Half Way

Hello,

So you may wonder what half way is in reference to, I am referring to the fact that we are now half way, actually a little more than half, to spring break.  Everybody says that the spring semester between Christmas and Spring breaks takes forever, but so far it is flying by.  It may be because this year the winter is much more mild, or the fact that this is still my first year at Norwich, but so far its been a great year.  This year I am going home to Indiana for spring break and I'm looking forward to seeing my friends and family again.

I appreciate all of the well wishes with my contracting. I had one great question about getting a scholarship, "Did you apply for a scholarship while you were in high-school prior to coming to Norwich or did you just wait until this year?"  I did apply for an ROTC scholarship before I came here.  In Air Force, students can start to apply in May of their Junior year and applications stop being accepted in the beginning of December of their Senior year.  I think the other branches run their application process in a similar manner.  If you are considering applying for a scholarship and you are a Junior in high-school, you need to go to the ROTC(s) website(s) that you are interested in and start looking at the requirements, because they can involve recommendations, essays, etc.  If you are considering any service academy(s) you definitely need to start contacting the academy(s) and get in touch with your liaison, and one or both of your state senators.  There is a lot of work involved in an application to an academy and a good amount in an ROTC scholarship, but they are well worth it, including a free education.

Another option that I ended up taking was an in-college scholarship.  This is a great option if you don't get a scholarship or not the scholarship you want(my case) or you decided you wanted a scholarship after it was too late.  For certain majors, you can get an express scholarship which pays 100% tuition and most fees for 3.5 years.  This is offered to certain majors like Electrical Engineers, Computer Engineers, Nurses, and some other majors, but you should check with a detachment at the school(s) you are considering.  There are also other ways to apply for in-college scholarships.

Soon, Norwich will have a group on FaceBook that will be for prospective students to have questions answered.  Another great thing to do if you are considering Norwich is an day or overnight visit.  You can go around with a freshman cadet and see first hand what the Corps and ROTC is all about.  If you are not considering Norwich or you are thinking of other schools and want to do ROTC there, call and ask to set up a meeting, this is a good way to find out what the ROTC detachment is like.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask and I will do my best do answer.

Thanks for reading,

Seth

Comments

[Mary Carr]

Seth - Hope all is well with you! Thanks so much for answering my question about scholarships! Our son applied for the AFROTC scholarship and was not selected this time. He plans to try again in his Freshman year in college (next year). I really appreciate you sharing so much information!

[Kevin Skiera]

Thank you Seth for providing the information as it very helpful for me, a prospective HS Junior looking to get a Army ROTC scholarship.

Your blog has been very helpful and a good guide, again thank you. Luckily for me I will be able to attend the Open House this March 27th! All the cadets I've spoken to have been incredibly helpful, Norwich is definitly somewhere I see myself in the fall of 2011.