Units with Strongest Relationship with Admissions

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guydelarosa

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I was recently awarded my 4 year type NROTC scholarship, but unfortunately was deferred from my top choice, Harvard. I am applying to 20 schools, most being T10-20 schools, so admission for most is below ten percent. I am applying to some safety school, but I don't intend on contacting the PMS there. For the schools I am interested in, I will contact the PMS to introduce myself and let them know that I will be applying to their respective schools. For reference, I will be applying to all 8 ivy leagues, Stanford, NYU, MIT, Vanderbilt, Duke, UChicago, Tufts, UMich, Rice (or WashU, I'm still undecided between these two), and some other match/safeties.

I was wondering if anybody has any anecdotal evidence of any of these schools maintaining a close relationship with the admissions office. I read on some thread that when contacted, the WashU basically said "considering the acceptance done". I just want to know if any PMS/Units have this kind of sway in Admissions.
 
20 schools? Seriously? I thought my kids applying to 10 schools was a lot.
Your question though is a common one, so I'd suggest searching the threads. In short, the answer is it is possible that some units can have some pull. But before you do anything, do your homework and make sure the school has an NROTC unit. For instance, you might want to choose Rice over Wash U since Wash U does not have NROTC - unless you're thinking of the University of Washington in Seattle vs. Wash U in St. Louis. Here's a link to find the schools with NROTC units: https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/colleges_nrotc_unitsXP3.html
As far as contacting 20 schools, I'm guessing that a detachment will only go to battle for an applicant who has listed that school in their Top 5. In your Common App, you can note that you have an NROTC scholarship which will get you whatever points a school may award for ROTC scholarships.
 
Congratulations on the scholarship!
Not that you need another school on your list, but since you seem interested in schools with top academic reputations, you could consider the University of Rochester, which has a slightly less competitive admission rate (@25%) but is highly regarded in all research fields. It is also very NROTC-friendly, hosting a unit in the center of campus and covering ALL room and board costs for midshipmen on the national scholarship. Most Ivies are not as generous.
 
Also UChicago is a great university, but doing NROTC there will be challenging, since it doesn't host a unit.
 
I do believe that some units do have pull or will try to assist with admissions. The key in this is that you will have to do a lot better than "I am considering your school." If they are going to go to bat for you, it's nearly going to have to be "I will come to your unit if accepted." Nobody wants their efforts wasted to be one of 20.
 
jebdad said:
I do believe that some units do have pull or will try to assist with admissions. The key in this is that you will have to do a lot better than "I am considering your school." If they are going to go to bat for you, it's nearly going to have to be "I will come to your unit if accepted." Nobody wants their efforts wasted to be one of 20.
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I agree completely. If you can’t commit to pushing for one school, then go to great lengths at all the schools that matter the most equally to you. Follow up via phone call, letter, email, in person if possible... let them know why the school should choose you.
 
guydelarosa said:
I was recently awarded my 4 year type NROTC scholarship, but unfortunately was deferred from my top choice, Harvard. I am applying to 20 schools, most being T10-20 schools, so admission for most is below ten percent. I am applying to some safety school, but I don't intend on contacting the PMS there. For the schools I am interested in, I will contact the PMS to introduce myself and let them know that I will be applying to their respective schools. For reference, I will be applying to all 8 ivy leagues, Stanford, NYU, MIT, Vanderbilt, Duke, UChicago, Tufts, UMich, Rice (or WashU, I'm still undecided between these two), and some other match/safeties.

I was wondering if anybody has any anecdotal evidence of any of these schools maintaining a close relationship with the admissions office. I read on some thread that when contacted, the WashU basically said "considering the acceptance done". I just want to know if any PMS/Units have this kind of sway in Admissions.
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My son went through the process last year and he applied to a few of the same schools you listed above. Each ROTC unit interviewed him over the phone or via Skype and only 1 stated they had pull with admissions (it was volunteered, my son did not ask) only if the school was his first choice and if admitted would enroll.
 
rudycoon said:
My son went through the process last year and he applied to a few of the same schools you listed above. Each ROTC unit interviewed him over the phone or via Skype and only 1 stated they had pull with admissions (it was volunteered, my son did not ask) only if the school was his first choice and if admitted would enroll.
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Neither of my two kids had interviews with the AFROTC or NROTC units on their apps. A couple reached out via email, and one called and kept in touch, but it was to promote the unit. What were your son's interviews about? Was there a chance they wouldn't accept him into the detachment?
 
