involvement in CAP. Others who know more about that might be able to comment.
• Come up with (or find online) a list of possible interview questions and practice your answers - make sure you use each question to tell more positive information - you are selling yourself! You can find the interview score sheet online (at least for Army) so you can see exactly what they are looking for and attempt to max the points out in that area.
• You may think your essays are good, but have a knowledgeable person (teacher, counselor, writing tutor?) read both the questions and your answers. Be certain you are answering the question! Answer space is limited, so make sure to use each sentence to maximize your qualifications, expanding upon qualities mentioned elsewhere, or introducing other unique accomplishments that do not fit neatly into other categories on the application sections.

 

[eljay60]

(I manage the search and rescue team for my unit)

Part of sports is physical training, but a bunch of it is learning to rely on a team to achieve a common goal. Captaining that team is even better. Try to mention somewhere that even though you weren't given the opportunity to participate in sports, your search and rescue team achieved _________goal while under your leadership, and what you did that made you a leader in that particular situation. Valuing teamwork and examples of providing leadership will have to come from your comments, since they aren't inherently obvious in your resume.

FYI, I think the NROTC average was above 1400 this last go round on the SAT. NROTC-MO was a bit lower. My son got a 4 year AFROTC with a 1260, but was an Eagle Scout and Varsity soccer (REAL football ) player for two years. The school clubs won't hurt, but unless you had leadership positions, probably won't help much.