<p>My S2 is an ROTC hopeful. Though he is only a sophomore, I would like to gather as much information as possible well in advance.</p>
<p>Two questions:</p>
<p>(1) In general, how difficult is it to transfer the scholarship from pre-approved (based on the candidates earlier choosing) three schools to another one s/he is accepted by both the school admission office and the ROTC corp? </p>
<p>(2) In general, if you apply early enough to the ROTC program, well before the general school admission deadline, will you know by Nov 1 (EA/ED application deadline at most schools) or Jan 1 whether you got accepted by the local ROTC program and whether you got the scholarship?</p>
<p>(3) If the local ROTC commander likes the candidate very much, would he provide some input to the general admission office of that school to the advantage of the student?</p>
<p>I know everyone says ROTC acceptance and school acceptance are completely separate items. I understand that there is no official coordination of automatic brownie points for general admission on account of ROTC acceptance in that particular school unit. That said, isn't there some <strong><em>soft</em></strong> influence the local ROTC commander can convey to the general admission office of that school. </p>
<p>After all, if a great EC counts toward admission decision, and every applicant is trying hard to differentiate him/herself among the masses, why wouldn't the fact that the applicant has already secured a position in the local ROTC unit and got a scholarship count? Especially, given that the applicant is like a full pay (tuition scholarship from the military). </p>
<p>Thank you very much for your kind input. My S1 just went through the whole application/admission process, but now with S2 on the ROTC track, I feel like I have learn a whole new trick.</p>
<p>My son is an Army 4-yr scholarship awardee. Since noone else has responded I can add some response, but obviously they will refer to Army. I do not anything about Air Force or Navy.</p>
<p>1) We too were interested in this question. Turns out after the initial college/rotc choice when offered the scholarship there is a mid-April of senior year ‘final choice’. The awardee is offered the opportunity to change their mind and request transfer of the scholarship to another one of the Army authorized schools on their list. My son did not change his selection.</p>
<p>2) My son also had a USMA application open for awhile as well, so a lot of his paperwork was getting done early. He had all of his initial file including DoDMERB (medical) qualification done by end of summer between Jr/Sn year. This meant that once he had visited a few selected ROTC units and had his formal interview filed with Cadet Command he went before an early scholarship selection board (Nov). He had his selection letter in hand well in advance of the ED application deadline for his schools (top southern engineering schools). The Army system is very efficient in communicating with the individual ROTC programs and the schools on his list were alerted. Your son will get a lot of unsolicited mail from schools not even on his list once he is selected.</p>
<p>3) I would not describe the interaction between ROTC offices and admission departments as <strong><em>soft</em></strong> at all. Remember as you pointed out selection for a service scholarship is a MERIT selection based on scholarship, athletics, leadership and EC with a formal personal interview. The application package from a scholarship selectee would be a pretty competitive application at any university. I would imagine admission departments are very happy to be presented with such a package, which the university ROTC recruiter will do personally in most cases. So there is much more than a <strong><em>soft</em></strong> endorsement. I was told by one admissions director that they considered ROTC scholarship selections with the same weight as a strong recommendation from one of their academic departments.</p>
<p>Have your son visit a couple of programs. I found meeting with the ROTC recruiters at the universities to be very helpful. Have him establish that contact early, as he will need to do it eventually.</p>
<p>VTNEWDAD,</p>
<p>thank you so much for your kind feedback. Very much appreciated. My son will follow the Army ROTC route.</p>
<p>He is sophomore now. Would you recommend campus visit, mostly to meet with ROTC unit commanders, etc, starting THIS FALL will be helpful, rather than waiting until the spring next year? </p>
<p>By the way, is the admission into a particular ROTC program at a given school is COMPLETELY a local decision? Meaning, each ROTC unit of a school make independent decision about the applicants into that particular program, with NO pressure/influence from the central army HQ, etc.</p>
<p>Currently, the Army system is completely centralized through Cadet Command at Fort Monroe. Selection for the scholarship is an Army Board decision, not local. The Army ROTC Scholarship website is the portal into that system. But getting placed in a scholarship at a specific university has two other aspects: getting admitted to the university and the ROTC program having available scholarship slots. Part of the application is a formal interview with a college Professor of Military Science (PMS) or his/her designee. This interview is an essential part of the application package. So yes, there is still some local unit input to the Board. The local university PMS or ROTC recruiter is also a good judge if your son will be competitive for admission at that university. They know the local lay of the land. I would strongly recommend that your son contact the ROTC unit at the closest university that has one and go visit. And then contact the ROTC recruiters at the universities he is interested in. They all have websites linked to the university websites. They will more than happy to help. They will explain everything in detail to both your son and you. I am just a dad that recently went through this with my son. They are the experts.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your help.</p>
<p>I understand that scholarship selection is completely centralized. Did you say even placement/admission into a particular ROTC unit at, say, U Penn, is also done by the central committee??? So that, even for students who are not looking for scholarship, the admission into a particular ROTC program is a central committee decision? Or, is it the case that local units select their own cadets, while whether the cadets get a scholarship or not is determined by the central committee… This is the part that is really confusing to me…</p>