unkown1961 said:
Neither of my two kids had interviews with the AFROTC or NROTC units on their apps. A couple reached out via email, and one called and kept in touch, but it was to promote the unit. What were your son's interviews about? Was there a chance they wouldn't accept him into the detachment?
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They asked why he wanted to attend that particular school and why he wanted to join AF/Navy, what job he was interested in in the military and why, extracurriculars, what major he planned to declare. The interviews were only about 10-15 minutes long. Now that I think of it, it was only the ROTC units at the "elite" universities that called for interviews. 🤔. They never alluded to him not being accepted to the detachment if he was admitted.
 
guydelarosa said:
I was recently awarded my 4 year type NROTC scholarship, but unfortunately was deferred from my top choice, Harvard. I am applying to 20 schools, most being T10-20 schools, so admission for most is below ten percent. I am applying to some safety school, but I don't intend on contacting the PMS there. For the schools I am interested in, I will contact the PMS to introduce myself and let them know that I will be applying to their respective schools. For reference, I will be applying to all 8 ivy leagues, Stanford, NYU, MIT, Vanderbilt, Duke, UChicago, Tufts, UMich, Rice (or WashU, I'm still undecided between these two), and some other match/safeties.

I was wondering if anybody has any anecdotal evidence of any of these schools maintaining a close relationship with the admissions office. I read on some thread that when contacted, the WashU basically said "considering the acceptance done". I just want to know if any PMS/Units have this kind of sway in Admissions.
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My DS applied last year to two Ivy’s and some other highly selective schools. None of them early decision. He noted on his applications that he had received a NROTC scholarship. He did not contact the units nor did they contact him. He was accepted at every school he applied to and one of the Ivys was not even on his top 5 schools request. It is my opinion that the admissions office notices the rotc scholarship and perhaps gives the app some additional consideration knowing they will receive full tuition reimbursement from the government. My DD is now in NROTC at UPenn and is really enjoying it! Good luck to you in this stressful process!
 
Yale and MIT ROTC units definitely have pull with Admissions. Penn may have pull.
Harvard does not. I don't know of any other Ivies where NROTC has pull.

UChicago and Tufts are crosstown schools which do NOT have NROTC on their campuses and almost certainly do not have pull.

Vanderbilt's and Rice's NROTC units may have some pull.
I've not heard of Michigan, NYU, or Duke NROTC having any pull.
 
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thibaud said:
Yale and MIT ROTC units definitely have pull with Admissions. Penn may have pull.
Harvard does not. I don't know of any other Ivies where NROTC has pull.

UChicago and Tufts are crosstown schools which do NOT have NROTC on their campuses and almost certainly do not have pull.

Vanderbilt's and Rice's NROTC units may have some pull.
I've not heard of Michigan, NYU, or Duke NROTC having any pull.
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ROTC at Duke told my son the school lets them fight for the ones they really like as long as Duke is their #1 choice and will enroll if admitted.
 
thibaud said:
Yale and MIT ROTC units definitely have pull with Admissions. Penn may have pull.
Harvard does not. I don't know of any other Ivies where NROTC has pull.

UChicago and Tufts are crosstown schools which do NOT have NROTC on their campuses and almost certainly do not have pull.

Vanderbilt's and Rice's NROTC units may have some pull.
I've not heard of Michigan, NYU, or Duke NROTC having any pull.
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Really good information, thanks! With Harvard being the cross town with MIT, I let the PMS who is @mit.edu know I had been awarded the scholarship and would be applying to MIT RD with being deferred from Harvard. He told me that they let the admissions office know of my status “but the process are separate”. Although MIT isn’t on my scholarship list, I would absolutely enroll there if admitted, but at the time of choosing my 5 schools I wasn’t considering that possiblity.

When you say MIT has pull, do you mean that the school looks kindly upon nominees or the actual PMS/unit has pull. I’m not sure at this point since the PMS never gave me tangible manners in which he could directly help. Although, the MIT application is the only one where I have been asked what my scholarship status is rather than the usual “will you pursue ROTC” question, so maybe the scholarship does help.

