AFROTC great news! but it's bitter sweat

maxib7

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Mar 5, 2015
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I took my interview for AFROTC today and my interviewer said he's never interviewed someone that has impressed him in the interview as much as I had and he has offered me a full scholarship to his university!

This is great and I'm so blessed to have been given this opportunity, but the problem is that I don't really want to go to that university. I would much rather go to another one I really like that has a much better program for what I want to go into.

I'm really conflicted and don't know which to choose. He said I don't have to accept or decline it until the third board meets.

Also my chances of getting the regular AFROTC scholarship aren't that great
my ACT is a 27
GPA: 3.71 unweighted
1.5 mile: 10:45
push-up: 48
sit-up: 57


I'm still hopeful to get the regular scholarship, but if I don't.... Do I go to the university I want to go to with the better program and without a scholarship or do I accept the scholarship.

Plus I really like the Cadre at the college I interviewed at. I feel like I fit into there ROTC program well just not their university
 
That is interesting...I have always been under the assumption that if offered an official ICSP, you must remove your name from the HSSP. Allowing you to hold an ICSP in your pocket until March is a new one to me.
~ Not saying it doesn't happen, just saying if you look around here, there is another thread currently going and the other posters have said the same thing...offered the ICSP, and had 3 days to accept or reject. If accepted they would than have to officially rescind their HSSP application for the national board.
~~ This has been true for the years past.

Can you afford the other school without the scholarship?
~ No answer needed to be posted here. This is a question you need to discuss with the folks.

I can say one thing as a parent of 3, 1 commissioned via AFROTC scholarship.
~ The fastest way for doing poorly in college is not enjoying being there.

What questions did you ask him to believe it is a better program at the other college, unless you are inferring academic program only and not ROTC too?
~ SFT selection rate...avg cgpa/AFOQT, tech and non-tech
~ AFSC 1st choice selection rate...rated and non-rated
~ Retention rate from 100 to commissioning

Great example: ERAU will state that they give out the most rated slots after USAFA. Sounds great, right? However, statistically you have just as high of a chance of getting a UPT slot out of VT as ERAU. It is digging a little deeper that will let you make a more informed decision.

If I was going to be brutally honest, just based on your ACT scores, you are below the avg for ACT by a solid point for best sitting, close to 1.5 for a type 7. You may have other aspects in your WCS that offsets the ACT score, thus, don't read too much into that.

That being said, nobody knows what this candidate pool looks like. Heck, I doubt HQ AFROTC knows yet since they have not met for the 1st board.

ROTC is going to be a balancing act of both academics and ROTC. If you love the unit, but hate the school, or love the school, but hate the unit, you will be miserable very quickly, and in all likelihood it will show.
~ You will owe 4 years to the ADAF, at the very least if you commission. Your OML, rated or non will be not only be your cgpa, but also the big chunk will be your CoCs ranking.
~ As a cadet you will have a job in the unit, and as you progress through the ranks, so will the demands of your job within the unit. It is not going to be just show up for LLAB and PT for the next 4 years. If you are successful, than you can expect many more hours on top of that for ROTC, while maintaining that high enough cgpa to be competitive for your top career choice.
~~ This does not include if you want to join military organizations, such as, Arnie Air, SIlver Wings, Honor Guard or Angel Flight.

Finally, remember all AFROTC scholarships are what most of us call a 2+2. You are guaranteed as a GMC (100/200 yr), but as a sophomore you will compete nationally for a Summer Field Training spot. If not selected, they will most likely dis-enroll you as a junior. The selection board for SFT does not know if the candidate is on scholarship. They go by several factors, including:
~ Tech or non-tech major. Rated or non-rated
~ CGPA. Tech majors avg 3.0/3.1, non-tech 3.3/3.4
~ AFOQT ...exam sim. to the ACT. 4 parts, but 2 of them are pilot and nav.
~ PFA
~ CoCs ranking

Note: Academic good standing for AFROTC scholarship is 2.5, however, if you want to be able to stay on scholarship you will need much higher than that.
~ It is another details are with the Devil that most kids don't think about. All they see is...Congrats you have been awarded a 4 yr scholarship. It will pay tuition, books, and stipend as long as you maintain a 2.5
~~ Only when they get there do they realize the details and feel the weight on their shoulders.
 
