AFROTC and Me: The Non-technical applicant

[nick4060]

However, after looking at AFROTC Scholarships and speaking with the local detachment, I found that my skill set may interest the AF. That is the main reason for my application: I feel that my knowledge of Russian language and culture would be of great use.

Like you guys said, the Air Force cares that you do you job and that you do it well. I'm positive that I'll excel at any MOS dealing with Russian, be that Intelligence, OSI, etc. And that's what I'm hoping that scholarship board will think too.

The fact that you have foreign language/cultural expertise will look good on your scholarship application but it will not have much affect on you getting the AFSC you want.

I also grew up speaking Russian and have lived there as well. It didn't have any affect on me getting into my AFSC.

The thing that, above all, will get you OSI or intel or whatever job you want is your GPA. Period.

If you pursue a tech major and struggle through it for 4-5 years, your GPA will suffer and you may not get that job you want. Personally, I was a non-tech major, kept excellent grades and ended up getting the job I wanted. The GPA and commander's ranking is what did it for me--not my command of a foreign language.

 

[Packer]

[

Bullet,

Your posts basically summed up as to why I'm approaching the scholarships the way I am. Even though I have honors in math/science, I hate both of them with a passion. I can't see myself having to go through that every day.

I'm one of those guys Packer was speaking of, and I know what I want to do for a living- Protection, main focus being law enforcement. That is what I love, and that is what I focus on, and that's going to be my endgame job.

However, after looking at AFROTC Scholarships and speaking with the local detachment, I found that my skill set may interest the AF. That is the main reason for my application: I feel that my knowledge of Russian language and culture would be of great use.

I understand it means that my odds aren't going to be as good as someone who has been wanting to be in the Air Force in any way possible since childhood, or someone who's selected a technical field. However, my goal isn't just to get in, it's to stay in as well, and a tech field just won't do it for me.

Like you guys said, the Air Force cares that you do you job and that you do it well. I'm positive that I'll excel at any MOS dealing with Russian, be that Intelligence, OSI, etc. And that's what I'm hoping that scholarship board will think too.

Sounds to me like you are thinking this through quite well. Keep asking your questions as there are plenty of folks on here to help make you aware of the pitfalls and provide information that will help you develop your plan.

 

[SecretRusski]

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Sounds to me like you are thinking this through quite well. Keep asking your questions as there are plenty of folks on here to help make you aware of the pitfalls and provide information that will help you develop your plan.

Thank you Packer. Everyone in this thread has been extremely helpful, and I REALLY appreciate it.

@nick,

Really? I'm a bit surprised. I thought mastery of a language would be a huge edge...

Have you seen a lot of native speakers? And has mastery helped you any past that scholarship phase?(I know you said GPA and Commander's Rec were the meat for you, but were there benefits given due to the language?)

 

[Jcleppe]

Really? I'm a bit surprised. I thought mastery of a language would be a huge edge...

Have you seen a lot of native speakers? And has mastery helped you any past that scholarship phase?(I know you said GPA and Commander's Rec were the meat for you, but were there benefits given due to the language?)

I think the takeaway from these posts are while the Mastery of the Russian language will give you some help in your major, remember, there is much more to a Russian Major then just the language.

When it comes to AFROTC, your chances at SFT and the job you want, will come down to GPA, PFT, Commanders Rec, and test scores...period. Don't count on the mastery of a language to be much of a factor.

 

[nick4060]

@nick,

Really? I'm a bit surprised. I thought mastery of a language would be a huge edge...

Have you seen a lot of native speakers? And has mastery helped you any past that scholarship phase?(I know you said GPA and Commander's Rec were the meat for you, but were there benefits given due to the language?)

There are opportunities for officers with language skills to get into the Regional Affairs Strategist program at the 7-10 year mark in their careers. If that's something that interests you, then languages will definitely give you and edge. Also, the Language Enabled Airman Program is available for all officers. All you have to do is get a 2/2 on the DLPT and you'll get language pay, which is a nice perk.

Other than that, no one really cares to be honest. As an OSI agent or intel officer, you won't use your language skills in day-to-day duties.

