<p>My Son was told yesterday by the Major in admission @ WP that he has been accepted!! He should be receiving the letter in the mail today for him to accept or deny. Of course he is going to accept! The same day, the Major from one of the colleges he applied at also called and told us that he received the 4yr scholarship for ROTC. what a day! The Major from the university said if he is going to accept West Point, then he should deny the ROTC scholarship so they can award it to someone else? So, is that what he should do? I was also told that he should accept the ROTC in case something happens through out the year, and he needs it for back up? Not sure on what he should do?</p>
<p>OH well, I guess no one knew the answer to this question? He will be denying the ROTC scholarship. And he already sent back his postcard Accepting West Point. I thought it would be just a letter of acceptance that he would receive in the mail, but it is a beautiful folder saying "Appointment" Class of 2013.</p>
<p>Ohhhhh
I missed it! I think it is ultimately up to your son. He until May to accept West Point. He can accept the ROTC scholarship and then withdraw at any time before he enrolls.
Obviously, the school would like to know one way or the other.</p>
<p>Has your son made a candidate visit to West Point? If not and he plans to visit then I would suggest waiting until then. If he has any lingering thoughts - wait.
There is not harm to him in waiting.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son!
I agree the Appointments are beautiful! (My daughter saw all three appointments last year when she was at prep school and she said West Point were the nicest!)</p>
<p>Congrats on his appointment this early in the year! I did not notice your question until now. In my opinion your son did the right thing in turning down the ROTC scholarship. He should still have a backup college that he has been accepted to and could afford just in case he would not be able to report on R-day. A state college or community college is a good backup.</p>
<p>Thanks! :-) He has wanted West Point from the very beginning. He only applied for ROTC as the "in case". We went for the candidate visit back in October, as a "be sure" factor. And, after the tour, it only confirmed his ambition even more. He joined the reserves this past January, in that early/split program. He did his Basic Training this past summer. He didn't want to come home, he loved Basic so much! According to him, it was Fun and the gas chamber was Awesome. Strange kid. He started his portal file in the spring, since he had to leave for the summer, and finished it completely by the end of September when he went back to school for his Senior year. The teachers were all very accommodating. When we came for the tour last month, the Major in admissions for Service men, met with us. Very nice man. As soon as my sons SAT scores came in, he presented his file, and they decided last Tuesday, election day. I found out the day before he received the Folder, by emailing the MAJ, talk about an impatient parent. So, as long as all goes well this year, my son will be attending WP next year! OH so proud of him! Couldn't stop smiling that day, and my husband, a former Marine, cried. :-)</p>
<p>Well then, give up that ROTC scholarship.
Congratulations! Welcome to the Army family!
He is going to love Beast - seriously!</p>
<p>I would not presume to tell anyone what to do in a case like this but my recommendation would be to keep all options open as long as possible. I'll tell you why...</p>
<p>My son got that beautiful folder from WP last Saturday. It should have been a day of great joy but instead was bitter sweet. Last month, about the time my son's LOA and offer were being voted on, my son was sitting in class when his right ear started ringing. By the next morning, he had lost most of the hearing in his right ear. The ENT Doc diagnosed Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss and turned my son's world upside down when he said that there is a good chance that the hearing loss is permanent. He has had several followup treatments and tests and there has been some improvement but he is still well below the standard in that ear. We have talked to Admissions and DoDMERB. Admissions has told us to wait as long as we can for any further improvement before we send information to DoDMERB but that we probably need to do that by February so that they have time to submit him for a waiver. If the waiver is not granted (and probably won't be without significant recovery), his offer will be withdrawn.</p>
<p>This could have just as easily have happened in March or May or even June. Sometimes bubble wrap doesn't help. Keep all your backup plans locked and loaded for as long as you can.</p>
<p>aprouddad - I am so sorry to hear about your son's situation. I hope he recovers in time to make R-day this year. </p>
<p>I agree that keeping options open is a good idea. The reason I said giving up the ROTC scholarship offer is the right thing to do is because an injury that would keep a candidate from reporting on R-day may also keep him/her out of ROTC. I believe you still have to pass DODMERB to receive the ROTC scholarship. A candidate can always apply for a 3 year ROTC scholarship if they recover by the next year.</p>
<p>WAMom68,</p>
<p>Not necessarily. My son will continue to seek an ROTC scholarship because, we have been told, ROTC might waive a level of hearing loss that WP would not. I suppose the same would be true of other types of medical issues. It's hard to know what to do. Each situation is different. I don't know what I would say if my son had no medical issues and both an appointment and a scholarship in hand. Before this happened, I might have been inclined to advise "accept the appointment and decline the scholarship". His current situation causes me to question that. As it is, I think my son would trade his appointment AND his chance at a scholarship if someone could guarantee that he could ever be commissioned. When he says "this sucks", that's what he means: not only might he lose his appointment but he might not be able to serve at all.</p>
<p>so sorry to hear all your troubles aprouddad. my prayers go out to your son. the MAJ @ the university told me to turn down the scholarship (since my son wants to go to WP), so others have a chance of receiving it, because they only have so few to give out. He said if something happens to prevent him from going to WP, to give him a call back, and he would work hard on trying to get another scholarship for him, he said, he has a boy now, that went to WP for a few months, and dropped out, and now they are working on getting him the scholarship. The only thing to do is pray for things to work out. I do have ANOTHER question though... I have an older son, who is 23 that is wheelchair bound, and for the life of me, i can't remember if the sidewalks and base/buildings are handicapped accessible? When we went for the tour, we didn't have him with us, and I really didn't pay mind, I was in awe of the place. But, we have a hard time getting someone to sit with him, and most likely will have to bring him along for all the functions upcoming...? so if anyone can remember or paid attention to the surroundings? otherwise I will be on the phone come next year, inquiring about the accessibility of it all?</p>
<p>DiLa,
If you haven't already joined prospective-net you should. Once you get to R-day the moderators will switch you to plebe-net. I recall last year many questions on plebe-net regarding handicap accessibility. Most things are accessible and you can get special parking near the Plain for parades. Prospective-net and plebe-net should be able to give you more details.</p>
<p>aprouddad,
I see your point about ROTC waiving some things that USMA won't. I hope things work out for your son. I know mine would be extremely disappointed if he could not serve at all.</p>
<p>I have joined prospective-net. Thank You all...</p>