<p>My son has been contacted by the almost local AFROTC detachment Admissions Officer. I know it's important to go to the interview alone- he definitely doesn't need his parents "hanging around". My dilemma is this- the location for the interview is over 2 hours away from home and our son isn't familiar with the area or even how to get there.</p>
<p>Even though our son is 18, he's only been driving for 6 months, and just learning the roads near our home, so I'm not too comfortable with the thought of him driving by himself 120 miles for a two hour interview.</p>
<p>Would it be OK to drive him to the detachment, drop him off and "disappear" until he calls to be picked up? Or would this be considered too much? My idea is for the interviewer to not even be aware of how our son gets to the school, so it shouldn't matter, right?</p>
<p>I'd appreciate the pros/cons comments from the "been there, done that" group of parents on this board.</p>
<p>I really doubt it’d be an issue. If the interviewer knows the location is two hours away, I’m sure they’d understand as long as you make yourself scarce for the interview</p>
<p>I drove my S to his NROTC scholarship interview. It was in a nearby city but he was totally unfamiliar with the area so I drove. I even went in the building (June in the south…too hot to sit in the car) and sat on a couch down the hall and waited. Interviewer never knew I was there. It was not a big deal at all. It didn’t hurt his chances. S got the scholarship. Drive with your S. He will be less nervous if he’s not worrying about getting lost in an unfamiliar area and being late for the interview.</p>
<p>I spoke with my recruiter (NROTC) a few days ago, and he actually encouraged me to have a parent come with me (probably because I am 16) but he said to have one of them come in unless they have any questions.</p>
<p>Our daughter had some college interviews in the closest major city, about 1 1/2 hours from here. We drove her - dropped her off and waited for her to call. She’s not familiar with city driving.</p>
<p>I don’t see a problem with driving them there and dropping them off. Head over to a nearby Starbucks (or equivalent), log into CC and enjoy the two hour break!!! </p>
<p>That’s what I did for DD when she had interviews which required her to be in a city she had never been to before. The interviewer won’t care a bit. </p>
<p>Now if you held his hand, walked him to the door and then sat outside on a folding chair - that might cause some alarm :)</p>
<p>For my NROTC interview, my dad actually came with me. He was in the room with me while I interviewed and just sat and listened, I suppose. My mom made him go because she was afraid they were going to recruit me or something.</p>
<p>I got the scholarship, though, so it must not be that big of a deal. I mean, as long as you’re not answering the questions for him, or anything.</p>
<p>" My dilemma is this- the location for the interview is over 2 hours away from home and our son isn’t familiar with the area or even how to get there."</p>
<p>I agree with others that it would be fine for you to drive him and drop him off.</p>
<p>There will be plenty of unfamiliar places that your son will need to travel to. A GPS is an excellent investment.</p>
<p>When our son interviewed for various academies and ROTC scholarships the interviewers usually asked to have a parent present for the first bit. As was stated earlier, it was to answer any questions the parents may have, but also, I was told later, to see what the level of support/pressure might be. I remember taking our son to the USNA interview, having the officer walk us through a building to the interview room, introduce himself and talk about the mission of USNA and then asking if I had any questions. After talking for about 15 minutes he asked to speak with our son alone and I went out to the car to wait for a call to pick him up. We also talked with the AFA rep, who came to our house, and the WP rep who was our son’s physics teacher. Great people, all.</p>
<p>My experiences (4) were similar to momof1.
My daughter interviewed with AFROTC, NROTC and AROTC last year (received all 3 scholarships) and my son interviewed with the NROTC last week. I think the recruiters “like” to know the parents are supportive of their child’s interest in ROTC…without being the main motivation of their decision. It won’t hurt anything to shake the interviewer’s hand and then make yourself scarce if s/he doesn’t have any questions for you. </p>
<p>I looked back through the thread and it seems those with actual experience with this type of interview have mostly had the parent present. As aglages pointed out, this is something the student has to be motivated to do, not pressured into by parents. It is very helpful if parents are supportive of the decision since this is not just a scholarship, but a lifestyle decision. </p>
<p>We asked questions about GPA requirements, weekly time requirements for mandatory drills, uniform costs, stipends, and when the service commitment must be signed. Our kiddo decided that the academy was the best bet, but either way, ROTC or Academy, the end result is to produce officers for the military. It seems sometimes people forget this.</p>
<p>If your son wants to be a military officer, this is a great route!</p>