Chances at a Tier 3 scholarship?

[King CCM]

Hey guys, I really want to be part of the NROTC program, but the tier 1 and tier 2 majors don't really fit my skill set and personality that well. I know tier 3 majors only make up about 15 % of scholarships, but could I have your guys' opinions? I was told I would receive a ISR if I did a tier 1 major, but I really think Business Administration and Management Science fits me better. I'm looking at Cornell's AEM program specifically, or maybe even Upenn's Wharton.

SATs -2210 (730 CR/740m/740W)

GPA and School rank 4.72 out of possible 4.75 (1 B in my life)
Class Rank 3 of 477 (Suburban public school)
Taking 5 AP classes this year

Extracurriculars
Newspaper Business Manager and Writing Editor
NHS president
French NHS member
Pistol shooting
Several hundred hours of community service
Debate and Forensics Team
Varsity Swim Team 4 years (State Championship team)
Piano since 6 years old
3rd degree blackbelt in Taekwondo (practicing since 5 years old)
Certified Lifeguard
Scholar's bowl Co-captain
Academic Decathalon
Science Olympiad
Tutoring, community service stuff, etc.


Other Stuff-
I'm a first generation Chinese American Male
National Merit Scholar (semifinalist at very least)
AP English-5 Ap US History- 5
Strong recommendations and essays
Will be taking 3 SAT subject tests and expecting over 700 in all
Just Finished BC Calculus a year ahead of "advanced" students in my class

What do you guys think? Should I go for the tier 3?

 

[BerkeleyNROTC09]

King,

I think you are in a very good position for the NROTC Scholarship in the first place (if you haven't been told that already). A good idea (and I don't know if this still applies) would be to start undeclared, and then decide from there whether you want to go for the tier 3 or not. I am recently commissioned from Berkeley, and this is what many students did here. You could always put the tier 2, and speak with your advisor once you are in the program.

Since this is a pretty new idea (the Teri 1, Tier 2 BS), I am not exactly sure how easy it is to switch from one to the other. With your stats, it looks like it would be just as easy for you to get a full scholarship somewhere, and then go OCS after, that may help you with your major problem...

PM me if you have any ROTC related questions. I'm stashed at the Berkeley Unit right now, so I have vast resources at hand.

 

[JonDW7]

If you are in KS, I would suggest calling or emailing one of the advisors listed on the link below. They are all good people and I'm sure that they would be more than willing to help you out.

http://www.ku.edu/~kunrotc

 

[King CCM]

Do you guys know if it's possible to switch your major in-between selection boards? Like if it really looks like my choice of a tier 3 major is holding me back from selection, could I tell them that I would be okay with a tier 1 or 2 major?

According to my recruiter, I could have an instant scholarship reservation with one of those majors- but if I choose tier 3 now, would I lose that chance forever?

 

[d3west86]

Geez, when I was applying for ROTC the tier scholarship designations didn't exist. When I was a freshman, half of the mids majoring in engineering changed to Criminal Justice or something else after their first semester too. The new rules are really going to shake things up... I was a business management major and glad to already be through ROTC!

 

[navy09]

^ Ya no kidding. Without beating the long dead horse, these new rules suck.

OP, based on your stats, you're probably very competitive regardless of your major. Just make sure you put a safety school or two in your "top 5" on the ROTC app (if they still do it that way). It would suck to get the scholarship and not get into any of the schools (since Cornell and Penn admissions are probably more competitive than the ROTC scholarship).

 

[King CCM]

Thanks for the responses guys! I've more or less decided on Operations Research as a major- luckily, it fits into tier 2. I'm about ready for that first review board, or perhaps even that ISR my recruiter thinks I'm eligible for.

How exactly do the review boards work, and when can I expect to hear any results?

 

[Picaroon]

Dude if you can get National Merit, you can get school paid for at a lot of decent places around the country. Then you could tack BDCP on there for free money. I know this one really cool dude who did that.

 

[King CCM]

Just wanted to check back here- I was rewarded an ISR, so as long as I pass background checks and DODMERB I should be good to go. Somehow, I completely overlooked computer sciences in my initial searches, and will probably apply for that. (tier 2)

I'm applying for Cornell ED and Berkeley, so hopefully I'll get in to one of those.

 

[JhwK08]

KU not good enough for you? =P

 

[wink]

Just wanted to check back here- I was rewarded an ISR, so as long as I pass background checks and DODMERB I should be good to go. Somehow, I completely overlooked computer sciences in my initial searches, and will probably apply for that. (tier 2)

I'm applying for Cornell ED and Berkeley, so hopefully I'll get in to one of those.

Congrats and good luck!