Point is...someone with a 3.5 GPA, top 3rd commander's ranking, and no language skills will get that OSI or intel slot before someone with a 3.0 GPA, a middle 3rd ranking, and fluency in a language.

 

[Pima]

Point is...someone with a 3.5 GPA, top 3rd commander's ranking, and no language skills will get that OSI or intel slot before someone with a 3.0 GPA, a middle 3rd ranking, and fluency in a language.

This point is what most posters were saying because in the end the current OML model places those 2 items as the bulk of not only your AFSC, but also SFT selection.

 

[Einheit]

Disclaimer: Just an AS200. I am not an expert on the discussion at hand but will share my related experience.

A fellow cadet of mine joined the program as a fresh 100 last fall not on scholarship. He turned out to has good PFA scores, is very motivated, and a promising cadet. He is also a native Russian speaker who was born in Russia. He is double majoring in Russian and another non-tech major (might be poli sci, not 100%) and only has a few upper level Russian classes to take until he fulfills his major, because he tested past all the lower level courses. He is hoping to use his Russian to land himself a job as an intel officer.

He sadly did not receive an in college scholarship in the spring; only 4 engineering majors received one. Remember, he still can potential receive one this year.

Hope this similar story helps.

 

[SecretRusski]

Alrighty, I'm back and a bit more researched/thought out. Thank's to all for the inputs, since they've given me lots to think about.

After looking into some previous year's posts from the 2012 applicants, I now understand as to why guessing a chance is fairly pointless. I've decided to focus more on strengths and weaknesses. So far...

Strengths
ACT scores
GPA
Honors Classes
Several Dual-Credit Courses

Hooks
Russian Native
Foreign language major(This is only because that board may have a quota of this to fill. Fairly tentative, and I'm not really relying on it.)

Mid-tier
Class Rank(though this may improve, I'll find out in a week when I see my couselor)
PFA(However, my current score is up to 91.1. This is my first week actually running the 1.5m distance, and at this rate I'm not worried.Dedication, dedication, dedication)
Leadership(Although I am not a formal leader, almost every kind of team work has me making the decisions/taking the most responsibility. I think this would be a strength if I had held actual positions, but it's a bit late for that...)

Low/Weaknesses
Sports- I only played junior year of football, and although I was in varsity team, I wasn't exactly player #1.

Extra-curriculars- Aside from Explorers, I'm not in many school clubs(mainly because a lot of them are a pissing contest between the rich and popular. I'm not joking, they're just worthless). However, I've been active member for a 1.5 years and going, and helped double our numbers so far.

Community Service- A lot of this due to not having too many things to help out with(want to help Red Cross? Sure thing, just a 3 hour drive to nearest location). However, I've assisted SRT(aka SWAT) several times in their training, and have done all events I was eligible to through explorers.These included assisting with parking/patrol for public occasions, as well as peforming the city's first officer memorial.

Delta Epsilon Phi- German language honor society. It helps a little(doing well in a third language).

DoDMERB-I recently recalled that a (terrible) doctor decided to give me an inhaler back when my state of shape was round. This could be a red flag.
Also, I wear contacts. My vision is correctable though, and only goes out to +-5(8 is maximum).


I probably forgot several things that I've done, but that's a matter of preparation.
To be honest, I'm fairly worried about extra curriculars. Flushing two of my yearsdown the drain and having slim pickings for the last really left me with no major shows of achievement. However, I might be able to do ok in that category if I recall/phrase/value things better.

Overall I feel that the interview will be a big thing for me. I think I could show a lot more by telling rather than tell by showing.

Again, please feel free to point out anything you deem worth pointing out, it has helped me out dramatically. Thank you again to everybody.

 

[Pima]

Right now you only have true control over 3 things, AFROTC scholarships do not look at any cgpas or ECs after the end of your junior yr. What is done there is done there for now.

The 3 you do have control over are:
1. ACT/SAT because you can keep taking them. That means take the SAT and ACT every month through Nov. Take both of them.
~~~~ You don't know a 1 pt ACT composite gain can be the difference between any scholarship or no scholarship at all.
~~~~ PAR is the largest % of the WCS regarding weight. I do not know what the breakdown is for each section, but still it a lot of your score.

