How to get that scholarship application started 2024-2025 edition

The Army ROTC high school scholarship application window opens again, as it does every year, on June 12th. This will be the 8th annual edition of my “how to start guide”. If you plan to attend college, are interested in serving in the miliary and, want a good shot at having most of your school paid for, or know someone who fits that description, this is for you. 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 and it’s never too early to start preparing to apply.

If you are reading this your chances of getting one of these scholarships are good as long as you are competitive and work with me. Here are my statistics for this past year’s process. According to my statistics, 54 high school students applied and listed one or more of the schools in our program. Of those, 42 completed their file and were boarded. 35 of them got offers, that is almost 84%. The takeaway is that if you accept my help with the process and listen to what I tell you then you will be competitive. So………

Step one – do your research

Visit  goarmy.com – ROTC page …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. It’s surprising how many students are totally unaware of this program. 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 7 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!

Step two – apply for the scholarship

Watch this video first.

I just checked and the Captain Howard video is still there, and is a good place to start.

If you follow the link to The goarmy.com ROTC scholarship page you’ll want to scroll down to the “Apply while in high school” section. Don’t scroll too far down or you’ll be talking to a recruiter. In that section follow the “how to apply ” instructions.  You are going to create an account for goarmy.com and then you want to use that log in on the scholarship application website. It is first going to ask you to create a goarmy.com account.  It is very important that once you create this account you return to the ROTC page and log in here.  Make sure you are looking at the dates and applying for the right year. This year’s window opens on 12 June.  I publish the various dates for the scholarship process once they are released each year.  Typically the window to apply opens in June before a high school students senior year.   The first board meets in October and the deadline to start the process is in early January.  

What it looks like

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. 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. With recruiting numbers down we are more eager than ever to help you with the process if you are interested. What I have typically done with applicants that want my help is to set up a virtual meeting and pull up their application in the system to review it and identify areas that can be improved. This has proven to be a successful technique over the last couple years. I’ll also invite you to our ARMY ROTC SCHOLARSHIP DISCORD server, where you will be able to get answers to your questions quickly. Whether it’s an online meeting or a face to face discussion at a college open house the enrollment officer at your school of choice is one of your best sources of help. The recruiter that has been bugging you outside the lunch room at your high school is not the Army ROTC expert.

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.