Turn down national scholarship to go to different school?

[inSANEmom]

We are still waiting on word about either a NROTC or AROTC scholarship for my son. Given the choice, he would choose NROTC, but has no issue at all with AROTC if that's the one he gets. However, he is personally 100% locked in and committed to one school and one school only. It's his first choice for both scholarships. I know that it is possible that if he receives a scholarship and he doesn't get his first choice, that he can request a transfer. My question is though... what if the transfer is denied? If that happened, he would likely want to turn down the scholarship, go to the school as a walk on his first year, and reapply for a school-based scholarship.

Is that "allowed?" Would he be shooting himself in the foot by doing that?

He has not applied to any other school... he applied to this school and has been accepted, received some scholarship money from the school ($19,800, renewable each year if his grades are good), and is set to head there in the fall. There is no Plan B. The money he has already been awarded will cover a bit less than half of his total expenses. We *can* pay for the remainder out of pocket but would rather not, of course, and he does want military service.

I know there are a lot of "ifs" here but I'm just trying to get a handle on what could happen... mostly trying to prepare myself and my husband mentally for him turning down a scholarship... and wondering if turning down a scholarship at the national level will hurt or prohibit his chances of getting a school-based scholarship.

 

[brovol]

So, is the scenario for you question: Kid dead set on attending a certain school, but is not awarded a ROTC scholarship for that school, but is awarded an ROTC scholarship for another school, which he turns down, and you want to know if the fact that he rejected to ROTC scholarship for the other school will hurt his chances of getting a school based scholarship at the school he is attending? Are you asking specifically about the schools ROTC unit scholarships, or school based scholarships in general. The latter would not be effected at all I don't think. I don't know the answer to the question, but some of the folks here are very knowledgeable as to ROTC, and the specific service ROTC scholarships. I am sure they will respond. Is your son going to do ROTC regardless of whether or not he receives a scholarship? His commitment to being an officer may be the only thing that might be questioned.

 

[AROTC-dad]

Does the school your DS was accepted to, offer both NROTC and AROTC?
If he doesn't have a STRONG preference to one versus the other, and finances are of concern, then AROTC is the way to go.

My DS was turned down by USNA, and NROTC/Marine Option. He had a choice of two schools that did accept him. Once was an SMC on the opposite coast which would have been way expensive for out of state tuiton. The other was a State school with a small scholarship that we could afford with no loans for all four years. The problem was the State school ONLY offered Army ROTC and he wanted Marines.

He proceeded to enroll in the State school as a "walk-on" AROTC cadet. He ended up earning the campus based 3 year scholarship by his third month as an MS-I. This was later extended another half year for a 3 1/2 year scholarship.

The bottom line is that the Army has a substantially larger number of scholarships than NROTC offers.

I know that you are a veteran yourself, so I'm sure you have covered this with your DS,
but I will still say he should pursue the service he loves first, but have a plan B.

 

[MohawkArmyROTC]

Turning down a National Scholarship will not negatively impact his ability to get a campus based scholarship. His campus performance will affect his ability to earn one. I have never heard of the Army denying a scholarship transfer request, so he should be good to go for the Army.

What is his intended major? He will have to be a STEM major to most likely earn an NROTC campus based scholarship.

 

[Dckc88]

We are still waiting on word about either a NROTC or AROTC scholarship for my son. Given the choice, he would choose NROTC, but has no issue at all with AROTC if that's the one he gets. However, he is personally 100% locked in and committed to one school and one school only. It's his first choice for both scholarships. I know that it is possible that if he receives a scholarship and he doesn't get his first choice, that he can request a transfer. My question is though... what if the transfer is denied? If that happened, he would likely want to turn down the scholarship, go to the school as a walk on his first year, and reapply for a school-based scholarship.

Is that "allowed?" Would he be shooting himself in the foot by doing that?

He has not applied to any other school... he applied to this school and has been accepted, received some scholarship money from the school ($19,800, renewable each year if his grades are good), and is set to head there in the fall. There is no Plan B. The money he has already been awarded will cover a bit less than half of his total expenses. We *can* pay for the remainder out of pocket but would rather not, of course, and he does want military service.

I know there are a lot of "ifs" here but I'm just trying to get a handle on what could happen... mostly trying to prepare myself and my husband mentally for him turning down a scholarship... and wondering if turning down a scholarship at the national level will hurt or prohibit his chances of getting a school-based scholarship.

This is completely anecdotal, but at my DD's school, they get quite a few AFROTC transfers to AROTC every year because the likely hood of actually commissioning as well as getting a scholarship is higher for AROTC.

I also want to say that last year my daughter had the same attitude, one school, one school only, we paid all the deposits, etc. etc. It all changed April 4th when she got the scholarship notification and started talking to the different schools on her list for the Army. Might not happen to your son, but I was shocked when it happened in our family! She ended up at her number 4th school, the one "I will never go there" if you would of asked her April 3rd....

 

[kinnem]

Just so you're clear, NROTC does not have school-based scholarships. As a college freshman he could apply for the four year high school scholarship again, or apply for a national side-load scholarship. None of these scholarship decisions are left up to the battalion, but are a nationally based competition. If he was going for a Marine option there are some other recent threads here that indicate side-load scholarships are very limited at this time. AROTC does have school-based scholarships that can be awarded at the battalion level for outstanding performance.

