low gpa, should i join afrotc?

imscrewed

5-Year Member
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Oct 25, 2012
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ok so i'm a freshman in college right now, want to join afrotc next semester. however my gpa will probably end up being around 2.0. i'm a computer science major, and took a bunch of hard classes, and 17 hours this semester. i have heard that afrotc EA is really competitive, so should i even join with a low gpa, will i have a chance at all for EA? also what's the minimum gpa for joining, 2.0 or 2.5? i've heard both. also what about arotc, are they easier? thanks!
 
ok so i'm a freshman in college right now, want to join afrotc next semester. however my gpa will probably end up being around 2.0. i'm a computer science major, and took a bunch of hard classes, and 17 hours this semester. i have heard that afrotc EA is really competitive, so should i even join with a low gpa, will i have a chance at all for EA? also what's the minimum gpa for joining, 2.0 or 2.5? i've heard both. also what about arotc, are they easier? thanks!

I believe it's 2.5 for AFROTC.

As far as AROTC being easier, well that's relative.

AROTC Does not have EA after the sophomore year.
The min. GPA is 2.0

Now for the relative part:

If you are a non scholarship cadet you will need to be recommended by the PMS to continue on to the Advanced Course which starts junior year. This is also when you would need to sign a contract. Contracts are becomming more competitive in the AROTC, if the battalion has far more cadets then contracts available then you could be out of luck if your not high enough on the battalion OML and GPA counts a lot.

You are also not guaranteed Active Duty, if you are unable to get your GPA up your chances of making AD would be very low which would mean reserves or National Guard.

You can talk to the ROO at the AROTC battalion on campus and ask them what you would need to do to better your chances to move on to the Advanced Course and get a Contract. You can joing AROTC now and continue through your sophomore year, if you use that time to improve your GPA it will better your chances.

So to answer your question, AROTC is not easier or harder....just different.
 
ok so i'm a freshman in college right now, want to join afrotc next semester. however my gpa will probably end up being around 2.0. i'm a computer science major, and took a bunch of hard classes, and 17 hours this semester. i have heard that afrotc EA is really competitive, so should i even join with a low gpa, will i have a chance at all for EA? also what's the minimum gpa for joining, 2.0 or 2.5? i've heard both. also what about arotc, are they easier? thanks!

Minimum gpa that must be maintained for AFROTC is 2.5. I've seen both 2.0 and 2.5 for AROTC. You'll be on required study hours long before you approach those minimums.
 
so in arotc, as long as i stick with the program, maintain a 2.0, and sign the contract, i'll at least get national guard or reserves? anything i have to compete for, like EA for afrotc? thanks
 
It will depend on the AROTC cadre. If they are looking for contractees for a certain mission set, they might take a 2.0. However, barely making the minimum standard may not get you what you want.
 
so in arotc, as long as i stick with the program, maintain a 2.0, and sign the contract, i'll at least get national guard or reserves? anything i have to compete for, like EA for afrotc? thanks

The contract is the big hurdle, if the battalion only has limited contracts to give and your not high enough on the list, then you won't make it to the Advanced Course and your done.
 
If you are sitting at 2.0 in the advanced course of AROTC, reserves or NG might not even be an option as the PMS can simply dis-enroll for a myriad of reasons even IF you meet the minimum criteria. Even though the reserves/NG gets people that are forced branched they don't want people who can barely hack it. The last couple years the top 1 or 2 cadets on the OML chose to go either reserves or NG.

Not trying to harp on you because I know comp sci is difficult but even reserves chemical would seem out of reach for that GPA.
 
For AFROTC it is a 2.5, it was a 2.0 a few yrs ago, but has been 2.5 for at least 2-3 yrs now.

As far as SFT/EA the avg cgpa for tech is 3.1, 3.4 for non-tech. That means for you to be competitive the next 2 semesters you will need to pull really a 3.6+ and hope that they see that fall semester freshman was just the transitioning from HS to college.

I say 2 more semesters because EA boards only take the cgpa up to Dec. your soph yr. The board meets in Feb of your C200 yr., CoC sends the packets to the board @ 1 month prior to it, thus only the 1st 3 semesters count.

Finally, how is it that with at least 6-7 weeks left if you are on semesters you feel you can't pull up these grades? Most college classes place the bulk of the grades on the mid-term and finals. Have you received your mid-terms back? You still have a chance to pull it out to be a 2.5-3.0 depending on how bad you want to be in AFROTC. I say that because you know now the realistic cgpa you need. It might mean, no more hanging out playing X box with your friends, and instead hitting the library so you can concentrate more.

