Commander’s Leadership Scholarship (CLS) within HSSP for AFROTC

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lpeterson15

5-Year Member
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Oct 7, 2013
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I have heard about the CLS which offers a Type 1 four year scholarship to one of the incoming students at each detachment. Why is this not talked about more? Is it still active? What are some more restrictions? How do I qualify? Could as much information be given on this as possible. Thanks everyone!
 
You don't apply for it, it is offered, thus many candidates do not know of it. Plus, when many of the candidates interview it is early in the college admission process and they may hold onto it until they see where these candidates land. Finally, many candidates that are applying for the AFA never interview at the college, instead their ALO does it, thus they are unaware of the program, and the CoCs do not know of their existence until they register for classes.

I know a few years ago there was a det. scholarship recipient on this forum.
 
Isn't the chance of getting a CLS type 1 better than getting a regular type 1 through HSSP? For CLS there are only like 50 incoming freshman to a detachment whereas there are about 5,000 who are in competition for the normal type 1.
 
Pima is correct. I would add if you are interested in AFROTC at a specific college, you can contact the detachment at that college. It lets them know of your interest in that detachment and college. (And the detachments sometimes communicate with college admissions.) If you can visit the detachment, all the better. Then, you can inquire about the CLS. My understanding is every detachment has 1 CLS to offer each year. Since they can only offer 1, they won't offer until you have been accepted. The CLS is specific to a college, and cannot be used at any AFROTC detachment. If offered the CLS, you will have to remove your application for the national AFROTC board. Because again, the college can offer 1 scholarship and they only want to offer it to someone who will commit. It is a win-win for the applicant and detachment. The applicant receives a 4-year scholarship (and possibly before national board results are released); the detachment gets a commitment of an incoming student and to select someone they are interested in having. Additionally, they may be selecting someone that would have otherwise committed somewhere else. My DS was offered a CLS to a competitive, private university 3 weeks ago after being accepted. We understood that 1 or 2 others were being considered for the CLS. It was perfect for his situation........the university he wanted and he wanted AFROTC. And he has his scholarship ahead of the national board results. He had a NROTC to the same univeristy, but really wanted AFROTC. Turned down an Academy appointment and withdrew from others. Again, you have to be 100% it is the university you want as the CLS cannot be transferred.
 
Oyr DS's set. this yr had over 150 C100s. There are small dets., but remember there are large ones too.

Also, depending on the cost of tuition, it is not necessarily the equivalent to a Type 1 or even a 2.. IE if you go to UVA and are in state, it is actually the equivalent of a type 7. The fact is approximately 2000 cadets graduate yrly from AFROTC and the big yr drop is between the 200 to 300, thus it would not shock me if there were 3500-4000 in the 100/200/250.

Now if there are 100 dets. nationally, than statistically you have less of a chance since around 900 HSSPs are awarded out of.a pool of 5k and only 100 out of a pool of even 3500. Again, remember your misconception starts with they are type 1s and not 7s, obviously Ivies will be 1's, but not everyone goes Ivy or private. The second misconception you have is that every det is as small as 50 for 100s. Many dets have increased in size over the past few yes because the AF has been combining the smaller ones into larger units to save costs. IE more xtowns, which means that even 5 yes ago there were more host units than there are today for those kids that were applying their senior yr in hs.

Even with all of that, this is a recruitment tool just like the scholarship. Your stats have to be incredibly strong to be offered this scholarship. I would say that chances are the college has to be your safety, and I mean not just barely a safety, but the true blue safety. And on top of that if I recall correctly, the minute you accept it, your name is taken out of the AFROTC HSSP, thus you are risking getting a scholarship to take to any school for this 1 school. Very few want to close out that option let's say in Oct., when the board does not meet until DEC.
 
Pima said:
Oyr DS's set. this yr had over 150 C100s. There are small dets., but remember there are large ones too.

Also, depending on the cost of tuition, it is not necessarily the equivalent to a Type 1 or even a 2.. IE if you go to UVA and are in state, it is actually the equivalent of a type 7. The fact is approximately 2000 cadets graduate yrly from AFROTC and the big yr drop is between the 200 to 300, thus it would not shock me if there were 3500-4000 in the 100/200/250.

Now if there are 100 dets. nationally, than statistically you have less of a chance since around 900 HSSPs are awarded out of.a pool of 5k and only 100 out of a pool of even 3500. Again, remember your misconception starts with they are type 1s and not 7s, obviously Ivies will be 1's, but not everyone goes Ivy or private. The second misconception you have is that every det is as small as 50 for 100s. Many dets have increased in size over the past few yes because the AF has been combining the smaller ones into larger units to save costs. IE more xtowns, which means that even 5 yes ago there were more host units than there are today for those kids that were applying their senior yr in hs.

