ROTC QUESTION

wegiveaship

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Sep 9, 2015
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I am currently a junior in high school and a service academy is by far my top option for college. That being said, as we all know, it is extremely hard to get into a SA, and you should have a plan B. I definitely want to serve, so my plan B will be ROTC. But the application for ROTC is very ambiguous for me.....And I was wondering if you all could answer a few questions. I understand what ROTC entails and I am all for it, it is most definitely what I want if a SA doesn't work out. But how does the application process work? Do you apply to a school, get in, then join ROTC? Or do you apply directly to ROTC at a certain school while filling out the application? How does the ROTC scholarship application work? I have done extensive research but it is hard to find all the answers on the internet as many people contradict each other. Is there a specific person in my area I can talk to (ie Army recruiter?), or do I email the ROTC program at the school I am interested in directly?

Obtaining a ROTC scholarship is something that I will chase as hard as I will the application for a SA, but I just want to be headed in the right direction. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
wegiveaship

(I also posted this on College Confidential)
 
I'm just a mom of a USNA candidate, and my DD's original plan B was to enlist if not offered an appointment at USNA. She changed her mind about plan B however, and scrambled just this past November to apply for the NROTC scholarship (still waiting to hear about either). So I am sure there are others far more knowledgeable than me.

That said, from what we've learned, you apply for whatever ROTC branch scholarship you're interested in (Army, Navy, AF), and you also apply to the schools at the same time. Separate applications. In DD's case, she applied for NROTC, and while NROTC requires you to list five schools, my DD only applied to her top two choices, mostly because she really wasn't interested in other choices. (Luckily, she was accepted to both she applied to :) ).

It's up to you to apply separately to each school on your *ROTC list. I've seen others on this forum scrambling to apply to Whatever U because that's where *ROTC gave them a scholarship to.

Good luck to you!!!
 
Also, I would suggest avoid going to a recruiter. My DD did and he was putting a lot of pressure on her to enlist. His job is to recruit, not necessarily to find what's best for my daughter.
 
Wegiveaship,

First off, I recommend you message an admin and move this thread from the "USMA" section to the "ROTC" section. Anyways, ROTC can be kind of tricky to understand. I remember being a junior and trying to understand what the ROTC application will be like. I was recently awarded a 3yr Army ROTC scholarship to Texas A&M; I also applied to the AFROTC scholarship board and the Navy-MCO ROTC (Marine Corps Option, very loosely "Marine Corps ROTC") and am currently waiting for results. I'll try to explain in general how the scholarship application works.

Applications are online and require you to select what kind of extracurricular activities you participated in and whether you were in a leadership position or not. They also require you to enter personal information (Name, Address, SSN) and parental information (whether your parents have served, same address as you or not, etc.). Then they want you to select schools that you want to attend and that you have applied to. They will also ask you what major you plan to pursue. Then there will be an essay or two. There will also be an officer interview and a PT test (branch-dependent). You will also have to submit your ACT/SAT scores. Army will superscore your ACT. AF and Navy-MCO will not. Each branch of ROTC will award scholarships based on what they want. AF wants applicants with high ACT scores (Average scholarship winner has an average ACT score of 29.6-31.2). Navy-MCO wants applicants with high PFT scores (260 out of 300 is what you have to have before they even look at you).

I also agree with EOD/SEALmom, avoid going to the recruiter. I had to go to the recruiter for the Navy-MCO scholarship process, and, let me say, he is really pushing me to enlist.
 
The processes for each branch are a little different, and the options are a little different. All are somewhat similar to the academy application process, and some of your efforts are duplicative. Really the best start is with each services ROTC web site. Each branch has its own list of schools. Army and AF has a lot of schools, Navy has far less.

Obviously the criteria for being offered a scholarship include academics, and like the SA's, also include leadership and athletics/fitness. They are all.pretty competitive, with army perhaps being slightly less stringent, and more open to a wider range of academic majors.

If you are interested, just start the application process with each service. Once portals are open you will start to get to understand what is required. If you are applying to the SA's at the same time you will see they all seem to flow in a general way.

Take ACT/SAT exams every opportunity.
 
Good advice above -- you need to figure out within which service or services you are willing to serve and then apply to those ROTC programs (just like SA). Apply to schools that you want to attend and that have the ROTC program you desire. AF (and I think Navy) tend to favor STEM majors. Army has a broader view on majors. You will find the competition for a ROTC scholarship is keen for all services. Keep in mind each year there are great candidates that are awarded an SA appointment that don't qualify for a ROTC scholarship, and each year there are candidates that earn a ROTC scholarship but don't get offered an SA appointment. Different processes looking for different things in some cases. IF you want to serve, applying to both SA and ROTC is a good plan.

