Wellesley College: is it worth it?

<p>Yes sevmom. Agree and have said this does not pass the smell test. Bored student home for the summer maybe?</p>

<p>“My DH attended college on a ROTC scholarship. I repeat. They do not just call/email out of the blue and offer them. That does not happen. A student HAS to apply for it and applying to a SA is a separate process.”</p>

<p>“Now the kid gets a call out of the clear blue sky for an ROTC scholarship for Wellesley…ahem…they don’t just drop out of the sky. You gotta APPLY…and to the specific college programs.”</p>

<p>The OP is not saying that her daughter did not apply, just that it was a surprise. I don’t think this is a ■■■■■ thread because of that…at all. Honestly, I don’t think my parents had any idea that I applied for a ROTC scholarship. One day they called the house to tell me I had it…my parents called me, rather confused, and said I had a ROTC navigator scholarship. To which I said, “What is navigator?” Thankfully, I was able to change it to pilot. They do just call you out of the blue, late, and into the summer. I don’t think this is abnormal at all, and could easily surprise parents (sounds like the D applied to many things without telling her parents). There is nothing about this thread that cries ■■■■■ to me.</p>

<p>Any current ROTC parents or students care to comment?</p>

<p>"</p>

<p>busdriver-
she said that her kid had NO INTEREST in Wellesley at all and didnt even start to look at until she was WL’ed. When were the ROTC apps due???</p>

<p>^^Who knows? I don’t think it matters. The way ROTC scholarships work (at least in the good old days, so it could have changed), was that you got the scholarship. And you could go to whatever school you wanted, it was not connected with a specific school. I got the scholarship, and THEN applied to a four year college, over the summer. Nowadays of course, you couldn’t apply to many four year colleges and get in over the summer, but it was much less competitive way back when.</p>

<p>It would be better if someone who is current on the rules could contribute, including the OP.</p>

<p>Thumper’s post# 200 did a good job of summarizing many of the aspects of this thread that don’t add up.</p>

<p>Well, look, I am annoyed at ■■■■■ threads as much as you, really, but I actually think this thread is logical. Maybe the OP was not that involved in the D’s college application process, as the D sounds very self directed and strong willed. Perhaps the OP was comfortable with paying full pay for schools that she considered “worth the money” to use my phrase, but wasn’t sure that Wellesley was worth the money. That’s why she started this thread. I personally am not sure that Wellesley would be “worth the money”, then again I have sons, not daughters! Just because I’m willing to spend 56K/yr for the particular schools my kids attend, doesn’t mean I’m willing to spend it for every school.</p>

<p>It is very possible that she could get accepted to the AFA with SAT scores like that, because otherwise she is athletic, high GPA, and highly motivated. It is very possible. Plus, it is logical that she would get accepted off the waitlist at Wellesley, plus get an AROTC scholarship with those stats. And since my scholarship came “out of the blue”, which doesn’t mean without applying, just means that it came late and was a surprise.</p>

<p>But just because this all makes perfect sense to me, doesn’t mean it does to you. So I hope the OP responds.</p>

<p>Well several posters antennae are up. Besides, the ROTC scholarship site says:

Why would a scholarship for an incoming freshman not be started until sophomore year?</p>

<p>And for further entertainment, here’s an obligatory Animal House video:</p>

<p>[Animal</a> House (7/10) Movie CLIP - Deltas on Trial (1978) HD - YouTube](<a href=“Animal House (7/10) Movie CLIP - Deltas on Trial (1978) HD - YouTube”>Animal House (7/10) Movie CLIP - Deltas on Trial (1978) HD - YouTube)</p>

<p>I also thought that the ROTC scholarships applied for during high school (this student would have applied while she was a high school senior) were for the full four years of undergrad school.</p>

<p>“Why would a scholarship for an incoming freshman not be started until sophomore year”</p>

<p>You’re right, jym, that one does confuse me. Perhaps the OP can explain? Does her child have enough credits (or AP’s) that she can start out as a sophomore? Because that sounds quite odd that they would give someone with four years of college left to go, only a three year scholarship. I don’t think that is possible. The three year and two year scholarships are for those who already have some college under their belt. So what is it?</p>

<p>I admit, that is the one thing that I had questions about.</p>

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<p>I recalled ROTC folks mentioning that there are 2 and 3 year scholarships along with the 4 year ones. Don’t know any details of the shorter ones as the relative/colleagues I knew who got ROTC scholarships got the 4 year ones. </p>

<p>Granted, it wasn’t as competitive when most of them got it as the military wasn’t very popular…especially among those who graduated college in the late '70s and early '80s.</p>

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<p>Elite private colleges like W tend not to be nearly as generous in accepting AP credits to the point of counting them in lieu of college courses…especially to fulfill major/minor/distribution requirements. </p>

<p>Even my LAC which is a out of the top 20 rarely granted enough credit for students to start off with sophomore standing solely on AP credits. </p>

<p>It would be a different story, however, if she took actual college courses comparable to the content, rigor, and depth of those offered at such colleges.</p>

