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How competitive is an ROTC scholarship?
Hixons
8 replies5 threads New Member
Hello,
I was recently accepted to Cornell University ED. It has always been a goal of mine to join the military after college, West Point being my second option, however, I am a bit curious on how hard it is to receive a national ROTC scholarship. My interview with the PMS is coming up and they make it sound extremely competitive, however, I do know people who were awarded ROTC scholarships with scores around the minimum requirement (19-24 ACT). Is being awarded an ROTC scholarship just as hard as getting into Cornell? Thanks!
23 replies I was recently accepted to Cornell University ED. It has always been a goal of mine to join the military after college, West Point being my second option, however, I am a bit curious on how hard it is to receive a national ROTC scholarship. My interview with the PMS is coming up and they make it sound extremely competitive, however, I do know people who were awarded ROTC scholarships with scores around the minimum requirement (19-24 ACT). Is being awarded an ROTC scholarship just as hard as getting into Cornell? Thanks!
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Replies to: How competitive is an ROTC scholarship?
There is a great book, the Insider's Guide to Army ROTC Scholarships by Robert Kirkland. It is the BEST resource IMHO. Very concise. Explains the point breakdown for the whole person score. There are 3 rounds of scholarship review "boards." If your interview is coming up, then you already missed the first board.
There is also a ServiceAcademies forum that has an ROTC section with some very experienced parents.
If your plan is to become an officer, you don't need the scholarship.
How do you figure that? Some college students....including possibly the OP could use the ROTC scholarship to defray most/all college costs. Not every student has the financial security/means to say "I don't need the scholarship" even if they plan on becoming career military officers*.
* Something which isn't guaranteed due to the "up or out" promotion system for officers in which if one fails to be promoted after 2 promotion board cycles, with few exceptions you are effectively forced out. Also, officers could have their careers cut short due to reductions in force for budgetary considerations....this happened to a Naval aviator cousin(NROTC graduate & scholarship recipient) along with many officers in the '90s due to the end of the Cold War.
Good luck with the scholarship.Even if you don't get it, you need to be enrolled in ROTC if your goal is to become an officer. So, plan to work it into your schedule.
Just out of curiosity, what branches are you hoping to join when you commission even though it's all due to OML and needs of the military service?
ROTC scholarships are very competitive. My middle sons had two friends who were applying. Both are Eagle Scouts. One is simply brilliant, particularly in STEM issues, while the other is a bright kid, but not brilliant. The second boy earned the ROTC scholarship. The first one turned out to have a previously undetected mild color blindness that put him out of contention. Prior to his learning that, he was a shoo in, according to the people who dealt with him.
Interesting that color-blindness is a show-stopper for an ROTC scholarship but not for admittance to West Point. Air Force maybe?
Congrats @Hixons!
Color-blindness can also be a show-stopper for some MOSes within the military branches....such as Aviation or working as an electronics technician* or I would think EOD*.
* Being able to differentiate color-coded wires in electronic/explosive devices is critical in those fields.
The young man in question was applying to the Air Force ROTC; actually, both of the boys I mentioned were. He wasn't interested in any other branches. Apparently, from what his mom told me, whatever the test result was, it was completely disqualifying. Since the young man in question is adopted, the parents had no clue that such a finding was even an issue.
As for color blindness in general, my oldest 2 sons are both color blind. I had to pay for an extra eye test for the oldest one before he was allowed to proceed to the next level in the court officer hiring process. He passed but opted to work for USPS instead.
This might be more of a product of ROTC programs raising their admission standards for prospective ROTC students in the wake of the current military drawdowns much like the raising of enlisting standards in the news for the same reasons.
It's no different than what happened in the '90s as a result of the end of the Cold War and the massive RIF and the massive raising of recruitment standards or what tended to happen after wars/conflicts have ended.
Some older veterans I've known would be inclined to cite the old cynical accusation about the military branches prioritizing/"protecting" FSA cadets/graduates over graduates of other commissioning sources even though studies from the last few decades have found otherwise.