Welcome to the Course

We are so excited that you are here. We truly believe that our nation is in need of future leaders. ROTC scholarships are a great opportunity for students to develop the leadership skills necessary to lead America's military members.

We get it -- the application process is complicated!

This course is designed to cover the entire application process virtually and break down the whole process into a step-by-step method that helps you strategize and plan for success. 

Our goal is to help you win an ROTC scholarship!


In this module, we introduce the course and discuss all the topics we cover. 

Course Objectives:

  • We are here to guide you through the entire application process virtually
  • We want you to understand what you can do now to make the largest impact on your chances of winning an ROTC scholarship

We want you to take away the following.
  1. A general understanding of the overall process for each of the 4 ROTC programs
    1. Army
    2. Air Force
    3. Navy
    4. Marine Corps
  2. Breakdown of any confusing processes (to include the medical clearance and how mentality differs from traditional college experiences)
  3. How to fill out each application
  4. Strategies to use early in your student's high school career

The Scholar, Athlete, Leader Model

Each branch of service is looking for young men and women who are the "whole candidate" meaning they are successful at academics, athletics, and leadership.

The academics or scholar portion of the application is weighted higher in traditional colleges. For ROTC programs, athlete and leader credentials are weighted much higher!
 
There are things you can do now to improve the quality of your application. We cover all of them in the modules in this course:
  • Scholar, athlete, leader module
  • How to fill out the application
  • Preparing for the ROTC fitness test
  • Passing the DoDMERB medical clearance
  • How to write successful essays

Medical clearance and DoDMERB
We will discuss what trips up candidates as well as typical disqualifies. We will also cover how to get a waiver for a medical condition that may be disqualifying.

Telling a narrative of your life and how it aligns with military service
This is covered in both the essay and interview modules of this course, as well as the letters of recommendation that give a second-hand perspective of your narrative. 

Basic Requirements for ROTC Scholarships

Your goal in winning an ROTC scholarship is to become a contracted cadet! Here are the requirements to become contracted:
  • High school student or graduated with little or no college
  • Excellent moral character
  • Academically, physically, and medically qualified

We will dive into how to determine specific academic qualifications in the next lesson! The scholarship panels are looking for a strong high school curriculum/GPA as well as SAT/ACT scores.

Each ROTC program has its own fitness test standards, which we cover in a future lesson.

The final portion is getting medically qualified after you've received your ROTC scholarship. You will hear this referred to as "DoDMERB" or the medical exam review board. 

The Path to a Scholarship

Contracted cadets have been offered ROTC scholarships. The steps for receiving an ROTC scholarship include:
  1. Apply to the program when the scholarship opens up your junior year (April-June is typical)
  2. Fill out the application
  3. Complete the fitness test
  4. Interview with your local ROTC program
  5. Board meets to make a determination
  6. You become a scholarship winner
  7. You accept the scholarship
  8. Complete the DoDMERB exam*

*Make sure you meet height and weight requirements for the DoDMERB exam

The Admissions and Application Timeline 

The Admissions team looks at candidates typically from the December to April timeframe before offering appointments. 

Spring of Junior Year:
  • Fill out the online application between April and June
  • Schedule visit with a local unit
  • Get to know members of the branch you are interested in

Fall of Senior Year:
  • Complete the fitness test no later than December
  • Complete your local ROTC detachment interview

Winter of Senior Year:
  • ROTC boards are conducted from October to March/April of your senior year of high school
  • Await board decisions

Spring of Senior Year
  • April is the end of ROTC programs offering scholarships. 
  • Accept the ROTC scholarship and schedule/complete the DoDMERB physical exam

Fall of Freshman Year of College
  • Report as cadet/midshipmen and complete a physical fitness test
  • December is typically the deadline to meet DoDMERB and physical fitness standards

We can’t wait to go through all of these in greater detail with you! Continue on with the course to keep learning about the type of candidates ROTC programs are looking for and how to set yourself up for success.