<p>This feels too complex for “trolling”. I think this poster is for real. Agree with others that the kid probably applied for the scholarship and it was almost forgetten because it has been so long since the app was put in. It may be that the scholarship is shorter because the OP’s D got off the waitlist (so maybe 4 year scholarships were given out earlier?).</p>

<p>Even if she started with sophomore standing, wouldn’t her ROTC scholarship start immediately upon her enrollment? It would then only be three years.</p>

<p>Sorry…makes no sense.</p>

<p>I still don’t think this is trolling, I agree this is too complex and does make sense to me. Except for the three year scholarship. I personally got a three year scholarship, but that was because I had one year of community college credits. Perhaps there is more to the story. There are plenty of students who get cc credits during high school, and people don’t always explain every last detail on this site when it really isn’t part of the problem. I guess we’ll know if the OP explains this, because I really don’t think they would give a high school graduate just a three year scholarship, it would be four years or nothing. I think.</p>

<p>OK. At this point, this is all I know. D received nominations to all three academies between one senator and one congressman. She did not receive Lugar’s nomination and he recommended her for ROTC. She missed the deadline to apply for ROTC scholarships except for Navy. What H thinks happened is that when D withdrew her appointment to the AFA, other branches saw this and Army offered a 3 year scholarship. The reason for 3 years is because the 4 year ones have been completed or all been given away and those classes are filled. Yes, you can take a ROTC scholarship and use it anywhere you get in, providing that college has a spot for you in the ROTC class.</p>

<p>Regardless, this is a windfall we did not expect. D has asked questions in her response to Army and is waiting to hear. We should hear more on Monday.</p>

<p>" What H thinks happened is that when D withdrew her appointment to the AFA, other branches saw this and Army offered a 3 year scholarship."</p>

<p>As if the military is some massive monolith organization, monitoring what the other branches are doing? Offering a scholarship worth over 100K without even an application?
Hmm. Well, maybe the NSA is just listening in on her phone calls. That would make more sense.</p>

<p>“Perhaps the OP was comfortable with paying full pay for schools that she considered “worth the money” to use my phrase, but wasn’t sure that Wellesley was worth the money. That’s why she started this thread. I personally am not sure that Wellesley would be “worth the money”, then again I have sons, not daughters! Just because I’m willing to spend 56K/yr for the particular schools my kids attend, doesn’t mean I’m willing to spend it for every school.”</p>

<p>But that makes no sense in this case. No one is “willing to pay for Gtown, Duke, NDame” and not willing to pay for Wellesley, the #6 lac in the country.</p>

<p>My S1 had a NROTC scholarship. He graduated/commissioned four years ago. </p>

<p>ROTC is a four year program. It can’t be done in three years even if the OP’s kid has enough credits to enter w/ soph. standing. That means the family will have to pick up the tab for their D’s freshman year. Usually a three year scholarship goes to a cadet who has done ROTC during their freshman year (self-pay) and applies for a three year scholarship to pay for the rest of their education and thereby committing to serve after graduation.</p>

<p>If a kid gets a four year scholarship, they have freshman year to “try it out”. If they decide it’s not for them, they can drop out with no penalty. If it is their intent to continue in ROTC they sign a binding contract at the beginning of soph. year. So, the OP’s daughter will do ROTC on her own dime for freshman year. If she hates it and quits, she owes nothing because she’s not taken any scholarship $$.</p>

<p>ROTC requires a 3 credit hour ROTC class (w/a lab some semesters) in addition to regular course load. Hers will take place at MIT. S1 usually had 18-20 credit hours/sem. His first and last semesters of college were lighter. They must wear uniforms all day once a week They have PT (physical training) two or three a week starting at 6 a.m. That will be at the MIT campus for the OP’s D. MIT is the host school for several colleges/universities in the area including Harvard, Tufts, Wellesley, Salem State, Gordon, Endicott.</p>

<p>Just an FYI that Wellesley requires an AP score of 5 in virtually all cases to obtain college credit. (Only exception is Calculus AB or BC, where a 4 is also acceptable.)</p>

<p>In addition, the maximum amount of credit you can receive for your AP exams is four courses (which is one semester of college credit at Wellesley).</p>

<p>My nephew just graduated from a top tier school as a ROTC student. All I know is that he had to apply very early on (like Jan or Feb senior year). He was accepted to ROTC, but they didn’t have the money for his school. My sister was very relieved because it meant he wouldn’t have to serve. She was really hoping he would quit after few months of it. Unfortunate for her, he was one of their top cadets. He didn’t get scholarship money until he was a junior. What I would say is that the program was very rigorous (or gruesome). He stayed because he loved it. He is commissioned to serve minimum 4 years.</p>

<p>I don’t know how one applies for military academies - if one applies then would it mean automatic apply to the ROTC program for various branches? If not, then it would be weird to just receive a ROTC scholarship without having applied. From what I have heard from my nephew is that the money is hard to come by, the money is awarded very early on, once it is gone then one would have to wait until following year. Maybe that’s why OP’s D is getting 3 years instead of 4.</p>