Parent of a NROTC applicant. DS looks good on paper, 26 ACT, 1700 SAT multiple letters in 3 sports, lots of club participation, community service hours, work experience, and hobbies. Problem is he had a late Sept officer interview that went badly. He had never interviewed before and was nervous, interviewer was hostile and asked the usual hard questions that he was prepared for but was condescending and dismissive my student’s responses. Compounding the problem was the interview was via Skype and the DS lost video on our end so he couldn’t see the interviewer. My question is how much does the interview factor in to the decision (if anyone out there might know). He applied for AROTC had superb f-f officer interview and will probably get picked up. Navy however is first choice. I hope we dont have to wait until April to find out if the Interview was a deal breaker.
The interview is extremely important. It’s the Navy’s only opportunity to have one of their people actually evaluate your son “in person” as opposed to only his paper profile. If he doesn’t receive a NROTC scholarship he can still join a NAVY NROTC Unit at college and be considered for an in-collage scholarship…if the Navy is his first choice and he wants it badly enough.
I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news and it’s JMPO…but his SAT/ACT scores are not that great. He may want to retake those and see if he can get a 30+ ACT or a 2000+ SAT. NROTC has become VERY competitive for scholarships.
Good luck to both of you!