AFROTC 2019-2020 Scholarship Statistics

ColordoKid24 said:
Are grades so inflated that nobody gets 3.0s anymore?
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For college-bound students, Yes.

The average GPA for high school students nationwide is now about 3.7, which means that high school grades per se are almost entirely useless as an indicator of anything. (So ironic that colleges are scrapping the only truly meaningful, standardized, normalized indicator of cognitive ability, the SAT.)

University admissions committees engage in all kinds of adjustments and recalculations of the GPA based on what they call "rigor" in order to try to get closer to a real, substantive, useful measure of what a student has actually learned in his high school career.
 
AFROTCAdmissions said:
Board 5 (625 awarded):
Type 1: 3.953 GPA / 34 ACT / 1514 SAT (60 awarded total)
Type 2: 3.967 GPA / 32 ACT / N/A SAT (3 awarded total)
Type 7: 3.844 GPA / 30 ACT / 1377 SAT (562 awarded total)
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For those sweating about their GPA, don't worry. The difference between a 3.95 and a 3.84 is almost meaningless-- a difference of 2.5%, or a grade bump in just 10% of the classes taken. That indicates nothing about achievement or scholastic aptitude.

In practical terms, this means that the 3.95 student would have received an A where the 3.84 student received a B+ in just ONE CLASS PER ACADEMIC YEAR, or 3 classes out of 6 x 5 academic solids = 3 out of 30 classes.

Is that actually a meaningful difference? One class out of ten, and everything else equal? That difference could easily be accounted for by sheer randomness-- the arbitrariness of the teacher's grading policy, for example, that for some reason, 1 out of 10 times, happened to favor the first student and disfavor the second student.

Conclusion: based on this data, it cannot be the case that GPA is dispositive in HSSP decisions. There must be another factor at work here -- my guess is the interview score.
 
thibaud said:
For college-bound students, Yes.

The average GPA for high school students nationwide is now about 3.7, which means that high school grades per se are almost entirely useless as an indicator of anything. (So ironic that colleges are scrapping the only truly meaningful, standardized, normalized indicator of cognitive ability, the SAT.)

University admissions committees engage in all kinds of adjustments and recalculations of the GPA based on what they call "rigor" in order to try to get closer to a real, substantive, useful measure of what a student has actually learned in his high school career.
Click to expand...
 
Mousie29 said:
Do you know how this can be? Our sons attend a classical study center and they have to work hard to get their As. Same with their quality math teacher. You hear stories about doing away with the standardized tests but in reality I think the competitive schools/ROTC programs draw a line of what is desired. I know a lot of special things have come our son’s way especially because of his very high ACT.
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Remember that GPA is only 1 of several criteria that is evaluated. I think people sometimes lose sight of that.....
 
thibaud said:
For college-bound students, Yes.

The average GPA for high school students nationwide is now about 3.7, which means that high school grades per se are almost entirely useless as an indicator of anything. (So ironic that colleges are scrapping the only truly meaningful, standardized, normalized indicator of cognitive ability, the SAT.)

University admissions committees engage in all kinds of adjustments and recalculations of the GPA based on what they call "rigor" in order to try to get closer to a real, substantive, useful measure of what a student has actually learned in his high school career.
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Yes, I agree with all this. Colleges largely know how to interpret GPA and transcripts, especially from schools and districts that send them a lot of kids. Not sure how (or if) the military evaluates this.
 
So... without sounding like a complete fool ( I am a first timer with this) How many more awards are available? From my understanding there are two more boards left (both in March). Who are they evaluating? All reboards? The cutoff for the application was in January, so is it safe to assume there will be no new applicants? My son has been reboarded for the third time ,which is better than a no, and WE are holding out hope because this is truly the path he wants to take. However I would like to understand the scenario better. Any help would be great!
 
McLee said:
How many more awards are available? From my understanding there are two more boards left (both in March). Who are they evaluating? All reboards? The cutoff for the application was in January, so is it safe to assume there will be no new applicants?
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Here's what I have come up with. Last year there were 2534 scholarships offered. This year through Board 5, 1375 have been offered. That leaves a delta of 1159 going by last year's numbers.
As far as the last two boards, I had the same thought you did, that there can't be that many more first-time applicants left to review. While I don't know the answer either way, I was told that some unknown number were still pending interviews, so evidently there are probably some new ones in the pipeline, but I don't know how many.
Finally, there were 292 total reboards coming out of Board 4. Don't know how many new ones have come out of Board 5. (I'd guess about 250, but that's little more than a WAG.) Either way, it seems to me that all of the reboards, plus all of the theoretical new files, still might not add up to that "delta" number above, but still too many unknowns to have a lot of confidence in this analysis.

Additional note -- The only other explanation I can come up with is that the reboard numbers posted through Board 4 weren't cumulative, but were rather new per every board. Adding in whatever number were newly classified as reboards in Board 5 would likely bring that number up over 1000 or so, which seems to make more sense.
 
