ROTC Questions

[Jcatch]

Hey everyone, my name's Joe.

I am starting my senior year in high school, and I am considering applying for ROTC scholarships.

I am interested in the NROTC Marine option and AFROTC programs. To begin, I should start by telling you all a bit about myself.

GPA: 4.0/4.0 unweighted scale
Class Rank: 1/359
ACT Composite Score: 33 plus writing
I have been enrolled in as many accelerated and AP classes as could fit into my schedule over my high school career.
I am a two sport varsity letter athlete (lacrosse and swimming) and have been since I was a Freshman.
I am a member of four national honor societies and I am vice-president of NHS and Science NHS.
I am an Eagle Scout and am currently a member of Venturing.
I am involved with two school clubs and plan to become involved in more this year.
If it matters, I am a white male from Illinois.

I have started completing the applications for the NROTC and AFROTC scholarships. I have stated that I intend to complete an engineering degree, which I believe is a Tier 1 academic major for both scholarships.

In your opinion, how strong of a candidate do I appear to be?

My main questions are regarding what schools I should state as my preferred universities for each scholarship.

My goal is to attend the University of Notre Dame. I know that this is a very tough school to get accepted to. Would it be wise to state this school as my top choice?

Is it ok for me to state schools that are outside of my state of residence? And are candidates who put down state (public) schools given preference over someone like me who has stated that they wish to attend an out of state private school like Notre Dame?

Also, if I am awarded a scholarship to Notre Dame but do not get accepted to the university, would it be possible to use the scholarship in another school?

What kinds of things do they look for in the essay portions of the application?

I have been on a college visit to Notre Dame and have spoken to one of the navy instructors. I think that the physical portions of my application will be the weakest (225 marine corps inventory PFT), but I am training to increase those scores.

Finally, thanks for everyone who took the time to read this. Any feedback is greatly appreciated

 

[Pima]

I will let others speak about NROTC MO, but here goes for AFROTC.

1. The scholarship is tied to the recipient, Notre Dame says no and UNCCH says yes, you don't need to ask for them to transfer the scholarship to UNCCH.
~~~~ They don't care OOS, IS or private. Major matters more.

2. You did not state your intended major. Non-Tech or Tech is going to matter. 80-85% of all scholarships go to tech majors.

3. You did not state if the ACT was superscored. AFROTC takes only best sitting into consideration.
~~~~ Non-tech best sitting 33 is different than non-tech best sitting 31. Type 1 is what you will really want, Type 2 at the worst. 5% of all scholarships are Type 1, and 5% of that 5% goes non-tech...about 3 nationally from 900 awarded (1,2 and 7). 15% goes Type 2, but again it is about 5% for non-tech. Due the math, non-tech and a lower best sitting can bump you from a 1 to a 2 or a 2 to a 7.
~~~~~ You can convert a 4 yr 7 to a 3 yr 2 without skipping a beat. It is a given, as long as you complete the paperwork

4. AFROTC scholarship is truly only guaranteed for 2 yrs. Not selected for SFT, you will not be a POC, and almost guaranteed these days to be dis-enrolled from AFROTC.
~~~~ Notre Dame, you really would need to pull a very low cgpa (under 3.0) to not be offered SFT.

5. What is your career desire? College is 4 yrs. 30 weeks a yr., 5 days a week, 20 +/- hrs. per week. Military is 52 weeks 7 days a week, 24 hrs a day, not a week. College is where you decide to move to, AD is where they decide you move to. Marines and AF are not what most people see as similar. AF is known as the corporate branch among the sister services, duty day is 8-4 if not flying. Golf is their PT...and they use golf carts.

You are a great applicant, seems like the squares are filled, but remember that there is a limited pot of gold for scholarships. The system is a queue, first in, first out. The longer you wait to decide if you should submit, the further down the line you will be. AFROTC's 1st board does not meet until Dec., and they may say paperwork must be submitted by X date in December to be eligible to meet the board, but that doesn't mean you will meet the board. The key word is eligible, they didn't say you will meet. There are only 4 AFROTC boards....the more you miss, the less money they can offer.

OBTW for AFROTC they don't care what clubs/activities you are in as a SR. they only care about through your jr. yr. Another reason why so many kids can have their applications done by Aug. The only thing they can edit for AFROTC is updating new ACT/SAT scores.

 

[kinnem]

Pima is pretty spot on. With respect to NROTC MO you also look like a strong candidate to me.

- The engineering major may be a plus, but on the whole NROTC MO doesn't care what your major is. Nevertheless, once you're on scholarship you will need to get permission to change it.

- Regarding the ACT, NROTC MO does not superscore either (although Navy Option does).

- There are far fewer scholarships for NROTC MO than for Navy Option or AFROTC. They simply have fewer people and need fewer officers.

- NROTC MO you will need to do a Physical Fitness Test that a Marine Sergeant or Officer will administer. This is the same test that an AD Marine does and is scored the same way. You can look it up online to see what you need to do to max it. Physical fitness is extremely important for the Marines so you really want to ace this when you do it. I expect with your sports you'll be fine but nevertheless it is a long run at a fast pace, and the pullups are no piece of cake either.

- There are only two boards for NROTC MO. I believe one is in Nov. and the other is in Feb. You definitely want to get in front of the first board.

- You will have to list at least one public school where you can get in-state tuition. The scholarship is tied to the school. So if you get a scholarship to Notre Dame but don't get accepted you might not be able to transfer the scholarship and may lose it. There are no guarantees on transfer requests. The scholarship itself is awarded by the board and then another board separately chooses the school. To the best of their ability they try to go down your preference list and award the scholarship to the most preferred school on your list that still has scholarship slots open. They generally do not award more than 50% of the slots to OOS students, at a public anyway. Just list the schools in your order of preference while ensuring you meet their requirements for listing publics where you can get in-state tuition (whatever that requirement is this year).

As I said, you look like a strong candidate, but a lot will have to do with your high school's profile. If you are at a strong high school with those stats, that's far better than having those stats at a weaker high school.

Good luck! Get that application done!

 

[USMCGrunt]

jcatch: You are obviously a strong academic candidate. For NROTC Marine Option, I feel you will need to get to a 250+ on your physical fitness test (not mandatory - just a gut feel based on scores reported) and I would suggest you seek leadership positions in the clubs/ teams you will be on as a senior. Eagle Scout probably brings some element of leadership (troop leader, etc) but still you need to demonstrate some leadership competency.

Work hard on your essays and make sure they are top notch.

There are a lot of views on school ranking - take the time to search this forum to develop your own strategy. As Kinnem states, you must have at least one school where you get in-state tuition.

Two things specific to Notre Dame: They used to have the largest NROTC battalion in the country. Not sure if this is still the case but it is large. That said, this is a highly sought after school and fills up quickly. Get your application in as soon as possible.

Secondly, getting into Notre Dame from Illinois (and particularly the Chicago area) is very difficult. ND is very popular and the proximity means many, many kids apply from that area. You would be amazed who is turned away. Sometimes, there are "feeder" schools that put an inordinate number into ND but if you are not at one of them it becomes tougher.

I don't mean to dump on your dream - just want you to be realistic. You have great academics, great class rank, great extracurriculars. You definately match up to what the school publishes as the "average" student. Just make sure you have a very strong application and essay.

Best of luck!

 

[txpotato]

As much as it pains this Crimson Tide mom, might I suggest you consider Auburn? They give generously to deserving OOS candidates, have an excellent NROTC program, and are known for their engineering programs.