ROTC Scholarships and School choices

G

Giovanni808

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2014
Messages
22
So this might be a dumb question, but I was just wondering how the scholarship works when it comes to what school it works for. Is it just for one school that they assign with the scholarship or are you given the option to pick from a couple of schools to attend with it? And is it different for Air Force, Army and Navy? Again, might be a stupid question, but just wondering.
 
Yes, different for each.

Army and Navy are sort of similar, in that the scholarship is tied to the school (it will only "work" there). For Army, I think they give you three (?) choices, and you can choose either. Navy they only give you one. Also, for both Army and Navy the majority of scholarships given out are 4 years, full tuition.

The Air Force doesn't require you to attend a certain school, but they have many different levels of payment. Type 1: 4 years, full tuition (~5% of scholarship recipients, which is 16-18% of applicants); Type 2: 4 years, up to 18k and you must pay the difference. Type 7: 4 years, up to instate tuition rate and if you attend a school where you don't qualify for instate, they will change it to a 3 year Type 2. And look through Pima's posts about the fact that it is a 2+2 scholarship b/c of field training selection.
 
Giovanni808 said:
So this might be a dumb question, but I was just wondering how the scholarship works when it comes to what school it works for. Is it just for one school that they assign with the scholarship or are you given the option to pick from a couple of schools to attend with it? And is it different for Air Force, Army and Navy? Again, might be a stupid question, but just wondering.
Click to expand...

Do a search on the forum and you will find numerous threads full of info related to your question for you to read through. Also, you may find it helpful to go to the websites of each service that will have additional info for scholarships and the process.

Edit to add: in fact, there's a thread on the first page of this ROTC forum related to the Army ROTC scholarship process.
 
blueandgold19 said:
Army and Navy are sort of similar, in that the scholarship is tied to the school (it will only "work" there). For Army, I think they give you three (?) choices, and you can choose either. Navy they only give you one. Also, for both Army and Navy the majority of scholarships given out are 4 years, full tuition.
Click to expand...

Looking at last year for AROTC, the first board tends to issue 4 yr scholarships to your choice of up to 3 schools (could be 1, could be 3). Same with the second board, although there were some candidates that got 3 yr scholarships. The last board was mostly 3 yr scholarships to 1 or 2 schools. Your best chance for AROTC it to get everything in before the first board, and make sure you've applied to all of the schools on your list. The applications are two entirely different things and independent of each other. If you list a "reach" school as #1 (ie Harvard), only receive a scholarship to #1, but actually have very little chance of getting accepted or don't get accepted, you will have to wait until the spring to request a transfer to another school. Transfers are not guaranteed and are based on availability at the requested school.

There is some wiggle room during the scholarship application process to re-rank your schools, until your application is boarded. Once your application has gone before the board (ie been reviewed), it appears you are locked out from changing school selection.
 
I agre with -Bull-. As easy as it would be to spoon feed the answer, it would be better for you to reasearch old posts or visit the ROTC websites FAQs page. From there you will most likely get into the finesse questions, such as ca2mid pointed out from anecdotal experience regarding AROTC.

If you are applying for all 3 ROTC scholarships make sure you visit all 3 websites. There is overlap between scholarships for one branch to another, but if you only looked at one, such as AROTC and not AFROTC there is very little in common. IE AROTC is tied to the college, and major doesn't really matter. Not true for AFROTC, but AFROTC is like NROTC where tech majors matter regarding selection rate. NROTC is like AROTC where it is tied to the college. So as you can see there are small variations, and that is why you need to reserparch all of them for the requirements.
 
Just to clarify because I am confused as well, with the army scholarship, you apply to three schools that have AROTC, then you apply for the scholarship through army's website, and list those three schools down on the application. Also if you are awarded the scholarship and accepted to all three schools, do you just get to choose which one you want to go to or do they kinda control which ones you can? Thanks!
 
JChaulklin said:
Just to clarify because I am confused as well, with the army scholarship, you apply to three schools that have AROTC, then you apply for the scholarship through army's website, and list those three schools down on the application. Also if you are awarded the scholarship and accepted to all three schools, do you just get to choose which one you want to go to or do they kinda control which ones you can? Thanks!
Click to expand...

For Army and Navy they assign the scholarship to particular school(s) from your list... so be certain you would be willing to attend any of them.
 
JChaulklin said:
Just to clarify because I am confused as well, with the army scholarship, you apply to three schools that have AROTC, then you apply for the scholarship through army's website, and list those three schools down on the application. Also if you are awarded the scholarship and accepted to all three schools, do you just get to choose which one you want to go to or do they kinda control which ones you can? Thanks!
Click to expand...

For AROTC you can list up to 6 (7? - I can't remember) schools on your scholarship application. You should rank them in the order that you want to attend. If you receive a scholarship, it may be for up to 3 schools on your list -- but not necessarily #1-3. You may receive a scholarship for only 1 school on your list, and it could be your last choice.

It's in your best interest to apply to all of the schools you list on your scholarship application, especially if you list one or more reach schools (ie Ivy).
 
Is there a January 2015 Navy ROTC scholarship board? I know there have been other Navy ROTC scholarship boards because others have posted (in Nov and Dec 2014) that they were awarded Navy ROTC scholarships.

My son submitted his Navy ROTC package in Nov 2014. The Naval officer who interviewed him said my son would likely not hear anything until at least January 2015. I realize that even if there is an ROTC board in January, that does NOT mean we will hear back from Navy ROTC.

Any info is much appreciated. Thank you!!
 
