Doolie With Answers: 2 Years Prior College/AFROTC/NCAA Collegiate Experience

Nilet

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2015
Messages
50
Hey everyone! I was originally a USAFA c/o 2016 applicant who attended college for two years on AFROTC scholarship, and competed as an NCAA athlete as well. I have now found myself in the USAFA c/o 2018 and was hoping I could help out with any questions that prospects or appointees may have! I know how nerve wracking the application process is, as I went through it three times - so feel free to lay on the questions. Good luck everyone!
 
Seeing as I could potentially be in your position in the future, I was wondering what your rationale was for leaving ROTC. Do you think that it was worth it to give up two years worth of college experience, as well as a Field Training slot, to start over at the Academy? How did your Detachment feel about you leaving? Thanks for your help.
 
Seeing as I could potentially be in your position in the future, I was wondering what your rationale was for leaving ROTC. Do you think that it was worth it to give up two years worth of college experience, as well as a Field Training slot, to start over at the Academy? How did your Detachment feel about you leaving? Thanks for your help.

First off - yes. It was worth it for me - which is an important part of this.

There are two ways to look at "giving up" all of that time. Due to situations like ours being pretty irregular out here, the question of "why did you do it?" comes up a lot. Personally, I knew that I wanted to come to the Academy from a very young age - and what I was looking to get out of the academy was nowhere near what I was trying to put into my service. I never really viewed coming here as a sacrifice of my time, but rather an opportunity to undergo some of the most refined military training in the country alongside my ROTC time. My time in AFROTC only better prepared me to face the challenges I would go on to face when it came time for BCT and the four degree year.

As far as the time in college, it was very good to have that time in the "real world" before coming here. Many four degrees come in and have never lived without structure or had needed to survive away from home on their own. The time spent away from home in college was a great lesson in living life and surviving away from guidance.

Going to the Enrollment Allocation, I gave up my packet as soon as I found out about my appointment so that I wouldn't take an EA away from someone who could actually use it in that very competitive year.

Starting over at the Academy has actually been more rewarding for me than I could have ever imagined. There is a lot of very beneficial training that you will undergo here if selected that you cannot find anywhere else, and that will lead into some awesome opportunities during the year. I have had the chance to experience things and develop myself in ways that I never could have if I had given up on my plans of attending.

Lastly, my detachment was very supportive of me coming here. On that same token, it is very important that you make them the priority as long as you are still a member of their detachment. It is sort of like "remembering your roots", because they are the ones who have supported us until this point, and given us the opportunity to continue to pursue the dream.

I hope that I was able to help a little, and please don't hesitate to ask any other questions that you may have (that goes for anyone reading this :) )
 
Thanks a lot, Nilet. That helps clarify some things for me.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your reported college GPA on your second and third applications. I'm just trying to ballpark that number for people that may want to know.

I'm hoping that I get in, but if I don't, I guess I'll be on the track once more. Thankfully, my application has gotten stronger since last year, so hopefully it doesn't come to that but you can never know with the Academy.
 
First off - yes. It was worth it for me - which is an important part of this.

There are two ways to look at "giving up" all of that time. Due to situations like ours being pretty irregular out here, the question of "why did you do it?" comes up a lot. Personally, I knew that I wanted to come to the Academy from a very young age - and what I was looking to get out of the academy was nowhere near what I was trying to put into my service. I never really viewed coming here as a sacrifice of my time, but rather an opportunity to undergo some of the most refined military training in the country alongside my ROTC time. My time in AFROTC only better prepared me to face the challenges I would go on to face when it came time for BCT and the four degree year.

As far as the time in college, it was very good to have that time in the "real world" before coming here. Many four degrees come in and have never lived without structure or had needed to survive away from home on their own. The time spent away from home in college was a great lesson in living life and surviving away from guidance.

Going to the Enrollment Allocation, I gave up my packet as soon as I found out about my appointment so that I wouldn't take an EA away from someone who could actually use it in that very competitive year.

Starting over at the Academy has actually been more rewarding for me than I could have ever imagined. There is a lot of very beneficial training that you will undergo here if selected that you cannot find anywhere else, and that will lead into some awesome opportunities during the year. I have had the chance to experience things and develop myself in ways that I never could have if I had given up on my plans of attending.

Lastly, my detachment was very supportive of me coming here. On that same token, it is very important that you make them the priority as long as you are still a member of their detachment. It is sort of like "remembering your roots", because they are the ones who have supported us until this point, and given us the opportunity to continue to pursue the dream.

I hope that I was able to help a little, and please don't hesitate to ask any other questions that you may have (that goes for anyone reading this :) )


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I currently am in my second year as a student at a civilian university, but I was just wondering what major differences you have experienced at the Academy versus that of a civilian college? Other than the obvious difference in discipline and freedom. There are many reasons I want to attend USAFA, and many reasons include experiencing such as what you mentioned as experiences that aren't available anywhere else, not to mention I'll be serving this amazing country. Thanks for all of the insight.

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Thanks a lot, Nilet. That helps clarify some things for me.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your reported college GPA on your second and third applications. I'm just trying to ballpark that number for people that may want to know.

I'm hoping that I get in, but if I don't, I guess I'll be on the track once more. Thankfully, my application has gotten stronger since last year, so hopefully it doesn't come to that but you can never know with the Academy.
Hopeful,

My reported college GPA on my second was a 3.25 and a 3.3 on my third. I was also doing a plethora of other things as well to improve my packet, and was in an extremely competitive engineering degree, so that helped as well I can imagine.

