AFROTC PFA Score/Likelihood of a Scholarship

[Bmart173]

Is it possible to be awarded an AFROTC Scholarship with a 1500 SAT, 4.0 GPA, and about an 80 on the PFA? I have the academic components practically maxed, but I'm certain the PFA will weigh me down considerably.

 

[thibaud]

It won't. It's by far the least important component of the total score. Focus on acing the interview. Good luck!

 

[ThePilot18]

When you say 80 on the PFA, you mean out of the usual 100, correct?

The Air Force ROTC PFA is out of a score of 80 (they disregard the waist measurement part).

1500 SAT, 4.0 GPA

Very good academic stats. You will also want significant leadership experience, any possible clubs you've joined, etc.
And, as thibaud said, focus on the interview, it's the single biggest part of the scholarship process.

 

[Pima]

Is it possible to be awarded an AFROTC Scholarship with a 1500 SAT, 4.0 GPA, and about an 80 on the PFA? I have the academic components practically maxed, but I'm certain the PFA will weigh me down considerably.

Is your 1500 superscore or best sitting?
~AFROTC does not superscore, it is only best sitting.
~ Either way that is a strong SAT.

Now for the PFA. Although the PFA is a very small part of the WCS, it is a pass/fail aspect too. IE you don't meet the run time, but meet the push up and sit up mins., you still failed the PFA. You get no points toward the WCS.

Let's say you do meet all of the mins., but just barely. You get the scholarship.
FFWD to 1st week of AFROTC.
You bust the PFA run time by 2 seconds, but meet the sit ups and push ups. You now cannot contract because part of the scholarship requirement is to pass the PFA.
~ Not only that, but on week 1 you are officially on their radar from a PT aspect.

80 is OMG low. Sorry.
That PFA is going to keep being a factor over and over again, even in AFROTC.
~ Every semester, the 1st week or so back at the det., they will do the mandated PFA. As stated above, you bust 1 component, your failed the entire thing. Failed = no scholarship payment until you pass.
~ As a sophomore, scholarship or no scholarship you will compete for summer field training (SFT). The PFA score is part of that process. Scholarship or no scholarship is "blind" iows, the board does not know which cadet is on scholarship and which cadet is not. However, they know your PFA score. On the average, I would say it probably is around 95. See above with the OMG remark. Not selected for SFT = highly likelihood of disenrollment from AFROTC, hence, loss of scholarship.
~ You have not stated what your career field goal is regarding AF. Again, that PFA is going to matter, just like it will for SFT. It is a nominal percentage, but it still will be placed into the equation, even for a rated or non-rated board.

There will always be a line drawn regarding selection. Above/below you will be in or out. Believe it or not, it comes down to a very nominal amount...think 1/100s of a point, just like the difference of becoming the valedictorian or not. Someone will be above that line and someone will not.

The PFA is the one thing you can truly control.
~ For our DS when he was a senior, we made him get up and run every a.m. before school. Although the PFA does not require Pull ups, we placed a pull up bar on his door. He had to do X amt every time he entered or exited his room. You'd be amazed at how many times you enter and exit your room on a daily basis. That helped him get more strength for push ups.
~ My husband is retired AF now, but that time he was ADAF. Every night they would do the sit ups and push ups together, plus hubby would add in butterfly kicks.
His scores increased in a very quick time. He started out at a 91, and within 6 weeks he maxxed everything and won a type 2 scholarship as a non-tech major.

DS took this to heart, especially after he arrived at his AFROTC det. The 1st week he maxxed and they had a rule at his det., if you maxxed out you were allowed to skip PT, as long as you handed in a log weekly proving you were doing some type of work out on your own time. Of course, most freshmen 1st semester do not get a "job" in the det., but 2nd semester you usually do get a job in the det. What was his 2nd semester job? PT instructor for his flight. IOWS, that 1 semester was a freebie, it was never going to be all 4 yrs.