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Thank you for all the information!

Going into the interview, they new that their university wasn't really on my list and for my major their school doesn't have a very good program. They were telling me how I couldn't go into my engineering major there but that they had my second choice (computer science).

I really like the cadre there. They saw that their school might not be a great fit for me, but were still very interested about getting me into an AFROTC program. The Flight Commander even said he would call my top two school choices and tell the cadre there about me and try to get me a scholarship at those schools. (This was after he offered me their scholarship). I don't know if that is unusual or not. Then they said to call them for anymore information or my decision and it has to be made by the time the 3rd board meets.
(As a side note: The cadre there are spectacular. They showed a lot of passion for what they due and in students, and inspired me to want to be in the program even more)

As far as the other schools being better, I was referring about their academic standing. My top 2 choices have much better programs for what I want to do.

The school I interviewed at is a smaller school with a smaller ROTC program and my top two are very large schools with much larger ROTC programs. So another part in the decision is do I want to be in the smaller program and have a better chance at having leadership positions or go to the larger schools where spots will be more competitive. I'm only assuming this right now. I plan on talking to the detachments from all three schools
 
The Flight Commander even said he would call my top two school choices and tell the cadre there about me and try to get me a scholarship at those schools. (This was after he offered me their scholarship)

I am confused at this point. ICSPs is what I would call a "POCKET" ROTC scholarship. Unlike the HSSP which is national, and the scholarship is tied to only the cadet and their intended major, choice of college matriculation is not in play regarding this decision, the ICSP for HS students is tied to the college.
~ These are rare scholarships