Even with all of that, this is a recruitment tool just like the scholarship. Your stats have to be incredibly strong to be offered this scholarship. I would say that chances are the college has to be your safety, and I mean not just barely a safety, but the true blue safety. And on top of that if I recall correctly, the minute you accept it, your name is taken out of the AFROTC HSSP, thus you are risking getting a scholarship to take to any school for this 1 school. Very few want to close out that option let's say in Oct., when the board does not meet until DEC.
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This is a non sequitur but I look forward to the day when I can understand Pima's posts. :shake: I hope to one day be fluent in military acronym speak.
 
I got a CLS type 1 scholarship. I believe the Type 1 scholarships are offered to technical majors and non-tech CLS winners get a Type 2. I got notification in February after I interviewed in December. So I know that I hadn't made the deadline for the December board, but I was pulled from the January and February boards because I had received the scholarship just I didn't know yet. If you're looking to get a CLS scholarship, the main thing is to have a great interview. That's when most of the CLS scholarships are given out. Don't ask about the CLS scholarship. If you get a scholarship, you do, if you don't, you'll get an opportunity through the boards. The stats needed for CLS also depends on the school -at a det at a school where the avg high school GPA is 3.8 and avg SAT(Math +CR) is 1400, you'll need some great stats to be competitive for that CLS, where at a school where the avg GPA is 3.2 and avg SAT is 1100, it'll be a different story. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
 
Well I want to do Nuclear Engineering which is only at about 20 colleges nationwide. Of the 20 schools I only like two of them K-State and Mizzou. So wouldn't it be more wise of me to accept a CLS (if I'm even offered one)? If I get a Type 1 through the board I would still want to go to K-State or Mizzou. I know its crazy but if I would get a Type 1 I would much rather go to a school like K-State than Berkley (for Nuclear Engineering at least). Thanks for all the reply's by the way!
 
Most of what was previously stated above is true. My son accepted a HSSP CLS in 2012. He was offered Type 2, non-tech as he is studying business. I know that not everyone detachment offers one of these scholarships each year because beginning that year there were minimum ACT/SAT scores that the candidate had to have in order to be offered the scholarship. That year it was 30 for ACT. My son, even though he had excellent credentials in every category chose to take the scholarship because it was the school he was planning on going to anyways and it takes away the small chance that you won't get a scholarship through the board. He was also the only person interviewed that year that make the qualifications, hence, he was the only person who could have gotten the offer. Each year the score that is required to be able to received the CLS is an average of the previous year's HSSP scores, so my guess is that the past year and this year would be even higher than what he needed. You also have to have not already met a board in order to be offered the CLS. Otherwise you are ineligible. And of course after accepting you cannot continue to meet later boards hoping for something better. Once you take it you are done in the process. And just to point out, the commander's do not have to offer the scholarship just because you meet the bare requirements that are set for them. You have to impress them, so I agree with the above poster who said not to mention it when you interview. To me that seems like a surefire way to turn them off. Anyways, good luck.
 
Type 1 is insanely competitive. Only 5% out of 900/1000 awarded get it , or the equivalent to@ 50.

Be honest with yourself do you believe your stats are the top 1% nationally out of all that apply? That is what you are looking at for odda.

Also remember that AFROTC does not super score SAT/ACT. Best sitting. Your senior yr is not placed into the equation, so if you are a junior now you need to get your resume as strong as possible in order by June.
 
navymomwannabe said:
This is a non sequitur but I look forward to the day when I can understand Pima's posts. :shake: I hope to one day be fluent in military acronym speak.
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LOL-Ive thought the same thing. I used to try to just read slowly-but nope, it is a foreign language that she speaks...we will get there....:smile:
 
Vista123 said:
LOL-Ive thought the same thing. I used to try to just read slowly-but nope, it is a foreign language that she speaks...we will get there....:smile:
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Well part of the problem is it's a little known AFROTC dialect! :yllol:
 
In my defense, I feel the same about the Army. FFR, CULP, Cadet Command, BOLC, etc.

