Tips for a HS Sophomore (Early is better than never)

[OdeToArsenal47]

Well, to preface what my question, I would have never even thought of the military a year ago. I've always wanted to fly, but with the airlines in their current state, I started to look at the military. About 6 months ago, I just started to look around at the military. The Navy was my first impulse, since I've had 2 relatives serve. I started researching a little more, and I must say, the Navy looks like a great option. I was concerned at first because of my vision, but you all have reassured me that I should not worry about that.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to join to get a head start on the airlines. After reading up a lot, I know that this is what I want to do: I want to be in the Navy. Honestly, flying would just be the icing on the cake. Now that I've said that, I just have a question.

What should I be doing to make sure I get an NROTC scholarship?

To be frank, it's the NROTC scholarship, a band scholarship, or student loans out the rear.

With that said, I'm already starting to work on things. First, I'm out of shape, so I'm working out to reach the PRT standards. I'm just short of passing so far, so I hope I can score somewhere in the 90s if I keep it up. As for grades, I'm your atypical honors student. I have a 3.5, I'm taking all honors, some advanced honors, and 1 AP class. I consider myself a good student, considering everything else I do. As for extra-curriculars, I'm in the band. Considering the position I am at right now, I have a great chance to take leadership roles in the band by my junior year. I have a great chance to make All-State Band. I also plan on joining the wrestling team this year, after watching my friend wrestle.

With all of this, what advice do you have on getting the scholarship? Also, when do you apply for the scholarship, Junior or Senior year?

 

[armada1651]

You're looking pretty good so far...good grades in AP classes, leadership roles in ECs. Keep working on getting into better shape - more because that should be a part of an officer's lifestyle than that it's going to get you the scholarship. I would also recommend picking up a sport for your last few years in high school, and obviously strive for leadership positions there too. Joining wrestling would be a good call. Community involvement can't hurt either.

All that being said, it's a really tough scholarship to pick up and a lot of people don't get it right away. If you're one of those people, I recommend you get as many other scholarships as you can and go to a school with an NROTC unit. Participate as a college programmer, work hard, and you'll pick it up your second year.

(Also, keep working on other scholarships too, because at most schools you'll still have to pay room and board, etc. In other words, your NROTC money most likely won't cover everything, so plan for that.)

 

[navy09]

I think the earliest you can apply is the end of your junior year. Just keep working- boosting your GPA a little wouldn't hurt (also nail the SAT). Make sure you get in shape, but (as far as I remember) you won't have the run the PRT until you actually get to your unit at the start of your freshman year, and passing the PRT isn't very hard to do.

Other than that, I'd say get as far as you can in the band but also try to branch out and play a sport- hopefully one you're good at- they like that a lot.

 

[DSL1990]

What should I be doing to make sure I get an NROTC scholarship?

To be frank, it's the NROTC scholarship, a band scholarship, or student loans out the rear.

With that said, I'm already starting to work on things. First, I'm out of shape, so I'm working out to reach the PRT standards. I'm just short of passing so far, so I hope I can score somewhere in the 90s if I keep it up. As for grades, I'm your atypical honors student. I have a 3.5, I'm taking all honors, some advanced honors, and 1 AP class. I consider myself a good student, considering everything else I do. As for extra-curriculars, I'm in the band. Considering the position I am at right now, I have a great chance to take leadership roles in the band by my junior year. I have a great chance to make All-State Band. I also plan on joining the wrestling team this year, after watching my friend wrestle.

With all of this, what advice do you have on getting the scholarship? Also, when do you apply for the scholarship, Junior or Senior year?

i just got one starting this fall, so i think i can address some of your questions.

first of all, i think the only way to make sure you get a scholarship is to get absolutely stellar SAT or ACT scores. above a certain level of score, you are guaranteed a scholarship. i don't remember what that level is (1500 v+m?) so one way is to take the SAT and ACT tests over and over to see if you can get a high enough score. there are some officer recruiters on this forum who can probably give you the threshold score you need in order to get a guaranteed 4-yr NROTC scholarship.

if you don't make the cut for a guaranteed scholarship (i didn't), you can still improve your chances a lot of different ways. you want to make sure you get the best possible grades from now until the middle of your senior year. taking leadership opportunities is great- i did Naval Junior ROTC, which is well thought of apparently, if you get a billet in NJROTC. you need to do a ton of sports and physical activities to show them that you are physically fit enough for NROTC.

you will want to apply as early as possible. supposedly, applications are taken from April 1st of your junior year, but for Fall 2009 scholarships, they only started taking apps on May 1st- i don't know what happened this year to cause this delay.

then finally, you'll want to write kick*ss essays. you need 5 for NROTC, so you have time to fine tune them. the people here on this board have shown themselves very willing to review and comment on motivational statements, so you might get a lot of constructive feedback on your 5 essays if you post them here.

my biggest suggestion is this- the application for the Fall 2009 scholarships is already open at:
https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/application/default.cfm

i know that you would be really going to college Fall 2010, but go there and start a scholarship app as if you were going to college in Fall 2009. fill in bogus info as if you were a junior just so that the system allows you to advance through the entire application. copy all 10 pages of the application from your internet browser into a MS Word document so you can preserve it for reference next year. You will get to see all the questions and what lists of physical activities and memberships can earn you rating points when your application goes to the selection board. (just be sure to delete all your answers from the online app when you are done, and to not submit your app.)

good luck!

