<p>I have wanted to bein the military for the past couple years now and I am going to be a senior in high school. I plan to apply to the Univerisyt of Illinois - UC, University of Notre Dame, carnegie Mellon, and the university of Rochester. I want to apply for the army ROTC scholarship and the NROTC scholarship marine option. </p>
<p>I have a 33 ACT, a 4.44 w GPA (4.0 uw). I have taken a good number of honors and AP courses. I have been a 3 time varsity letterman for the swim team and a two time varsity letterman for the golf team. I was a squad leader my junior year in marching band. I will be a squad leader and section leader next year in marching band. I was a Freshman Mentor at the high school. I also served on a leadership board that governs all the swim teams in northern Ohio. </p>
<p>Please let me know if you think I have a decent chance of getting the scholarships. Also, is it difficult to switch from marine option to navy option? Is marine option more or less competitive than the navy option? I know that the navy tends to look for tech majors and I am planning to major in some form of engineering. </p>
<p>Thanks for the input. </p>
<p>Off the top of my head, I’d say you have a very good chance with those stats and wanting to go into a technical field.</p>
<p>This thread is 6 years old, but you can see that kids with stats way lower than yours were getting the scholarship.
<a href=“NROTC Scholarship - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/612935-nrotc-scholarship.html</a></p>
<p>I’d say you have an excellent shot at an Army scholarship. I’m not sure about the competitiveness of the Marine option, but due to the small size of the Marine Corps, I’d think it would be a tough scholarship to get. However, you still have a good shot. Unfortunately, with budget cuts over the past couple years, scholarships are much tougher to come by than they were 6 years ago.</p>
<p>you are clearly a well qualified applicant, however, full scholarships are seldomly offered to high school applicants these days. This should not discourage you from applying. Visit your local recruiting station and they can help you file the application as well as conduct a physical assessment. In worst case scenario you could always join ROTC in college and apply for the scholarship then. </p>
<p>Just my experience from 30 years ago, but the guys at the recruiting stations rarely know anything about ROTC scholarships. Any local college with an ROTC office may be able to provide help though.</p>
<p>You’re assigned a recruiter during the application process and you can’t complete your application without going through them.</p>
<p>Yes - during the online NROTC scholarship application process you are assigned a recruiter. But once assigned to that recruiter s/he cannot attempt to dissuade you from applying to NROTC and instead encourage you to enlist. Absolutely NOT the case if you just “walk in” or call and ask to speak to a recruiter. Entirely different experience. If you want to talk to someone before beginning an application, either call the NROTC unit at one of the colleges that you are considering, or the 800 number off of the NROTC website.
Good luck!</p>
<p>
Academically, marine option is less competitive than navy option. Lower standards for ACT/SAT scores, for example.</p>
<p>Physically, it is much more competitive than navy option. Physical fitness derails more aspiring marine options than anything else. See this webpage for guidance:
<a href=“http://www.marines.com/becoming-a-marine/how-to-prepare/pft#”>Marine Corps Boot Camp | Recruit Basic Training | Marines;
<p>Plus, the ratio of navy option to marine option scholarships is about 6 to 1. So, that makes marine option harder to get.</p>
<p>
Not truly difficult but also not automatic either. Basically, both the Navy and the USMC both have to agree with each other about the switch. You have to put in a formal request, and wait for them to decide. If I remember correctly, no switching is allowed after the sophomore year.</p>
<p>Marine option does not require technical majors. Almost any major is acceptable to USMC. </p>
<p>Your ACT and grades are outstanding. No worries there. Work on the physical fitness (no matter how fit you are now, just get better).</p>
<p>Also, the Navy wants you to name five colleges that you are willing to attend. Sounds like you are in Ohio. If so, your list is required to have either OSU or Miami on it.</p>
<p>I knew a guy who wanted to go marine option; athletic and in excellent physical shape but had problems with pull ups which caused him to not apply. He might have been better off applying for navy option, then improve his pull ups and ask to switch to marine option after arriving at college.</p>
<p>Also, your interest in Army ROTC makes it a good back up to marine option. The Army has somewhat lower physical fitness requirements than USMC; and also gives out a lot more scholarships. So, it is totally possible to get rejected for marine option, but obtain an Army ROTC scholarship.</p>
<p>Personally, if I were to go Army ROTC, I would target private colleges instead of state universities. The Navy is heavily biased toward state schools, but the Army is at almost every good college. If somebody else is paying, you might as well get the best education that they will give you. So, good to see that you have ND, CMU, and U.Rochester on your list.</p>
<p>By the way, Tulane University offers free room and board to all ROTC scholarship students.</p>