Army does give out the most scholarships compared to the other services (recent past it was 2500 total per year), but the overwhelming majority of those scholarships were for 3 yr scholarships. Typically, only around 600 of the 2500 were for 4 year scholarships.

Folks with more knowledge than I on Navy and Marine Corp can share their numbers, but I think it was something like 1200 scholarships last year

Air Force has been very limited the past 2 years on number of scholarships awarded (something like 300 per year in 2014 and 2015). Not sure what the numbers are going to be this year.

Best of luck.
 
Your screen name indicates Navy, but you posted this in an Army (USMA) section. I assume you're going to try for both academies, and there's nothing wrong with that. You will find differences between the ROTC applications for Army and Navy, or Navy-Marine Option.

I am only familiar with the Army ROTC application. You apply for a scholarship through their website, prior to October of your senior year if you want in on the first selection board. You list schools where you intend to apply and at which you would like to participate in Army ROTC. Concurrently, you apply to those schools and hopefully get accepted. In October, January, and March(?), Cadet Command (Army ROTC) sends out scholarship winner letters, including which schools at which you can use the scholarship. Again, hopefully you have been accepted to one of those schools. If not, you'd have to apply to cadet command for a transfer of the scholarship. School choice - "reaches," public/private, etc. are important considerations in the Army ROTC application and there are many threads discussing school choice.
 
Good comments above. Apply for the xROTC scholarship and apply for schools separately. You're on your own to get accepted to the college(s) you might be awarded a scholarship. Army and Marines don't care much about major. Air Force and Navy want about 85% (for Navy anyway) tech majors.

If you fail to win the scholarship or an appointment you can also attend a college with the ROTC program of your choice and sign up with that unit without a scholarship. That's what my son did. He's now a USMC 2nd Lt.
 
As noted above, each branch handles ROTC scholarships differently.

Navy scholarships are broken into 2 parts, most for Navy and a much more limited number for Marine option. You have to decide which you are going for during the application process. These scholarships are for 4 year full tuition at schools you list, top 5, I think, on your application. There is a limited number of schools with detachments, roughly 2-3 per state, with some crosstown affiliations. You need to apply for the schools you list separately. If the detachment is full at your 1st choice school, you will be assigned to school #2, etc.

Army and Air Force scholarships are offered at many more schools. The detachments are based at certain schools and they have crosstown agreements with many more. I think you could enroll at most colleges and you could travel to the detachment school for your ROTC responsibilities.

Army ROTC offers a number of 3 year scholarships and a small number of 4 year scholarships. With the 3 year scholarship, you have to pay for your first year. The Scholarship kicks in tuition for your sophomore year and beyond.

Air Force scholarships are broken into 3 types - Type 1: full tuition for 4 years awarded to roughly 5% of recipients, Type 2: $18,000 tuition for 4 years awarded to roughly 15% of recipients, Type 7: equivalent of a public school’s in-state rate, school choice limited, may be 3 or 4 year.

Many ROTC scholarships include some money for books and a monthly stipend.

It is very important that you look at the colleges you are interested in. Some offer generous additional funds to ROTC scholarship recipients. My middle son received a AFROTC type 2 scholarship. The private university he attends pays ALL extra fees and charges, including tuition subsidy to and full room and board. In his case, the Air Force Scholarship pays $18,000 and school throws in another $35,000. There are spreadsheets floating around the internet with data about which schools offer what.

I do think it is important that you give yourself as many options as possible. Each of my 3 children applied to SA's and ROTC programs from various branches. They received many wonderful offers, 6 SA appointments and 5 ROTC scholarship offers between the 3 of them. This put them in the difficult, but enviable position of having to choose between many great options.
 
Thank you all for the thorough replies, it really really helps!! I greatly appreciate it. Although my screen name has Navy resemblance, Army is my first choice (I couldn't think of another screen name and had just seen the Annapolis we give a ship spirit video :) ). I am focusing on a business related major, so luckily as stated above the army is more lenient.

If I have any questions I will continue to post here as you all are so helpful, and make this process a lot easier.

Thank you.
 
With the AFROTC, most, are a 2+2. You get the first 2 years guaranteed. During your sophomore year you apply for SFT (summer field training?). Being selected for SFT is based on a lot of different categories. You can do more research on the exact categories via search function. If you do not get selected for SFT, then you are dis-enrolled from AFROTC. You may want to reach out to PIMA as she has got LOTS of information on AFROTC!

As for the other ROTC's, it is basically as its stated above. Remember most, if not all, people applying for SA are also using xROTC as their back plans B-F and probably more. DO NOT let any branch recruited pressure you to enlist. Yes you can get picked various enlisted to officer (mustang) programs. That being stated, you will behind you friends from HS, who are going to either SA/XROTC as most commands will not give their recommendation to you to become an officer until you have been there at least 1 year.

Good luck with you applications.
 
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