ROTC: Highschool scholarship vs. College scholarship

Heath13

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Knowing my chances for earning an AFROTC Scholarship in highschool are slim, I've explored other options and saw the In-College Scholarship Program (ICSP). I saw that if I have good fitness scores, a high GPA, and a good class ranking I am very likely to recieve a scholarship through ICSP. This sounds like a lot easier path to earn a 3 year scholarship in college than the highschool path for a rarely awarded 4 year scholarship where you have to excel in many things from athletics and jobs to very high ACT scores. Is this true? If this is true, why?
 
The thing you have to understand is there a limited amount of money for each year group. AFROTC expects a certain amount of HSSP recipients to not activate the scholarship in the fall for various reasons, such as SA appointments or activating a different ROTC scholarship, or more leaving at a higher rate after their freebie year. If that number comes in too high than there is no to little money left in the pot. There have been years that they did not hold an ICSP. There have been years that they have held the ICSP with high percentages of applicants receiving an ICSP. It depends on the pot of gold left for the year group. It also matters what your major is in college, a tech major is going to have an edge compared to a non-tech major. Tech majors need to be over that 3.0 cgpa (college) and non-tech need to be over a 3.3.

Overall, you can expect that only 20% of all cadets are on scholarship be it on ICSP or HSSP. If you look at how many commission via AFROTC, compared to how many enter it does increase because of SFT and those that voluntarily leave the program, but still it is not going to ever be 100% of all applicants are on scholarship.
 
While I couldn't tell you the exact reason, my guess would be it's because the cadre actually get the chance to know you and see your performance vs making the decision based solely on an interview and some paperwork for high school. In addition, cadre have certain types of scholarships they can give based on their individual decision vs having to go through a national board. Also, there are job specific scholarships which you can receive if you commit to a certain high-demand job for the Air Force (i.e. missiles), although this typically varies from year to year. I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship through the HSSP, but everyone in my AS300 class who didn't have a scholarship from high school and was eligible to apply for a scholarship has gotten one through the ICSP. While this certainly isn't the norm, if you do well in the areas you mentioned (also, choosing a tech major helps A LOT) you stand a pretty good chance of getting one due to the fact the USAF is currently expanding. Again though, like Pima said, you're kind of at the mercy of the Air Force and how much money they have for that particular year. The most important thing to keep in mind is that you must be prepared to do ROTC whether you receive a scholarship or not.
 
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I'm going in with a tech major, specifically mechanical engineering, and a 3.9 GPA. Can you give me a percentage of how many cadets pass SFT? Thank you Pima and Thunder.
 
Knowing my chances for earning an AFROTC Scholarship in highschool are slim, I've explored other options and saw the In-College Scholarship Program (ICSP). I saw that if I have good fitness scores, a high GPA, and a good class ranking I am very likely to recieve a scholarship through ICSP. This sounds like a lot easier path to earn a 3 year scholarship in college than the highschool path for a rarely awarded 4 year scholarship where you have to excel in many things from athletics and jobs to very high ACT scores. Is this true? If this is true, why?

I would try for both! Meaning go with trying in high school, and then if it doesn't work out, then onto plan B, go on campus and fight for an ICSP. I have to think that those that have applied for a national scholarship in high school looks good to the colleges when they awarding their campus based. I know for Army, that can be the case at some schools. One school my daughter visited said that they look at the kids that went through the national process first and didn't get one when looking to award campus based, I am not sure how common this is. I know that with my DD, her Dad and I both thought she was unlikely to receive a national scholarship knowing how competitive it is, and despite our doubts, she earned one anyway. There is no way for you to earn one unless you try, so apply and go for it! Good luck to you.
 
I agree that you should apply for both.
I'm going in with a tech major, specifically mechanical engineering, and a 3.9 GPA. Can you give me a percentage of how many cadets pass SFT?

I am confused do you have a 3.9 cgpa in HS or are you expecting to carry a 3.9 gpa in college? If it is the 1st than I would think you are competitive for an HSSP. If it is the latter than I think you might be a little unrealistic about the gpa for an engineering major.

