SAT Scores for Navy and Air Force ROTC

NavyUMO

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My DS has his current SAT Scores (1340) which are decent but is registered to retake in August and hopefully improve. Should he submit those scores and get his application in earlier or wait and then resubmit the scores assuming they get better.. Strategizing best score versus getting application in on the earlier side.
 
JMPO... It's early. Wait for a better score from August testing. That's plenty early enough even with a wait for results.
 
JMPO... It's early. Wait for a better score from August testing. That's plenty early enough even with a wait for results.
Thanks Kinnem.. The only issue is that he had to enter his SAT Scores as part of the Navy application, so they know at least his first set of scores. But, as I stated, hopeful he will be able to improve and so we will probably wait as you suggest to send the official scores from the August SAT when they are available in mid Sept.
 
If your DS is working hard to improve their score then I would council to wait. Some may disagree but standardized test scores do carry a lot of weight so working to improve them as much as possible can only help your application.
 
Wait. Improve the score. Aim for a 1400 or better. With practice he should be able to boost his score by 60-70 points.
 
NROTC super scores. They will take the highest combined even if occurred at two different sittings for the SAT.
 
SAT/ACT scores are but a fraction of the equation! My son's scores were 1270 SAT, 28 ACT. He was awarded a NROTC scholarship on the first board. Don't focus solely on bettering standardized tests, improve the whole candidate. My son's standardized tests may not have been super, but what he showed was a history of straight A's and B's in challenging Honors/AP courses from middle school through high school, leadership/Captain positions on his athletic teams, and community involvement. The essay questions are where you sell yourself...do just that. Essays shouldn't be a long synopsis of one's whole life, they should answer the question being asked. Standardized test scores are quick measurable's for evaluators. The interview and essay's are where you'll either gain ground or lose it.

I also highly recommend interviewing with the unit/school he's most interested in attending, regardless of how far it may be away from home. I accompanied my son on an interview for an AROTC scholarship at a close by college that wasn't his first choice. The unit knew this, and the interview was nothing more than a 20 minute conversation. Conversely, his interview for the NROTC scholarship was conducted with the commanding officer of the unit/school that was his first choice. The interview lasted over an hour and at the conclusion, the commanding officer told my son that his interview was the best he'd ever had with an applicant. He was awarded a scholarship and will be attending his first choice school this fall.

It's my opinion that test scores are important, but not "THE" deciding factor when awarding scholarships.
 
I had a 1330 and submitted my application 2 or 3 days before the deadline; still managed to get a type 7 AFROTC scholarship
 
@NavyUMO
It is important to remember that AFROTC is different in many ways.
1. AFROTC does not super score.
~ It is best sitting. IE He has 1340 (670 on each section). Next time he scores 1300, but on the Math he scores 700. They are not going to say overall it 1370 (700 M from 2nd SAT and 670 V from 1st SAT). It will be the 1370 since that is his best sitting.
2. AFROTC will allow you to only update your SAT scores from your senior yr. for your academic record
~ Thus, it is no harm or foul situation.

The board will meet in Oct. You have a large leeway if he re-took it in Aug and sent electronically.

Now, for my opinion.
I would submit it for AFROTC, so you can get the ball rolling. Here is my thought process and it is tied to CoVid
1. SAT
~ Nobody knows if we will go into a 2nd lockdown, and maybe by Aug. they will cancel it. They could say due to social distancing, that they are now limiting the number of students that can take it, and by the time he signed up, they were full.
2. Transcripts
~ My DD is a school teacher and so is her husband in VA. My niece is a teacher in NJ. My DIL's sister and her husband are teachers in NC. The one thing they all have in common is their schools systems are finalizing what will look like in the fall when they come back.
~~ For my DD. They will be doing A and B days. A Mon and Thurs. B. Tues and Fri. Weds. is deep clean. Niece students will come back 50%, and classes will be 1/2 day. 50% in the a.m. and 50% in p.m.

Point being if you look at my DD and my niece. My DD's school will be totally closed on Weds. You need to send a transcript and that comes out of the GC. Imagine how many they have to send out for seniors. The back log can be long. My guess is that schools are totally shut right now, so that back log can be even longer.
~ We always got our kids "sealed" transcripts over the summer bc I called the school.

3. Interview
~ You have to get approved to move from applicant to candidate. From that point they will open it for your DS to schedule an interview at an AFROTC det. Again, we don't know what colleges will like for opening.
~~ Additionally, just like the rest of the US. The military is essential personnel. I do not know if HQAFROTC is back to full staff/full days, but, I am betting that the pile of submissions are piling up.

This brings back to why I would submit now. You want to get in the pile early, yet, again, for your DS everything in the future is an unknown. Will there be an Oct. board? Boards are held at Maxwell. Will colleges open up to do an in person interview, or will he do the interview via Zoom?

Finally, 1340 is a strong best sitting score. He is above the avg., but remember AFROTC looks at their course curriculum rigor and the gpa. They will re-weight to their standards. Your HS may use a 5.0 weight on a 7 pt scale (93 A), but that is not their stds. In yrs past, the academic record for AFROTC is 60% of the score.
 
@NavyUMO
It is important to remember that AFROTC is different in many ways.
1. AFROTC does not super score.
~ It is best sitting. IE He has 1340 (670 on each section). Next time he scores 1300, but on the Math he scores 700. They are not going to say overall it 1370 (700 M from 2nd SAT and 670 V from 1st SAT). It will be the 1370 since that is his best sitting.
2. AFROTC will allow you to only update your SAT scores from your senior yr. for your academic record
~ Thus, it is no harm or foul situation.