 

[BlackBearHockey]

you need to do a ton of sports and physical activities to show them that you are physically fit enough for NROTC.

Not true. Every kid but one a few years ago who came in on scholarship failed the initial and multiple other PRTs. Athletics are great because they show you can play on a team successfully, kind of an important concept. P.S. OP thanks for proper capitalization, which is apparently not important in getting a scholarship.

 

[CommodoreMid]

And if you don't do sports it's ok as long as you rock in other areas. I didn't play a single sport in high school and I got a scholarship. I was in the band too, so that's a great start, especially since you are likely to get a leadership position or go All-State. I would definitely recommend branching out a little more. If you decide to wrestle, that's cool, but see if there's some other things (ie Boy Scouts, etc) you can join and get leadership positions in. Well-rounded is good, but you need to demonstrate that you are a leader.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Not true. Every kid but one a few years ago who came in on scholarship failed the initial and multiple other PRTs. Athletics are great because they show you can play on a team successfully, kind of an important concept. P.S. OP thanks for proper capitalization, which is apparently not important in getting a scholarship.

+1. I can only think of about 2 middies off hand in my commissioning class that had any real HS sports to speak of on their scholarship apps (I mean varsity ball or club team kind of stuff)

 

[NozeMan]

+1. I can only think of about 2 middies off hand in my commissioning class that had any real HS sports to speak of on their scholarship apps (I mean varsity ball or club team kind of stuff)

This is the more accurate gouge. Trust me, you don't have to be a all state athlete to get the scholarship. Keep your grades and stay involved with the band (it sounds like you are sucessful). Definitely have the self-discipline to get yourself on a PT routine and improve your fitness. When you do apply, you will go to at least one interview. They will ask you questions ranging from your leadership experience, academic credentials, and PT. Don't be the guy that says, "my PT was stocking the shelves at [insert local grocery store]", this doesn't count. I think you are on the right track, I would say that of the ~25 people I commissioned with, 8-9 were varsity athletes. Sports, while good for the package, isn't everything!

 

[navy09]

i did Naval Junior ROTC, which is well thought of apparently...

Debatable...very debatable. It may look good in your package, but from what I've seen, it exponentially increases your chances of being "that guy."

 

[puck_11]

Good on you for working early to make yourself competitive. Remember to have fun though! If worse comes to worse and the NROTC thing doesn't work out you can always go the BDCP route and earn money there while guaranteeing a flight spot. I'm not here to debate which is better, just to let you know that if NROTC falls through you still have OCS to fall back on with a damn great program in BDCP. If you're not sure what it is a quick search will fill you in.

 

[CommodoreMid]

Debatable...very debatable. It may look good in your package, but from what I've seen, it exponentially increases your chances of being "that guy."

Very true. I'm stashed at my ROTC unit right now and one of our incoming freshmen came in to visit the unit and kept bragging on how she was the CO of her NJROTC unit. Let's just say we have informed the midshipmen staff of our indoc to give her all due respect to her position :icon_smil

 

[chupacabra]

To add on to what others have said, participating in sports and other extra-curriculars is not about showing that you are a PT stud, but more to demonstrate that you are a well-rounded individual who can handle a busy schedule and still make good grades, which is what will be expected of you in NROTC and beyond.

However, holding a leadership position in one or two organizations is better than being just another member in six or seven.

You are getting started early (I didn't even know about NROTC until early on in my senior year), so take advantage of your head start and work hard to get what you want.

 

[armada1651]

Debatable...very debatable. It may look good in your package, but from what I've seen, it exponentially increases your chances of being "that guy."

Haha...definitely. If you do NJROTC, you will be at least somewhat "that guy." If you think you're hot shit because of it, you will definitely be "THAT GUY!" And you don't ever want to be "that guy," let alone "THAT GUY!"

 

[Thisguy]

Haha...definitely. If you do NJROTC, you will be at least somewhat "that guy." If you think you're hot shit because of it, you will definitely be "THAT GUY!" And you don't ever want to be "that guy," let alone "THAT GUY!"

Speaking of being "that guy," definitely drop that shit once you get commissioned. I worked with an ENS at my last duty station who would say shit like, "In NJROTC we..." I can stomach OCS/USNA/ROTC stories because they're somewhat recent and commissioning sources, but when you start talking about high school, that's just fucking gay.

 

[DSL1990]

Not true. Every kid but one a few years ago who came in on scholarship failed the initial and multiple other PRTs. Athletics are great because they show you can play on a team successfully, kind of an important concept. P.S. OP thanks for proper capitalization, which is apparently not important in getting a scholarship.

LOL - think it was my tons of sports and physical activities that compensated?

actually, i did run my app through a spell & grammar check. but even microsoft wasn't up to the task because i brought a copy of my app to my officer interview and LCDR that interviewed me caught a few "typos". too late! LOL