dunninla said:
Per that link, there were 10,885 "Candidates" to the USNA for the class of 2013, wherein I assume "Candidate" means a completed application.
Not true. You become an applicant 1st, and if they deem you competitive you can become a candidate, if not you remain applicant until you have a nom. USNA has for yrs hovers around 16K+ applicants. AFA hovers in the 13K marker.
The AFA counts opening a PCQ as their start number, from there it is whittled down to applicant which is the 7500 number, and from there you become a candidate which is the 3600 number. You cannot be a candidate unless you have a nom or they deem you competitive.
The AFA is the only SA I know that publicly states what their academic min is for an applicant to be deemed competitive...25 ACT V or above 490 SAT CR. Now honestly, they have a snowball's chance in Hades for direct admit because the avg is 650 CR and I think 29 ACT V. They like their sister SAs cannot deem medical because DoDMERB does that, and as far as the CFA goes no SA I know of states their mins, only their max.
Applying to the AFA will not automatically place you into the AFROTC pool. You must apply there too.
Using the numbers that pv123 supplied, you could see with 15K applicants, that it is more than likely that 7500 are AFA candidates. In 4 yrs here, I have met maybe 1 or 2 who did not apply AFROTC as plan B. On the SA forums it is stressed to always apply for the scholarship. I also have never met an ALO who does not stress that too. However, as the cliche goes you can drag the horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
Back on topic, if you use the number of 900 receive scholarships out of 15K you have about a 6% chance of receiving a scholarship.
Now break that down even more.
Type 1 = 5% of all scholarships...so only 45 will be awarded and only 5% of them will go non-tech or about 2 or 3
Type 2 = 20% of all scholarships .... or @180 and again only about 5% go to non-tech...which would be about 10
Type 7 = 75% of all scholarships ... or 675 and this is where the majority of non-tech will get a scholarship, but will still be in the minority. I won't swear by it, but I believe it 25% of the 75% which would be @170
Add it up as a non-tech, there are about 180 scholarships for non-tech majors. Which means you MUST have a strong applicant profile. This is why many will try to enter the tech route to secure the scholarship, which is wrong, because if they want to change to non-tech they need approval and it is unlikely for that to occur in this day and age.
The big thing to understand is the AF allows Type 7's to convert to Type 2 3 yr, and since that is the bulk of the scholarships offered it can create an issue because the way it is structured financially.
Type 7 will only pay up to IS tuition, Type 2 will pay up to 18K a yr. If the cadet goes to an OOS or private it will cost them more in the long run because each yr for 3 yrs they will max the 18K = 54K, whereas the IS may only cost 10K a yr = 40K.
That money has to come from the pot. This is why you saw for the past few yrs the in-school scholarship boards come to a halt. They had not only enough cadets, but those on scholarship were burning through the money at a high rate.
In the end, people will always ask a chance me because "I can't attend the dream school without it", and the fact is if you are really competitive you will be able to afford the school, because the majority of the candidates that get a scholarship or are near also get merit money from their colleges. For some that is why they convert the Type 7 to 2. They receive enough merit, and with a payment plan or a loan they only go in debt for a yr for that dream college.
The thing to remember and place into consideration when accepting the scholarship if it means you need that money to attend is what will you do if you don't get SFT and are disenrolled from AFROTC as a rising jr. How will you pay the tuition at that time?
Only 55% get SFT, and there are many that are scholarship recipients. It is an emotional killer and very stressful for the cadets. Traditionally this list also comes out at the worst time possible...mid-terms and about 6 weeks before finals, which can create an academic nightmare for them. If they know that they can afford to stay at the school, it relieves one stress. If they are worried that they have to transfer to a new school or maybe contract with another branch (AROTC) than it creates more problems and takes time away from their studies.
Talk to your parents or your kids about that WHAT IF prior to matriculating because a scholarship will not guarantee you remain in AFROTC.
for a few weeks.