Yes, you can still join. This is not an issue at all.
AFROTC is not like NROTC or AROTC, there will be 1 summer training opportunity. That is SFT which I discussed in my prior post. Scholarship cadets aren't doing any training prior to that, so you aren't missing anything.
SFT is a selection board. This board meets @ Feb of your sophomore yr. Scholarships have no bearing on whether you go or you don't. The fact is it is the make or break yr for every single cadet. There are scholarship cadets that will not get selected, just like non-scholarship cadets. As I stated, that portion of the package submitted is masked, not one board member will ever know who is and who isn't on scholarship. It is a pure scoring system, giving a specific percentage for the following sections:
PFT
CGPA
SAT/AFOQT
CoC
Notice...no percentage anywhere for scholarship
AFROTC scholarships do not equate into 100% guarantee of commissioning 4 yrs later.
If not selected, AFROTC has the right to do 1 of 2 things.
1. Allow them to become a C500 and compete again the following yr.
2. Dis-enroll them completely. If dis-enrolled it is totally over for an AF commissioning, you can't even go OCS upon graduating college.
The one thing to understand about the AFROTC program and SFT, is a large bulk will be academic. They give an edge for tech majors compared to non-tech majors. A tech can feel safe @3.1 cgpa, a non-tech is @3.3/3.4.
It is important to understand how high that cgpa is because you will only have 3 semesters before your packet is submitted. 1 semester at 2.8, and you are fighting really hard those other 2 semesters to make the cut.
Additionally, many cadets don't realize that their SAT will come into play again as a college student. AFROTC does not use the superscore system, it is best sitting. To place that into perspective, typical recipients range from 1260-1350 in 1 sitting. If you are not in that ball park, take the SAT/ACT again this spring. IMPO, you don't want to be in college juggling AFROTC, 19+ credits, social life and studying for the SAT again...especially since they are on Sat...football games, or sleeping in after hanging out until 2 a.m. does not typically translates into doing well.
I only used the scholarship recipient scores because they will be your competition from an SAT/ACT perspective for that board, thus you already know that if 20% of the class is on scholarship, than you know they have an edge if you are below that number.
Also, the reason that you may see a higher % of scholarship recipients compared to non-scholarship is not because of the AFROTC requirements, but most of these cadets have merit from the college itself too. AFROTC requires a min. cgpa of 2.5 for a scholarship, however, many colleges will require between 3.0-3.2 for their scholarships. The cadets are striving for that cgpa to keep their other scholarship, which now bumps up the overall cgpa for selection.
Our DS was one of those cadets, he had to have a 3.2 for his college scholarship, so he kept it above 3.3 every semester not to risk that money.