Interesting Article on USAFA Prep School

[Pima]

Way too go Haleym! There are many including me that are proud of your accomplishments. Though they have different funding sources I think the Falcon prep program and USAFA prep is worthwhile investment in the future of our increasingly diverse military.

Hold your head up high, you worked hard and you deserve your spot at USAFA

Hold on a second!

I am just as proud, but this is a new AF due to the fiscal constraints.

The reality is budgets are being cut. Don't think so?
~~ Spend some time on the ROTC forums
~~ Look at the AFA C1C's....they have yet to get their AFSC


She fought for her appointment. I respect it, but her appointment is the past, prior to sequestration, FY12. This article is about FY 14. An AF budget that took a 10% hit lastyear, and will take another 10% this yr.

 

[Pima]

Let me repeat this loud and clear. The only bone in the fight I have is DoD budget. My posts are opinions.

 

[haleym]

Let me repeat this loud and clear. The only bone in the fight I have is DoD budget. My posts are opinions.

If this is the case, I'm not quite sure why you have anything to say about the Falcon Foundation. It's a completely seperate entity and has absolutely nothing to do with the DoD's budget.

 

[Tigger]

Let me repeat this loud and clear. The only bone in the fight I have is DoD budget. My posts are opinions.

If that's your only concern, then educate me on why you are opposed to the privately funded Falcon Foundation.

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[hornetguy]

I think Pima is just having a blond moment.

Don't get too worked up guys +haley. I think this week is a fluke. FF generally gets quite a bit of support. The prep school is typically the one most on here rail against.

I have talked about the two in the past and the articles on both really are in line with my thoughts.

I lived with FF room mates all but one semester at USAFA (even BCT). One is a C-130 pilot now, the other is an ALO (the controller type, not the USAFA liaison type ) Whereas most of the preppies I knew in BCT and 4 dig year never made it, all the FF prepsters I knew made it, and made it successfully.

As y'all have made clear, FF is privately funded.....and it does a great job (at a low price!) of prepping people for USAFA who go on to be successful. The USAFAPS nowadays....not so much.

 

[aglages]

The one thing in my yrs here I have seen over and over again, is the fact that candidates with strong scores academically lose out because they were not high enough for a direct admit, but too high to get a falcon or prep slot.

I think that you may be incorrect about the funding source for FF and who receives those "scholarships". My understanding is that those candidates that were very close to being admitted to USAFA, but just didn't make the cut are the people receiving FF scholarships. Unlike the prep program which has a different selection criteria. Also, I believe that FF scholarships are funded privately and do NOT use government/DOD money. Therefore it is not likely that those funds would be transferred to a government program like AFROTC.

How will eliminating Falcon scholarships which are funded by the not-for-profit Falcon Foundation be financially beneficial to either AFROTC or AFA? Is the assumption that this 501(c)(3) org will provide all the funds that were earmarked for Falcons directly to the AF?

I really don't see what your objection is with private citizens donating money to invest in the top non-selected candidates for a year.

 

[Packer]

The one thing in my yrs here I have seen over and over again, is the fact that candidates with strong scores academically lose out because they were not high enough for a direct admit, but too high to get a falcon or prep slot. Many also get an AFROTC scholarship, but only a Type 7 (75% of the scholarships). They opt to convert to a Type 2 3 yr., yet they hold fast out of pocket money with loans and do AFROTC, applying the next yr for the AFA.

Again, just curious, please don't flame me. Just explain why the AF has prep and falcon scholarships? Why not have 3 clear cut paths?
1.Direct admit
2. Prep
3. AFROTC scholarship

Why the need for falcon...if you say there is no room at the inn...Prep, than you have to admit IMPO, that this article has touched on something. Prep is to prepare those student with academic shortfalls and red-shirting is a factor if the AF now has to offer falcon scholarships for the true reason prep was designed

Pima you seem to be putting FF and the Prep school in the same basket but they are very different baskets. Some of the ACT scores I have seen for FF have been 31-32 along with gpa's in the 3.7 range. They were very competitive for direct admission but happened to have the wrong address. I am sure there are some that have lower stats but I think most just barely missed the mark. I am under the impression that most Prep's missed the mark by quite a bit in one or more areas.

As others have said, I don't think FF costs the AFA anything. It is all private money.

Whether FF or Prep is needed in order to fill the classes is a legitimate question but I don't think you can use the same arguments for or against both.