Interesting news about NROTC Scholarships...

[reece]

Last year, 2-year scholarships were tough to come by. Nationally, there were roughly:

20 Two-year scholarships
100 Three- year scholarships
120 Advanced Standing contracts

Apparently the Navy is starting to crack down on its Calc & Physics. You might speculate that they need more Nukes.
Hence, they have virtually swapped the amount of Advanced Standing/2-year Scholarships available for 2017.
That is, there are only about 20 Advanced Standing slots and over 100 2-year scholarship slots available this year. I can't speak on the three year numbers, though I doubt they were much affected.
That means all of you COLLEGE PROGRAMMERS (myself included) who have completed or are in the process of completing Calc & Physics...you are in good standing to get the second half of your school paid for. Those of you who will not be able to get either of these rolling...well, be number one at everything else (PT, aptitude, GPA) and hope for Advanced Standing.

Just a little bit of interesting info I thought I'd share with some of you 4/C and 3/C Mids. Best of luck.

 

[Ed21]

Apparently the Navy is starting to crack down on its Calc & Physics. You might speculate that they need more Nukes.

Well, shit. AP Calculus/Physics is not an experience I'd want to repeat in college, especially as a Tier III midshipman.

On the bright side, I'm immune to the nuke draft, right?

 

[reece]

Luckily I'm on the tail end of that stint. Also being a Tier III major, I often contemplated what the hell I was doing it to myself for. I guess this was it.

I don't know that anyone is immune to the nuke draft, but I've heard that if you actually do your best at the interview and be honest with the admiral (i.e. "No sir, I have no interest in being a submariner") you won't be taken prisoner.

 

[Ed21]

20 slots for Advanced Standing seems a bit harsh, however (Especially if you take in the fact that Tier III with neither Calc or Physics done are the bottom of the barrel). I've heard that they're still waiting on an extra 100 slots from OCS; are these the final numbers?

 

[Buster95]

Interesting information, a buddy of mine picked up one of the 20 available 2 year scholarships. He definitely earned it. Unfortunately for me, I was a tier III major that had to be booted due to not picking up advanced standing. Good to know that they're finally changing the quotas.

My friends from ROTC are telling me that only a couple of the freshman have a scholarship, so I'm thinking it's just as/if not more competitive to apply for a 3 year than a 4 year scholarship. But it sounds like the 3/c this year have a better chance of getting something, which is good.

 

[reece]

If there's an extra 100 OCS slots that's good news for people like you, Christian.

I'm not sure how these scholarships compare to the 4-year. All I know is it's gonna be that much harder for Tier III guys who haven't been fortunate enough to take Calculus and Physics. If you're a freshman reading this and you need to pick up, do yourself a favor and make room for these classes.

They're even being stiff with Advanced Standing. Last year (when there were over 100 slots), our #2 CP got skipped and #3 picked up. Why? #3 had Calc & Physics complete.

 

[Ed21]

This may interest you. A Lt. at the Tulane NROTC unit is active on Service Academy Forums, and I found this compilation of stats he posted some time ago.

From Aug 9 2016
3-Year Scholarships
Nominations: 304
Selects: 60
Non-selects: 244

2-Year Scholarships
Nominations: 200
Selects: 19
Non-selects: 181 (automatically considered for Advanced Standing)

Advanced Standing
Nominations: 228 (181 carried over from 2-year applicants)
Selects: 121
Non-selects: 97

From July 27, 2016
Advanced Standing is getting EASIER to receive the past couple years, as there are significantly more slots recently. The selection rate for Advanced Standing last year was well over 50%, and it will be similar this year. If you fail to get selected for a side load scholarship or Advanced Standing before your junior year, you will be automatically be dropped from the unit.

From June 21, 2016
Not having Calculus/Physics complete is going to be a major roadblock. Last summer the board awarded 29 2-year Side Loads. Of those selected, 29/29 were complete with Calc 1 and 2, and 24/29 were complete with Phys 1 and 2. I don't see you getting past the 2-year board with Calculus 2 incomplete.

Advanced Standing is a different story. The selection rate was over 50% last year (vice about 15% for the 2-year). Only about half were Calc complete, and only about a third were Phys complete. GPA and aptitude were more important- the average GPA was 3.18.

From June 22, 2016
Last summer, 199 rising juniors applied for 2-year scholarships. Of those, 29 were selected for the scholarship. The remaining students competed for 118 advanced standing slots. So, it was well over a 50% selection rate for advanced standing.

