<p>My son is a HS sophomore next year and is thinking about West Point. We have Jr. ROTC at our High School but it is Air Force not Army. Does Jr. ROTC help getting in to West Point and would it matter that it is Air Force and not Army.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much it weighs in (probably as much as any other school club), but if he excells and becomes a student officer it will help for sure.
Your JROTC commander can also help get you a nomination to the academy, but only to the same branch your JROTC is (AFJROTC - Air Force, NROTC - Annapolis, AROTC - West Point)</p>
<p>On the USMA application, ROTC member is one check box, ROTC officer is another and ROTC Battalion Commander is another, so if your son has the skill and determination to make it up there, that’s three check boxes, which is equal to three other extra curricular activities such as band, clubs, etc. </p>
<p>Being in the program is but a small small taste of what to expect in the Academy, so it could be somewhat of a preview for your son. Another thing to consider is that the experiances he has could be useful essay topics for the nomination and application process. </p>
<p>Like what shadow17 said, being an AF program, there’s not much that it could do to help him obtain a nomination, but the program does offer some intrinsic value on the application. </p>
<p>Good Luck to your son.</p>
<p>I have been told that if your JROTC unit is a ‘distinguished unit with honors’ then you can receive a nomination to any branch.</p>
<p>I looked at the forms again and you may only apply if your unit is a “gold star unit” aka “distinguished unit with honors.” The form also implies that you may only apply to USMA through an Army J/ROTC unit.</p>
<p>Not to belabor the point, but daughter goes to a NJROTC. We asked her MALO about getting a nomination for MA. He reported back ‘yes’ as long as the NJROTC is distinguished w/ honors. You might want to ask.</p>
<p>it all works out is correct.
Keep in mind the number of nominations available in this category is very small, only 20; and includes those in ROTC in college.
It is still important to apply for your Congressional and VP nominations as well.</p>
<p>That said - being involved in a JROTC unit (even AF) can certainly enhance one’s applicaiton. JROTC provides exposure to the military and opportunities for leadership.</p>
<p>Even if the total number nominations from ROTC units is comparatively small, they do produce some from high school units, and from Air Force JROTC Unit of Distinctions at that. I know this firsthand as a young man from an adjoining county to us received a nomination to WP from a high school Air Force unit. If nothing else, it gives more “wiggle room” for admissions to give more students an opportunity for candidacy. That said, not all units qualify. Our unit just gained this status this spring, a year later than our son entered the academy. You will need to check with your high school aerospace instructor to know for sure.</p>
<p>While being a member of a JROTC unit in high school is not a necessity, it certainly will not hurt the application process and from our experience will likely enhance it because of the leadership opportunities it presents. Not only helpful for admissions, but the military drill and ceremonies will become second nature. Our son found this a real advantage on R-Day as he was always waiting for a cadre escort to take him to the next station when his Beast company was learning drill. (We were surprised to find out that R-Day is “organized chaos” -the company does not stay together the entire day - which probably explained why some new cadets did not look like they had a clue how to march during the R-Day parade and Oath Ceremony!). He told us later that he would have had a lot of unwanted “extra attention” that day w/o his JROTC drill experience.</p>
<p>Good luck! Please keep us posted.</p>
<p>hey there anon!! Such memories huh?
ccapella…I sent you a private message.
;~)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. You have all been very helpful!</p>
<p>Not unless your the HOOAH leader of your school; college ROTC helps and it is more realisitic in college anyways.</p>
<p>My AFJROTC unit was repeatedly given the “Distinguished Unit with Merit” title and award.