For the last couple of years SFT selection rate has been over 90%. SFT rates change every year depending on the pool size and the needs of the AF from a personnel aspect. IE about 4 yrs ago it was a 90% rate, 3 yrs ago it was 55%, than the following yr it was back to @90%. However, what has not changed is the number cadets accepted and their cgpa. It has always hovered right around 2000 cadets, and the avg cgpa for tech majors has been between 3.0/3.1
 
3.9 is my current high school GPA and I'm not competitive for a HSSP scholarship because I don't have lots of job experience and my ACT is only a 26 and thank you Dckc88
 
You need to keep taking that ACT. They do not superscore, but you can still bring it up for your best sitting. Or at least try the SAT. If next fall you intend to enter AFROTC, over the summer study the AFOQT. This test you can only take 2x, and if you do take it twice it is not a best sitting or superscore situation. It is the last sitting, so it is test that most cadets will try NOT to take more than once due to the risk of scoring lower on the second. If you take the AFOQT than they will use which ever score (ACT or AFOQT) is higher according to their conversions.
~ AFOQT is 4 parts, sim. to the ACT, but with Pilot and Nav sections too. This test will also be part of your SFT selection and your career field assignment whether you go rated or non-rated.

There are sample exams out there just like the ACT/SAT
 
I only have one more ACT test date before my applications are due and I don't think I can get it up to a 29-30. I know I'll get into college with my 26 so I'm going to spend my time with the AFOQT. I don't think I'll have enough time to study for the ACT and achieve the score I want without disrupting schoolwork and practice. With the time I do have I can start early and get ahead for the AFOQT. I will be attending college next August. Do you chose when you take your AFOQT or do they have test dates?
 
3.9 is my current high school GPA and I'm not competitive for a HSSP scholarship because I don't have lots of job experience and my ACT is only a 26 and thank you Dckc88
I only have one more ACT test date before my applications are due and I don't think I can get it up to a 29-30. I know I'll get into college with my 26 so I'm going to spend my time with the AFOQT. I don't think I'll have enough time to study for the ACT and achieve the score I want without disrupting schoolwork and practice. With the time I do have I can start early and get ahead for the AFOQT. I will be attending college next August. Do you chose when you take your AFOQT or do they have test dates?

But you could improve it. My daughter was sitting in your shoes last year. Although her ACT was a 22. She was told at a ROTC visit that her resume overall looked really good but that the score wasn't good enough for the national scholarship, similar to how you are feeling. She was given a goal of 25-26 (Army) by the ROO, she spent 3-4 hours (with a very targeted program) in small modules for only 5 weeks. She received a 25, and a super score of 26 for the purpose of the scholarship application. Long story short, she received a scholarship. I think (but I am not sure) but the AFOQT doesn't take place until after you graduate high school, is that correct? If that is the case you have plenty of time to study for the next ACT and also for the AFOQT. If you don't feel you can get their studying on your own, you might need to spend some money, PM me if you are interested, what my daughter did cost $400 and she has had two friends do it also, one improved her ACT 4 points in 5 weeks (26 to 30) and the other one improved her CR + math 150 points in 6 weeks, and my daughter improved her score by 3 only completing less than half the program. You can get a 29 range, and even if you do not get the high school scholarship, a 29/30 versus a 26 will most likely get you more money merit wise if you don't have a scholarship.

And you mention "practice" which tells me you are in sports, not having work experience is not going to hurt you if you are doing something else with your time that is productive that you can show.

I get the feeling that you just want to hear "skip the high school scholarship application and go straight for the college scholarship", however, I would definitely advise my own kid to try for both, and I will tell you that you will learn a ton in the process of the application and it might just turn out that you earn one.
 
I don't think you take the AFOQT in high school but I do know you take the ASVAB test in high school. It is military based and is similar to the AFOQT but helps highschoolers earn enlisted job positions. The path you explained to me does sound like a great idea. I play football basketball and track throughout the school year. This along with other things like school work and family time though takes up almost all of my day. Did your daughter play sports and still manage to do the program? If so, than maybe I could do it. To be honest I don't know if I could keep myself motivated enough to do it. I'm not saying a have bad work ethic, I'm saying at a point I'm going to want and need to relax. Congrats to your daughter for working at it and earning that scholarship. I've considered Army instead of Air Force but I don't know if I could go all the way through with it. Thank you
 
But from what you said I will continue studying for the ACT as it does seem to be more beneficial than I thought even if I don't earn an AFROTC scholarship.
 
