<p>Midwest , Congrats to your D on the NROTC scholarship. Like your D, my S1 decided against applying to Service Academies and went with big state u. (NC State University).
He wanted to have the regular “college experience” along with the military aspect. I think being at a big school with a large battalion is a plus.
S1 never regretted his decision. He really enjoyed college life and was still able to attain his "dream " job in the Navy. He’s been in the Navy for four and a half years now. Best of luck to your D.</p>
<p>^^^My nephew (engineering major) felt the same way and was a NROTC member of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. Kind of the best of both worlds. He was very happy with his college choice/experience.</p>
<p>I just thought I would give an update to anybody who had been reading this thread. DD ended up receiving the Army ROTC Scholarship to the University of Portland, in addition to the Navy ROTC Scholarship that I had previously mentioned. DD was admitted to Notre Dame Early Action and we visited in January. She really loved the school. She ended up choosing Notre Dame and NROTC over AROTC. She has received several outside scholarships, so those, along with the NROTC scholarship, will allow her to have her college costs all covered, except for plane tickets home on breaks and in the summer. It has been quite a learning process and a real journey. Now my attention gets turned to DS who will be a Senior next year and we get to do it all, all over again!</p>
<p>If looking for strong engineering and Merit awards, consider Case. My D. with similar stats who also was coming from very small private HS, received huge Merit award at Case, which would leave a balance of $5k for us to pay. D. eventually decided to attend a state public where she was on full tuition Merit award for all 4 years. She is currently a medical student and having free UG education was a blessing as medical school is very expansive. Case is not a reach school for your D. though.<br>
Another advice, which may not be applicable in your situation. D. also had a great college counselor, but we decided not to listen to him. He was not as familiar with programs that D. was interested as us. In fact, he did not know about some of them at all. Understandably, he had the other 32 kids to worry about. I had done a great deal of research that lasted for 2 years. My huge spreadsheet resulted in D’s choosing the best UG option for herself. She was so satisfied that she asked me to compile the list of Medical Schools for her. This was much easier.
Anyway, rely on your own research more than advice from others, including us here on CC. We all have different goals. backgrounds and experiences. We can only share with you and it may not be applicable to you at all. You and your kid will have to analyse closely what is the best option. My D. said that she will do just fine anywhere. So, she went to UG that was a perfect match for her personality and very wide range of interests. Happy student will produce “happy” results. Many overlook the fact that these are 4 years of young person life. While money and other factors are important, personal fit is the most important factor. D. has chosen to attend in-state public UG where she was accepted to the program that had only 10 spots, the program that was completely unknown to her college guide in HS. She had a great time there, graduated as a top pre-med and was accepted to great selection of Medical Schools. </p>
<p>To get back to the topic at hand - made the mistake of having child apply to four reach schools rejected at all of them (couple that per naviance hovered between reach and target). it is now a crapshoot since the common app alows kids that wouldn’t normally apply to school do it because its easy… i know the next round with my second to be very careful and tread lightly on the reach schools.</p>
<p>@MidwesternHeart Congratulations on the excellent results. Your family really did everything right, especially in being clear about finances upfront (!), and having Plans A, B, and C.</p>
<p>Congrats on the NROTC scholie and the EA to Notre Dame!!! Such a great choice and opportunity!</p>
<p>And will second the kudos to being upfront about the money and how to go about working the issue, again congrats.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Congrats!</p>
<p>Many students thought applying to many reach schools would increase their chance. Indeed, it may even have an adverse effect. It would be better to limit the number of reach schools and spend more time on the application and essays on each. My D applied to 2 reach schools. One was SCEA at the same time she was applying to 5 other EA or early rolling admission schools and got rejected. The other one was applied RD a couple months later and that was her only RD application. The one she spent more time on and applied RD accepted her.</p>
<p>@MidwesternHeart Big congrats on the acceptance to Notre Dame and the NROTC slot there. And the outside scholarships are another bonus! My S was in the same situation. NROTC + other renewable scholarships totaled up to a full ride. Graduating with no debt makes a huge difference in their “life after college” options. Best of luck to your D. With a Navy commitment every summer, it keeps them on their toes year 'round. </p>