Yeah keep with it if it is what you truly want! There are always things you can do to strengthen your app, and finding those opportunities and jumping on them will be key!

-Nilet


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I currently am in my second year as a student at a civilian university, but I was just wondering what major differences you have experienced at the Academy versus that of a civilian college? Other than the obvious difference in discipline and freedom. There are many reasons I want to attend USAFA, and many reasons include experiencing such as what you mentioned as experiences that aren't available anywhere else, not to mention I'll be serving this amazing country. Thanks for all of the insight.

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LindsA,

Other than the discipline and restrictions that we experience as Four Degrees, course load is something MUCH different here than you will experience at a normal college.

At my previous school, typical students who were in my degree were taking 12-16 credits (4 credit classes) and were considered full time. That equates to 3-4 strong classes in your schedule each semester taking anywhere from 90-100 credits for graduation (115 in an engineering degree). Here at the academy, the typical student will be taking 6-7 classes per semester! I had the misconception that the classes might be easier when coming here because of the large amount they have is attending, but that was FALSE. They are at if not above the caliber of my classes at my civilian college - not to mention that everyone takes a core schedule in engineering regardless of your prospective major.

On top of all this, cadets are expected to be athletes as well. We all either play varsity sports, or intramurals - as well as participate in a number of clubs and other competitive events. So the time that you will spend off base or doing things not academy related, at lead during your freshman year, is small.

All that being said - I've never had so much fun at college! We get to take cool classes too, as they just implemented a policy that all freshman have a soaring (glider) class freshman year! Also, cadets have opportunities to do some pretty cool service and ceremonial events that we didn't get to do back in civilian college - even with AFROTC.

Let me know if you have any more questions!:)

-Nilet


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Did you validate any of your college courses during BCT? If so which ones?
Was your scholarship high school or in college?
What do you think made your third application more attractive for the academy so you'd finally be appointed?

If I get accepted for the class of 2019 I would have a full year of college completed in Aerospace Engineering so similar situation.
 
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Did you validate any of your college courses during BCT? If so which ones?
Was your scholarship high school or in college?
What do you think made your third application more attractive for the academy so you'd finally bv

If I get accepted for the class of 2019 I would have a full year of college completed in Aerospace Engineering so similar situation.

Hodge,

Yes - but not during BCT. Here at the Academy there is a difference between *validation* and *transfer* credits. I did validate calculus during BCT, but my other six classes which I received credit for were all done by me walking my transcript to each of the department heads and speaking with them about transfer credits. In the end, I was able to get enough credit taken care of to be able to now double major without adding any unnecessary course load!

I had a type 2 HS AFROTC scholarship. My major selection was restricted to technical only, so that is why I pursued Mechanical Engineering before coming here.

I would say that persistence had a lot to do with it, and the fact that I was performing to the best of my ability in AFROTC. It definitely wasn't the grades that got me in, but I would say the fact that I stayed with it, kept finding leadership positions as often as possible, walked onto the NCAA XC team at my old university (never ran in HS), and attained my private pilot's license all played a decent role in getting me in on the third try!

Another avenue that many people forget about is how important their congressman/woman can be. They ultimately have the decision where to slate you for their nom, and a principle nomination could very well be the bump to get someone in to the academy. The nominator may look very highly upon the persistence to get in - as mine did!

Good luck with your app!

-Nilet
 
Nilet,

Thanks for all the answers!
I was getting different answers on the whole transfer/validation of credits so your answer there is really helpful in the event I an appointment. Till then I wait.

-Hodge
 
Nillet, thank you so much for the tips! I appreciate it! As Hodge said, now we just wait.

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Hi, Nilet,
I just finished my AFROTC scholarship application today with my interview. I was wondering if you knew about what time frame I might hear back....
 
Bailey,

I really wish I could tell you when, but AFROTC scholarship boards are met at a different time every year - it works a bit different than admissions. I received my scholarship in HS on 22 March 2012. Good luck!

-Nilet
 
Bailey,

I really wish I could tell you when, but AFROTC scholarship boards are met at a different time every year - it works a bit different than admissions. I received my scholarship in HS on 22 March 2012. Good luck!

-Nilet
Okay, thanks! In your opinion, are AFROTC scholarships or USAFA appointments more competitive? Or are they just different and neither is more competitive?
 
Can't really compare the two as one is national and the other with the nomination process is more regional.
 
Okay, thanks! In your opinion, are AFROTC scholarships or USAFA appointments more competitive? Or are they just different and neither is more competitive?
Bailey,

I agree - you really can't compare them. It totally depends on where you are from, varies year to year, and they both are just different application processes entirely.

-Nilet


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Did you have to pay back your AFROTC scholarship when you left your university?
 
Did you have to pay back your AFROTC scholarship when you left your university?

Armydoc,

No. In fact, I went through a legal process to dissolve my contract in order to come to the Academy out of ROTC. However, as most of the cadets here do not go through commitment until their junior year, I am still technically under a military commitment through then because I had already contracted. So no, I didn't have to pay it back - but yes, I would have to in the event that I left the academy.

-Nilet
 
Nilet,

Hello. I am in a similar situation as you. I applied to USAFA for class of 2018 and was non-select. I am currently in AFROTC at my first year in college. I was accepted to USAFA Prep School and plan to attend and hopefully become class of 2020. I even went to an early college and have a lot of transfer credit. Did USAFA not care that your credits were out of state? (I assume they were, I'm not sure.) Also, any advice for transitioning from college life to USAFA life?
 
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