From May 31, 2016
Here is the selection data from the Summer 2015 Navy Side load/advanced standing board (stats are reflective of the group of individuals who were SELECTED for scholarship/advanced standing, not the entire pool of applicants; the board is national):

3-year:
Nominations: 303
Selects: 66
Avg. GPA: 3.48
% of Recipients Calc I/II Complete: 89.4%
% of Recipients Phys I/II Complete: 30.3%
% of Recipients Tech Majors (Tier 1/2): 93.9%

2-year:
Nominations: 199
Selects: 29
Avg. GPA: 3.48 (not a typo, same as 3-year)
% of Recipients Calc I/II Complete: 100%
% of Recipients Phys I/II Complete: 82.8%
% of Recipients Tech Majors (Tier 1/2): 89.7%

Advanced Standing:
Nominations: 195 (all 2-year side load non selects are automatically considered)
Selects: 118
Avg. GPA: 3.18
% of Recipients Calc I/II Complete: 57.6%
% of Recipients Phys I/II Complete: 34.7%
% of Recipients Tech Majors (Tier 1/2): 56.8%

So here are the big takeaways:
-The Navy values technical majors
-If you want to pursue a Tier 3 major, that's OK, but you need to EXCEL if you expect to earn a scholarship
-Apply for ALL scholarship opportunities; don't just pigeonhole yourself into advanced standing
-Calc and Phys completion and grades mean something

2014 NAVY ROTC STATISTICS
· 220 were nominated for 2 year scholarships, 64 scholarships were granted
· 127 were given an offer of advanced standing
· There were 25 who wanted advanced standing (I believe this was 25 who accepted the offer, but he may have meant that there were 25 who wanted advanced standing but not a scholarship?)
2013 NAVY ROTC STATISTICS
· 30 applied for 2-year scholarships, 5 were granted, others had option to apply for advanced standing
· 20 applied for advanced standing, all 20 were granted advanced standing
2012 NAVY ROTC STATISTICS
· They gave 950 four-year-scholarships with the intention of commissioning 725 officers in four years
· They had 330 college students nominated for side-load scholarships for 271 slots.
· They gave 251 of these scholarships. Their goal is to fill all of their spots with scholarships, but they still had twenty slots to fill.
· They had 58 students apply for advanced standing to fill the final 20 slots, and gave 20 of these advanced standing (34%). Those who received advanced standing were divided among all three tiers.

 

[Buster95]

Thanks for the detailed rundown of the selection rates. It's good that they're revamping their ways, but they need to maybe not emphasize the Calc/Physics requirements as much. Yes, it's important. Especially if they're looking for STEM majors to begin with. But some college-programmers choose to be a tier III for a reason, which is so they don't have to take classes such as calculus or physics.

If you had a tier III guy bust his ass of the entire two years being there, and the entire unit thinks he's a great midshipman/leader; then give it to him. Not to the tier I guy who's barely around, with a lower gpa, but passed the calc/physics requirements.

We had one guy who picked up advanced standing and almost dropped because he didn't win a scholarship. The XO had to convince him to stay. Meanwhile we had guys get dropped who would've done anything to have advanced standing.

All of us at the time thought there should've be an interview process involved, especially for the rising juniors since it's make or break for some of them.

 

[Ektar]

All,

The Navy values Tier 1 and 2 majors and the Calc & Physics requirements that go along with them for many reasons beyond your understanding as a midshipmen. If you are unable or unwilling to complete calc and physics, you need to speak to an officer recruiter. We have a commissioning avenue that doesn't require calc & physics, its called OCS.

ROTC will always continue to offer Tier 3 scholarships and advanced standing spots; however, they are becoming more and more competitive, so don't count on your ability to get a spot. If you are concerned about your opportunities for Advanced Standing or a scholarship, speak to your LT advisor. What you may view as unfair as a midshipmen has no bearing on the Navy's personnel decisions.

 

[futuremilaviator]

How does the Navy look at completion of AP Calc and physics on my schedule as a high school senior? I'm a junior in high school right now looking at the next scholarship opportunity.

 

[Ed21]

How does the Navy look at completion of AP Calc and physics on my schedule as a high school senior? I'm a junior in high school right now looking at the next scholarship opportunity.

Three people from my High School picked up an NROTC scholarship. All three were taking AP Calculus and had taken Physics. A-B's should be good, C's are not. I don't think anyone who got a scholarship didn't take at least regular Physics and some kind of Calculus.