ROTP at Civilian University 2004 - 2018 [Merged]

[SocialyDistorted]

As the title says, I got an e-mail saying I've been rejected from ROTP based on academic performance (horrid high school average due to daddy issues and me being lazy). Now, I'm doing exceptionally well in grade 12 (over 84 avg.) and I'm rethinking my options. I did apply to other universities and am confident I'll be accepted to all of them except queen's. Now I'm debating between going back to high school for another semester so I can get Chemistry and Physics credits since they are prerequisites for entry to RMC, or going to university and re-applying to ROTP and RMC next year.

Either way, I will be re-applying to ROTP. I want this BADLY, and I'm willing to go back to High School if it means being more competitive next year. If it matters, I applied for MARS, and Pilot, and will be applying to them next year.

My question is posed to anyone really, mainly those in ROTP or Recruiters, should I go back to High School and make myself more competitive by taking those courses and raising my overall average (get some extra community service as well i guess) or should I just go to university and re-apply from there?

 

[Otis]

If you can get in to University this year, and can afford it, I recommend going to university and re-applying for ROTP in September. Apply yourself, do really well, and those university marks will go a long way towards getting you accepted to the ROTP program next year.

 

[gwones]

Going back to your high school for the whole semester will, in my opinion, take too long. How old are you? You should consider taking upgrade courses(Independent Leaning Courses) from Continuing Education Services(aka ALC). I had horrible grade 11 and 12 marks too so I took 4 courses from there(Grade 11 and 12 Physics, Grade 12 Chemistry and Grade 12 Geometry). I finished all of them just under a few months. It is challenging since you have to learn them all by yourself and everything will depend on your own pace. BUT, on the bright side, you can complete a course in just weeks.

Another alternative, of course, would be going to a university out of your own pocket and then re-apply next year. I'm not too sure if CF values university experience(academics) higher than upgraded high-school courses but it makes sense.

By the way, independent learning courses are I think $80/course.

Good Luck

 

[SocialyDistorted]

Thanks for the replies guys. Otis, would having ~20k in loans affect my application to ROTP? And gwones, I'm 17 until April. I'll look into Cont. Ed

 

[gwones]

Thanks for the replies guys. Otis, would having ~20k in loans affect my application to ROTP? And gwones, I'm 17 until April. I'll look into Cont. Ed

Student loans? For me it didn't.

 

[ballz]

Thanks for the replies guys. Otis, would having ~20k in loans affect my application to ROTP? And gwones, I'm 17 until April. I'll look into Cont. Ed

Why would you have 20k in loans after 1 year of university?

 

[FDO]

The CF cares very little HOW much you owe. All we care about is that you don't have any debts go to collection. If no one is beating down your door for money then it's not too bad.

Otis is correct. If you get accepted into university then go for it. The CF looks at the highest level of education. So if you have a year of university and you do well then you stand a good chance.

Good luck

 

[SocialyDistorted]

The only problem with going straight to Civvie U is that I won't have gr. 11 or 12 Physics or Chem which I beleive RMC wants as a prerequisite for Arts degrees. This would automatically put me out of the running for INT and PLT and MARS because they are only offered at RMC correct?

 

[aesop081]

correct?

No.

 

[tabernac]

The only problem with going straight to Civvie U is that I won't have gr. 11 or 12 Physics or Chem which I beleive RMC wants as a prerequisite for Arts degrees. This would automatically put me out of the running for INT and PLT and MARS because they are only offered at RMC correct?

I got into the Arts program at RMC - with a 75% HS average - without having the Physics or Chem pre-reqs, so those 2 courses (In my experience) had little to no effect. And I'm MARS.

 

[SocialyDistorted]

I got into the Arts program at RMC - with a 75% HS average - without having the Physics or Chem pre-reqs, so those 2 courses (In my experience) had little to no effect. And I'm MARS.

Wow, I guess this year must have been really competitive or something :S

Either that or an 86 avg doesnt make up for a 65 avg last year

 

[CFR FCS]

Your competitiveness was partially based on the high school transcripts you turned in with your application. Likely your Grade 11 marks right? Once you get your Grade 12 first semester marks take them into the recruiting centre and ask fro your score to be recalculated.

I suspect you were told you were not competitive just for pilot but your MARS application should still be ok? You should still be in the running for MARS. Call an talk to an Military Career Counselor (MCC) to make sure.

CFR FCS

 

[SocialyDistorted]

Your competitiveness was partially based on the high school transcripts you turned in with your application. Likely your Grade 11 marks right? Once you get your Grade 12 first semester marks take them into the recruiting centre and ask fro your score to be recalculated.

I suspect you were told you were not competitive just for pilot but your MARS application should still be ok? You should still be in the running for MARS. Call an talk to an Military Career Counselor (MCC) to make sure.

CFR FCS

Will do, but it was a MCC that said I was ineligible for ROTP, not just Pilot.

