My ds has taken all the necessary steps in the Air Force Academy process, and now he patiently waits for news. This is obviously his first choice. In the meantime, he is getting things in line for his Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D. He will begin applying for an Air Force ROTC scholarship, and wants to be in the AFROTC with or without scholarship, for his dream is to be an AF pilot. Which colleges succeed at filling the other 50% Air Force pilot slots that the USAFA does not fill each year? He wants to receive the best training and experience that would give him the best chances at receiving a pilot slot. Embry Riddle I believe is out of the budget. What about University of North Dakota? Thoughts?
Air Force Academy Back up Plan
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Texas A&M has the largest corps of cadets outside of the SA's, the largest AFROTC unit in the country (~700 cadets), and offers in-state tuition for those on scholarship. I would guess they get a fairly good allotment of pilot slots.
BuckeyeDad20
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I am unaware of any school getting more pilot slots than another consistently while controlling for such things as grades and performance. There is no pilot pipeline that I know of. THE best way to increase your chances of getting a pilot slot is getting the best grades possible.
I would caution against picking a school based on some anecdotal evidence that they may have more pilot slots allocated to them recently. I would further caution you against picking a school just for a pilot slot even if it was a pipeline because there are a lot of things that can happen between now and then that could end your DS dream from medical to budgeting to USAF manpower projections. Besides you are not looking for total slots received, but slots per capita so a big program doesn't necessarily improve your chances.
Choose a school that offers the best program for your DS. What does he want to study? What if AFROTC doesn't work out - what career field does he want to pursue? I encourage you to choose on this basis. If he has a shot at an appointment, he probably has a very good shot at an AFROTC scholarship.
I would caution against picking a school based on some anecdotal evidence that they may have more pilot slots allocated to them recently. I would further caution you against picking a school just for a pilot slot even if it was a pipeline because there are a lot of things that can happen between now and then that could end your DS dream from medical to budgeting to USAF manpower projections. Besides you are not looking for total slots received, but slots per capita so a big program doesn't necessarily improve your chances.
Choose a school that offers the best program for your DS. What does he want to study? What if AFROTC doesn't work out - what career field does he want to pursue? I encourage you to choose on this basis. If he has a shot at an appointment, he probably has a very good shot at an AFROTC scholarship.
Have DS look into Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Florida or AZ) or Florida Institute of Technology. Both are highly ranked schools for Aeronautical Science (Pilots) and Engineering. Both have AFROTC units. Oops, did not see your note regarding ERAU, but don't count out if he gets a scholarship.
Twins4us
A new day is dawning. DS, USAFA c/o 2025
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I'll echo the ERAU route but add in St Thomas in St Paul, Mn. This was our DS's plan B until he got his falcon scholarship. St Thomas has a really good AFROTC detachment, an excellent engineering program and a stunning campus / facilities. DS and I visited right before COVID hit and we were both blown away by the beauty of the area. They also cover tuition left over from AFROTC scholarhips and pick up room/board for 3 years.
It makes no difference on which detachment you go to. That isnt the deciding factor. Its all up to the indivdual student. Probably one of the reasons Embry Riddle does well with pilots is because many of their students have flying hours (as that is a big major there) and many of their students have engineering degrees which AF always likes. My son went to Purdue, also got a degree in Professional Flight (pilot) and in my opinion a way better school than Embry in both flight and engineering as well as being a more collegiate type of school. However, you can be a pilot with a philosphy degree if you have the grades, be an integral part of the detachment, do well on the AFOQT and TBAS test and have flying hours. Find the school and major that works well for the student and if he or she excels at the school, they will excel at ROTC. If you have a crappy experience in college, you wont have a good experience with ROTC. If you have a great experience with ROTC, you will still hate life, if you hate your college.
University of N. Dakota is supposed to have a good flight program and has AFRotc. It is however ND and it is cold. Florida Institue of TEchnology also has a great flight program although it doesnt have AF Rotc. My son was going to go there but chose Purdue instead. Addtionally ARizona State has a good flight program and has AFRotc. That is assuming your son wants a degree in flight. Embry Riddle is a fine school, modern buildings (sterile comes to mind) and not your standard college environment. Its 80% male 20% female so it isnt the best place to socialize. However, to each it own and plenty of people love it there. My younger son's friend went to the one in Arizona and then transferred to the one in Florida. He thrived in the Florida location.
As or my son he got a pilot spot and I think pretty much everyone who wanted one got it. However, this was 2017/2018 and it was way easier then than it is today
University of N. Dakota is supposed to have a good flight program and has AFRotc. It is however ND and it is cold. Florida Institue of TEchnology also has a great flight program although it doesnt have AF Rotc. My son was going to go there but chose Purdue instead. Addtionally ARizona State has a good flight program and has AFRotc. That is assuming your son wants a degree in flight. Embry Riddle is a fine school, modern buildings (sterile comes to mind) and not your standard college environment. Its 80% male 20% female so it isnt the best place to socialize. However, to each it own and plenty of people love it there. My younger son's friend went to the one in Arizona and then transferred to the one in Florida. He thrived in the Florida location.
As or my son he got a pilot spot and I think pretty much everyone who wanted one got it. However, this was 2017/2018 and it was way easier then than it is today
I just received my acceptance to University of North Dakota's Unmanned Aircraft system operations program, awaiting a decision from AFROTC. This is one of my backups to USAFA.