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McLee said:
So... without sounding like a complete fool ( I am a first timer with this) How many more awards are available? From my understanding there are two more boards left (both in March). Who are they evaluating? All reboards? The cutoff for the application was in January, so is it safe to assume there will be no new applicants? My son has been reboarded for the third time ,which is better than a no, and WE are holding out hope because this is truly the path he wants to take. However I would like to understand the scenario better. Any help would be great!
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We are in the same boat, first board was Nov. Holding out hope that this is better than a NO anyway!!
 
franknd said:
Here's what I have come up with. Last year there were 2534 scholarships offered. This year through Board 5, 1375 have been offered. That leaves a delta of 1159 going by last year's numbers.
As far as the last two boards, I had the same thought you did, that there can't be that many more first-time applicants left to review. While I don't know the answer either way, I was told that some unknown number were still pending interviews, so evidently there are probably some new ones in the pipeline, but I don't know how many.
Finally, there were 292 total reboards coming out of Board 4. Don't know how many new ones have come out of Board 5. (I'd guess about 250, but that's little more than a WAG.) Either way, it seems to me that all of the reboards, plus all of the theoretical new files, still might not add up to that "delta" number above, but still too many unknowns to have a lot of confidence in this analysis.

Additional note -- The only other explanation I can come up with is that the reboard numbers posted through Board 4 weren't cumulative, but were rather new per every board. Adding in whatever number were newly classified as reboards in Board 5 would likely bring that number up over 1000 or so, which seems to make more sense.
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Thank you!
 
This thread built up since the last time I checked!

Just to clarify a few things that were mentioned throughout the thread:

1) Yes, GPA still matters! While the interview is a good chunk of your application, we do take into consideration your academics as well.
-Our minimum test scores are 26 ACT / 1240 SAT. Is it very rare to see someone score high on those tests and not get a relative high GPA as well. But I do understand that there are exceptions. Let me just state:

The lowest Type 1 GPA we've awarded is a 3.4, the lowest Type 2 is 3.08 and Type 7 is a 3.00.
The exact weight of each category is FOUO but I'll tell you it's Interview > SAT/ACT > GPA > PFA.

2) Yes, your GPA is also weighted according to Air Force's scale. If you took no AP/IB classes, your 3.3 is weighed less than a non-AP/IB 3.3.

3) No, the next boards are NOT only reboards. There are plenty of students who have not completed their interviews. Why? It is not entirely their fault, they may have finished at the deadline and the detachment interviewing them is backed up and scheduled an interview at a later date. If anything, Board 7 will have a majority reboards, not 6.

4) As stated, I have only compiled the data given to me and have not checked to see if the reboards were cumulative or if they were new reboards each board. I'd check but it just takes a lot of time. This data was provided on my rare free time.

5) Lastly, so many factors are considered for a scholarship. If you are an Electrical Engineering major with perfect scores in every category, you will be awarded a Type 1 priority over a non-tech with exact same stats. It's a lot and I understand if you have a certain idea of how differently you'd like to be evaluated but this system seems to be working for a majority of the applicants.

--
break break

Stats are stats. If your DS/DD or student is BELOW the average for any of those scholarships, it does NOT rule them out. GPAs are easily offset, test scores are easily offset, if a board had 2 selectees with an average of 3.5GPA, it's very possible that there's one applicant with a 4.0 and one with a 3.0. Do not mix statistics as requirements. Take a deep breath, two boards left, plenty of scholarships still available.
 
AFROTCAdmissions said:
This thread built up since the last time I checked!

Just to clarify a few things that were mentioned throughout the thread:

1) Yes, GPA still matters! While the interview is a good chunk of your application, we do take into consideration your academics as well.
-Our minimum test scores are 26 ACT / 1240 SAT. Is it very rare to see someone score high on those tests and not get a relative high GPA as well. But I do understand that there are exceptions. Let me just state:

The lowest Type 1 GPA we've awarded is a 3.4, the lowest Type 2 is 3.08 and Type 7 is a 3.00.
The exact weight of each category is FOUO but I'll tell you it's Interview > SAT/ACT > GPA > PFA.

2) Yes, your GPA is also weighted according to Air Force's scale. If you took no AP/IB classes, your 3.3 is weighed less than a non-AP/IB 3.3.

3) No, the next boards are NOT only reboards. There are plenty of students who have not completed their interviews. Why? It is not entirely their fault, they may have finished at the deadline and the detachment interviewing them is backed up and scheduled an interview at a later date. If anything, Board 7 will have a majority reboards, not 6.

4) As stated, I have only compiled the data given to me and have not checked to see if the reboards were cumulative or if they were new reboards each board. I'd check but it just takes a lot of time. This data was provided on my rare free time.