Trust me, it felt like every semester our DS called me and said Mom, I am worried about X class, I am pulling a C or D in the class. I would tell him buckle down, talk to the prof for insight on how to improve the grade. At the end of every semester he always managed to pull a B at least, because those calls came before the mid-terms and he talked to the profs.

Honestly, as a parent, I would say to you don't worry about ROTC chances so much when it comes to the 2.0 cgpa, be more concerned about Thanksgiving telling the folks about the gpa. Us parents tend to not be happy when we hear about grades that low and we are footing the bill, or even if we aren't footing it and you are on student loans, we will still pound you...we will remind you that if you want a job in the corporate world a 2.0 won't get you an interview. We will tell you colleges won't accept you for grad school.

I consider myself a kind, understanding parent, along with all of my friends are as parents. We walked in your shoes decades ago, so we get it. There will still be a come to Jesus meeting over a 2.0, especially if there is the OBTW, X class is a D or F. We told our kids you have 1 job, get good grades. We understood they will get C's, but we told them if you get a C, you better get an A to offset that C. No D's or F's will be accepted. It was/is our rule. A 2.0 means you have all C's, or a mixture of A's and B's with D's and F's.

Talk to the folks now. We hate being blindsided when we have thought for 4 months since Aug/Sep all is well academically. They want you to succeed more than you can ever imagine. They will understand your feelings, and they may even give you guidance on how to fix it.
 
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Finally, how is it that with at least 6-7 weeks left if you are on semesters you feel you can't pull up these grades? Most college classes place the bulk of the grades on the mid-term and finals. Have you received your mid-terms back? You still have a chance to pull it out to be a 2.5-3.0 depending on how bad you want to be in AFROTC.

Just FYI Pima... as a Comp Sci major, if he's taking software related courses the mid-terms and finals are generally zilch. Your grade generally depends much more on the several programming projects you complete over the course of the semester, or the REAL BIG project in later courses. Don't know if this is the case for imscrewed. But your point is well taken and correct. There are no doubt SOME courses where imscrewed can pull his grades up. (I hope the low grades aren't in Comp Sci., in which case perhaps a change in major is in order. And of the issue is grades on projects, perhaps the professor can give you more time to properly complete it, probably with some lost points if you then Ace it).

Honestly, as a parent, I would say to you don't worry about ROTC chances so much when it comes to the 2.0 cgpa, be more concerned about Thanksgiving telling the folks about the gpa. Us parents tend to not be happy when we hear about grades that low and we are footing the bill, or even if we aren't footing it and you are on student loans, we will still pound you...we will remind you that if you want a job in the corporate world a 2.0 won't get you an interview. We will tell you colleges won't accept you for grad school.

Some of us do it loudly and can put the fear of God into a Marine DI... but alas it doesn't always have the desired effect on my DS! :biggrin:

imscrewed - In terms of bringing up the gpa, besides working hard for the rest of the semester, repeating the course could also be a way to wipe out a bad prior grade with a better one. This can vary by school.

I too was a Comp Sci major back in the day when computers were filled with vacuum tubes. I got a D in the "weed-out" machine language course second semester of my freshman year. I had to do some soul searching to figure out if I wanted to stay with this major. My decision was to repeat the course and Aced it the second time. If I had gotten a D again it would have definitely been time to move on.

There is always more than one way to skin most cats. :thumb:
 
kinnem,

That's what I thought...basically a really big project due at the end of the semester. Our DS2 right now has 1 Comp Sci class, nothing like I am sure imscrewed has since it is not his major, but he had a couple of small projects, a few tests, and the bulk of his grade will be based on what he submits in Dec. at the end of the semester.

That is why I said, it is not uncommon to have the fear as a fall freshmen to think "OMG, what have I gotten myself into".

That 2.0 is not a great cgpa right now, but he is at least acknowledging it. He can turn it around to a 3.0, if his semester ends in 6-7 weeks, as long as he buckles down, talks to the profs, and gets guidance.

This is the typical problem for many kids. HS was so easy, they didn't have to study and pulled A's. They get to college and academically it is like hitting a brick wall going 80 mph. It is a wake up call to realize what the folks were saying about how much harder college is than hs is really true.

He actually is lucky IMPO, because if he was on AFROTC scholarship and he ends the semester with a 2.0, or even a 2.49 he would be placed on academic probation. His scholarship would be placed in jeopardy. He would be on the CoC's radar and not in a good way.

2.5-2.8 he probably would also be told by the unit, that they are concerned if he doesn't pull it up quick, because if they are not selected for SFT that scholarship goes buh-bye. Scholarships for the SFT board are masked, they do not know which cadet has one, and which doesn't. It is an even playing field in that perspective.
 
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