What to do with scholarship for AFROTC when appointed to USAFA?

Ambition

USAFA Class of 2017
5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2012
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I was recently appointed to the Academy. I also have an outstanding type 7 four year. Should I decline the scholarship? What happens if things do not work out at the academy? Do I apply again next year?

Thank you!
 
First off - I believe a congratulations is in order! You are one of the very, very few and lucky applicants to have received BOTH an AFA appointment and AFROTC scholarship.

To answer your question - are you going to AFA? From the way it sounds, it appears that you aren't 100% certain of going to AFA. If this is the case ... then only one person can answer that question - you. Everyone here can give you all the advice 'til the cows come home, but at the end of the day the decision is yours, and yours alone. ... however, if you are 110% certain you are going to AFA, then yes you should decline the scholarship - I think that if you accept an appointment/scholarship to anything other than AFROTC, then you yield your scholarship to someone else.

To answer your 2nd question you may not be eligible to apply for a scholarship. Directly from afrotc.com:
"Individuals who have dropped out of a previous officer training program (e.g., Officer Training School, United States Air Force Academy, etc.). This may be waived depending on individual circumstances."


Wish you the best next year, whether it be Colorado or elsewhere in the US!!!
 
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If you accept both the AFROTC HSSP and the Appointment to USAFA, then both are available to you until you actually report to USAFA on I-Day. If you report to USAFA on I-Day then you lose your AFROTC scholarship. Don't report and you lose your Appointment.

Good luck!
 
I will hopefully be in the same situation as you, still waiting to hear back from USNA, however I do have some insight into your question. I was told to accept and keep my NROTC scholarship all the way up until the date I leave for plebe summer. The reason behind keeping your ROTC scholarship is that if you get hurt and for some reason cant report to I-Day for the academy, then you still have your back up ROTC plan. So in the end, keep your ROTC option open until a couple days into plebe summer, have your parents call your recruiter and have them decline your ROTC scholarship.
 
If you accept both the AFROTC HSSP and the Appointment to USAFA, then both are available to you until you actually report to USAFA on I-Day. If you report to USAFA on I-Day then you lose your AFROTC scholarship. Don't report and you lose your Appointment.

Good luck!

Do you have a citation for this? Not that I don't think it's true, I'm just curious. My 2017 daughter got a Type 1 and a USAFA appointment. If she accepts the appointment and goes to I-day, but for some reason she does not complete BCT, I wonder if she could use the Type 1 still (since most schools start well after BCT starts). Curious because I have a 2016 USAFA cadet too and I saw a few of her fellow cadets not finish BCT for medical reasons and head back home.
 
Agagles is correct, they will lose it because on I-Day they take the oath, thus they are officially a cadet in the AFA.

The big reason to keep it until I Day is due to the injury issue. It goes with the thought to also pay the deposits at the college for the JIC if something happens at BCT.

However, it is actually 2 different things.
1. College deposits holding the spot up to the day they are to report to the college...losing it when they don't go.
2. HSSP holding the spot until I day...losing it on I day.
 
If she accepts the appointment and goes to I-day, but for some reason she does not complete BCT, I wonder if she could use the Type 1 still (since most schools start well after BCT starts). Curious because I have a 2016 USAFA cadet too and I saw a few of her fellow cadets not finish BCT for medical reasons and head back home.
Pima is correct about me being correct.

While it would be helpful to be able to hold on to your AFROTC HSSP until after your daughter "tries out" BCT, it just doesn't work that way. If she chooses USAFA she has entered a different commissioning program than AFROTC and she loses her scholarship.

I may be wrong, but I've heard that it is very difficult (impossible?) to receive an In-College AFROTC Scholarship after leaving USAFA. Again, I may be wrong and perhaps someone with recent experience can comment on that.

She could however turn down the Appointment and use her AFROTC HSSP and try out a civilian school to determine if that is a better route to commissioning for her. If she then thinks USAFA is a more desirable path she can always re-apply. My understanding is that it is very possible to re-apply to USAFA and again receive an Appointment. No guarantees of course!

BTW- Cadets that don't finish BCT because of medical reasons, keep their Appointments and are invited back the following year....after their medical conditions are resolved. If their medical conditions are resolved and they choose to return.

Good Luck!:thumb:
 
I have to add in a twist. For what I am reading is the 1st time, USMA is saying you can't keep the AROTC scholarship if you accept the appointment. Nobody flame me if that has always been true, it was the 1st time I read it.

