Air force Institute of Technology
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Pima
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AFIT is the AF grad school at Wright Pat. I think you are confusing this with cadets who are selected for other grad school options, i.e. Rhodes Fellowship, Harvard grad, MIT grad, etc.
Cadets who are selected to attend grad school directly out of the AFA will receive the exact same pay and benefits as any other newly minted officer. The difference is their NUMBER 1 job is to attend grad school. The AF will pick up the entire bill. The AF and every other service will pay 75% for your Masters if you do it during your career, the difference here is that you will have an 8-4 job and get your Masters on your own down time.
I believe Eagle36 is going to AFIT this summer. Hornet was selected for a Rand fellowship.
Both of these fine young men will be graduating with honors from the AFA. I state this so you can understand it is very competitive to get an AFIT slot.
I know that you start applying in the summer before your SR yr (C1C), and it is a lot of work. You will compete against the best of the best to get that slot. Decisions come down in the Feb-Mar time frame of your C1C.
I hope that gives you some clarity of AFIT. The most important is that you understand that if you apply you can't pick and choose your grad school, you WILL go to Wright Pat.
Cadets who are selected to attend grad school directly out of the AFA will receive the exact same pay and benefits as any other newly minted officer. The difference is their NUMBER 1 job is to attend grad school. The AF will pick up the entire bill. The AF and every other service will pay 75% for your Masters if you do it during your career, the difference here is that you will have an 8-4 job and get your Masters on your own down time.
I believe Eagle36 is going to AFIT this summer. Hornet was selected for a Rand fellowship.
Both of these fine young men will be graduating with honors from the AFA. I state this so you can understand it is very competitive to get an AFIT slot.
I know that you start applying in the summer before your SR yr (C1C), and it is a lot of work. You will compete against the best of the best to get that slot. Decisions come down in the Feb-Mar time frame of your C1C.
I hope that gives you some clarity of AFIT. The most important is that you understand that if you apply you can't pick and choose your grad school, you WILL go to Wright Pat.
hornetguy
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Exception: Biology, Chemistry, and Economics are not offered at AFIT, you would receive an AFIT-C scholarship to go to a civilian school of your choosing (must get into said school). I have a fellow chem major who is a 62 going to Wright-State for his M.S. in chemistry.
Pima
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Love you Hornet, because I knew if you saw this you would pipe in!
pj,
No offense here, but you are putting the cart before the horse. It is great to have plans, HOWEVER, the road is going to twist and turn.
Your DS/dd may believe they want ASTRO to be their major, but as the cliche goes people plan God laughs.
I know of one cadet that had their heart set on being a flight doc, but the road twisted and they OPTED to go a different route.
As an appointee Dad right now AFIT should be the ABSOLUTE furthest thing from your or your child's mind. Great goal, but there will be a lot of hoops to jump through in the next 4 yrs. First being BCT. Remember, 25% of the incoming class will not receive an AF commissioning.
I am probably known as Janie Rain Cloud, but the truth is I prefer to see myself as the Reality Checker. The AFA is a marathon, and you need to pace yourself. Your first check point for water will be BCT. Right now keep your eye on that. Take every step with the ultimate goal, but pay attention to that step because without it, the journey will end.
This site is going to lose several great AFA cadets in the next few weeks. I would strongly suggest that if AFIT/FELLOWSHIPS are the goal you keep the thread alive because they will be an incredible fountain of information from a current cadet standpoint.
CONGRATS CLASS OF AFA 10
pj,
No offense here, but you are putting the cart before the horse. It is great to have plans, HOWEVER, the road is going to twist and turn.
Your DS/dd may believe they want ASTRO to be their major, but as the cliche goes people plan God laughs.
I know of one cadet that had their heart set on being a flight doc, but the road twisted and they OPTED to go a different route.
As an appointee Dad right now AFIT should be the ABSOLUTE furthest thing from your or your child's mind. Great goal, but there will be a lot of hoops to jump through in the next 4 yrs. First being BCT. Remember, 25% of the incoming class will not receive an AF commissioning.
I am probably known as Janie Rain Cloud, but the truth is I prefer to see myself as the Reality Checker. The AFA is a marathon, and you need to pace yourself. Your first check point for water will be BCT. Right now keep your eye on that. Take every step with the ultimate goal, but pay attention to that step because without it, the journey will end.
