Analysis of my AFROTC acceptance

[Winner]

While applying for an AFROTC scholarship I knew my chances were slim in actually receiving one. My GPA was significantly lower than the average, as was my best ACT score. But in the end I was offered a type-7 scholarship. So I would like to go over my personal stats and be able to peak into what the board members really look for when judging candidates. I hope this helps future applicants as well

GPA

Unweighted GPA: 3.1
Weighted GPA: 3.4

This was most likely my weakest point when applying for the scholarship. I have read that the average GPA for those who have been awarded a scholarship is a 3.9 (I believe that's listed somewhere on the AFROTC website).

However there's an important thing I didn't mention. My GPA had a rising trend, from freshman all the way to my senior year. Here's how it goes...

Freshman year: 2.9
Sophomore Year: 3.1
Junior Year: 3.9
Senior Year( 1st Semester): 3.9

So judging from my offer it makes me think that the board likes to see a rising GPA for your tenure at high school. I was talking with my liaison officer, and she said that the board probably tagged me with a 3.9 GPA, instead of a 3.4, because of the upward progression.


Significant Classes Taken

IB Theory of Knowledge
IB Social Anthropology
IB Chemistry II
IB History of the Americas (History I)
IB Topics (History II)
IB Physics I
IB Physics II
6 Pre-IB Courses
1 Honors Science Course

The curriculum I took probably helped me out quite a bit. I took numerous IB courses, but was not however an IB candidate. I should also note that I had no IB or Pre-IB Math courses, which was definitely frowned at. Another thing, I will graduate high school with a total of six science courses. I doubled up with two IB sciences my junior year, and one IB and an honors science my senior year.


SAT/ACT Score

ACT: 27

When I first received this score I was actually pretty content with it. But after looking at the averages for AFROTC, I knew that it was actually a negative on my application. Using the stats that were posted on the AFROTC website, the average ACT for type-1 recipients was a 33, type-2 a 31, and type-7 a 29. Using the percentages given I can deduce that the average ACT score for candidates offered a scholarship was roughly, a 29.5.
I took the SAT once, but scored much lower than my ACT equivalent and figured it best for me to not send that score in. So even though I live on the east coast where the SAT is more prevalent, I encourge applicants to take both the SAT and the ACT. You may score significantly higher on the other.


Physical Fitness Test

Pushups: 62
Situps: 55
1.5 Mile Run: 9:12

Finally, a positive for me. These scores are maxed out of the possible number of points you can receive for your fitness test. I went into the assesment knowing the max of all three tests so I would not waste any valuable energy doing more than what was necessary. The max of the 1.5 mile run however is 9:36, but I didn't want to slow down and risk it. Overall I think that the board takes the PFT into account very seriously, because my previous stats were not so spectacular.


Interview Process

This is most definitely the strongest aspect of my overall application. I really hit it off with my interviewer and still keep in touch today. When you're going into the interview I think it's very important that you know what you want to do in the future, and that you should be very open. For example, I told my interviewer that I wanted to study a non-technical major in college, which is very hard to come by with an AFROTC scholarship. But I told her that that was what I wanted to do and it was what I felt passionate for. This answer in my opinion, is much better than resorting to majoring in a tier-1 simple because it will give you a better shot at recieving an AFROTC scholarship. Simply put, do what you want to do.







Overall

I had very low expectations for receiving a scholarship because I knew that my chances were not high. I was not even close to some of the averages on things, and was afraid that they would not even see me as competitive in the admission process.

Some things I can conclude from my personal experience are...

-The board really thinks highly of an upward trend of GPA. Even if you skrewed up a bit freshman and sophomore year.
-The board wants to see you taking advanced courses, whether it be IB, AP, honors, or any other higher level course. Challenge yourself.
-Don't give up or quit. The only way you'll know if you can get a scholarship is to apply.
-Be physically fit and make sure you do well on your PFT test. You can't go back and change your GPA, and it's hard to score significantly higher on an ACT/SAT after a while, so work on your pushups, situps and cardio. I almost see this as easy points for your "overall person" score.
-Be yourself. I think I'm weird as heck, and I let though show a bit in my interview. But I did that because that's who I am, and that's who your interviewer wants to judge you on. It doesn't matter how different you are, as long as your ambitious and are honest.





