AFROTC timing of interview questions

Good day,
My DS plans to have his AFROTC application (including all required forms, etc.) completed and delivered online by June 15th, 2019. When can he expect to have an interview scheduled? Also, where do the interviews take place? He is heading out of State for employment purposes. Thank you in advance for your time.

A local afrotc detachment will contact you to schedule an interview. It depends on your detachment, but I was contacted the day after I submitted my application.

You should be contacted within 20 duty days to schedule an interview, but if he wants to interview at a particular detachment, then contact them first and request it. Technically he will interview at the nearest detachment, but really that's just because it is assigned to them. His technician can just as easily assign his interview to another Det (like the one where he wishes to attend).

Keep in mind that cadre typically wait until the summer break to take leave and vacation, so availability might be a little limited. The first board won't be until the fall, so he has plenty of time.

On that note, if your son isn't a superstar (at least on paper), then I wouldn't rush it too much. The interview is the quickest way to delay selection or derail an application, and the first boards tend to be small and highly selective-- only awarding the no-brainer applicants. Pack in 3-4 mock interviews with him and throw curve balls so he gets used to having to think on his feet.

The two big mistakes applicants tend to make is mistakenly thinking the PFA isn't that important or walking into the interview unprepared. Neither is a given or something that she be taken as a given.

Lastly, the recent trend has been for the interview to be the washout point-- in other words, they only interview those that are competitive (unweighted GPA >3.5, varsity sports, student council, Gold Star/Eagle, etc.). If he doesn't get picked up for an interview within a month, I'd start preparing AROTC and NROTC as a backstop.

Tbpxece,
Thank you for the information! He will be strong on the PFA, He plays soccer and works out at crossfit and has been training for the PFA. 2 year varsity soccer and one year varsity tennis. He has 3.6, 31 ACT. I did have a couple more questions. If he submits his application mid August he should be named captain of soccer team by then. They select captains early August. The team only names seniors so he had no chance before this fall. That is the one area he is lacking (leadership). He also was voted an honor camper his freshman summer at a 7 week military style boys camp (they have inspection, etc.) I do not know if they will consider that. Only the boys who exemplify leadership qualities earn the honor camper emblem- and you have to earn other emblems (inspection, best tripper and sunshine) just to be considered. What is your opinion of waiting to see if he is nominated captain and submitting app mid-August- and what is your opinion on the camp leadership honor- would it be considered?

In my opinion, there is no harm in waiting. I did my interview a week before the 3rd AFROTC board, and I was still offered a scholarship. Honestly, I would wait until the 2nd or 3rd board.

They also sent me some statistics about 2019 scholarship awardees.

FY19 HSSP Results | SAT | ACT | GPA
Overall (2534 scholarships) |1366 | 30 | 3.78
Type 1 (284 / 11%) |1472 | 33 | 3.93
Type 2 (437 / 17%) |1404 | 31 | 3.87
Type 7 (1813 / 72%) |1342 | 29 | 3.73

Corleone1970 said:

That is the one area he is lacking (leadership).

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Being named team captain is cool but not necessarily a differentiator. Many candidates were team captains. More importantly, he should show how he made a leadership impact. And for that you don’t need a title. Show how he identified an issue, devised a solution, rallied others to the cause, and left the situation better than he found it. That’s the sort of leadership example that should come out in his interview. And it’s worth waiting so that he can practice and then tell that story coherently and convincingly.

Corleone1970 said:

Tbpxece,
What is your opinion of waiting to see if he is nominated captain and submitting app mid-August- and what is your opinion on the camp leadership honor- would it be considered?

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The day he begins his academic senior year is the day the AFROTC board quits counting his extracurriculars. By suggesting you not rush the application, I am speaking to pushing him into the interview and/or PFA prematurely. I still recommend you have everything submitted ~30 days prior to the first board.

AFI 36-2011 is the regulation that governs the ROTC program. The last two pages contain "suggested" interview questions for the interviewer (hint, hint).