The board will meet in Oct. You have a large leeway if he re-took it in Aug and sent electronically.

Now, for my opinion.
I would submit it for AFROTC, so you can get the ball rolling. Here is my thought process and it is tied to CoVid
1. SAT
~ Nobody knows if we will go into a 2nd lockdown, and maybe by Aug. they will cancel it. They could say due to social distancing, that they are now limiting the number of students that can take it, and by the time he signed up, they were full.
2. Transcripts
~ My DD is a school teacher and so is her husband in VA. My niece is a teacher in NJ. My DIL's sister and her husband are teachers in NC. The one thing they all have in common is their schools systems are finalizing what will look like in the fall when they come back.
~~ For my DD. They will be doing A and B days. A Mon and Thurs. B. Tues and Fri. Weds. is deep clean. Niece students will come back 50%, and classes will be 1/2 day. 50% in the a.m. and 50% in p.m.

Point being if you look at my DD and my niece. My DD's school will be totally closed on Weds. You need to send a transcript and that comes out of the GC. Imagine how many they have to send out for seniors. The back log can be long. My guess is that schools are totally shut right now, so that back log can be even longer.
~ We always got our kids "sealed" transcripts over the summer bc I called the school.

3. Interview
~ You have to get approved to move from applicant to candidate. From that point they will open it for your DS to schedule an interview at an AFROTC det. Again, we don't know what colleges will like for opening.
~~ Additionally, just like the rest of the US. The military is essential personnel. I do not know if HQAFROTC is back to full staff/full days, but, I am betting that the pile of submissions are piling up.

This brings back to why I would submit now. You want to get in the pile early, yet, again, for your DS everything in the future is an unknown. Will there be an Oct. board? Boards are held at Maxwell. Will colleges open up to do an in person interview, or will he do the interview via Zoom?

Finally, 1340 is a strong best sitting score. He is above the avg., but remember AFROTC looks at their course curriculum rigor and the gpa. They will re-weight to their standards. Your HS may use a 5.0 weight on a 7 pt scale (93 A), but that is not their stds. In yrs past, the academic record for AFROTC is 60% of the score.
Thanks so much Pima... Great feedback and advice! I do think he has a very strong package outside of the SAT (4.37 weighted, 3.9 unweighted GPA), Eagle Scout, Secretary of student council, Lacrosse team etc. so I think we are inclined to submit). How much does PT test weigh on the AF side. I know he can do well overall but he isn't the fastest runner in the world.
 
In the past, the PT has been reported to account for 10% of the total score given to HSSP candidates. Academics including SAT, gpa, and STEM courses taken have been said to account for 60% of the total score. Of this, the SAT accounted for 2/3rds of the academic portion, or 40% of the overall score. The interview was said to account for the remaining 30%.

Now, anecdotally, it appears that the interview is actually weighted much more heavily than the reported 30% -- probably at lest 50% of the total score. No one knows for sure, but this appears to conform to the experience of many candidates on this site and others. So the interview should be your #1 focus now.

Nonetheless, even if the academic portion is weighted somewhat less than 50% of the total score, the SAT is still by far the most important non-interview input into the total.

Bottom line: Raising his SAT score by 30-40 points might boost his overall score by 1%, which probably wouldn't make any difference regarding winning the Type 7. But raising his SAT score by 100 points might well make the difference between winning a Type 7 and winning a Type 2 scholarship, for which the competition is much steeper.

Good luck!
 
Do you have to take both the SAT and ACT to apply for an NROTC scholarship.
No, but as many individuals on this forum attest to, you'll want to take both (assuming your financial situation allows for this). That way you can submit whichever one you do better on.
 
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I also highly recommend interviewing with the unit/school he's most interested in attending, regardless of how far it may be away from home. I accompanied my son on an interview for an AROTC scholarship at a close by college that wasn't his first choice. The unit knew this, and the interview was nothing more than a 20 minute conversation. Conversely, his interview for the NROTC scholarship was conducted with the commanding officer of the unit/school that was his first choice. The interview lasted over an hour and at the conclusion, the commanding officer told my son that his interview was the best he'd ever had with an applicant. He was awarded a scholarship and will be attending his first choice school this fall.
I could not agree with this more, from my sample of 1. My DS had USMA as his #1 choice and Vanderbilt AROTC as a distant second. I told him you never know what will happen with USMA, so do your interview at Vandy.
He had a great interview and changed his mind (a story highlighted in prior posts) and applied ED2 to Vandy. Two boys from his High school (not ROTC or Athletes) got into Vandy ED1, so we thought it would be tough for him to get in at all given it’s a highly competitive school. He got accepted and got the 4-year. The interview was over an hour. I have no doubt that trip to Nashville for the interview got him accepted and very likely helped him get the 4-year since the PMS got to meet a kid who would attend if admitted.
 
If you have taken both the ACT & SAT, is it best to include both scores on the application for any reason? Or only submit the test with your better score?
 
I would say submit both. My DS got a 1430 SAT but his ACT (composite was 33- but English 36) converted to a 1530 for NROTC- which they list as his official score test score on his award page
 
I agree with @sc5 submit both. They will convert them for you. My DS had 1410 (I believe that was it), but he had a 34 ACT. They took his ACT.

As stated earlier it is important to remember that for AFROTC they DO NOT super score. It is best sitting. So if you do multiple ACT and SATs, you would have to remember yourself which one was better each time you submit. IE took ACT and SAT in Aug. SAT was better. Retake again in Sept. This time ACT is better, so now you submit the ACT, which they will place in your record.. Retake in Oct. SAT is better, but now you can't recall if it is better than the ACT you submitted last time.
 
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