5) Lastly, so many factors are considered for a scholarship. If you are an Electrical Engineering major with perfect scores in every category, you will be awarded a Type 1 priority over a non-tech with exact same stats. It's a lot and I understand if you have a certain idea of how differently you'd like to be evaluated but this system seems to be working for a majority of the applicants.

--
break break

Stats are stats. If your DS/DD or student is BELOW the average for any of those scholarships, it does NOT rule them out. GPAs are easily offset, test scores are easily offset, if a board had 2 selectees with an average of 3.5GPA, it's very possible that there's one applicant with a 4.0 and one with a 3.0. Do not mix statistics as requirements. Take a deep breath, two boards left, plenty of scholarships still available.
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Thank you!
 
AFROTCAdmissions said:
This thread built up since the last time I checked!

Just to clarify a few things that were mentioned throughout the thread:

1) Yes, GPA still matters! While the interview is a good chunk of your application, we do take into consideration your academics as well.
-Our minimum test scores are 26 ACT / 1240 SAT. Is it very rare to see someone score high on those tests and not get a relative high GPA as well. But I do understand that there are exceptions. Let me just state:

The lowest Type 1 GPA we've awarded is a 3.4, the lowest Type 2 is 3.08 and Type 7 is a 3.00.
The exact weight of each category is FOUO but I'll tell you it's Interview > SAT/ACT > GPA > PFA.

2) Yes, your GPA is also weighted according to Air Force's scale. If you took no AP/IB classes, your 3.3 is weighed less than a non-AP/IB 3.3.

3) No, the next boards are NOT only reboards. There are plenty of students who have not completed their interviews. Why? It is not entirely their fault, they may have finished at the deadline and the detachment interviewing them is backed up and scheduled an interview at a later date. If anything, Board 7 will have a majority reboards, not 6.

4) As stated, I have only compiled the data given to me and have not checked to see if the reboards were cumulative or if they were new reboards each board. I'd check but it just takes a lot of time. This data was provided on my rare free time.

5) Lastly, so many factors are considered for a scholarship. If you are an Electrical Engineering major with perfect scores in every category, you will be awarded a Type 1 priority over a non-tech with exact same stats. It's a lot and I understand if you have a certain idea of how differently you'd like to be evaluated but this system seems to be working for a majority of the applicants.

--
break break

Stats are stats. If your DS/DD or student is BELOW the average for any of those scholarships, it does NOT rule them out. GPAs are easily offset, test scores are easily offset, if a board had 2 selectees with an average of 3.5GPA, it's very possible that there's one applicant with a 4.0 and one with a 3.0. Do not mix statistics as requirements. Take a deep breath, two boards left, plenty of scholarships still available.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this all we can do now y’all is what my friend in the army says they’re the best at “waiting”.
 
AFROTCAdmissions said:
This thread built up since the last time I checked!

Just to clarify a few things that were mentioned throughout the thread:

1) Yes, GPA still matters! While the interview is a good chunk of your application, we do take into consideration your academics as well.
-Our minimum test scores are 26 ACT / 1240 SAT. Is it very rare to see someone score high on those tests and not get a relative high GPA as well. But I do understand that there are exceptions. Let me just state:

The lowest Type 1 GPA we've awarded is a 3.4, the lowest Type 2 is 3.08 and Type 7 is a 3.00.
The exact weight of each category is FOUO but I'll tell you it's Interview > SAT/ACT > GPA > PFA.

2) Yes, your GPA is also weighted according to Air Force's scale. If you took no AP/IB classes, your 3.3 is weighed less than a non-AP/IB 3.3.

3) No, the next boards are NOT only reboards. There are plenty of students who have not completed their interviews. Why? It is not entirely their fault, they may have finished at the deadline and the detachment interviewing them is backed up and scheduled an interview at a later date. If anything, Board 7 will have a majority reboards, not 6.

4) As stated, I have only compiled the data given to me and have not checked to see if the reboards were cumulative or if they were new reboards each board. I'd check but it just takes a lot of time. This data was provided on my rare free time.

5) Lastly, so many factors are considered for a scholarship. If you are an Electrical Engineering major with perfect scores in every category, you will be awarded a Type 1 priority over a non-tech with exact same stats. It's a lot and I understand if you have a certain idea of how differently you'd like to be evaluated but this system seems to be working for a majority of the applicants.

--
break break

Stats are stats. If your DS/DD or student is BELOW the average for any of those scholarships, it does NOT rule them out. GPAs are easily offset, test scores are easily offset, if a board had 2 selectees with an average of 3.5GPA, it's very possible that there's one applicant with a 4.0 and one with a 3.0. Do not mix statistics as requirements. Take a deep breath, two boards left, plenty of scholarships still available.
Click to expand...
do we have any idea of how many were re-boarded in Feb?
 
AFROTCAdmissions said:
This thread built up since the last time I checked!

