Waitlisted at first choice

R

Rugbydad

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2023
Messages
30
My DS learned today that he was waitlisted for his first choice (non-Service Academy) school, University of Michigan. He has been awarded both an AROTC and AFROTC 4-year scholarships, and he selected AROTC for Michigan and submitted the letter indicating as much. Now that he's been waitlisted, we are wondering if she should hold out hope that he'll be admitted to Michigan during regular admissions (if he's not appointed to an Academy) or seek to move the AROTC scholarship to his second-choice school, which would be either Penn State or Ohio State. Or, does he hold onto his slot at Michigan for AROTC and hope he gets lucky? We just don't want to wait too long and then have to try to move his AROTC scholarship to Penn State or Ohio State and learn there are no openings available. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
Rugbydad said:
My DS learned today that he was waitlisted for his first choice (non-Service Academy) school, University of Michigan. He has been awarded both an AROTC and AFROTC 4-year scholarships, and he selected AROTC for Michigan and submitted the letter indicating as much. Now that he's been waitlisted, we are wondering if she should hold out hope that he'll be admitted to Michigan during regular admissions (if he's not appointed to an Academy) or seek to move the AROTC scholarship to his second-choice school, which would be either Penn State or Ohio State. Or, does he hold onto his slot at Michigan for AROTC and hope he gets lucky? We just don't want to wait too long and then have to try to move his AROTC scholarship to Penn State or Ohio State and learn there are no openings available. Thanks for your thoughts.
Click to expand...
I could be wrong but most schools and ROTC programs don't turn away many who want to transfer a 4 year scholarship. Unless you were transferring maybe to a way more expensive school.
You could always reach out to ROO from PSU and OSU and let them know your son is weighing the option to transfer scholarship and let them know your time constraints. I know my older son fielded quite a few calls after he got his 4 year and after he committed. Did you ask Michigan admissions when he should expect to know if he is in or not?
 
Rugbydad said:
My DS learned today that he was waitlisted for his first choice (non-Service Academy) school, University of Michigan. He has been awarded both an AROTC and AFROTC 4-year scholarships, and he selected AROTC for Michigan and submitted the letter indicating as much. Now that he's been waitlisted, we are wondering if she should hold out hope that he'll be admitted to Michigan during regular admissions (if he's not appointed to an Academy) or seek to move the AROTC scholarship to his second-choice school, which would be either Penn State or Ohio State. Or, does he hold onto his slot at Michigan for AROTC and hope he gets lucky? We just don't want to wait too long and then have to try to move his AROTC scholarship to Penn State or Ohio State and learn there are no openings available. Thanks for your thoughts.
Click to expand...
... suggestion(s) only. Request an appointment with the Professor of Military Science (PMS) in your no. 1 school (or no. 2). State your case and just be very honest. More than likely you will be talking with the Assistant PMS. In person face to face conversation will do wonders. Hope this helps.
 
In my honest opinion, you should at least start the conversations with second and third options.

The below link will give you some idea as to how many will get accepted from the waitlist. Even though they may not be for EA applicants who are wait-listed you can make an educated guess from the below data.

collegiategateway.com

College Waitlists: What are Your Chances of Being Accepted? - Collegiate Gateway

Waitlisted and not sure what to do next? Read our tips for analyzing your waitlist chances and follow our next steps to demonstrate your continued interest!
collegiategateway.com collegiategateway.com

"University of Michigan. Last year, the number of students who accepted their waitlist offer at Michigan rose to over 15,000 (72% of offers were accepted), and only 77 students were admitted from the waitlist (1%)."
 
Rugbydad said:
My DS learned today that he was waitlisted for his first choice (non-Service Academy) school, University of Michigan. He has been awarded both an AROTC and AFROTC 4-year scholarships, and he selected AROTC for Michigan and submitted the letter indicating as much. Now that he's been waitlisted, we are wondering if she should hold out hope that he'll be admitted to Michigan during regular admissions (if he's not appointed to an Academy) or seek to move the AROTC scholarship to his second-choice school, which would be either Penn State or Ohio State. Or, does he hold onto his slot at Michigan for AROTC and hope he gets lucky? We just don't want to wait too long and then have to try to move his AROTC scholarship to Penn State or Ohio State and learn there are no openings available. Thanks for your thoughts.
Click to expand...
I thought that Early action apps resulted in 3 things:

Accepted
Rejected
Deferred

I didn’t know there was a waitlist option for EA. Is that a thing?
 
Ah, Michigan isn't going to win another national championship anytime soon. And Penn State won't as long as James Franklin is the coach. My vote is to pivot to OSU!

Just kidding. Of course, do whatever you wish. However, unless the Michigan ROTC unit has some pull with admissions, your odds don't look great there. The good news is your other options are very, very good ones.
 