I will also say the other lesson he learned about the importance of how we pushed him was simple.
~ AFROTC does not care if it 85 degrees and 90% humidity or 29 degrees with frost on the ground. It could be spitting rain or snow flurries, they do not care. That is the day they will perform the test. They do not care that you were up to midnight studying or writing that tern paper, at 6 a.m. your butt is on the field and you need to pass that PT test.
~ ~ DS starting as a freshmen during breaks would practice the test during all weather conditions, rain, snow, heat, etc. He did it to the regs. X amt of down time between each portion. When he was selected for SFT, which is in the summer in Alabama, he did it at 4-5 pm (hottest time of the day) so he could get his body ready. Just like activating your scholarship, 1st day there you will take a PT test...fail and you are not moving forward.

Finally, when you go ADAF, every yr you will have to pass the PT test. It is never going to not be part of your life.

The Air Force ROTC PFA is out of a score of 80 (they disregard the waist measurement part).

Has something changed this year? It has always been out of 100. Look at SFT and rated threads, they all are in the mid to high 90s.
Unless I missed something the OP never discussed a waist measurement.
~ If I missed something, I agree the waist measurement is not an issue per se. If they are not meeting the weight requirements, than they will be taped, but that issue has nothing to do with PT. They would be a DoDMERB issue.
~~ My DS was considered too thin, so they taped him at his DoDMERB exam. He was taped every semester through out his AFROTC career.

 

[ThePilot18]

Has something changed this year? It has always been out of 100.

Sorry I should specify- the scholarship PT test is out of 80, while the the regular PT test is out of 100, as usual.

 

[Tbpxece]

Sorry I should specify- the scholarship PT test is out of 80, while the the regular PT test is out of 100, as usual.

Could you provide a concrete reference to support this statement?

Although the scholarship PFA does omit the body composition component, and otherwise resembles the AF PFT, it's new to me that there is any publicly available scoring metric. Where did you get the maximum score of 80 from?

 

[ThePilot18]

Tbpxece

Could you provide a concrete reference to support this statement?

I have stated this in another thread and I will do so here- because the AFROTC scholarship PT test does not take into account waist measurement, which normally accounts to be 20 points, you do 100-20= 80 total points one may earn on this test. For further reference, look into this book from ROTC Consulting (https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Scholarship-School-Students-Parents/dp/1535319720/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RUKTC75HHQOS&dchild=1&keywords=rotc+scholarships&qid=1596048745&sprefix=rotc+scho,aps,208&sr=8-1). I don't endorse this content in any way, but as such it does have the rubrics for all aspects of the scholarship process (including PT). As always, official information comes from the AF itself, however, as far as I have seen it is accurate.

In other words, most people know the AF PT test to be out of 100, and assume it is the same with the scholarship PT test. The exception here is that waist measurement is excluded as you stated. See the attachment below for verification (it is small and sort of blurry but it is clear that there is no abdominal measurement of any kind). The OP mentioned they scored 80- and I assumed they were going off of the normal PT test, but there is always an off chance that meant an 80 out of 80 that the scholarship uses (even if it is unofficial). Do you happen to know of any HSSP board members on this site to verify this further?
Hopefully I have made myself clear.

 

[Jayhawk01]

Now for the PFA. Although the PFA is a very small part of the WCS, it is a pass/fail aspect too. IE you don't meet the run time, but meet the push up and sit up mins., you still failed the PFA. You get no points toward the WCS.

Actually, this isn't true. The scholarship fitness test isn't a real PFA. It has all the same elements and is scored in (mostly) the same way, but there are no minimum individual test requirements. I should know, cause I "failed" the situp portion of the scholarship fitness test, but still got a Type 7 no problem. And my academic stats were worse than OP's. They actually have special scoring numbers below the typical PFA minimums for the scholarship fitness test. Although I think if you score low enough (<75 overall) they may either make you retake it or say you failed.

FFWD to 1st week of AFROTC.
You bust the PFA run time by 2 seconds, but meet the sit ups and push ups. You now cannot contract because part of the scholarship requirement is to pass the PFA.
~ Not only that, but on week 1 you are officially on their radar from a PT aspect.