This site is going to lose several great AFA cadets in the next few weeks. I would strongly suggest that if AFIT/FELLOWSHIPS are the goal you keep the thread alive because they will be an incredible fountain of information from a current cadet standpoint.
CONGRATS CLASS OF AFA 10
Pima
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Simple, 25% of the class of 2014 will not get commissioned. Mainly the bulk will come from academic issues, however, the reality is if you look up Cadet wing strength (go to www.collegeconfidential.com under Colleges, then AFA, you will see the numbers). Traditionally. 1400 enter for BCT and only 1000 graduate 4 yrs later. If you do the math that is @25%. That stat has been around for decades.
Cadets don't graduate for a myriad of reasons, but I would guess the biggest is academic.
One thing I always stress to anyone looking at the AFA is to check out their curriculum. It is very heavy on Math/Science orientation. If you hate Math, yet good at it, you need to question if you want to take Aeronautical engineering, because you WILL take a class like that regardless of your major.
Cadets don't graduate for a myriad of reasons, but I would guess the biggest is academic.
One thing I always stress to anyone looking at the AFA is to check out their curriculum. It is very heavy on Math/Science orientation. If you hate Math, yet good at it, you need to question if you want to take Aeronautical engineering, because you WILL take a class like that regardless of your major.
Pima,
No offense, but the title of this thread led me to believe that I was going to learn some things about the Air Force that I don't yet know! I obviously know a little more about the Navy than the other services. It is not my intent to map out a grand career plan for son or anyone else. We all know how that can turn out!
Sometimes it's useful to have info in your back pocket that you didn't expect you would ever have use for. PJ
Pima
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No offense taken, but I think you need to re-read the thread title, this is about AFIT. AFIT is a small, small part of the AF. It is a graduate school that is run through the AF. I also addressed many issues on my 1st post (#2 on the thread)
I am not sure what you want to learn about the AF V Navy on this thread. Both branches have graduate programs. I am not versed in Navy, but I would assume they have their equivalent to AFIT.
My comment to Hornet and Eagle was made in hopes they would chime in, since they are both opting grad school on the AF dime with a UPT follow on. They are the most current posters that can give info. They will be commissioned in @2 weeks from the AFA.
My comment to you, was it is great to have plans, but right now your biggest concern is to not let your DS/DD be one of the 28.75% that enters, yet leaves without experiencing commissioning at the AFA.
Even a broken arm at BCT could quash that dream. Live for today, but plan for tomorrow. I have a great friend who has a DS at USNA. He entered 2 yrs ago, and at first he was going to be a SWO. Then it was submariner. Now he wants to fly. Things change. Things happen.
The military is not a career you can plot and plan 3-4 yrs out for specific careers, especially as a cadet.
Your child may want grad, med, law school right out of the SA. However, each branch has these options. The real factor that needs to be addressed: First, what branch they want to spend the next 9 yrs of their life (4 at the SA, 5 AD commitment). Next, graduating. The third would be that academically they are the top of the class. Fourth, command support. Put all of that together and you get why I said you are placing the cart before the horse. Grad school options should be the least of the concerns.
Let's use statistics as an example, 1400 enter, 1000 graduate, maybe 50 of them get some form of grad/fellowship. The statistical chances of receiving AFIT/grad out of the AFA is @3% of the entering class. The chance of graduating is 72%. The priority IMHO is graduating. Statistically the odds of AFIT/Fellowship are not high, thus you are placing the cart before the horse.
I am not sure what you want to learn about the AF V Navy on this thread. Both branches have graduate programs. I am not versed in Navy, but I would assume they have their equivalent to AFIT.
My comment to Hornet and Eagle was made in hopes they would chime in, since they are both opting grad school on the AF dime with a UPT follow on. They are the most current posters that can give info. They will be commissioned in @2 weeks from the AFA.
My comment to you, was it is great to have plans, but right now your biggest concern is to not let your DS/DD be one of the 28.75% that enters, yet leaves without experiencing commissioning at the AFA.
Even a broken arm at BCT could quash that dream. Live for today, but plan for tomorrow. I have a great friend who has a DS at USNA. He entered 2 yrs ago, and at first he was going to be a SWO. Then it was submariner. Now he wants to fly. Things change. Things happen.
The military is not a career you can plot and plan 3-4 yrs out for specific careers, especially as a cadet.