The AFPFT charts are here. Even though the PFA does not give a score, your son should strive to achieve what would be a 90+ on the AFPFT in order to be competitive. 10:30 or less on the run, 67 pushups, 58 situps. Make sure he can do it in the middle of the hottest days where you live. The pushups and situps are timed-- 67 is a LOT when you have to do them all in less than a minute-- that trips many up.

Beyond that, if that is his weighted GPA, then it is too low. If it is unweighted, then he is weak. I would suggest he knock out some more volunteer work over the summer that emphasizes leadership roles if he does not have varsity, Eagle Scout, student council, etc. For the two "awards" you mentioned, there is nowhere for him to report those on the application, but they might be worth mentioning in the interview if you can teach him how to do that without coming across as bragging or awkward.

I would also say make sure he practices it in order and timed. IOWS, don't say this is my run time if that is the only thing you did. Same with do not say this my overall scores if you did not do it in the mandated order or you gave yourself a longer break between the different portions.

As tbpxece said do this during heat, but also do this when it is slightly raining, do it early in the a.m. after only getting 5-6 hrs of sleep. The reason why is any of these things may occur when you take the PFA.

I also agree that the cgpa is low unless it is unweighted. They will convert your cgpa through their algorithm. For example, if your HS uses a 5.0 weight for APs than you will see your cgpa drop because they use a 4.5 weight. If I recall correctly they also use a 10 point scale.

Additionally, if his ACT is superscore than that is not the score they will use. They will only use best sitting. The ACT/SAT score is also the only thing they will allow to be updated for the application during your senior yr. Thus, keep taking if you can afford to during your senior yr. A higher ACT could mean the difference between a type 7 and a type 2, or a type 2 and a type 1.

I also agree that you should have everything submitted by the 1st board. There is only a limited amount of money for scholarships.
That being said, think of the scholarship boards like a bell curve. The least amt awarded will be the 1st and last board. Usually the 1st board awards scholarships to the definite recipients for those types, regardless of how many more new applicants will be boarded in the future.
~ IE They know from historical data that you will fall right in the middle of a type 7 no matter what. Whereas, a candidate that is on the cusp between a type 7 and 2, they may hold off until later boards meet to see the stats for this yrs pool size.

My last piece of advice. DO NOT try to game the system by saying you will go Tech with the idea that if you decide after a semester you don't like it you will switch to a non-tech major. You can do that, but chances are extremely high that they will revoke the scholarship. You can stay in AFROTC, but you won't have the scholarship. How will you make up the difference? This board is littered every yr in the fall with cadets asking what can they do now....I am doing poorly and want to change majors.... I hate my major, but love the school...

Thank you to all for the input. He has reviewed all the answers and advice. How does he determine the date of the first board? Thank you.

It should be on the AFROTC website by now. I am too lazy to look it up.
Yrs past the 1st board is the beginning of Oct.
If you follow tbpxece's advice that is why you want to get the application in by mid-Aug.
You can't be boarded until you have the interview. It can take a month to get the interview done.
~ ROTC units the 1st few weeks of school are busy getting their own things done. During the summer ROTC unit staff is skeleton because the staff cannot take leave (vacation) during the school yr., thus, this is the time they can. Plus, AF typically moves personnel during the summer, hence the unit could have just finished changing over staff on top of that.
~~ New cadet orientation.
~~ Updating cadet files that have completed SFT
~~ Scheduling AFOQT
~~ PFT and contracting cadets.
~~ AFSC board for non-rated occur in the fall....updating the paperwork for 400 cadets
~~ Rated cadets took their Flight physical during the summer, any issues and they are dealing with waivers for them
~~ 400's had to submit their security clearance paperwork during the spring and interviews were done during the summer. Verifying that they are on track.

Now add onto this that you will have your own schedule to coordinate. They may have a Monday opening at 2 pm. but you have a prior commitment so it doesn't work. Their next opening where it works for both of you is 2 weeks later.

Corleone1970 said:

Thank you to all for the input. He has reviewed all the answers and advice. How does he determine the date of the first board? Thank you.