I just needed to know is this the AF equivalent of With honors?</p>
<p>My HS was an honor unit with distinction, which allowed me to receive an ROTC nomination for West Point. IT was nice to receive a nomination but only 60 ROTC nominated candidates are chosen for West Point. </p>
<p>Now I am in Army ROTC at college and again I received an ROTC nomination. I believe it has similar effect as the hs rotc nom. Through talks with admissions I have felt they have looked at me as a more prepared candidate for admissions with my training.</p>
<p>My point is that being in ROTC does not ensure anything. I believe it acts on similar levels as being on sports teams. Through my rotc experience, I have been more prepared then my pears which is a big plus. I would recommend it and it is just another addition to your file.</p>
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<p>Only 20 from all ROTC sources, including college, not 60. A very slim chance. From US Code Title 10,Subtitle B, Part III, Chapter 403, Paragraph 4342:
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<p>For high schools on the semester system, JROTC can take up to one fourth of their class room schedule, time that could perhaps be better allocated to academic preparation. Also many JROTC units also have after school activities which preclude participation in other, more beneficial, extracurricular activities. Remember, high school ROTC is designed more to ‘capture’ those at-risk students and give them focus rather than to prepare the highly talented for college.</p>
<p>Mombee, I must totally disagree with your post based on our personal experience. I am not sure whether to giggle at, or be taken back by your statement, “Remember, high school ROTC is designed more to ‘capture’ those at-risk students and give them focus rather than to prepare the highly talented for college.” I am curious: Where has your perception come from?</p>
<p>Our WP cadet was involved in AFJROTC all 4 years of his high school career. He served as Cadet Commander (CC) his Sr. year and during those 4 years earned numerous ribbons and several national awards (indicating his commitment and activity level in the program). He was also chosen to attend AFJROTC Honors Camp — in the top 1% nationwide — where he met 3 other future WP classmates, one of whom is now his USMA roommate. His participation in no way precluded him from any other after-school activities — he was also Sr. Class President, Science Club President, a member of Marching Band, Jazz Band, and Concert Band, Track Team, Civil Air Patrol-CC, Boys Stater, church youth group, etc., etc. Besides all these ECs, he managed a pretty rigorous curriculum of AP and Honors courses on a 4x4 semester block schedule. He was hardly an at-risk student, nor were his peers. The CC the year before him now is a Jr. at Vanderbilt and the CC prior to that is a Firstie at WP, and another several years prior is in Med School. This program seems to have done a pretty great job of “preparing the highly talented for college”! </p>
<p>I am also unsure what “other, more beneficial, extracurricular activities” you had in mind when you posted this answer. From my point of view, the benefits of this program over other ECs are numerous: an understanding of military history, military bearing/drill and ceremony are second nature during parades and formations, an understanding of respect for peer leadership and chain of command, physical training and endurance, creative problem solving, and the opportunity to earn college credits (Management) from a state university.</p>
<p>That said, as with any activity, there can be dangers of becoming one-dimensional, and JROTC cadets desiring to attend service academies (or any college, for that matter) are encouraged to be well-rounded. To the OP, if your son does participate in the AF JROTC unit in your school, encourage involvement in a variety of leadership experiences and he will be fine. :)</p>
<p>Mombee, slim or not, as I stated in a previous post, the extra slots for ROTC sometimes do come from JROTC units. It gives a few extra nominations to the academy to allow more candidates from a particular area to have an opportunity for admission. We know from experience these extra slots do make a difference.</p>
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First off, lets go back to the OP’s question, will JROTC help getting in to WP? Will admissions see JROTC as a plus? The mission of JROTC is to motivate students to become better citizens. I would think that most high school sophomores wanting to serve in the military are probably already good citizens. Do they need motivated? Some do, but probably not the majority of those high school sophomores already intent on WP and looking for ways to improve themselves. They are probably all pretty well motivated. So, back to the mission of JROTC, motivation and better citizenship. Who needs this? Who is JROTC designed for? Those at-risk students students who need motivation and don’t understand their place in the world and need to learn how to become better citizens. I have been involved in unsuccessfully attempting to start JROTC units at two separate schools. With all three services, it quickly became evident that school demographics is now the most important factor in the selection of schools. If school data does not support a large enough population of at-risk students, no units will be established there.</p>
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I think this is the crux of my entire concern. Someone joining JROTC for the purpose of looking good to WP admissions will of course want to excel. Leadership takes time. After school time. Time that eats away at other extra-curricular activities. Should a high school all conference athlete junior be required to make the choice between continuing in sports or being the JROTC company commander? I don’t think so but it happens? “I was going to make you captain of the track team but I know that JROTC takes a lot of your time?” It happens. Also,the 4x4 block schedule where JROTC requires/demands/highly encourages JROTC participation both semesters. Should a high school senior be required to make the choice between retaining JROTC company commander and taking AP Calculus? I don’t think so but it happens. The senior enlisted faculty normally making these demands have not been to college and are under pressure to make the unit excel so their view can be somewhat parochial. </p>
<p>For most SA candidates, marching, military bearing, etc etc is not worth 25% of one’s high school career for something that can be picked up by the end of R-Day. There is a very good reason that all JROTC cadets are reminded prior to I-/R-Day to never never give anyone any indication whatsoever that they have been in JROTC.</p>
<p>WPM, WCS, or whatever each SA calls them, are pretty much designed to capture the very well rounded successful traditional high school student. If one needs focus and motivation, perhaps JROTC is an option, but I would never recommend any single one extracurricular activity as a stepping stone to a better admittance posture.</p>
<p>With that said, it sounds as if your son was in a well established unit that was perhaps veering slightly from its mission but was providing some outstanding opportunities for the highly talented.</p>