Again, I am not sure how much impact they will have with the cadre regarding offering an ICSP
~ Also, as stated before, the you can hold both the ICSP and go HSSP is not something I have ever heard of in my 7 years here. It has always been, offered an official ICSP, than you remove your name from HSSP.
~~ The common offer is you have 72 hours to respond. Take it or leave it. You are the 1st to say you have 5 months and can be HSSP boarded. You are also the 1st to say that they will also contact other units.
~~~ ICSP is more like an EA admissions. It is a recruitment tool.

I am not saying, I don't believe you. I am saying I am floored they would do this, and wonder how much impact they have at the other units....especially powerhouse units. Not just saying a school like Notre Dame or ERAU, but State flagship colleges like PSU, OSU, VT (SMC too) will think twice before they jump on offering an ICSP if you are nothing less than a high match.
~ Every unit has limited funds, and I am a realist.
~~ The beauty of AFROTC compared to A/NROTC HSSP scholarship is it is tied to the cadet and their intended major. ICSP is like A/NROTC...it is tied to the college and the cadet plus their intended major.
.

This is a current AFROTC thread regarding ICSP for HS candidates
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/afrotc-scholarship-chances.45003/

Note both stemmom and luluarnold's DS were given 72 hours to make a decision.
Lulu's DSs had his pulled after contacting another unit.

Just saying, if it was me, I would be asking some more questions.
 
Hmmm this is very strange... I'll definitely look more into this and ask for more information.

To clarify: maybe it came across wrong in my OP but they said if I accept the scholarship my name will be withdrawn from the national scholarship.
 
if I accept the scholarship my name will be withdrawn from the national scholarship.

That sounds more like what typically occurs fr an ICSP offer. The ICSP offer is, from what I understand, at the discretion of the CoC. IOWS, they don't have to offer an ICSP at all. Most will give a drop dead date to accept because if you don't accept, they want the chance to still use it for someone else, but it reads like for them they are saying you are it and are willing to hold on for your decision.

As I stated on the other thread...this is a win, win, win for the unit. For you, by accepting the ICSP and believing it can be transferred to your number 1 school, you will have to hope that the other unit did not offer an ICSP to another HS candidate.

OBTW, I would strongly suggest that if you can financially afford to visit that dream college, do so! Contact the detachment to coordinate meeting up with them too. Ask if you can meet/talk with some POCs (300/400s). Ask the folks to meet you in an hour or so somewhere on campus. Here is why:
1. Bringing the folks with you, becomes more like a dog and pony show. Best foot forward only.
2. Walking the campus to meet them somewhere else, instead of that campus visit tour allows you a few moments alone to envision being there next year by yourself as a student. No student on campus is going to see you as a HS kid because you are alone with no folks. They will just assume you are a student there when they bump into you as they walk by.
3. The biggest reason. Goes back to no. 1.
~ Most dets, will have a student lounge. Our DSs AFROTC lounge had not only an Xbox with games for cadets to use, but also a DVD player, foosball and Crud table. DS would hang in the det between classes instead of going back to his dorm or apt.

We did this with our DS. He spent an hour with 300/400s and discussed what it was like at that unit. It was informal as they played an Xbox game...just like kids hanging out. He got a real feel for the unit, unlike what you get when you do the formal interview and talk to the CoC.
~ DS wanted rated, but was going non-tech (govt/poli-sci) and when we set that meeting up we told the CoC those facts. They set him up with 2 or 3 300/400s that had the same background. They gave him a new perspective of what life would be like as a cadet in the unit.

Our DS met up with Bullet at the Student Union. His 1st words out of his mouth was...Dad, can we go to the Bursars office and pay the deposit? This was not his number 1 choice school, but it became number 1 because that time alone with peers (age group) and walking the campus from the det to the Student Union felt like this was the place he belonged.
~ Additional plus for him was that what he did was very uncommon. The 300 that hung with him, remembered meeting him. (It would be considered an honor to be selected by the CoC to do this) His unit is considered large (100 100s is typical). That 300 was now a 400 when he entered and said...I remember you.... he felt he was not lost in a sea of 100s. Do not get me wrong, he got NO special treatment, but it made him feel better as a new cadet from the idea that he could go to someone privately if things went upside down/sideways in the very beginning.

Just food for thought.
 
I just had something very unexpected happen. A Capt. at my #1 school of choice just called. He said he talked to the Det. at the school I interviewed at!

He wants me and my family to come to the university, meet the Cadre, and let them show us around and meet a few cadets within the next 2-3 weeks! I agreed and I hope to do as you advised and get a feel of the university and Det.

This obviously doesn't too much other than the Det. would like to meet me, but my hopes are still high...

As always, thank you for your amazing advise.
 
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DS just received a 4-Year, Type 7, Any Approved Major AFROTC scholarship. Does this mean he is free to choose any major as long as he gets the OK from AFROTC? Can he change it along the way in year 2 or 3 and keep his scholarship?
 
Wow! My DD just received an email as well. She was offered a 4 year Type 2 AFROTC technical scholarship. I thought we were not going to hear anything until December 23rd. What a surprise. I wish the USAFA results were more timely. The waiting is so hard.

Congratulations to all of you that received the good news.
 
DS just got an email notifying him that he was offered a 4 year Type 2 AFROTC technical major scholarship. Looks like word from the December board is going out this week. Congrats to all winners!
 
Wow! My DD just received an email as well. She was offered a 4 year Type 2 AFROTC technical scholarship. I thought we were not going to hear anything until December 23rd. What a surprise. I wish the USAFA results were more timely. The waiting is so hard.

Congratulations to all of you that received the good news.

Congrats!
 
Thanks everyone! This was an amazing surprise. I was very unsure if I was going to make it or not
 
Just got an email saying I got a 4 year type-7 for technical major. A little sad, but happy to have gotten anything nonetheless!
 
Just got an email saying I got a 4 year type-7 for technical major. A little sad, but happy to have gotten anything nonetheless!

you are sad??? You have been offered a $100K+ scholarship, what am I missing? Congrats I think???
 
Perhaps he/she is going to a private or out of state school and was hoping for the type 2 or type 1 to pay for it. (Type 7 only pays for public in-state tuition, type 2 - up to 18,000 in tuition a year, type 1 - full tuition every year)
 
Perhaps he/she is going to a private or out of state school and was hoping for the type 2 or type 1 to pay for it. (Type 7 only pays for public in-state tuition, type 2 - up to 18,000 in tuition a year, type 1 - full tuition every year)

Fair point, I did not consider that. But still....
 
I'll be majoring in astronautical engineering, hopefully at University of Michigan.
 
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