I have another question about the Navy engineering career path. I read another blogger on this site state that newly commissioned Naval officers (from Navy ROTC who majored in engineering) do not normally work as engineers directly out of college. Rather, those ROTC commissioned officers usually serve in another career field and then try to get into engineering later. Is this true? If so, my son did not have that impression.

The blogger also stated that a better path (for someone who really wants to be a Navy engineer) would be to apply for the Navy Civil Engineering Collegiate Program which, if accepted, is a direct commissioning program and pays a monthly stipend (for up to 2 years of college) and also virtually guarantees that the student will serve as an engineer directly out of college. I realize a Navy recruiter may have more details. This site explains this program. http://www.navy.com/joining/benefits/education-opportunities/undergraduate.html#specialized-programs

Just wondering about the likelihood of working as an engineer directly out of college--if he got the Navy ROTC scholarship. My son's dream is to serve in the Navy, but he is really hoping to use his engineering degree.
 
I have been told that NROTC has a new board that convenes about every 2 weeks. If your file isn't awarded a scholarship upon the first board you have been submitted in timed for, your file will be considered for every subsequent board until the last one has convened or you have been awarded a scholarship.
 
I can't tell you what his chances are of getting engineering straight out of college. I can say that what one does in any of the services frequently has absolutely nothing to do with their major.
 
Marci Lawson said:
I have another question about the Navy engineering career path. I read another blogger on this site state that newly commissioned Naval officers (from Navy ROTC who majored in engineering) do not normally work as engineers directly out of college. Rather, those ROTC commissioned officers usually serve in another career field and then try to get into engineering later. Is this true? If so, my son did not have that impression.

.....

Just wondering about the likelihood of working as an engineer directly out of college--if he got the Navy ROTC scholarship. My son's dream is to serve in the Navy, but he is really hoping to use his engineering degree.
Click to expand...

Marci,
note from my moniker that I served in the Marines and not the Navy...but, by the end of my career I probably spent as much time working with the Navy as I did working alongside Marines.

In general, "Engineering" is more of a position/job as opposed to how it is applied in the civilian community. As a young officer, the focus is on learning how to lead a division and on learning how the ship (or boat) functions and how the ship executes its combat mission. A new Ensign could be the division officer for Deck Division (they look after the infrastructure of the ship/boat) or one of the weapon's systems or even communications. They'll rotate over time and move "up the ladder" of the ship's organization as they promote from Ensign to Lt(jg) to Lieutenant...At some point (depending on the size of the ship) they could serve as the "Ship's Engineer"...that's usually a Department level leadership position and they're responsible for a whole slew of functions that make the ship work....

That said, for both the Surface Warfare (ships) and Subsurface Warfare (submarines) officer communities, engineering principles are the foundation of much of what they do. A ship is a floating industrial complex. Ships make electricity, purify water, provide heat and air conditioning, run restaurant sized kitchens, complex computer networks, etc, etc...I personally think that's why the Navy places such a high value on engineering degrees. I suspect much of that applies to the aviation (pilots) community as well, but I really saw it in regards to surface ships and submarines...

The picture below is probably dated, but it should illustrate the concept:

Seamanship-7-2.jpg
 
Thanks USMCdad, that's the best explanation that I have seen of how the engineers transition. I don't think my son expects to use his engineering degree directly initially, but I can see how no matter what his "job" he'll probably apply lots of what he has learned.
 
Thanks!!

Kaners221 said:
I have been told that NROTC has a new board that convenes about every 2 weeks. If your file isn't awarded a scholarship upon the first board you have been submitted in timed for, your file will be considered for every subsequent board until the last one has convened or you have been awarded a scholarship.
Click to expand...
njs
 
USMCDad said:
Marci Lawson said:
I have another question about the Navy engineering career path. I read another blogger on this site state that newly commissioned Naval officers (from Navy ROTC who majored in engineering) do not normally work as engineers directly out of college. Rather, those ROTC commissioned officers usually serve in another career field and then try to get into engineering later. Is this true? If so, my son did not have that impression.

.....

Just wondering about the likelihood of working as an engineer directly out of college--if he got the Navy ROTC scholarship. My son's dream is to serve in the Navy, but he is really hoping to use his engineering degree.
Click to expand...

Marci,
note from my moniker that I served in the Marines and not the Navy...but, by the end of my career I probably spent as much time working with the Navy as I did working alongside Marines.

In general, "Engineering" is more of a position/job as opposed to how it is applied in the civilian community. As a young officer, the focus is on learning how to lead a division and on learning how the ship (or boat) functions and how the ship executes its combat mission. A new Ensign could be the division officer for Deck Division (they look after the infrastructure of the ship/boat) or one of the weapon's systems or even communications. They'll rotate over time and move "up the ladder" of the ship's organization as they promote from Ensign to Lt(jg) to Lieutenant...At some point (depending on the size of the ship) they could serve as the "Ship's Engineer"...that's usually a Department level leadership position and they're responsible for a whole slew of functions that make the ship work....

That said, for both the Surface Warfare (ships) and Subsurface Warfare (submarines) officer communities, engineering principles are the foundation of much of what they do. A ship is a floating industrial complex. Ships make electricity, purify water, provide heat and air conditioning, run restaurant sized kitchens, complex computer networks, etc, etc...I personally think that's why the Navy places such a high value on engineering degrees. I suspect much of that applies to the aviation (pilots) community as well, but I really saw it in regards to surface ships and submarines...

The picture below is probably dated, but it should illustrate the concept:

Seamanship-7-2.jpg
Click to expand...
Thank you!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top