Well that's about it for me! I would like to say thank you to everybody who helped me in the application process, and more importantly good luck to you all who are/will be applying in the future. If anyone has any questions to ask me feel free to PM me, I check here periodically.

 

[Non Ducor Duco]

Winner, I SO know how you felt. Seeing all the amazing resume's out there just made me feel awful. I knew my grades were competitive, but I didn't make a 2100 on the SAT, had only 2 sports, didn't have a ton of community service hours or extracurricular and my run time wasn't stellar. I know that there are people out there that are or will be going through the same thing while reading about all these amazing kids. I think posting stats so that other kids like us might be uplifted is a great idea.

PFA: 41 pushups in a min., 71 situps in a min., 14:09 1.5 run (P.S. I'm a girl, still I am going to be running my butt off this summer)
GPA: 3.883 uw, 4.167 w
SAT: 700R, 600M (this is my second sitting score, it rose about 200 pts overall from my first sitting score the year before)
Rank: Top 2% 355 students
AP Credits accepted by institution (4 or higher)
o Composition I (ENGL 1101)
o Introductory Psychology (PSYC 1101)
-there were two others I got 3's on but they were not transferred

Dual Enrollment honors student at Kennesaw State (Dean's list at school and asked to join 2 academic sororities, though I forgot to mention that on my resume when I turned it in)
o General Chemistry I (CHEM 1211)
o General Chemistry I Lab (CHEM 1211L)
o Global Economics (ECON 1100)
o Composition II (ENGL 1102)
o Calculus I (MATH 1190)
o Calculus II (MATH 2202)
o Principles of Physics I (PHYS 2211)
o American Government (POLS 1101)

Extracurricular Activities
Chamber Orchestra and Advanced Orchestra
• 1st chair section leader (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior)
Student Leadership Team
• Active member (Freshman, Sophomore)
National Honors Society
• Active member (Junior)
Tennis
• Varsity 2rd doubles player, Varsity letter recipient (Junior)
• Junior Varsity 1st singles player (Sophomore)
Volleyball
• Junior Varsity setter (Junior)


Awards and Accomplishments
Awards and Honors
• Pebblebrook High School Honors Night 2011: Honors Award for Outstanding Performance in Physics
• Pebblebrook High School Honors Night 2011: Honors Award for Outstanding Performance in Psychology
• Pebblebrook High School 2010-2011: Most Outstanding Performer
• Falcon of the Month
• Go Essay Scholarship recipient

What I also did not mention on resume or to interviewer:
• Member of Who’s Who Among American High School Students
• AP Scholar
• Governors Honors Program finalist


Community Activities
Kennesaw Mountain Trail Cleanup Day- I volunteered for a total of eight hours in back-to-back four hour shifts, during which I helped move a mound of dirt, leveled off a section of the trail, cut down approximately twenty-five yards of bamboo overgrowth, and cleared debris off of the trails.
Pebblebrook Campus cleanup- I was responsible for picking up trash around the campus, repainting pillars and light posts, raking leaves, and clearing a forest path.
Blood Drive- Volunteered at the Red Cross's blood drive for Pebblebrook High School
Mentor Correspondence- Wrote letters of encouragement to young children
Carnation Sales- Helped advertise, sell, and prepare carnations in order to raise money for Relay For Life

Employment History

• I have never been employed however, for two summers, I completed two week long unpaid internships with an accounting firm where I was tasked with clerical work such as establishing and updating account records, handling client documents, receiving phone calls, and organizing client receipts and other documented means of payment. (Freshman, Sophomore)

Interview
Knocked it out of the park! My interviewer said that I had the one of best interview he'd had in his years as an interviewer. He said most kids just come in and say they want to be in the air force because they always thought that it'd be cool to fly. I don't want to be a pilot, but I let him know that the Air Force's core values are my core values.