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When he completes his application and his interview has been forwarded to HQ, he will receive an email with this upcoming year's board dates. Pima is right, they usually begin in early Fall.

Alternatively, he can either (a) directly ask his scholarship technician, or (b) ask your local AFROTC det. I'd suggest option a - AFROTC detachments tend to me minimally manned over the summer, and the two scholarship technicians (Mr. Miller and Mr. Scott) are very responsive to email.

On that note-- keep any emails to technicians short and to the point. Use BLUF formatting (Google it if you don't know what that means), and be respectful.

This really is an easy process-- don't sweat it too much. There are no smoke and mirrors, or arcane mechanisms. Follow the instructions you've been given with the scholarship application to the letter, and over-prepare for the interview and PFA. That's the best recipe for success.

Appreciate it. He has decided to get the PFA test out of the way before he leaves for the summer since he has been training for it. He is in the process of getting his counselor's certification and transcript. We will get the required docs out when he returns early August. We will spend the time between submitting the app and his scheduled interview performing mock interviews. He has a plan and that is what he needed. Much thanks!

Tbpxece said:

Corleone1970 said:

Thank you to all for the input. He has reviewed all the answers and advice. How does he determine the date of the first board? Thank you.

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When he completes his application and his interview has been forwarded to HQ, he will receive an email with this upcoming year's board dates. Pima is right, they usually begin in early Fall.

Alternatively, he can either (a) directly ask his scholarship technician, or (b) ask your local AFROTC det. I'd suggest option a - AFROTC detachments tend to me minimally manned over the summer, and the two scholarship technicians (Mr. Miller and Mr. Scott) are very responsive to email.

On that note-- keep any emails to technicians short and to the point. Use BLUF formatting (Google it if you don't know what that means), and be respectful.

This really is an easy process-- don't sweat it too much. There are no smoke and mirrors, or arcane mechanisms. Follow the instructions you've been given with the scholarship application to the letter, and over-prepare for the interview and PFA. That's the best recipe for success.

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Update-- He maxed out on the PFA before he left for the summer. He got back August 8th, completed his application and had his interview on August 26th. I ordered Kirkland's insider guide. He had three mock interviews, 1 with me, and 2 others (one with an Army non-commissioned officer and one with an air force officer.) All interviews were recorded and then debriefed the next evening. Night and day from round 1 to round 3. 1st ever interview situation for DS. Received high compliments from interviewer. Reported no surprises or trick questions-as you advised TBPXECE. Website indicates his application will be reviewed on 1st board date. I will update after September 30 (1st of 7 board results to be released on or around that date). Thank you all for your input-it was on point and taken to heart. No matter what happens-this experience was INVALUABLE for him.

Corleone1970 said:

Update-- He maxed out on the PFA before he left for the summer.

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Great way to start off that application. Congrats to him-- remind him to keep that level of fitness over the next year.

Corleone1970 said:

He had three mock interviews, 1 with me, and 2 others (one with an Army non-commissioned officer and one with an air force officer.) All interviews were recorded and then debriefed the next evening. Night and day from round 1 to round 3. 1st ever interview situation for DS.

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It is amazing to me the number of applicants that show up without having gone through a few mock rounds with feedback. Video recording was a smart idea-- it helps to illustrate lack of eye contact, poor posture, unassertive body language, etc.

Corleone1970 said:

Website indicates his application will be reviewed on 1st board date....No matter what happens-this experience was INVALUABLE for him.

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Don't be surprised if he is NOT picked up the first round. He may be on the cusp of a T2 or T1 offer, and HQ doesn't want to pull the trigger on him until they see more applications.

It sounds like he finished strong, but his initial package was a little on the weak side (insofar as T1/T2 consideration). In this round, he will be going up against a lot of military brats and fast burners-- stiff competition with very strong packages.

I'm glad to hear he excelled this summer-- that is very promising and is rarely unnoticed at this stage.

Good day all,
DS was offered a 4 year type 2. Thanks for the support and information!