DougBetsy

Tell me what you think. H and I disagree about where Son should have his AROTC interview.

Please note: Since we can't agree on the issue we won't try to persuade him toward either side. This is a PRIVATE disagreement between me and H. Son will make the final decision about where to interview.

I just want to know if my position is too crazy to be taken seriously.

H thinks it doesn't matter where Son interviews. In fact he called a local U and asked. The ROO said it's "not necessary to travel to the first choice school. We conduct interviews all the time for candidates not coming to this school." So it's not necesary. Fine. But, is it recommended? H didn't ask and won't call back because he's satisfied with the current answer. He said I could call, but I don't want to take this down to nit-picky level of cross examination.

I believe Son should invest the time to travel (fly) from Baltimore to Wake Forest for his interview. WFU is Son's dream school and first choice ROTC school. It's a high match/low reach for him. (Stats here: Chances for Wake Forest, please) I believe that if he really wants to do ROTC at WFU he should take every opportunity to improve his chances. Interviewing in person may help; it certainly couldn't hurt. Further, if he earns a scholarship, but it's not at WFU, he may forever wonder if he really did everything possible.

Money's not the issue. We're perfectly willing to invest a few hundred dollars to interview for a full-ride scholarship. It's just that we disagree on whether this is a case where "demonstrating interest" (to put it in CC terms) matters.

Thoughts?

JustAMomOf4

From Baltimore to Wake Forest is a 6 hour drive. No need to fly. Drive it and go.
IMHO. I agree with all the rest. Technically H is correct but Wake is a selective school, ANY chance to visit is a good one!
(FWIW - you win )

goaliedad

I'll second the not necessary to interview at WF, but it certainly doesn't hurt. He should probably also stop by admissions and make it known that he is visiting (again?). Perhaps time it for some admissions event? Sometimes these things help with admissions.

BTW, goaliegirl interviewed locally (not a candidate school), as she will not have her mind made up on #1 until she finishes visiting schools in October. She was up front about her situation (wanting to play ice hockey at her school as well as ROTC), disqualifying the local school. The ROO was fine with that, although he did make a pitch that if she changed her mind that they would like to have her locally.

Her list of schools don't include any reaches. That was just how the universe of schools offering D3 womens hockey and AROTC worked out. So making the suggested extra visit to admissions to show interest isn't necessary.

hyeonjlee

This is the input I got from a commander of the unit my son may be interested (he is still a junior in HS), and ALSO a commander at a state flagship university.

When the scholarship applications are considered by the selection board, they pick "likelies" and then send the student data to the local units that serve the schools listed on the application. The military science professor (PMS) looks at the student data, and say "yey or nay". If the local unit PMS says no, it's a serious uphill battle. If he says yes, that's great.

The PMS's decision is based on three factors

(1) do I want this kid in my unit?
(2) if I give him a "go", does he have stats good enough that the adcoms of the school he is applying to that is served by my unit accept him?
(3) will he likely come to my unit if I accept him?

The interesting thing is, if a local PMS approves the candidate, it's a good indication that the kid does have a very good chance to get into the university too, since the last thing he needs is to fill the slot in his unit and then have the kid rejected. When that happens often enough, he will have a real logistical program toward the end of the admit season.

(3) above is an interesting quirk. Just like adcoms in a selective university, the ROTC units also care great deal about yield. No local commander wants to "give away" positions to kids who will not come. When that happens, he will have to scramble toward the end of the admit season to fill all the positions. The unit commander of a unit at a local flagship university told me that if the candidate's stats are TOO GODD, he won't accept him because it's clear that the candidate will go to a better school.

Conclusion: if your kid has a school and ROTC unit he really likes, you SHOULD DEFINITELY GO there and interview with the PMS of that unit, since he has the veto right. Better yet, you can have multiple interviews with multiple PMS at multiple units.

On top of that, that PMS may become part of the selection board committee. The PMS I talked to told me that if my son interviews with him, and he likes my son, and if that PMS so happens to be selected to be part of the selection board of the upcoming board meeting, and if the kid has good statistics, it's virtually guaranteed to get the scholarship offer, PROVIDED that you son applied early enough during the season - application in for the first selection board meeting on.

DougBetsy

Thanks for the input, everyone.

We left it up to Son and he has decided to interview locally. As a consolation prize for Mom (me), he will email the WFU PMS and request a phone conversation to introduce himself and discuss his app.

Now I'm off to join heyonjlee's mega thread...