I did not get in on the first board and am a little discouraged. Was wondering what my chances are for the second board?
ACT/30
GPA/3.5
1000 hours+ of volunteer service
Spartan Race team captain
No varsity sports, and my PFA didn't go very well
Any input is appreciated!!!
Don't be discouraged and don't get hung up on your GPA and ACT scores, they are fine and would give you the max points on the academic section of your interview sheet. As it was mentioned above there are many factors that go into a first board selection, school selection can play a big part. Another thing to remember is that not everyone has completed their application. There are a large number of applicants that do not get reviewed until the second board, by the time the second board meets they will have a larger pool of applicants to select from and they will award a larger number of scholarships. If they are slated to give out around 2000 scholarships this year it means they have at least 1683 left to award.
One other thing to remember, don't be discouraged if you are not selected on the second board either. Consider how the OML works, right now you have been reviewed by the first board and are ranked along with other applicants. By the time the second board meets there will be a lot more new applicants, it's very likely some of those new applicants will be ranked above you, moving you down the list. If you are not selected by the second board you move to the third. The third board will have much fewer new applicants and your position on the OML will be more stable and your chance of being selected gets higher.
Schools/Battalions have a set number of slots for 4 year and 3 year scholarship, once filled they do not offer awards for that school, this is why they have you list several schools on your application. If an applicant only lists highly competitive schools then their chance at a scholarship from the National Board is lower, Example: School A has slots for 7 scholarships and 300 applicants list that school, the percentage is low. School B has 4 slots and 30 applicants list that school, the percentage is much higher. There is also the Big Fish in a Little Pond scenario, an applicant with stats like yours lists a school that is not one of the more competitive schools and has a lower number of applicants that list that school, they may offer a scholarship on the first board for that school to try and lock that applicant into the program. This is why people say that school selection can play a part in scholarship selection and which board they are awarded.
Best of luck to you, you seem to have a good packet, now as hard as it is, you just have to play the waiting game.
