Wanted to give an update, and also many thanks for the excellent advice I've found here (better late than never!). Sad to say DS did not receive NROTC MO scholarship. Top choices now are: (1) USC - college programmer, downside is if scholarship down the road doesn't happen, it's too expensive, unless financial aid award comes through - still waiting to hear on this. (2) Texas A&M - affordable if NROTC didn't work out for whatever reason, downside is he didn't get in for his major which he has heart set on (mech. eng) (3) Northeastern - full ride (yay!), but NROTC is not an option there (4) Vanderbilt as college programmer, waitlisted there but if he got in they tend to be more generous with FA than USC. Sooooooooo, big decision time and 3 weeks to do it in!
Start checking NROTC portal!!
- Thread starter vareporter
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2010
- Messages
- 16,001
Sorry to hear the news MC. At least DS has good options to work with, and it should be much easier to change the major once in A&M I would think (advice is worth what you pay for it). Three weeks is plenty of time. FedEx is available if needed. Good luck. Would love to hear which route he takes. He'll do well on any of them.
Checked the NROTC portal just now... DS did not get the scholarship. We had assumed that no news by now was probably not a good sign, so I went ahead and sent in his deposit last week to Jacksonville University, which was his first NROTC choice. He has an excellent academic scholarship there and has already contacted the unit to join as a college programmer.
Although on the bright side he does get to join his first choice unit and university, we're still bummed and pretty surprised that he didn't get the scholarship, as his academic and extracurricular resume is excellent, but we're confident he'll pick up the scholarship next year. I'm assuming budget cuts have something to do with it, but we'll probably never know for sure.
Although on the bright side he does get to join his first choice unit and university, we're still bummed and pretty surprised that he didn't get the scholarship, as his academic and extracurricular resume is excellent, but we're confident he'll pick up the scholarship next year. I'm assuming budget cuts have something to do with it, but we'll probably never know for sure.
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2010
- Messages
- 16,001
Congrats to your DS for having the courage and commitment to continue down this path. Not all would. Sideload scholarships can be had. He should strive for 3.5+ GPA, excellent PFA scores and demonstrate his leadership skills, including willingness to follow when appropriate, for the get go. He will be able to apply for a sideload scholarship beginning spring semester of his freshman year.
Navy Mom 2013
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2013
- Messages
- 3
Son got his today to FSU! Host unit is at FAMU. Don't give up!
I got an email a month ago telling me I didn't get a scholarship. Interesting that my portal has still not updated.
I am going for college programmer at the NROTC San Diego unit. I found it really interesting there was an entire process to go through to even be a college programmer. Including interviews with some officers. Do all college programmers have to do this? They even said in the packet sent to me it is possible to be denied to be a college programmer. I can't even imagine what I would do if I didn't even get that...
I am going for college programmer at the NROTC San Diego unit. I found it really interesting there was an entire process to go through to even be a college programmer. Including interviews with some officers. Do all college programmers have to do this? They even said in the packet sent to me it is possible to be denied to be a college programmer. I can't even imagine what I would do if I didn't even get that...
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2010
- Messages
- 16,001
Yup. Everyone goes through that (perhaps not the interviews) and it can be denied for various reasons. Not just anyone can join NROTC, but being denied would be rather rare I would think.
Good sign
Actually, I would think if you haven't been told "no" yet, you might have been selected for a scholarship. After you are selected, your application is passed to the placement office. There job is to determine which Units have space to assign you to vs. your school request list. Tough at this late point. If you don't get school choice #1, they realize you will request a school assignment transfer. But they still have to tell which school you are initially assigned to when they advise you of scholarship selection. So, no answer yet could mean you are a post-select but they are working on school assignment for your scholarship. Good luck.
Actually, I would think if you haven't been told "no" yet, you might have been selected for a scholarship. After you are selected, your application is passed to the placement office. There job is to determine which Units have space to assign you to vs. your school request list. Tough at this late point. If you don't get school choice #1, they realize you will request a school assignment transfer. But they still have to tell which school you are initially assigned to when they advise you of scholarship selection. So, no answer yet could mean you are a post-select but they are working on school assignment for your scholarship. Good luck.
P-Flying17
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 163
Still one more set of notifications to be made. You will get an email as soon as it is rolled to the website. So ensure you check your email too.
Thanks for the update. I also still have no decision yet.
Should I wait for a decision before starting my Plan B (College Program) application progress at USD? I have already been accepted to UCSD w/ a 1600 SAT math+english equivalent. Would the college program application null my scholarship application if I started it too early?
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2010
- Messages
- 16,001
There is no problem starting the college program application, although there is also no rush to do so as far as I'm aware. If you receive a scholarship while the college programmer application is in progress the scholarship will supercede it. If the scholarship is to another college you need only merely let the unit know you have received a scholarship and will not be attending. If the scholarship is to the same college, just let the unit know you have the scholarship (actually they'll already know but it's good etiquette to inform them yourself as well). You should also let the college itself know, if the scholarship is to another school (while politely asking if maybe you could have your non-refundable deposit back - no guarantees here).
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2010
- Messages
- 16,001
Well, DS continues to be in the 'no decision' status as of a few minutes ago for NROTC. Maybe the people who make these decisions are on a sequester furlough? At this late date, how rapidly do they work through waiver decisions once they learn he has a medical DQ? I stay awake thinking this whole thing will drag on into July before we have a definitive answer.