FTP Year Recommendations

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WannaBeOfficer

5-Year Member
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Apr 23, 2014
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I am going into my FTP year, and want to be prepared as best I can for it. Does anyone here have any tips for a future AS 200? I know FTP year is supposed to be one of the hardest for AFROTC, so any advice, stories or anything like that would be great!
 
Attitude is your greatest tool.

Decide right now if you're going to make it or not, and if you are, don't let anything short of not getting an EA stop you.

That sounds corny, but it's the truth.

In terms of more tangible things, it's never too early to start memorizing the FTM.
 
WannaBeOfficer said:
I am going into my FTP year, and want to be prepared as best I can for it. Does anyone here have any tips for a future AS 200? I know FTP year is supposed to be one of the hardest for AFROTC, so any advice, stories or anything like that would be great!
Click to expand...

Get out there, volunteer for leadership opportunities, and above all else do NOT screw up your gpa this upcoming fall.

Too many cadets at my det overloaded their schedules with super tough, core tech courses in the spring of their 100 year or in the fall of their 200 year and that killed their chances of getting EAs. If you're thinking "Hey, I should take phys II, calc III, circuits, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics next semester", think again. Don't take only fluff classes, but be sure to balance it out so you won't absolutely murder your gpa in one semester. For some reason a lot of cadets I know decided to load up at the beginning of their 200 year, by the end of it all they could say was "If only I hadn't taken XX classes last semester...". Don't do that to yourself. If you know you'll be taking 2-3 really hard classes, take at least 2 SS or humanities classes that you know you'll get A's in to balance it out if you do poorly in some of the harder classes.

If you have to make the choice of where to put the bulk of your energy, chose your schoolwork. It comes first. We had a cadet who was in every club/activity AFROTC had (Arnold Air, Silver wings, honor guard), was there for everything, volunteered to help out around the det all the time. But after all that this cadet still didn't get picked up because they were non-tech with a 2.5. The cadet we had that was hardly ever around other than for LLAB with a 4.0 got an EA. Grades will win out every time, since usually grade are also a large part of your CC ranking, which can be a good thing or bad thing.

Another thing is don't bomb your AFOQT, you only get to take it twice so try to do well the first time. I couldn't believe it when I talked to two cadets who failed it...twice! Failing once is pretty bad and really just means you did absolutely zero prep for it since you only need a 15 in Verbal and 10 in Quantitative, but failing it twice is just unacceptable. Those two are hoping for a waiver so they can continue, but they only give out those if you were ill at the time of the test. Command takes the highest of your SAT,ACT, and AFOQT, but you still need to pass it to go to field training.
 
+ 1 with all the above with the addition of the PFT - try to get yourself into at least the mid 90's range or above.

:thumb:
 
Non Ducor Duco said:
Get out there, volunteer for leadership opportunities, and above all else do NOT screw up your gpa this upcoming fall.

Too many cadets at my det overloaded their schedules with super tough, core tech courses in the spring of their 100 year or in the fall of their 200 year and that killed their chances of getting EAs. If you're thinking "Hey, I should take phys II, calc III, circuits, fluid mechanics, and thermodynamics next semester", think again. Don't take only fluff classes, but be sure to balance it out so you won't absolutely murder your gpa in one semester. For some reason a lot of cadets I know decided to load up at the beginning of their 200 year, by the end of it all they could say was "If only I hadn't taken XX classes last semester...". Don't do that to yourself. If you know you'll be taking 2-3 really hard classes, take at least 2 SS or humanities classes that you know you'll get A's in to balance it out if you do poorly in some of the harder classes.

If you have to make the choice of where to put the bulk of your energy, chose your schoolwork. It comes first. We had a cadet who was in every club/activity AFROTC had (Arnold Air, Silver wings, honor guard), was there for everything, volunteered to help out around the det all the time. But after all that this cadet still didn't get picked up because they were non-tech with a 2.5. The cadet we had that was hardly ever around other than for LLAB with a 4.0 got an EA. Grades will win out every time, since usually grade are also a large part of your CC ranking, which can be a good thing or bad thing.

Another thing is don't bomb your AFOQT, you only get to take it twice so try to do well the first time. I couldn't believe it when I talked to two cadets who failed it...twice! Failing once is pretty bad and really just means you did absolutely zero prep for it since you only need a 15 in Verbal and 10 in Quantitative, but failing it twice is just unacceptable. Those two are hoping for a waiver so they can continue, but they only give out those if you were ill at the time of the test. Command takes the highest of your SAT,ACT, and AFOQT, but you still need to pass it to go to field training.
Click to expand...

All the above is true. I made the mistake of picking difficult courses for FTP, when I was advised otherwise, and didn't do too hot. Granted I still did well but I would've faired better with a lighter/easier course load. Grades are essentially the biggest factor in getting picked up for an EA.

Also, during your term reviews ask a lot of questions and show your Commander you're there to do the best you can do. I couldn't volunteer much or at all sometimes, but my commander knew I was an athlete and involved in other areas of my life that needed significant attention.

Honestly, I think my term review in the Fall is what set myself apart from others, I think I was there for close to three hours (granted we had a conversation, not me dragging him on with concerns). I had genuine questions about the process from beginning to end, because there's no greater source of information than the Commander himself. I'm sure other cadets may not of realized what it was, but I sort of saw it as an interview and my only real facetime with Cadre.

I was an AS250(the only one who received an EA at my Det), so I knew I had catching up to do to be up to speed with my fellow 200s.
 
When there is an opportunity to lead or take charge, jump on.

Don't look around and wonder if someone else is going to do it. Just do it. Be that cadet.
 
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