 

[5Day]

I believe, and I hope for your DS, that your question is Moot. You hear from @MohawkArmyROTC that Army should not be a problem and most likely NROTC will not be a problem. Over the past few years the number of 4 year NROTC scholarships are down, but the schools / battalions has remained steady, so very few programs fill up. Unfortunately, I have not seen anything listing programs that fill up. Some NROTC programs in very highly selective schools have class sizes that are in the single digits.
To make you feel better, you can contact the unit and ask how large their current class is or you could go to the unit's web site and look at the photos and count the number of midshipmen/cadets.

 

[inSANEmom]

Thanks for all the responses... especially from Mohawk. To answer some of the other questions and respond to some comments...

If forced to choose between this school and military service, he would choose the school. That's not to say that he is not committed to military service, but the school edges out in a one or the other option.

He would prefer Navy only because he is really interested in submarines. However, there are several Army options he'd be happy with as well. My husband is in his 25th year of active duty service with the Army so the Army is "familiar" and "comfortable" to him.

If he goes without scholarship at all his first year, he has decided he will join AROTC for the reasons mentioned... far fewer Navy side load options than Army campus based scholarships. In fact, the AROTC ROO at the school told us recently that for 2015 freshman, 40+ qualified to apply for a 3 year scholarship and every single one of them was awarded one. Of course it may not be that way every year, but we like those odds.

My biggest concern was not getting a transfer request approved and/or the ramifications (if any) of turning down a national scholarship and apply for a campus based scholarship later. Based on the responses here, I will not let this issue concern me any more. Thanks!

 

[Capt MJ]

Thanks for all the responses... especially from Mohawk. To answer some of the other questions and respond to some comments...

If forced to choose between this school and military service, he would choose the school. That's not to say that he is not committed to military service, but the school edges out in a one or the other option.

He would prefer Navy only because he is really interested in submarines. However, there are several Army options he'd be happy with as well. My husband is in his 25th year of active duty service with the Army so the Army is "familiar" and "comfortable" to him.

If he goes without scholarship at all his first year, he has decided he will join AROTC for the reasons mentioned... far fewer Navy side load options than Army campus based scholarships. In fact, the AROTC ROO at the school told us recently that for 2015 freshman, 40+ qualified to apply for a 3 year scholarship and every single one of them was awarded one. Of course it may not be that way every year, but we like those odds.

My biggest concern was not getting a transfer request approved and/or the ramifications (if any) of turning down a national scholarship and apply for a campus based scholarship later. Based on the responses here, I will not let this issue concern me any more. Thanks!

Submarines - check out the NUPOC option at this link. Great way to go, a sure but narrow path, if successfully completed.


https://www.navy.com/joining/college-options/nupoc


http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-n...iting brief with faculty slides (20NOV07).pdf

 

[Dckc88]

@inSANEmom if you are comfortable do you mind sharing what school?

 

[inSANEmom]

@inSANEmom if you are comfortable do you mind sharing what school?

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fl. He will be studying Commercial Space Operations.

 

[inSANEmom]

Submarines - check out the NUPOC option at this link. Great way to go, a sure but narrow path, if successfully completed.


https://www.navy.com/joining/college-options/nupoc


http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/officer/communitymanagers/Unrestricted/Documents/Improved recruiting brief with faculty slides (20NOV07).pdf

Thanks! I will look at these for sure. My son is obsessed with space travel, and will be studying Commercial Space Operations. Submarines are a draw to him because of the similarity in environments between subs and space craft. There is a direct link and he believes that understanding subs on a personal level will help in his future space related aspirations.

 

[Dckc88]

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fl. He will be studying Commercial Space Operations.

That makes sense. That is a very specific school, different than picking a liberal arts school for sure!

 

[Norfolk63]

We are still waiting on word about either a NROTC or AROTC scholarship for my son. Given the choice, he would choose NROTC, but has no issue at all with AROTC if that's the one he gets. However, he is personally 100% locked in and committed to one school and one school only. It's his first choice for both scholarships. I know that it is possible that if he receives a scholarship and he doesn't get his first choice, that he can request a transfer. My question is though... what if the transfer is denied? If that happened, he would likely want to turn down the scholarship, go to the school as a walk on his first year, and reapply for a school-based scholarship.

Is that "allowed?" Would he be shooting himself in the foot by doing that?

He has not applied to any other school... he applied to this school and has been accepted, received some scholarship money from the school ($19,800, renewable each year if his grades are good), and is set to head there in the fall. There is no Plan B. The money he has already been awarded will cover a bit less than half of his total expenses. We *can* pay for the remainder out of pocket but would rather not, of course, and he does want military service.

I know there are a lot of "ifs" here but I'm just trying to get a handle on what could happen... mostly trying to prepare myself and my husband mentally for him turning down a scholarship... and wondering if turning down a scholarship at the national level will hurt or prohibit his chances of getting a school-based scholarship.

Praying your DS gets word soon that he receives the scholarship he wants. My DS is NROTC MIDN 4/C at Embry-Riddle now, and loves it! His older brother is also at ERAU. So if you have any questions, just ask. There are many NROTC college programmers at ERAU who receive scholarships in their second year.

 

[ktnatalk]

Thanks! I will look at these for sure. My son is obsessed with space travel, and will be studying Commercial Space Operations. Submarines are a draw to him because of the similarity in environments between subs and space craft. There is a direct link and he believes that understanding subs on a personal level will help in his future space related aspirations.

Last time I checked, Space Operations is not the same as Submarine Operations... they both have tight spaces inside, but you don't have diesel and nuclear spacecrafts operating by your adversaries around you though!
Best of luck to your DS!

 

[Norfolk63]

Last time I checked, Space Operations is not the same as Submarine Operations... they both have tight spaces inside, but you don't have diesel and nuclear spacecrafts operating by your adversaries around you though!
Best of luck to your DS!

Not yet!