The Army ROTC high school scholarship application window opened June 12th, as it does every year. This will be the 5th year I’ve published a “how to start guide”. Not much has changed with this year’s process. The optimal target audience for this information is a high school student who will be starting their senior year this fall and graduating in the spring of 2022. That student should be considering college and have a desire to serve in the military. If you aren’t going to be a senior and are interested we should still talk, there are plenty of ways to become an Army Officer. Here’s what I think my optimal audience should do.
Step one – do your research
Visit www.goarmy.com/rotc …poke around on the site. Understand that Army ROTC is a program that trains college students to serve as Army Officers when they graduate from college. Look at the requirements. Don’t be afraid to contact an Army ROTC Battalion and talk to an Enrollment Officer, like me, if you have questions.
Along with researching ROTC opportunities you’ll also need to figure out where you want to attend college and what you want to study. You won’t be majoring in Army ROTC. The internet is a great source of material. You can use a search engine to develop a list of schools that offer what you want. Most University websites will give you a good idea what they offer. You can also usually find information about Army ROTC battalions on the university website too. In our case we have a wealth of information on the Clarkson University website, and on social media platforms like facebook and instagram.
I would also recommend taking a look at my previous “how to get started post”. I’ve basically refreshed the same message for the last 4 years, so I suggest you go back and reread one of the past posts. Pay special attention to how to create an account and how to log in!
New Information
I’ll hit you with some new information this year about what the application will look like and what you should pay attention to.
Once you log in and click through all the legal and welcome screens your application is going to look like this. I recommend that if you didn’t read the application instructions you take a look at that first (Red Arrow above). Then take a look at the additional information link or the additional information tab above the dashboard.
The additional information page has links to a ton of important information and most of the commonly asked questions are answered on this page. To start I would recommend you carefully read the Instructions/Checklist page which lays out the process and what is required to be considered. Take your time to read through this page before you start filling in the application. Here’s what it looks like.
Final thoughts – Free Help
I can’t remind you enough to reach out to the ROO/enrollment officer at one of the schools you would like to attend for help and guidance with this process. Over the past year COVID has forced me to become proficient with Zoom and I was able to help many applicants by virtually reviewing their application with them. If you would like my help, feel free to reach out to me. I may ask you to take a look at one or more of the schools in our program, but otherwise my help and time are free of charge.
Good luck with this year’s process if you are going to be an applicant.
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