This is entirely untrue and kinda comical actually. No AFROTC detachment would have a PFA the first week of classes, any semester, ever. In the fall semester, typically PFAs are done close to, or in November. Maybe October if your cadre hate you. The whole idea behind the AS100 year is to pull potential O-1s in, and keep the contracted cadets ready for AS200 year, and they do that via having the PFA late in the semester after everyone (scholarship cadets and non-scholarship cadets) has gone through the same PT regimen and has a decent chance at passing the PFA.
And also, passing PFA isn't a requirement to contract. At all. I contracted just fine with my "failing" scholarship fitness test score.

That said, stuff varies so wildly based on your detachment that anything is possible. The stuff about "failing" a scholarship fitness test isn't true though. It "might" affect your chances at getting a Type 1 though

 

[Pima]

This is entirely untrue and kinda comical actually. No AFROTC detachment would have a PFA the first week of classes, any semester, ever. In the fall semester, typically PFAs are done close to, or in November

Actually I know for my DS and my friends DS's (3 different universities over multiple yrs) their dets did it the 1st week of school. Granted these 3 dets were considered large dets and the cadets came back to college 1 week early compared to non-ROTC students, thus, it was really their 2nd week with the det., but the 1st week of school.

Yes, if you failed they will allow you to retake, but it is part of the contracting process. They may have allowed it for your school.
Personally, I think strong det CCs would give the exam right off the bat because they are following everyone else....USAFA, SFT. UPT, etc. Making cadets realize immediately that this is the start of a new way of life.

If you look at many threads here there are many posters that will tell you that they did not contract until they passed. There was a poster just recently (last yr) that lost their scholarship and the cadre was discussing disenrolling them because they never passed the fall test and for the spring they failed again.

When my DS went to SFT many moons ago, and the 2nd day there they gave you a PT test. Failed and you were re-taking on day 3. Failed again and you were sent home. Cadre would be starting disenrollment as soon as your plane landed.

This is also true for OTS. Day 1 and you are taking a PT test.
Same for rated schools. One of my friends' DS busted the run. He was washed back to the next class.
You will do an annual PT test. Bust it and your CC will know. You will be standing at attention in his/her office that day. Not the way you want to get their attention.

Point being is this is never going to go away. It will always be in your life. It is the easiest thing you can control

I would add in that many ROTC candidates are applying for SAs too. They will need to pass the test as soon as they hit the SA. Again, you need to be in front of it and be prepared.

 

[Pima]

The OP mentioned they scored 80- and I assumed they were going off of the normal PT test, but there is always an off chance that meant an 80 out of 80 that the scholarship uses (even if it is unofficial)

Yes, but you have to read what they said was they were concerned about that score not being strong. Hence, they are implying 100, becuase who would be concerned if you have a perfect score.

 

[ThePilot18]

Yes, but you have to read what they said was they were concerned about that score not being strong. Hence, they are implying 100, becuase who would be concerned if you have a perfect score.

Thanks for the clarification and I apologize for the miscommunication. That part totally flew over my head

 

[triathlete7]

Actually, this isn't true. The scholarship fitness test isn't a real PFA. It has all the same elements and is scored in (mostly) the same way, but there are no minimum individual test requirements. I should know, cause I "failed" the situp portion of the scholarship fitness test, but still got a Type 7 no problem. And my academic stats were worse than OP's. They actually have special scoring numbers below the typical PFA minimums for the scholarship fitness test. Although I think if you score low enough (<75 overall) they may either make you retake it or say you failed.


This is entirely untrue and kinda comical actually. No AFROTC detachment would have a PFA the first week of classes, any semester, ever. In the fall semester, typically PFAs are done close to, or in November. Maybe October if your cadre hate you. The whole idea behind the AS100 year is to pull potential O-1s in, and keep the contracted cadets ready for AS200 year, and they do that via having the PFA late in the semester after everyone (scholarship cadets and non-scholarship cadets) has gone through the same PT regimen and has a decent chance at passing the PFA.
And also, passing PFA isn't a requirement to contract. At all. I contracted just fine with my "failing" scholarship fitness test score.

That said, stuff varies so wildly based on your detachment that anything is possible. The stuff about "failing" a scholarship fitness test isn't true though. It "might" affect your chances at getting a Type 1 though

Are you able to confirm for me that there are special scoring numbers below the typical PFA minimums for the scholarship fitness test?
Thank you so much and have a wonderful rest of your day!