Ever wondered if you are competitive for an ROTC scholarship? Interested in applying, but not sure which branch of service would be the right fit? While we recommend choosing the correct branch based on your desired career, it’s also crucial to understand how students are chosen for ROTC scholarships. Below we detail the most important criteria that ROTC scholarships boards use when choosing who they will award the Army, Air Force, and Navy ROTC scholarships to. You should pay attention to these aspects of the scholarship application process: Academic performance Physical fitness Leadership ..read more

ROTC, or Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, is an excellent program that trains college students for future military service. This training is conducted alongside regular college coursework, and it offers various financial benefits for participants. The ROTC scholarship program can pay full tuition for scholarship winners in return for a four to five year commitment serving as an officer in the United States military. A common question scholarship applicants have is how housing works when you’re an ROTC scholarship winner. In this post, we’ll explore housing incentives and other financial bene ..read more

We are thrilled to announce the release of the latest edition of our book, The Insider’s Guide to the Air Force ROTC Scholarship For High School Students and Parents: Calculate Your Board Score. This essential guide has been crafted by Lieutenant Colonel Kirkland, an expert with firsthand experience and deep understanding of the Air Force ROTC scholarship program. Boost Your Scholarship Chances What’s Inside this Unique Guide? This book is a comprehensive treasure chest filled with all the information you need to understand the Air Force ROTC scholarship program. It delivers insights int ..read more

The Whole Person Concept and ROTC The Whole Person Concept is a holistic approach to evaluating candidates for ROTC scholarships. It means that scholarship boards take into consideration not just a scholarship applicant’s academic achievements and physical abilities, but also their character, leadership potential, and overall fit for military service. This approach recognizes that being successful as a military officer requires more than just intelligence and physical strength, but also traits such as integrity, honesty, and the ability to work well in a team. These are all key factors that ar ..read more

The Space Force ROTC scholarship interview process is 100% virtual.  Starting in the 2022-2023 application year, if applicants apply for the Space Force ROTC Scholarship, they are required to conduct a video interview online with HireVue (an online video interview platform).    Candidates will be asked to record video responses to a series of interview questions.   One opportunity is provided to re-record a response.  The re-recorded response is automatically submitted. There are a total of five questions with a three-minute time limit for each question. &nbs ..read more

Air Force ROTC considers the personal interview to be the most critical aspect of the selection process and the weight of the point totals back this up.   Area of Consideration Points Interview 450 Unweighted GPA 200 SATe (SAT/ACT) 300 Physical Fitness Assessment   50 Total Points 1000 The Interview is used to assess officership and leadership potential by discerning alignment of student’s values with Air Force to include: Character/core values Self-confidence Human relations predisposition  Planning and organizing ability Communication skills Leadership ab ..read more

The following is a guest post from our friend, Sean Kim, USAFA Class of 2025 Appointee. Sean also won a Navy ROTC-Marine Corps Option and an Army ROTC scholarship. We asked him to blog on his thoughts on the applicant-parent dynamic and what he and others have experienced while navigating the ROTC scholarship process Takeaways: The Applicant-Parent dynamic falls into several categories. Issues arise when parents and students are out of alignment. Having unsupportive parents is difficult to overcome for most applicants. Sean’s personal journey is somewhat unique but he did learn many lessons ..read more

The following is a guest post from our friend, Sean Kim, USAFA Class of 2025 Appointee. Sean also won a Navy ROTC-Marine Corps Option and an Army ROTC scholarship. He did extremely well on his ROTC physical fitness tests and we asked him to give us his equipment recommendations to get ready for these tests. As a side note, we make a small commission for any purchases through affiliate links. Take it away Sean…. Unlike the Academy CFA, fitness tests for ROTC scholarships are a lot simpler and have significantly fewer events. I took the Army ROTC and Navy ROTC-Marine Option fitness tests. Addit ..read more

The time between getting an ROTC scholarship and starting your program in the fall should be used productively to get off to a good start when you arrive on campus. Particularly for those with a three-year Army ROTC scholarship, preparing now and hitting the ground running once you start ROTC will impress your cadre and can result in a scholarship upgrade to a 3.5 or a 4-year scholarship. There are the five things you should do now to be best prepared to come to campus as an ROTC cadet: 1. Keep in Contact with your ROTC program Once you know what ROTC program you will be attending in the fal ..read more

Cadets and midshipmen in ROTC benefit greatly from doing a study abroad during their time in ROTC. Studying abroad helps students learn new languages, appreciate other cultures, overcome challenges of living in another country, and gain a greater understanding of the world. These are all things that the military emphasizes given the likelihood of deploying overseas and working with partner countries in executing military missions in defense of our country. This post will look at the study abroad semester during a fall or spring academic term while an ROTC cadet or midshipmen. One should note ..read more