I would make sure to read the paperwork very carefully. We all know that every yr something is tweaked. This yr., especially with sequestration they may tweak it earlier, and do something like the Army. My thought process is not to offer more scholarships since the last AFROTC board is in March, but to see if they can move that money around for other things starting in April compared to July.

Again read your paperwork, it should tell you.

I also agree with Agagles, I believe if you reject an HSSP, you can't get ICSP. Let's say you go to the AFA, and now the scholarship is void, you DOR out of BCT, or even get injured, you go to your college you made a deposit. Fall in love with the program, decide to stay with AFROTC, I don't think you can get an ICSP. However, I don't know if that applies to the det/college ICS.
 
Will definitely have her check it out. Thank you both for the information.

BTW- She will not be trying out BCT. She fully understands the process. But as we saw last year, weird stuff happens that is uncontrollable and unforeseeable. We know of 2 cadets who went out because of weird injuries. Neither were able to get cleared for this year. Totally understandable - just unfortunate. The bubble wrap has some merit.
 
I still have a bit of confusion regarding this issue.

I have accepted the appointment. Should I now accept the scholarship (which I have not yet done) it will be available to me until I swear in as a cadet. The benefits of accepting it at this point is that if I get injured before getting to BCT, I can use the scholarship.

What confuses me, however, is that by time BCT starts many colleges will have already demanded a decision for your attendance (or automatically rejected you for not answering in time). If that is the case, what happens? Do you have to re-apply to colleges and the scholarship, or do one or both of the opportunities come back to you, or must you re-apply in the Spring for college but hold on to the scholarship?
 
I still have a bit of confusion regarding this issue.

I have accepted the appointment. Should I now accept the scholarship (which I have not yet done) it will be available to me until I swear in as a cadet. The benefits of accepting it at this point is that if I get injured before getting to BCT, I can use the scholarship.

What confuses me, however, is that by time BCT starts many colleges will have already demanded a decision for your attendance (or automatically rejected you for not answering in time). If that is the case, what happens? Do you have to re-apply to colleges and the scholarship, or do one or both of the opportunities come back to you, or must you re-apply in the Spring for college but hold on to the scholarship?

If you decide to accept and hold onto your scholarship until you swear in as a AFA cadet, then you would need to make the deposit to the school to hold your spot, you will most likely lose the deposit when you finally decline. It can be a good insurance policy and many do this.
 
+1 Jcleppe.

People do this because a few hundred bucks for a deposit is worth it in many ways.

1. Play LAX or Baseball... break an ankle in May. Cast for 10 weeks. You won;t be attending I-Day.

~~~ Scholarship is still there.

2. Get to I-Day, swear in, trip off the bus and bust your leg. Medical turnback

~~~ Scholarship is out of play, but the deposit is there and plan B is intact. Not attending a CC for fall semester.

3. Go to the AFA, 5% don't complete BCT. DOR.

~~~ Scholarship is out of play, but the deposit is there. Same as above, but I have to admit, I don't know if you leave you can apply for an ICSP.

As you can see it really is about if you want the insurance plan. It is a personal decision.

I would not feel guilty that by holding onto it you took someone else's chances. It is like the AFA, they offer more with the assumption of rejections. The AFA offers 1350+ and their goal number is @1150.

A lot has to do with the economy. ICSP 2 yrs ago did not occur because, like AFA more took the offers than they expected from a statistical historical data perspective. ICSP is back because they held back offers, or lower acceptances for the yr group, thus, money was back in the pot for 100's.

Morally and emotionally this is a hard decision, but if you accept the fact that AFROTCHQ has placed into their equation many of the AFA appointees have an AFROTC scholarship and will hold onto it until I-Day, you can understand that this was already in their master plan....thus, you should feel no guilt by accepting it.

If that is not enough, the fact is the last AFROTC board is March. Tossing it back even on Friday has no impact for other candidates because it is already a done deal regarding how much money left. There is no April-Aug. AFROTC board, i.e. wait-list.

stelmack,

OBTW a few yrs ago, a poster paid the deposit, contacted the school and the det to say they were going to an SA. Their child was injured at BCT, and could not complete, thus a medical turnback. The school and the det. embraced them.

He lost his ROTC scholarship, but because they paid the deposit he had his college scholarship still, he still had a home come August.
 
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