blue,
1. Yes, that has been the case in yrs past. However, every yr AFROTC tweaks their system just a tad, so even if it was the past nobody will really know for 1000% certainty until the awards go out.
For the most case nobody understands why anyone would wait for months to accept because the fact is it is non-binding. Accepting does not mean you are contracted. If USNA offers you an appointment or AROTC offers a scholarship you can back out of the AFROTC scholarship.
~~~ Plus, many colleges do have ROTC members sit on admission boards, and if they know you have accepted the scholarship, but you are on the cusp of admittance they may have some sort of sway on the committee.
~~~ Secondly, many colleges also give other perks, such as, room and board. Having the scholarship in hand when accepting the school's admissions helps there too.
~~~ Thirdly, some dets. are really on the ball. They contact cadets early for a mentoring, Q & A perspective. Being on the list and accepting the college's admission places you name on the list for them to see. The det. may land up calling you to answer any questions you might not know. Remember this site is comparatively small when you look at how many kids apply for SAs and ROTC scholarships every yr.
As for DoDMERB.
Once AFROTC awards a scholarship they will contact DoDMERB. DoDMERB will send you a notification with a list of DoDMERB qualified docs. You will be given 45 days to make an appointment. The docs are not traditionally your family doc. unless they are DoDMERB qualified. Exception is if you are eligible to use the military's medical facilities they will allow you to change it to those docs.
~~~ Docs can be 45 minutes away. The exam can take anywhere from 15-45 mins. 45 mins is the norm. If you work out, one thing that trips kids up is the urine test, re
rotein. Make sure to drink a lot of water the day before and try not to overdo the work out.
Again, most everyone will tell you don't wait on this. DoDMERB only Q's or DQ's. The source (i.e. AFROTC) will be the one to waive the Qs. If you even get a remedial, it can take weeks before you know which way the results will land. If it lands on the DQ pile, it can take more weeks or even months to find out if you are waived.
I do not have enough fingers or toes on my body and Bullet's body, nor my beloved Myrtle (the dog) to use for the amount of kids shocked over the past 6 yrs that never knew they had a medical issue that would result in a DQ. I am not trying to frighten you, I am just saying get it done asap to relieve any stress. Normally everyone is fine, but there are those exceptions.
Hope that this helps.
OBTW, Many kids think that by holding onto a scholarship reduces the chances for someone else getting one since there is a limited pot of gold. The fact is they have been doing this long enough and know historically from a statistical perspective on how many will hold out, and how many will contract. They also have a back up if the stats don't match. I.E. too many accept there will be no ICSP, too few and ICSP will occur.
If you look back at the class of 14 AFROTC, their yr group did not have ICSP. The yr prior (13) there was an ICSP, and a yr later (15) ICSP was there again.
I will also add one thing about the Commander's scholarship. Typically it is only 1 or 2 offered since it is for that specific college.
AFROTC scholarships are truly only guaranteed for 2 yrs. No SFT selection at the end of AS200, AFROTC can dis-enroll you. 50% of the SFT WCS is the CoC's rec. JMPHO, it would be hard to believe that the CoC would not rank that cadet as one of their top choices. They placed their name on the line 2 yrs earlier by offering that golden ticket, the rest of the scholarship recipients came from the national boards.
~~~ AFROTC ties the cadet only to the major (tech/non-tech), the cadet can take it anywhere they want, and some dets are powerhouses. They may have more scholarship recipients than the national avg. A/NROTC like to spread the wealth, so all of the dets. have the same %, or close to it. In AFROTC it is possible to have one det with 0% on scholarship and another with 40%, but the avg could be 20%.
It is important to understand how that ties back to SFT. Scholarships are what the ADAF calls "masked". Nobody on the board will know if they are on scholarship or not. Thus, if the det. has 40% on scholarship, but you are one on a Commander's scholarship it can help you later on.
JMPO, and 0.01975 cents, I am not someone that would go down this route unless 3 things were absolute.
1. Loved the college, love the det.
~~~~ Visited other dets to know this is the det.
2. Feel safe that acceptance will be coming down the pike.
~~~ IOWs a true blue safety, not a wish/think/hope safety. I.E. you have a 2290 SAT best sitting, 4.17 cgpa, Captain of LAX, NHS, NMSF, etc., and their stats are 2000 superscore, 3.95 cgpa, 5% are NMSF.
3. You can afford to pay for the college if you decide AFROTC is not for you, or not selected for SFT.
~~~ I am not sure how Commander's work, but I assume it is the same as a Type 1, 2 or 7. The 1st yr is no harm, no foul, and you can leave without owing a penny.
I also hope you have spent the time to investigate the breakdown for type 1,2 and 7.
~~~ I.E. 5% of scholarships go Type 1. In hard numbers, less than 1000 are offered a Type 1, or around 50. Out of that 5%, only 5% go to non-tech, or about 2 cadets nationally.
~~~~ Type 2 is 15%, or around 150 kids.
~~~~~ Type 7 is the rest, and this is the biggest chance a non-tech will get statistically, but it is still only around 75-80%
Resulting in the fact for AFROTC, it is like NROTC. 80-85% scholarships awarded will go tech. If you are not tech, I can also see why someone would go the Commander's scholarship path. Let's be honest, from a non-tech perspective you have to be amazing to get a type 1. Take the type 7, and you may need to convert to a 3 yr 2. It is important to talk to the folks about this since this is also a financial issue if you/they have to find tens of thousands for that 1st yr of college.