Your child may want grad, med, law school right out of the SA. However, each branch has these options. The real factor that needs to be addressed: First, what branch they want to spend the next 9 yrs of their life (4 at the SA, 5 AD commitment). Next, graduating. The third would be that academically they are the top of the class. Fourth, command support. Put all of that together and you get why I said you are placing the cart before the horse. Grad school options should be the least of the concerns.
Let's use statistics as an example, 1400 enter, 1000 graduate, maybe 50 of them get some form of grad/fellowship. The statistical chances of receiving AFIT/grad out of the AFA is @3% of the entering class. The chance of graduating is 72%. The priority IMHO is graduating. Statistically the odds of AFIT/Fellowship are not high, thus you are placing the cart before the horse.
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Pima,
If you read your posts to me you come across as condescending. Something I have noted occasionally in other threads you've chosen to post in. (And no I won't give examples. That would require waaay too much effort.) I would ask that if you don't have relevant information that I've requested, that you refrain from commenting on my posts and let others try to answer. Unfortunately, that apparently isn't going to happen in this thread, so I'll take my leave and go elsewhere. Have a nice Navy (or Air Force) day!
PJ
Pima
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PJ,
Unfortunately forums like this are not in person, and people cannot see each other face to face to understand inflection of tone. There is also a delay of responses that causes misunderstandings.
Without a doubt this site exists for the exchange of information.
I don't read ALL of everyone's posts, you had one post on this thread and I stated that I felt I had answered many questions regarding your post.
As within many threads, they take their own life. The thread started asking if AFIT was paid for and particulars regarding AFIT. It was not a Navy issue. I answered from what I know of it, and out of respect for other particular posters, I included info that I believed would prompt them to join in the discussion. My intentions were truly pure. I wanted them to be a vocal participant within the conversation. I wanted them to take the lead and discuss how to do it, however, it was not my place to publicly announce their personal life plans.
Hornet is the only one that jumped on. He has accepted a Rand Fellowship. I hope you pm him, when you do you will obtain a fountain of information for your child and yourself.
I am sorry if you think I am being condescending because I have stated that AFIT right now should be a non-player, after 20 yrs as an AFAD/DW I live in the moment. Best of luck to your child. Thank you and them for their willingness to serve our country.
Unfortunately forums like this are not in person, and people cannot see each other face to face to understand inflection of tone. There is also a delay of responses that causes misunderstandings.
Without a doubt this site exists for the exchange of information.
I don't read ALL of everyone's posts, you had one post on this thread and I stated that I felt I had answered many questions regarding your post.
As within many threads, they take their own life. The thread started asking if AFIT was paid for and particulars regarding AFIT. It was not a Navy issue. I answered from what I know of it, and out of respect for other particular posters, I included info that I believed would prompt them to join in the discussion. My intentions were truly pure. I wanted them to be a vocal participant within the conversation. I wanted them to take the lead and discuss how to do it, however, it was not my place to publicly announce their personal life plans.
Hornet is the only one that jumped on. He has accepted a Rand Fellowship. I hope you pm him, when you do you will obtain a fountain of information for your child and yourself.
I am sorry if you think I am being condescending because I have stated that AFIT right now should be a non-player, after 20 yrs as an AFAD/DW I live in the moment. Best of luck to your child. Thank you and them for their willingness to serve our country.
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greentrees
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http://www.afit.edu/En/academicprograms.cfm?a=masters-doctoral gives list of majors for AFIT
Pima -- you're spot on with the don't get the cart before the horse -- get thru BCT, then recognition, then rest of 4* yr, etc all the way to graduation.
PJ -- we know you are thrilled for your DS/DD, but please, take Pima's advice, Christcorp, Hornet, Flieger, etc - they have TONS of info, and all of it is relevant. It's your child's career, and their choices. Yes we want what's best for them and probably can give them lots of advice, but the best advice I've been given on these forums is to let them learn the stuff themselves. It's their life, their career; we're just their biggest supporters (and shoulders to cry on if needed)
Pima -- you're spot on with the don't get the cart before the horse -- get thru BCT, then recognition, then rest of 4* yr, etc all the way to graduation.
PJ -- we know you are thrilled for your DS/DD, but please, take Pima's advice, Christcorp, Hornet, Flieger, etc - they have TONS of info, and all of it is relevant. It's your child's career, and their choices. Yes we want what's best for them and probably can give them lots of advice, but the best advice I've been given on these forums is to let them learn the stuff themselves. It's their life, their career; we're just their biggest supporters (and shoulders to cry on if needed)