I remember when Bullet took a joint assignment with the 82nd. we were married for 4 years by that time and I thought I had all the acronyms down pat. The 1st morning he leaves our Q (hotel on base at 5:30 a.m. He gives me a kiss goodbye and tells me he is off to PT. In my haze I say bye, 1 minute later my mind says what the heck is PT?
~~~~Yep the 4 years in the AF he never got up to go exercise, and never called it PT....as they always joke about, for the AF PT is a round of golf without using a cart.
 
Hello everyone! This is my first post so here goes lol. My son has applied for AFROTC HSSP....ok so my question is this....he went for his interview at the closet detachment to our home (not necessarily where he wanted to attend college) well anyway his interview went well. We have never heard of the CLS before until after this interview. We have still been researching and learning the process. We did not have a particular person helping us with this (counselor). Well the interviewing detachment offered my son the CLS and we literally had overnight to make a decision because he was due to go before the board that Monday. I was confused by all of this and told the CC I would talk with my husband and son and get back with him. Being concerned about all of this, I called the detachment of the college of his preference who we had already met with once. Well after a brief conversation, they said they would inquire and call me back. Well unfortunately within the hour the CC that offered the CLS called us back and took the CLS offer back and said he made a mistake about the requirements. What the heck!! How can that happen?? I cried and cried because I thought what did I do by just inquiring questions?! I have researched and researched this. I did hear that the CC that I called is a doozy so I don't know what she said for him to cancel it! I want the best for my son and now he is really bummed by all this. His application did meet with Dec board and he did not receive one at this time and is being reboarded. So I've wanted to call and ask more questions but so afraid of what that does....everything that I have researched says that the CLS "based on the minimum requirements and statistics from previous year or as designated by AFROTC/CC"...so are these national statistics or individual detachment statistics because these are two totally different size colleges. I just can't understand this....we would have taken the guaranteed CLS.
 
A couple of things.

1. He maybe reboarded because he is on the cusp of a type 1,2 or 7.
2. You stated this was not necessarily his school choice. Just my opinion, but this might be a blessing in disguise. The fastest way to not succeed is not wanting to be at the school. Academically many of those cadets do not do well because of that reason.
~ All AFROTC scholarships is what we like to call here 2 + 2. It is guaranteedd for the first two years. As a sophomore they will go up for the Field Training (SFT). If not selected chances are extremely high they will be disenrolled from AFROTC. Think almost guaranteed disenrollment, that kind of extremely high possibility. Last year 2600 were boarded for 1590 slots. If he is going nontech non rated the selection rate was 17%. Tech and rated had @60%. The avg cgpa was 3.1 for tech and 3.3/3.4 non tech.
~~ They required cadets to sign paperwork before being boarded if they were going to apply to fly (rated).
3. Don't jump to conclusions about why it was pulled.
~ You are assuming it was because of you asking questions which led the other CoC to call the CoC that offered it. That when he said the comment about meeting requirements meant the CoC made a mistake regarding the requirements he (CoC) had to meet.
~~ Maxwell has a drop dead date for files to be closed for the board. IE the board meets Wednesday the 8th. Maxwell could have said that the last time a CoC could offer a CLS was Friday the 3rd. The CoC after talking to the other CoC was informed that he missed the required drop date for offering it. Your DSs file was already at Maxwell waiting to be boarded and maybe by regs could not be pulled in time.
4. You should not call them. If your DS has questions he should call them. Not you or your husband! If your DS is 18, they will not talk to you.
~ My biggest pet peeve about colleges is they allow parents to pay them from their checking account, but if there is something that goes wrong with the payment, scholarship or Financial Aid, they lock them out until the child approves access to the bursar!
~~ They like it when it is the child is the one contacting them for many reasons.
~~~ 1. Illustrates maturity and self dependent aspects.
~~~ 2. Demonstrates he is taking control of his future. Being proactive and interested in getting the scholarship.
~~~ 3. Shows that he wants it...not Mommy and Daddy, but the cadet.
5. If he wants that college he should call and ask the CoC if he could meet with some of the cadets. You should not enter the building. Agree to meet at the student union at a specific time. Walking a campus with the folks is different than walking it by himself from a mental and emotional perspective for your child. That 5 minute walk to meet you gives him the time with private thoughts to think this could be me here next year.
~ We did this with our DS.
~~ He spent 45 minutes with 300/400 cadets. They played Xbox in the cadet lounge and talked like college kids. He met Bullet at the Student Union and turned to him and asked if they could go to the bursars office to pay the deposit. A deposit that wasn't due for 3 more months! He had told me when he got home that between hanging with the cadets and walking to meet his Dad by himself on the campus, he could not see himself anywhere else, but there.

ROTC detachments are like colleges....they have their own personality. For ROTC scholarship cadets that need it for financial reasons, it is not only matching the college feeling, but also liking the unit too.

Hope that helps.
 
My son received the Commander's Type 1 scholarship, he is now in his 2nd year of school. He went in for his interview and it just so happened that the Commander was the one doing his interview and therefore offered it to him on the spot.
 
Thanks Pima and cugirl25 for the reply's...sorry it took me so long to get back on, I've been very busy. I really appreciate the breakdown Pima! :) I am just hoping and praying for this scholarship to pull through on the second board and the wait is killing us lol.....we are working on plan B and C because he will not be able to afford the college without the scholarship....we have faith that it will all work out! Thanks! :)
 
My son had the same experience as cugirl25. My son went in for his interview and was also offered the CLS on the spot.
 
My DS’s top schools are all more than 10 hours from home, therefore his HSSP interviewer will be from a local detachment at a school he is not applying to. Can I assume that would preclude him from being offered a Commander’s scholarship?
 
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