I'm happy that this thread came up, as I also have a few questions regarding AFSC selection. I will be an AS100 next fall. I have looked at AFSC CGO perspective packets and the educational requirements for the AFSCs I'm interested in, so I am not completely blind to the roles of officers in various AFSCs and the expectations for a cadet to be eligible for it.
1) Are the percentages of preference fixed, or do you set them yourself?
2) What is the method the AF uses for selecting cadets into non-rated AFSCs? Is it an equation that consists of GPA, FT ranking, Commander ranking, PFA, major, difficulty of college program, etc.? Are the different components weighted differently depending on the AFSC?
3) How do AFSCs that are considered critical manning play into the selection process? For example, if I put down my AFSC selection as
1: AFSC A
2: AFSC B
3: AFSC C
4: AFSC D
5: AFSC E
6: AFSC F
where they were in descending order of preference to me, but AFSC C and D are considered critical manning, and I really preferred AFSC A and B, would it be more wise to rearrange the list to
1: AFSC A
2: AFSC B
3: AFSC E
4: AFSC F
5: AFSC C
6: AFSC D
?
4) Are there ways to find out which AFSCs are critical manning, which have an excess of applicants, etc.?
Thanks in advance for the help, and if I need to clarify my questions, just ask!