I haven't had alot of formal leadership positions, but I have demonstrated leadership in the classroom, on sports teams, and in Orchestra. I may not have been the best player on my teams, most people had been playing for years when I had only just learned the sport a month before tryouts, but I worked my butt off, went to every practice, and became the coaches' example of what a true team player is. At home I cut a new path for my siblings, in classes I mentored peers who were having trouble, there was one cello player in my orchestra who was ranked last. Everyone had already written her off, but I watched her. She showed true potential when she thought that no one was looking, but had zero confidence in her abilities. I worked with her, made her play with me and in front of me. Forced her to confront her fears and now, since I no longer take classes at my high school, she is first chair cellist in my stead. For people who have not been in formal leadership positions, just dig down deep and think about how you have affected people's lives. I think this and Dual Enrollment are what put me over.

Although another thing I forgot to mention keep thinking that it was a good story to tell. My high school administrators and the principal skimmed over the directions for the high school graduation testing my junior year and decided that we weren't allowed to use scientific calculators even though it was spelled out in black and white on the test instruction sheets. Even the example question for the math portion required the use of functions that were not provided on the $1 calculators they gave us. I knew the answer because it was a fun fact a teacher mentioned to me years ago and I held on to it, but just about everyone else got it wrong. My school had failed AYP for 6 years straight, but my class was the smartest, leanest one yet and I believed that we had a very good chance of having a large percent pass the graduation test. I called it to the teacher's instructions, he got tired of me and called the administrators, then the principal came. I kept trying to show them that they were going to handicap my class to the rest of the juniors in the state who had the opportunity to use state mandated materials. They were all being condescending, one administrator started calling me names and asked if I knew how to multiply. The rest of my classmates had been muttering dissent when no one of importance could hear them, but when it came time to stand up no one did. Leadership is a lonely position. The administration eventually just told me to shut up and take the test, I was so mad I couldn't see clearly. Then, 10 min. later the principal comes back and says she read it again and it turns out you can use them. No apology. No acknowledgement that they had been dead wrong. The one that completely missed the point and said I must be stupid if I can't multiply without a calender never came back. My parents were pretty upset when they heard, but we decided to let things lie as the ultimate goal was accomplished. The majority of the test required the use of a real calculator as it used trig functions, exponentials, and even some e^x questions. Our class had the highest test scores the school had seen in years. It was very hard to sit there with 5 adults berating and insulting me while some kids in my homeroom were muttering for me to give up. That's something I will never forget. Terrible episode, but I think it highlighted who I am as a person. Sometimes being a leader calls you to fight for people who aren't willing to fight for themselves as well as for people who can't fight for themselves.

 

[Pima]

Winner,

One thing I would advise you to do now is to re-take the ACT in June. The ACT will come back in play again for SFT (Soph yr) selection. ACT scores are part of the PAR which now is a higher percentage than yrs before.

27 is strong, do not get me wrong, but like the scholarship process EA/FT selection will include major (tech v non-tech), cgpa and SAT. The board will only include your fresh yr and fall soph semester grades.

1 bad semester (3.0) can hurt you a lot because the avg cgpa for non-techs is over the 3.4 marker. Statistically it will mean you need to pull a 3.6 for the next 2 semesters to be on target. A higher ACT will help offset a lower cgpa. Tech's get an edge compared to non-techs regarding the cgpa.

One other thing for the class of 17, is although Winner didn't place EC's in his post, I am sure that was also part of the equation for the scholarship.

EC's are about 20% of the WCS. The reason why is simple. They want to make sure candidates can juggle both academics and life while maintaining high standards.

College, especially as a freshman is a whole new world with lots of shiny baubles diverting your attention from doing homework. This is why not only does ROTC look at EC's, but colleges do too. They don't want the 4.0 uwgpa with 9 APs, and 2400 SAT, but nothing else. They want the 3.6 uwcgpa with 9 APs, 2100 SAT, 4 yrs of sports, Eagle Scout, NHS, Class President, etc. The latter applicant told them that they have already seen the shiny baubles and proved that they will be able to balance both parts of their life.

Remember WCS is the WHOLE candidate, not just academic or physical ability candidate.

Good luck to the class of 16.