Unique Offer - not sure what it means

Mustang Mom

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Dec 11, 2015
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My daughter was boarded before the first round. Unfortunately, she injured her ankle and her PFA score weren't up to par. The cheer coach wrote a letter, stating that the injury had just happened and just singing her praises as an athlete, person and leader. She was injured when she stepped in to help the team after her sister was injured and couldn't compete.

The interviewer loved her, wrote us an email stating how impressed she was and hoped that she would consider Mercer as her first choice. We passed emails and she told us not to expect an offer in the first round due to the injured ankle but that she has no doubt an offer would come in subsequent boards.

We didn't hear anything on the first round so I was shocked today to receive an email that started with the following:

Congratulations,

You have been selected to receive an Ike Skelton Early Commissioning Program Scholarship Offer to participate in the Early Commissioning Program(ECP) and attend one of our five Military Junior Colleges(MJC) (school contact info in attachment on page 7).

My questions are:

1. Does this mean that she won't be receiving an offer to any 4 year schools? She listed Baylor, Mercer, Samford and UGA as her schools. She has been accepted to Baylor (1st choice) and been offered a strong academic scholarship and we'll find out about athletic money after FAFSA results are in.
2. Not to sound rude, but she will have over 40 credit hours of dual enrollment when she graduates and has great grades (4.45 weighted, 3.98 unweighted) and can attend almost any school. She has been accepted to every school she has applied and several are really pursuing her. She isn't interested in a junior college and it feels like a bit of a slap in the face unless I'm missing something. If she's still in the running for a 4 year school ROTC scholarship, would declining this hurt her?

Any insight and advice would be appreciated as we're confused since this seemed to come out of left field.
 
MJC recruiters will see who has applied to national scholarships and if not selected they will go after them to try and get them to sign an ECP scholarship for their school. If you sign an ECP Scholarship you are taken out of the running for a national scholarship.

If it were me, do not take it now. Wait until after the third board to see if she is offered a national scholarship. If not and at that point she wants to go the ECP route, there will be those scholarships available.

Should you have any questions about the ECP route just ask or do a forum search. DS commissioned this past year from the program.
 
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Be very careful regarding ECP and know what you are getting yourself into.
The 4 year scholarship process is far from over for your daughter.
 
I was able to get a few questions answered. We definitely aren't ready to jump on the offer. We have a plan in place to pay any balance at her first choice school (Baylor) should she not receive the scholarship. Here are OUR reasons this doesn't feel right for her.

-She will only be two classes short of her associate degree when she graduates high school, why would she want to put in two years taking most of the same classes she has now.
-She was looking into the service academies and was receiving a favorable nod from one of our congressmen when she decided that she wanted a more traditional college experience and withdrew her applications. If she wanted the military school experience, she would have remained in the application process for the academies.
- The fact that they approached her with the scholarship seems like a good sign that she might be competitive for the next two rounds.
- She has to accept the offer before January 16th or the offer is no longer valid. That is BEFORE the next boards will announce so it almost seems like they're trying to put pressure on her to accept this offer or take the risk of nothing.

No one in our family has been military so all of this is brand new to us. In fact, until February of 2015, we had no idea she was even interested in a military career. Anyone who might see a different point of view, please speak up and we'd love to hear more information if anyone has it.
 
My Dd got the same offer today. She needs to decide before the next board. I hate that because this offer came completely out of left field for us and she hasn't even looked at the five junior colleges they suggested, like Marion, or Valley Forge, etc.

She has already been accepted to VMI and Norwich, but without the four year scholarship, she can't afford to attend.

What is involved in early commission? What does it mean to have your commission but still have two years to go?

We need advice to know if this is a good offer or something to be avoided.
 
In August and November there was a thread on Early Commissioning program. This is from that thread.
This will give you basic background. Search this forum or others and talk to those with direct information. Good luck.

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"Throughout the 1980s, the Early Commissioning Program played a major role in officer production. In some years, ECP officers constituted over 60 percent of all ROTC second lieutenants. The program is a major financial incentive for students who could receive their commissions early and serve as officers while still attending college. In 1984, the California Guard received 95 percent (74 of 78) of its ROTC lieutenants from the ECP program.[

The Army Reserve had a similar experience.

In 1991, the downsizing of the Army reduced officer production requirements, leading to the reduction of the Early Commission Program to the Military junior colleges affiliated with the Army ROTC program. However, with the United States’ involvement in continuing military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of ECP slots is again being increased.

As of 2014 the option for contracted ECP cadets to compete for active duty is potentially being revoked.

In the United States, the Early Commissioning Program allows graduates of one of the country's five military junior colleges to become commissioned officers in the armed forces reserve in two years, instead of the usual four. The students must still go on to complete a bachelor's degree before serving as regular officers on active duty. The program is a major financial incentive for students to receive their commissions early and serve as officers while still attending college and gaining service time for promotions and retirement.


Early Commissioning Program Requirements[edit]

Program benefits (subject to change)[edit]

• Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in two years.

• Begin earning service time toward promotions and retirement following sophomore year in college.

• Paid $450 per month during first year, $500 per month during the second year while enrolled

• Paid as a Cadet/E-5 in the Reserves or National Guard if enrolled in SMP ($241.88 per month)

• Uniform allowance of $2,724

• Book allowance of $1200 (payable $600 per semester)

Program obligations[edit]

• Complete undergraduate degree within 36 months of graduation

• Serve a total of eight years in Reserves or National Guard or a combination of active duty and reserves equal to eight years, beginning on the day you are commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.
ECP is done at the five MJCs: Georgia Military College, Marion Military Institute (Alabama), New Mexico Military Institute, Valley Forge Military (PA), and Wentworth Military Academy (MO).

If you do not complete the Bachelor's degree in the time frame, they don't take away your commission, but you are not promotable and likely won't be retained after obligated service completion. Also, the commission is in either a National Guard unit or Army Reserve. Transfer to the active army is not guaranteed.

If you do not complete your degree in time you will be in breach of your contract and will be dismissed and will have to repay money if you accepted any scholarship money. You cannot attend BOLC until you get your degree. I cannot imagine that they would let you serve out your time as an 8 yr 2nd LT. "
 
I was able to get a few questions answered. We definitely aren't ready to jump on the offer. We have a plan in place to pay any balance at her first choice school (Baylor) should she not receive the scholarship. Here are OUR reasons this doesn't feel right for her.

-She will only be two classes short of her associate degree when she graduates high school, why would she want to put in two years taking most of the same classes she has now.
-She was looking into the service academies and was receiving a favorable nod from one of our congressmen when she decided that she wanted a more traditional college experience and withdrew her applications. If she wanted the military school experience, she would have remained in the application process for the academies.
- The fact that they approached her with the scholarship seems like a good sign that she might be competitive for the next two rounds.
- She has to accept the offer before January 16th or the offer is no longer valid. That is BEFORE the next boards will announce so it almost seems like they're trying to put pressure on her to accept this offer or take the risk of nothing.

No one in our family has been military so all of this is brand new to us. In fact, until February of 2015, we had no idea she was even interested in a military career. Anyone who might see a different point of view, please speak up and we'd love to hear more information if anyone has it.
Those sound like solid reasons not to take the scholarship especially if she is so close to an AA. Baylor is a great school, but it is very expensive if you don't have the means, but they do offer great merit scholarships. I know it is a bit late (but not too late), but have you looked into Texas A&M or UT Austin? Both of those schools give great merit scholarships and they also waiver the OOS tuition if you receive any scholarship. Good luck to you and your DD.
 
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