From my interview with my blue and gold officer during the admissions process for the naval academy, he did mention to me that if you do get an ROTC scholarship if does make a difference on whether they will offer an appointment. He told me that if there were two kids who were about the same in academics, leadership, and physical ability but one had an rotc scholarship and the other didn’t, they would mostly likely offer the appointment to the kid without the rotc scholarship. This is because the other kid with an rotc scholarship already has a good opportunity whereas the other kid does not.