The AFOQT is only for college, that is why I said start studying it next summer. Our DS took his his freshmen year in college.
 
I don't think you take the AFOQT in high school but I do know you take the ASVAB test in high school. It is military based and is similar to the AFOQT but helps highschoolers earn enlisted job positions. The path you explained to me does sound like a great idea. I play football basketball and track throughout the school year. This along with other things like school work and family time though takes up almost all of my day. Did your daughter play sports and still manage to do the program? If so, than maybe I could do it. To be honest I don't know if I could keep myself motivated enough to do it. I'm not saying a have bad work ethic, I'm saying at a point I'm going to want and need to relax. Congrats to your daughter for working at it and earning that scholarship. I've considered Army instead of Air Force but I don't know if I could go all the way through with it. Thank you

If you decided to apply for both Army and Air Force (many people do that to keep their options open), you would be competitive with your current score with the amount of sports you do, your GPA, etc. Don't get me wrong, a higher score would be great, but you are competitive with the score you have. And while AF doesn't super score, the Army does. There are other pieces to the puzzle, like sports and leadership, but work is not a requirement.

My daughter is an "over-scheduler" so yes, she balanced the program with church commitments (she was in 2 leadership roles taking 6-8 hours a week), Cross Country, school/homework, volunteering at the hospital every week, and working 3 nights a week. The program allowed her to do it in 30 minute modules, so she would even take her tablet to school, hook up to wifi during lunch and would crank out a lesson. Her goal was to do 8 a week, and she rarely met that goal, and only had 5 weeks to prepare. The biggest help was taking a couple full length practice tests a few weeks a part leading up to the test. she did that on the weekend. It honestly was the only way she could do it, because the modules are customized to where you need help, it is not generic, so every module she did worked towards improving her score. I recommend it. By the way, she had done two other courses before, one was a classroom one that was super expensive, and she really didn't get much out of it only improving her score from a 21 to a 22, with a HUGE time commitment, so this online program is really amazing and like I said she has two friends that also improved with reasonable time commitment. It is just a suggestion, it just depends what you are wanting to do and can afford time/money wise. I just know she is really glad she did it. The other thing about the program is it is motivating, you set goals for each week and it emails you your progress. I think you get 5 days free when you sign up, you have to give your payment information, however, you can email them on the 5th day and they won't charge you for it if you decide it is not for you.
 
Well its been a while since I've been on this thread but I just wanted to let you guys all know where I'm at now. I ended up taking the ACT again as well as the SAT I received a 25 on the ACT and was disappointed knowing it was one of my last shots and prepared for the SAT and received a 1310!! For some reason the Air Force only took my score as a 1230 I think because they took out the writing portion or something I don't know. I completed my PFA with 67 pushups(max) 57 situps (1 away from max) and an 8:51 mile and a half (max). I just completed my interview today and I think it went well. Way better than I thought it would be. My interviewer was way younger than I thought he would be, probably only 24 25. He will be one of my instructors in the unit as well. Anyways I'm proud of how far I came and I want to thank you guys for pushing me to compete for the HSSP scholarship!! Thank you!!
 
Well its been a while since I've been on this thread but I just wanted to let you guys all know where I'm at now. I ended up taking the ACT again as well as the SAT I received a 25 on the ACT and was disappointed knowing it was one of my last shots and prepared for the SAT and received a 1310!! For some reason the Air Force only took my score as a 1230 I think because they took out the writing portion or something I don't know. I completed my PFA with 67 pushups(max) 57 situps (1 away from max) and an 8:51 mile and a half (max). I just completed my interview today and I think it went well. Way better than I thought it would be. My interviewer was way younger than I thought he would be, probably only 24 25. He will be one of my instructors in the unit as well. Anyways I'm proud of how far I came and I want to thank you guys for pushing me to compete for the HSSP scholarship!! Thank you!!

Nice progress!

Are you still pursuing both AF and Army ROTC?
 
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