The ROTC Unit at my school didn't even know I was accepted there!

[O Cap'n my Cap'n]

The ROTC recruiter from my school called me yesterday. The most he knew about me was that I was on a list of those interested in the program. They had no idea that 1) I was accepted to the school there and that I already paid fees there 2) That I even applied for the AROTC scholarship!

He asked if I did my interview with them yet but I said "No. I had my interview at a college that was closer to where I live"

And here I thought they were calling about a campus based sholarship or something. They had no clue that I even applied for it! This is not good, not good at all.

 

[aglages]

1st: Colleges do not just send a list of everyone they've admitted to the various ROTC programs.
2nd: An AROTC battalion has to have some evidence that you are seriously interested in their program to offer you one of their few campus based scholarships. I believe there has been more than one poster on this site that has mentioned the need for students to establish a relationship and maintain contact with the ROTC units they are planning on attending. IMHO, by this point the ROTC cadre at this school should have your SSN memorized after the number of times they have talked to you and reviewed your records. If they barely know who you are then you have to share at least some of the responsibility/blame.

 

[plmmar]

Yes, but the fact that they called you is still a good sign.
Just make sure that they know you are very interested in one of their campus scholarships and you are willing to do whatever is necessary to procur one.
Schedule the interview with them and go from there.

 

[WmHBonney]

Yep. You need to meet with them ASAP to put a face with your name. If that is not possible due to distance, then call them regularly and stress that you want in. My son's initial interview was done at a school that he did not even apply to. We did do some serious travelling though to visit some schools and we made a point to meet with the ROTC cadre at every school that he visited. We also had a tremendous amount of help at his #1 choice as the wrestling coach was heavily recruiting him and we advised the coach that w/o an ROTC scholarship, the chances of his attending that school were not good. When the Assistant PMS called the other day, she mentioned that the coach has been hounding her to no end. Don't give up, but don't waste any time at this point. Good Luck.

 

[rkrosnar]

ROTC Unit at my School

If you have a chance of getting this scholarship, take it. I know from first hand experience through my son, that he should have take his scholarship or an appointment to USAFA. But he made a choice not to do either, which I believe was a big mistake. He thinks he is entitled to have others pay his bills for him and he is 20. His Mommy footing the bill and the school he goes to he doesn't want to be there. If your paying for college on your own this will help you (in more ways than one) and if your parents are helping you, getting the scholarship will help all of you. As an american I am extremely pround of young men and woman who go SA'S, or go into ROTC. However, the bottom line is it is your choice. Please do not take this the wrong way

Good luck on making your decision.

RGK

 

[clarksonarmy]

Why???

My question is, why haven't you contacted all the ROTC Battalion's on your list and let them know you were interested. I'm an enrollment officer at Clarkson University. I send out one email, and attempt to call one time for each applicant on my list. This year I had 9 scholarships, and 90 applicants. If I didn't hear back I was working the applicants who answered my emails or calls or visited. Can't stress enough...Talk to the enrollment officer/ROO at the schools you want to go to!!!

 

[House06]

talk to the ROTC programs multiple times.!!! For the student this demonstrates continued interest . Unless you have the opportunity to personally meet with/interview with ROO or PMS then you are just an application in a large stack of other applications, all with impressive statistics.

For parents, interview the ROTC department. These are the people that you are entrusting the care of your young adult ( who will probably be away from home for the first time) to. Ask about oversight of grades, discipline issues, prolonged sickness, family activities, etc. The type of response that you get and interaction with ROTC staff will give you some insight into the type of program your student is considering. This is important, particularly if you do not have the opportunitiy to interact with staff face-to-face.

When folks can connect names, faces, relationships together, it does make a difference! We were fortunate in the fact that we already understood ROTC and had met with the ROTC department several times BEFORE scholarship boards. This was helpful in two ways, the ROO and PMS were able to give our daughter guidance on how to make her packet stronger for ROTC board and also for college admissions process. Well worth the long trip that we made!

ROTC scholarship is a major investment of time and money for all parties involved!! It is definitely worth the effort required to help ensure that the student (1) gets a scholarship (2) makes a good choice in college selection
(3) gets selected for ROTC program and is happy with that choice

Our daughter was offered a 4 yr scholarship to a very good school. The ROTC program's only communication was a ROTC pamphlet sent well after the fact. Guess what school she didn't select?