Just to clarify a few things that were mentioned throughout the thread:

1) Yes, GPA still matters! While the interview is a good chunk of your application, we do take into consideration your academics as well.
-Our minimum test scores are 26 ACT / 1240 SAT. Is it very rare to see someone score high on those tests and not get a relative high GPA as well. But I do understand that there are exceptions. Let me just state:

The lowest Type 1 GPA we've awarded is a 3.4, the lowest Type 2 is 3.08 and Type 7 is a 3.00.
The exact weight of each category is FOUO but I'll tell you it's Interview > SAT/ACT > GPA > PFA.

2) Yes, your GPA is also weighted according to Air Force's scale. If you took no AP/IB classes, your 3.3 is weighed less than a non-AP/IB 3.3.

3) No, the next boards are NOT only reboards. There are plenty of students who have not completed their interviews. Why? It is not entirely their fault, they may have finished at the deadline and the detachment interviewing them is backed up and scheduled an interview at a later date. If anything, Board 7 will have a majority reboards, not 6.

4) As stated, I have only compiled the data given to me and have not checked to see if the reboards were cumulative or if they were new reboards each board. I'd check but it just takes a lot of time. This data was provided on my rare free time.

5) Lastly, so many factors are considered for a scholarship. If you are an Electrical Engineering major with perfect scores in every category, you will be awarded a Type 1 priority over a non-tech with exact same stats. It's a lot and I understand if you have a certain idea of how differently you'd like to be evaluated but this system seems to be working for a majority of the applicants.

--
break break

Stats are stats. If your DS/DD or student is BELOW the average for any of those scholarships, it does NOT rule them out. GPAs are easily offset, test scores are easily offset, if a board had 2 selectees with an average of 3.5GPA, it's very possible that there's one applicant with a 4.0 and one with a 3.0. Do not mix statistics as requirements. Take a deep breath, two boards left, plenty of scholarships still available.
Click to expand...
Was there ever a number of re-boards that came out of board 5 or was that not avail?
 
AFROTCAdmissions said:
This thread built up since the last time I checked!

Just to clarify a few things that were mentioned throughout the thread:

1) Yes, GPA still matters! While the interview is a good chunk of your application, we do take into consideration your academics as well.
-Our minimum test scores are 26 ACT / 1240 SAT. Is it very rare to see someone score high on those tests and not get a relative high GPA as well. But I do understand that there are exceptions. Let me just state:

The lowest Type 1 GPA we've awarded is a 3.4, the lowest Type 2 is 3.08 and Type 7 is a 3.00.
The exact weight of each category is FOUO but I'll tell you it's Interview > SAT/ACT > GPA > PFA.

2) Yes, your GPA is also weighted according to Air Force's scale. If you took no AP/IB classes, your 3.3 is weighed less than a non-AP/IB 3.3.

3) No, the next boards are NOT only reboards. There are plenty of students who have not completed their interviews. Why? It is not entirely their fault, they may have finished at the deadline and the detachment interviewing them is backed up and scheduled an interview at a later date. If anything, Board 7 will have a majority reboards, not 6.

4) As stated, I have only compiled the data given to me and have not checked to see if the reboards were cumulative or if they were new reboards each board. I'd check but it just takes a lot of time. This data was provided on my rare free time.

5) Lastly, so many factors are considered for a scholarship. If you are an Electrical Engineering major with perfect scores in every category, you will be awarded a Type 1 priority over a non-tech with exact same stats. It's a lot and I understand if you have a certain idea of how differently you'd like to be evaluated but this system seems to be working for a majority of the applicants.

--
break break

Stats are stats. If your DS/DD or student is BELOW the average for any of those scholarships, it does NOT rule them out. GPAs are easily offset, test scores are easily offset, if a board had 2 selectees with an average of 3.5GPA, it's very possible that there's one applicant with a 4.0 and one with a 3.0. Do not mix statistics as requirements. Take a deep breath, two boards left, plenty of scholarships still available.
Click to expand...

Great Info! I'm still a bit puzzled though as my DS's GPA, test scores etc., all fall above the minimum requirements to compete for a scholarship, but was eliminated in December from future boards.
 
Board 5 Reboards (945 reboards)

3.653 GPA / 28 ACT / 1311 SAT

Board 6 (301 awarded):

Type 1: 3.958 GPA / 34 ACT / 1494 SAT (17 awarded total)
Type 2: N/A GPA / N/A ACT / N/A SAT (0 awarded total)
Type 7: 3.826 GPA / 31 ACT / 1382 SAT (284 awarded total)

Board 6 (68 non-awarded):

3.612 GPA / 29 ACT / 1345 SAT

Board 6 (1384 Reboards):

3.650 GPA / 28 ACT / 1311 SAT

Good luck on next board! Board 7 will consist of all reboards.
 
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