Should I consider contacting the Commading and Executive officers of the MIT unit or should I continue contacting the aviation officer I did my interview with?
 
unkown1961 said:
I can second MIT. I’ve also heard USC and UCLA look kindly upon applicants with ROTC scholarships.
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In regards to MIT, I contacted the aviation officer, who I did my interview with, and he told that they notify admissions, "but the process are entirely separate". I know the MIT directly ask if you have been awarded a scholarship, so when you mentioned MIT, do you mean the scholarship by itself has influence, or the unit pushing for you has influence. Should I contact the Commanding Officer of the Unit or should I continue contacting the aviation officer?
 
Who is the aviation officer? Is he the person you interviewed with for the MIT school interview? Is he associated with the MIT detachment? If so leave it with him.
By separate processes I’m guessing he means admission to MIT and application for a scholarship.
As for influence, my impression is that they can talk to admissions and admissions listens to a degree. So it’s another feather in your admissions package. Having the scholarship noted on the application also helps.
 
unkown1961 said:
Who is the aviation officer? Is he the person you interviewed with for the MIT school interview? Is he associated with the MIT detachment? If so leave it with him.
By separate processes I’m guessing he means admission to MIT and application for a scholarship.
As for influence, my impression is that they can talk to admissions and admissions listens to a degree. So it’s another feather in your admissions package. Having the scholarship noted on the application also helps.
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The aviation officer is the person who interview me for my scholarship, and he teaches at the unit (also has a @mit.edu). Think he meant that they only mention it to admissions and that's as far as they can push the matter, and from there, admissions decides how much weight to put on scholarship. Have you heard of MIT looking kindly upon scholarship nominees? If I contacted there commanding office and let him know that if accepted I would 100% enroll at MIT. The things is that the MIT unit is a consortium including Harvard and Tufts, all of which I'm applying to. I feel as though if I contacted the commanding officer, the fact that I have "3 ins" to the unit would help my case, and he would have more influence on admissions due to his rank.
 
@guydelarosa, You've previously mentioned significant accomplishment in Ice Hockey. Regardless of whether you opt to play hockey for the university while concurrently training in ROTC, you could go the recruit route. If so the coaches at each of these schools could have the significant impact on admission. Everyone wants a league championship. To quote Chuckie in Good Will Hunting, with regards to your hockey prowess and leveraging that to get into schools. possibly are you " sitting on a winning lottery ticket."? Simple truth - ROTC doesn't work out for some scholarship winners - a lot rang the bell at NSI and left or are not making the grade in their units and won't make it to commission - not even make it to the second semester of Freshman year. Would a backup plan, maybe a scholarship to play hockey and measurable help with admissions be a bad thing or a good thing for you? Good luck.
 
@guydelarosa So you did your ROTC interview with someone from the MIT unit - that was good luck! You must live in the Boston area then.
So, others will have thoughts too, but my suggestion would be to follow up with the aviation officer to let him know (reaffirm) that MIT is your first choice and inquire if he thinks an email to the CO would help. He might reply that he's taken care of things as far as is possible. He will most likely be talking to the CO about all of this. Rank isn't the important issue here, it's just having Admissions know that ROTC has an applicant with a scholarship who is most likely to attend if offered admission. Remember that Admissions is looking at apps and handing out offers to applicants they are confident will accept.
 
Herman_Snerd said:
@guydelarosa, You've previously mentioned significant accomplishment in Ice Hockey. Regardless of whether you opt to play hockey for the university while concurrently training in ROTC, you could go the recruit route. If so the coaches at each of these schools could have the significant impact on admission. Everyone wants a league championship. To quote Chuckie in Good Will Hunting, with regards to your hockey prowess and leveraging that to get into schools. possibly are you " sitting on a winning lottery ticket."? Simple truth - ROTC doesn't work out for some scholarship winners - a lot rang the bell at NSI and left or are not making the grade in their units and won't make it to commission - not even make it to the second semester of Freshman year. Would a backup plan, maybe a scholarship to play hockey and measurable help with admissions be a bad thing or a good thing for you? Good luck.
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The issue with play hockey is that most of the schools I’m applying to are D1, and very good ones at that. In comparison to soccer or foootball where there are many FBS schools, there are only 60 D1 hockey schools so competition is incredibly tight. For example, Harvard hockey would be very comparable in competition to Alabama football. I’m good at hockey but not the NHL level required to play D1.

I’m confident that ROTC is the right path for me. I’m sure I’ll be able to maintain grade requirements and have no plans on quitting during NSI (the reason I’m doing NROTC is for the possibility of being a SEAL officer).
 
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