 

[tabernac]

Wow, I guess this year must have been really competitive or something :S

Either that or an 86 avg doesnt make up for a 65 avg last year

One thing that you have to understand about ROTP is that it varies like the Bay of Fundy, from year to year. Sometimes huge differences can occur. Anecdotal evidence will only get you so far in a situation like this.

In my experience, several different factors come into play: region, academic history, trade selection, extra curricular activities, prior work experience, and of course, the application pool for that year. I had it all on my side. Hell, half of the application process is writing a good, coherent, multi dimensional ROTP questionnaire that exposes your strongest attributes. You play all your strong suits, tailoring what abilities you have to reflect well in the paper application that gets sent to Borden. I was lucky being from a smaller recruiting area (~20 for Edmonton & Northern Alberta, while GTA had ~40) meaning I had fewer people to compete with. I wouldn't be surprised if the provincial education systems were weighted as well. My recruiter mentioned that while my mid to high 70s average wasn't stellar, my marks displayed consistency. From what I can remember it was something like 77 in grade 10, 74 in grade 11 and 76 in grade 12. He said that my consistency marks-wise would get me bonus points. With MARS (an understrength trade) being #1 on my application it also made me more competitive. You have to understand almost everyone and their dog wants to be pilot by trade, and by virtue of choosing an occupation that is "red" it's almost like a guaranteed "in," assuming you've got all your other ducks lined up in a row as well.

For all 3 years of high school I had a part time job, with a year and a half of that being in a promoted position as a lifeguard. That reads as "leadership value" to the honchos  in Borden. That with involvement in my high school through Big Brothers/Big Sisters, student council, etc, made the application look even better. On our interview day I saw the other applicants from Edmonton and Northern AB for the first time. Some, like me, were dressed up with pressed slacks, dress shoes, tie, pullover etc, while others had worn jeans. I guessed I lucked out when it came to who else was applying.

They want well rounded people, not nerds who got a 95 average in high school and did NOTHING else besides school work. That being said, some of the OCdts here now seem to be like that........

 

[ballz]

Wow, I guess this year must have been really competitive or something :S

Either that or an 86 avg doesnt make up for a 65 avg last year

Keep in mind marks isn't everything. Unfortunately a lot of people have been convinced by their parents and teachers that their successes/failures in life will be directly dependent on their high school / post-secondary grades.

I was lucky being from a smaller recruiting area (~20 for Edmonton & Northern Alberta, while GTA had ~40) meaning I had fewer people to compete with.

Perhaps somebody in the know can confirm this, but I am pretty sure it's done on a national scale and which recruiting centre you apply to makes no difference.

 

[FDO]

Where your from makes no difference. ROTP is selected on a National scale. There are NO geographic quotas.

 

[SocialyDistorted]

Alright well it looks like I'm just going to go to UofO in september and re-apply

What can I do besides high marks and volunteering to make myself more compeitive?

 

[ballz]

Team sports... the more competitive the better, and if you can occupy a leadership role (aka team captain or assistant captain, or a position that is naturally a leadership role like goaltender) all the better.

I'd say team sports is probably one of the major factors with marks/aptitude/interview score. I would guess that goes a lot further than volunteer work, and if you already have volunteer work on your application, then it isn't going to go anywhere, so you might want to start resourcing your time more towards sports. If you have to choose between doing sports or volunteer work due to time/schedule constraints, I recommend choosing sports, unless someone that's more of an authority on the subject like FDO says otherwise.

 

[CFR FCS]

ROTP is a national selection done by CFRG with input from the Military Colleges. It matters not where you apply from in this great country of ours. You are up against all who meet the criteria and who get merit listed.

 

[gwones]

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask a question regarding offers of admission from civilian universities.

Is it possible to accept an admission offer from one civilian university and then accept another offer from different university later on? The reason for asking is because I just received an offer from Carleton U today for Civil ENG but unfortunately, I was having a difficult time making a decision as I am not yet sure which occupation will be offered to me from the ROTP selection board(which I won't find out until the end of March). Also, this offer from Carleton U is only good for three weeks so I have to accept or decline before March 15th.

Besides Carleton U(Construction ENGR O), I applied to Ryerson U for Management(LOG O) and Guelph U for Economics(ARTY O). Those in the brackets are the occupations that I have listed on my ROTP application.

If it's possible to accept a new offer from different university later on, I would have no problem since I can just switch the admission offer according to the occupation I am given for ROTP. But, if things don't work that way, well.. either way I'll have take the risk and make some decision

Did anyone go through a similar situation?

Also, along with the admission offer I was given a scholarship but under the document it says, "Your acceptance of our offer of admission also confirms acceptance of our scholarship offer.". I wasn't sure if I have a choice to decline it or not since, according to a few searched posts, you are not allowed to "double-dip".

Thank you for reading this post! and good luck everyone