The joke on the AFA forum regarding chance threads or what to aim for is....aim for a 2400 SAT, 36 ACT.

2. PFT
~~~~ Keep working out. Try to get it to a 98.
~~~~ You want it that high because from an EC perspective they will see you have only 1 season of athletics. It will concern them if you are even a low 90 because they know many candidates PFA scores drop when they get into ROTC due to the fact that their form may have not been to their standards.
~~~~ Make sure you follow the format. IOTW don't do it in parts, out of order or with longer breaks than the format requires. Run in the heat because when you get into AFROTC they are going to run when it is 95 degrees and 90% humidity. Run at 6 a.m. after playing Xbox until 1 a.m., because in college you will stay up late either for papers, playing Xbox, or hanging with friends, yet you will still have PT in the a.m.

3. Interview.
~~~~ You can use this time to discuss yourself. You can explain why the EC's are your weakness, but be prepared when you open that door to have the answers.

I.E.

Community Service- A lot of this due to not having too many things to help out with(want to help Red Cross? Sure thing, just a 3 hour drive to nearest location). However, I've assisted SRT(aka SWAT) several times in their training, and have done all events I was eligible to through explorers.These included assisting with parking/patrol for public occasions, as well as peforming the city's first officer memorial.

So are you saying you don't have a local library, food pantry, hospital or church in your town? How about tutoring?

What about a job?

The reason they want ECs is not only from a leadership or athletic perspective, but time management too. College and ROTC is about every one of those aspects, leadership, athletic(PFA) and time management.

ROTC is not just LLAB and 2x a week PT for a few hrs in total. As you go up the ranks, the hrs can be at least 20 hrs a week.

You need to illustrate that in HS you have been able to maintain commitments for yrs that take up hrs a week while your grades remain at the higher level.

Be prepared to answer/delve into that area. Like I said if it was me looking at your resume with little participation for ECs, the answers you have given here would not float with me.
~~~ Pissing contest is not a strong answer. The military has a cliche. Service before self. They may see it as you putting yourself before your school. Find a more positive way to explain why you did not join any organizations at school.


The interview will account for a nice chunk of your WCS.

As far as your inhaler. You will have to state it on your exam if it was after 13. It most likely will cause at least a remedial, but don't worry too much about that right now.

Hope that helps in any little way.

 

[SecretRusski]

Pima,

I'll defenitely be taking at least the ACT again in September, and I think having a go at the SAT wouldn't hurt either. Can you edit those scores after you turn in the package though?

As for the PFT, I've been following format. The hardest part for me is to get into that great running shape, since I'm running alone and there is no pacer but myself. I'm personally not too worried about running and such after I get into a detachment because having other people to pace by is an extreme motivator for me.

The interview is something that I'm going to have to really really practice for. I was basically housebound until I got a license, so those two first years were spent doing nothing important.My senior year's going to look excellent on any application, but yet AFROTC doesn't look at that..

I could sit here for hours on end and describe tons and tons of things about why this and why that, but at the end of the day it won't really make a difference. It'll just have to be based on my answers and on what the interview thinks of them.

Thanks a lot for the advise Pima, it really helped me out. All of the responses on here knocked me off my high horse(i.e. I thought a 90 on PFA was really good, instant want for foreign language natives, etc.), which is good because I've got bigger goals to reach toward now.

My course of action at this point is to:
1.Keep training as much as I can before I have to turn stuff in.
2.Take that ACT again. I'll also look into SAT and such to see how high I can boost my scores.
3.Prepare for the interview, asking myself every question I can think of about every thing about me.

Again, thanks to all for your replies. There's really no place except here to be given advise like this, and everyone had given me sign of several pitfall I'm going to be looking out for. I'll post an update as I progress with my application.

 

[Thompson]

Regarding SAT/ACT scores - yes you can continue to update them. Provided that the AF application hasn't changed too much since last year, all you'd do is log in, open up the standardized test score sections, and replace the numbers - and of course, submit your score to Maxwell.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask - that is why we are here.

Glad you also did not take all of our opinions as a personal attack.