Listen to Nick. He is in the system now and as many of you know he is at a Corp school. He is very intimate with the system.
The only thing I would say is he is incorrect about engineers only taking 1 semester. Scholarship recipients for AFROTC must take 12 credits in foreign language. It is an AFROTC requirement.
Going back on the chance me.
1. Nobody here sits on any scholarship board. The only answer we can tell you is that you have 0% of getting a scholarship if you don't apply.
2. Nick is correct, yes, the AF gives more scholarships to tech majors, but as a non-tech AFROTC scholarship Mom, I can tell you they give them there too. Applying for a tech major to "game the system" is not wise at all. Anyone who would suggest this does not understand the AFROTC system.
As it has been stated AFROTC is different than A/NROTC. Not everyone goes to SFT. Selection is based on many things, but the big one is the GPA. Traditionally only @50% nationally are accepted, and the avg gpa for tech has hovered @ 3.0, 3.2 for non-tech. No SFT and the command may revoke your scholarship...and yes, you will not be commissioned into the AF from ROTC. It is a make or break point.
Scholarship cadets live with that on their backs until spring sophomore yr, because if they took the scholarship to meet fiscal needs, they will find themselves as a jr. and short 18K.
3. Tech majors do not lull yourself into the misconception that because you have great grades and you are applying as an engineer major you will get a scholarship. Believe it or not they also look at the type of engineering major you place as your intended major.
LY there were kids with great stats, but because they had specified a specific engineering major, they didn't get it. Reason why was they don't want 100% of engineering majors to be in 1 specific field...i.e. Computers, Aero, Electrical, etc.
Again, don't game the system. Follow what you want to do.
4. If you game the system and expect to change your major once there...GOOD LUCK! Scholarships are not being handed out willy nilly these days. You can change, but expect to loose the scholarship since you broke the contract with them.
5. Specialty languages
Understand the AF needs linguists. Nick is correct, just because we as a society believes Russia is no longer a threat does not mean the DOD doesn't see them as a threat.
The issue with majoring in a language is to understand SERVICE BEFORE SELF. That major can take you out of the running for certain career fields. This is why there is that need from a demand perspective, because many students know there is a high chance to be pulled into a field.
I.E. You want to fly, chances are they will not select you because they paid you to go to college for language, and putting you in a cockpit means your job is not touching your asset.
I don't know about Russian, but in the AD world they would tell you Chinese, or Arabic you are going Intel.
educateme said:
PS. Is there any reason why you are only interested in AFROTC? To fly? You could fly in Navy and even Army...... Just a thought.....
As a Wife of a retired AF flier and a Mom of a child that was selected for UPT, that's the thing people don't get about fliers. Most of them have in their mind what they want to fly (fixed or rotor). If they want rotor they go Army or Navy since the AF really has no rotor inventory. If they want fixed they go AF or Navy. If they place flying as their 1st priority, they usually go AF, because AF has the largest inventory, hence best chances for selection.
All cadets know that they only have a chance to get a slot and a chance of being winged, so they take into account what is their back up plan. Not everybody wants to be on a boat or in a tank as back up, and that is why they select the AF.
Do not select a service for just that 1 career path if it is flying, because I will tell you the cliche CHAIR FORCE exists because you will step out of the cockpit. They will do everything to insure you meet your 1st gate for flight pay, but after that all bets are off.
Bullet spent 6 of his 20 yrs out of the cockpit. 2 as an O3, 1 as an O4, 3 as an O5.
Finally, I am going to agree with others, you will be dinged for no sports, not even as an EC. DS did not have HS sports, BUT he did have sports in his ECs. TKD State Champion, Jr Olympic medalist. Job was Lifeguard, where he could place 23 saves on his resume on top of being pool manager for the guards. His job illustrated athleticism and leadership at the exact same time, compared to the kid who worked at Target. Hence, he was dinged for no HS sports, but was able to show he did compete athletically, and was athletic via his job.
You have no leadership in your resume...review your resume and make sure even if it is orchestra that you illustrate it.
piano student of 10 years, the pianist for every school musical
guitar student of 4 years
orchestra all 4 years, teaching myself double bass
Now see it this way
Lead pianist
X chair (1st or 2nd) Orchestra
Lead Guitarist for Church Band
Honestly, no offense, but 10 yrs playing piano, or 4 yrs guitar, makes no difference to me, nor self taught double bass. I understand you are showing dedication, but I would prefer to see WHAT YOU DID with that, otherwise, all I think about as someone who took 6 yrs of piano, and drove kids for 7 yrs to guitar lessons is so you attended 1 hr a week in lessons for 10 yrs. Illustrate that it lead to leadership and other activities. Think of it as an equation...cause (action) and effect (result). Don't BS it.
250+ hospital volunteering hours
Lead volunteer for X hospital ward responsible for Y....cause and effect, where you are an instrument in the success.
250 hours great, but what did you do? Did you just show up for 8 hours a month for the last 3 yrs? Or due to your volunteerism, you actually impacted the hospital in a positive way.
No offense, but you have no sports, no job, great PAR, and it leaves me with wondering if your PAR is as high as it is because you placed everything on academics, and would it be that high if you had a job + sports.
The scholarship boards are like college boards, they want the WHOLE CANDIDATE, not just the jock or the brainiac. They understand that many kids at college who did not have a balance of academics and "real" world traditionally cannot manage time and fold under pressure as a freshman. The kid who had outside interests besides academics traditionally has an easier transition due to the fact that they were able to juggle multiple balls.
Good luck, APPLY! Worst thing that can happen is you get a "At this time..." letter. A few hours of work is worth the chance of 72K (type 2).
PS...don't fill the resume with FODDER. They will see it as just that FODDER...in other words a way to fill up the application with BS.