This! "However, you can be a pilot with a philosphy degree if you have the grades, be an integral part of the detachment, do well on the AFOQT and TBAS test and have flying hours." Your detachment is irrelevant other than how well you do in it. It is easy to get lost in a big detachment, easier to stand out (good and bad) in a small one. There is no way to "game the system."
makeyourbed
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Similar to the advice given by others above, my advice would be to choose the schools that fit you best and go from there. First narrow down by schools that would be a good fit, then by detachments. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what detachment you come out of, you just need to do well in school and on pilot qualification tests. Additionally, after reading through this entire thread, I think there is a bit of a misconception when it comes to your major if you want to be a pilot. You DO NOT need to be an aero/astro or pilot major. Pick a major that you are passionate about as it will help you get better grades! The only way a engineering degree is helpful, is if you want to be a test pilot/astronaut. Best of luck.
Just my two cents regarding degrees and flying. My daughter is currently at the Air Force Academy and hopes to fly. She is in the process of picking a degree. The one thing she is looking at is at the Academy under each degree plan they list potential careers in the AF and potential jobs once you separate from the AF. It is true they don’t restrict flying to certain degrees for most pilot slopes but they do restrict potential jobs based on your degree. So she is paying attention to what other career fields based on her selected degree may be available to her should she not get selected to fly.
Thunderbolt462
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The dirty little secret is that school choice really doesn't matter for earning a pilot slot through ROTC. Admissions counselors at aviation colleges and private military colleges will hold the total number of pilot slots from that school up to prospective students, but if you really look at the numbers, percentages are about the same between most ROTC programs regardless of school. I attended a large public college and over 50% of my graduating class were pilot selects.
As for training, it can help, but a lot is effort and natural ability. I had a classmate with an aviation degree from Embrey-Riddle who was near the bottom of his class, and another with a liberal arts degree from a party school with zero prior flying experience that ended up getting 5th gen fighters.
As for training, it can help, but a lot is effort and natural ability. I had a classmate with an aviation degree from Embrey-Riddle who was near the bottom of his class, and another with a liberal arts degree from a party school with zero prior flying experience that ended up getting 5th gen fighters.
Hey! Shoot me a PM and I'd be happy to give some advice to your son. Current AFROTC junior who was picked up for a reserve pilot slot, applied to USAFA in 2018 and was rejected. Ended up choosing AFROTC on scholarship. Looking back it's been the best decision of my life to go AFROTC.
The college you select has no impact on earning a pilot slot in AFROTC. Your quantitative data (GPA, Commander's Ranking, PFA Score, PCSM) will be racked and stacked nationally against all candidates competing for a pilot slot.
The college you select has no impact on earning a pilot slot in AFROTC. Your quantitative data (GPA, Commander's Ranking, PFA Score, PCSM) will be racked and stacked nationally against all candidates competing for a pilot slot.
I would make one slight modification on determining the school in terms of detachments. I would choose a school with a detachment over a school that that is part of a cross town detachment. That is were your school doesnt have a Rotc internally but you travel to a nearby school that partners with your school. I guess it depends on how far the travel is. Let me give you an example as I live in Los Angeles. I live in the San Fernando vally (la suburbs) and went to Cal State Univ Northridge. If you wanted to do Rotc there, you would have to travel to the UCLA campus to do your Rotc activity. They are 16 miles away from each other. Travel time, anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on the state of traffic. I dont care how good the school is, i am not going to deal with that mess
BuckeyeDad20
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Regarding crosstown schools...go to the best school you can. I crosstown'ed it and it sucked in some ways but was a boon in others. Don't pick a weaker school just to avoid crosstown. You may or may not complete ROTC. You may or may not stay in the USAF after 4 years. At that point your educational background may matter.
jaglvr
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I know in Philly, the AF ROTC is at one campus and there are a LOT of schools in the Philly metro area. I think they crosstown with like 10 or more schools. (Just looked...21 schools!) My daughter is applying to one that would only be 4 miles from St. Joe's, so that wouldn't be so bad.
And Pittsburgh isn't too bad. Home school is Pitt, and most schools you can get to Pitt within 10 minutes via bus and from Carnegie Mellon you could walk if necessary. About a 15 minute walk depending on dorm.
And Pittsburgh isn't too bad. Home school is Pitt, and most schools you can get to Pitt within 10 minutes via bus and from Carnegie Mellon you could walk if necessary. About a 15 minute walk depending on dorm.
Thank you so much for the helpful information! I figured starting with the end outcome (AF pilot) and working our way backwards in the process would help us figure out the best school to prepare him for the AF, with knowing the USAFA is probably best for that. I didn't think the bigger the program at a school, the better chance of being an AF pilot. But I did wonder if some schools are better at preparing you for being an AF pilot. I realize after reading all these posts, this is not at all how it typically goes.
Being a professional pilot is what he wants to study. He would love to serve our country as a pilot. But with his passion to have a flying career, he would think of going commercial if need be, after serving his time in the career they appoint him if not pilot position in the AF. This way he will get to accomplish both his dreams, to serve his country in AF, and also fly even if not at the sometime. It is somewhat risky to major in professional pilot if something medically or other happens, but he can't imagine himself doing anything else at this time.
Yes, I guess it would be a possibility with an AFROTC scholarship. We will look into it more. Thanks!
So I did not know about the falcon scholarship. Congrats to DS on that! That sounds interesting! Will look into that more, and St. Thomas as well. I hadn't heard of it, but my son wants to pursue an aviation degree, not so much engineering.
You make some very valid points, and we are starting to look at his backup plan to the USAFA in a whole different light. We are looking into not just a good flight program and cost, but AFROTC right on campus, and what other things the school has to offer that interest ds, the size of the campus, how far from home, etc. If we find the best fit for him, then he will excel there in all the areas with academics and ROTC, which is what sets him up best for the AF. I am glad to hear your ds got the pilot slot he was shooting for! My ds wants to get a degree in professional flight, and will do best in this major with all the hands on experiences. Thank you so much!
Awesome! We are looking into University of North Dakota. Good luck to you!