Was he waitlisted or deferred to regular admissions. My DS applied EA to Michigan in 2017. Around December he was Deferred to regular admission and in January was admitted during the first wave of regular admissions. He had already secured an NROTC scholarship and advised his admissions officer of this, along with his statement that UM was his top choice. The NROTC recruitment officer also said he would contact Admissions on his behalf. I don't know if any of that made a difference; I just know he got in during regular admission and loved his time there.
 
If scholarships are awarded before most kids are even admitted, why is there a need to “move” the scholarship to another school. I thought the process would be to apply to schools and include the fact you have been awarded a scholarship, and then make a decision where you attend once you receive your decisions. From there, you utilize the scholarship wherever you attend. I’m sure I’m missing something here.
 
Stinkyboblinky said:
If scholarships are awarded before most kids are even admitted, why is there a need to “move” the scholarship to another school. I thought the process would be to apply to schools and include the fact you have been awarded a scholarship, and then make a decision where you attend once you receive your decisions. From there, you utilize the scholarship wherever you attend. I’m sure I’m missing something here.
Click to expand...
You can apply to a school. Apply for and be awarded a scholarship and have it placed at that school, but then ultimately not be admitted to that school. If this happens, you would have to move your scholarship to a school where you have been admitted. The school admissions process is completely independent of the ROTC scholarship process.
 
ProudDad17 said:
Was he waitlisted or deferred to regular admissions. My DS applied EA to Michigan in 2017. Around December he was Deferred to regular admission and in January was admitted during the first wave of regular admissions. He had already secured an NROTC scholarship and advised his admissions officer of this, along with his statement that UM was his top choice. The NROTC recruitment officer also said he would contact Admissions on his behalf. I don't know if any of that made a difference; I just know he got in during regular admission and loved his time there.
Click to expand...
Deferred to regular admissions. Thanks for your answer.
 
Rugbydad said:
Deferred to regular admissions. Thanks for your answer.
Click to expand...
Okay, so he is definitely still in the running. Especially if out of state U of M does not admit many on early action. If he wants to do there, I would suggest contacting his admissions counsellor with a letter of continued interest, stating that is where he wants to go; his scholarships in hand and intent to use them there. Also contact the appropriate ROTC unit and let them know his status. they may have some sway. Or they may not; can't hurt either way.
 
ProudDad17 said:
Okay, so he is definitely still in the running. Especially if out of state U of M does not admit many on early action. If he wants to do there, I would suggest contacting his admissions counsellor with a letter of continued interest, stating that is where he wants to go; his scholarships in hand and intent to use them there. Also contact the appropriate ROTC unit and let them know his status. they may have some sway. Or they may not; can't hurt either way.
Click to expand...
Will concur with his! He is DEFINITELY still in the running... especially U of M, I have heard many similar stories to the ones you have said not getting in EA, but then end up getting in.

I will also reemphasize what ProudDad17 has said... let admissions know about the scholarship. This has a big pull at some schools that know they can bill the govt full price for 4 years. Not sure about U of M specifically but worth a shot.
 
FastFood44 said:
Will concur with his! He is DEFINITELY still in the running... especially U of M, I have heard many similar stories to the ones you have said not getting in EA, but then end up getting in.

I will also reemphasize what ProudDad17 has said... let admissions know about the scholarship. This has a big pull at some schools that know they can bill the govt full price for 4 years. Not sure about U of M specifically but worth a shot.
Click to expand...
U of M deferred early action students match up well against regular decision applicants! Just because DS didn't get in Early doesn't mean he won't get in at all. Food for thought!
 
Let admissions know that you have a scholarship paying full tuition price! That may sway them. I think it helped my son. They like the $$.
 
Hi @Rugbydad I’m not sure if you’re still waiting, but my son was in a very same situation last year. His number one choice was Michigan, his ROTC scholarship was accepted for Michigan. He wrote a LOCI including the scholarship information. We had also contacted the ROO, who ended up not being very helpful. I’m not sure if that helped, but he was accepted with the RD decisions. He is now a happy freshman in AROTC at Michigan, and also plays rugby!
 
My DD was waitlisted at VTech, her first choice on the NROTC app. Then she received the NROTC scholarship. The stats don’t look good as last year they didn’t pull anyone off the waitlist. However, this gave my daughter time to reflect and think about what she really wanted. Put in a transfer of scholarship request to the #3 school which she was accepted to with a ton of merit on top of the scholarship. Things worked out and now the B plan is super solid.
 
My youngest got deferred in December for Early Action at MIT. Yesterday was a great day for him and my family, he got admitted during Regular Admissions. Football was the magic help, Detch 365 might have helped some also with his Type 1 that he did not include with his Early Action App. Kid got his dream school first choice, hope he knows how lucky he is!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top