Apply Later to Increase Chances for a Air Force Tier I Scholarship?

AROTCPMS

AROTCPMS

Former Army ROTC PMS for Claremont McKenna and USC
Banned
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Sep 5, 2014
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118
All,

Just an observation and [possible] theory regarding the Air Force Tier I Scholarship awardees. I’ve worked with several candidates this year who I consider outstanding candidates who were diligent and made the early Air Force ROTC scholarship boards in September and October. These candidates had SATs well over 1400, were great interviewers, physically fit, ect. They designated the in demand technical majors that Air Force ROTC was looking for. However, rather than receiving a Tier I scholarship, they received a Tier II scholarship.

This made me wonder whether Air Force ROTC is holding back some Tier Is for later boards and that they are awarding Tier IIs to candidates, who, if they applied later, might have received a Tier I.

This is in my mind an important question for those future candidates who fit into this category (and who read these discussion boards) because there is such a monetary difference between the Tier I (full scholarship award—potentially $50 to $60K/ year) and the Tier II ($18,000/year). Understanding the way the Air Force sequences and awards their Tier Is can amount to potentially well over $100K over four years to candidates.

Would be interested in any observations from those on this posting board.

LTC K
 
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I'll have 1 data point for you after the next round. :)

My kid did not get the application done in time for round 1. Has solid stats, mostly consistent with those you mention, though I don't have a good read on how the interview went. At least ok I think.
 
My son met the Dec boards. He was offered a tier 7, with the option to convert to tier 2 his sophomore year. He already has several full-tuition + scholarships to great engineering schools so the tier 7 is not a competitive offer. Honestly, even a tier 2 at MIT and Yale is about the same amount as a tier 7 since in-state tuition is so high. For reference, my son has a 4.0+gpa at a nationally ranked school, a 35 ACT, student body president, Eagle Scout, varsity athletics. Adults love him. We thought he bombed the interview, but now I'm realizing the AF ROTC process may be the bigger issue.
 
HGAZ said:
My son met the Dec boards. He was offered a tier 7, with the option to convert to tier 2 his sophomore year. He already has several full-tuition + scholarships to great engineering schools so the tier 7 is not a competitive offer. Honestly, even a tier 2 at MIT and Yale is about the same amount as a tier 7 since in-state tuition is so high. For reference, my son has a 4.0+gps at a nationally ranked school, a 35 ACT, student body president, Eagle Scout, varsity athletics. Adults love him. We thought he bombed the interview, but now I'm realizing the AF ROTC process may be the bigger issue.
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Sounds like the case. See my previous post on the issue you bring up here: https://www.serviceacademyforums.co...otc-high-school-scholarship-hssp-progr.68757/
 
Just so folks use the proper vocabulary to avoid misunderstanding -
Majors are divided into Tiers... Tier I, II, and III
Scholarships are designated by type. Type 1, 2, and 7.
 
kinnem said:
Just so folks use the proper vocabulary to avoid misunderstanding -
Majors are divided into Tiers... Tier I, II, and III
Scholarships are designated by type. Type 1, 2, and 7.
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Thanks for the correction. Type vs. Tier.
 
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@AROTCPMS. Excellent theory and definitely worth exploring for many applying this year and thereafter.

@HGAZ. I’m also very surprised your son did not get T1 or T2. He appears very competitive. If this offers any comfort I can share our experience. My DS with similar stats 3 years ago received perfect score in Air Force Assessment report conducted in NY, according to two Detachments he visited. Not an URM and has no special angle other than what he shared on his accomplishments with evidence and CV along with interview with the unit CDR LTC. He couldn’t present any of these online as you know. Still he was given T2 in any major when the national selection came out in the November round. When we visited Yale and MIT, they said most enroll with T7 and very few get T2 and only 1-2 get T1 at their units. In fact, because of his strong score they decided to interview him independently. He again received top score and they decided to offer him the unit T1 in any major of his choice if he decided to enroll in the AFROTC at their units.


So don’t worry about it now. If you get far into the process, you have better chance to upgrade your scholarship with an offer of admissions or prior to from the detachments of your choice. But they will have to reassess your sons/daughters again independently since it is after all a competition to recruit their favorite cadets.

Good luck to you all!
 
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My guess is that game theory is at play. They might be sitting on data that their yield from first board Type 1 offers isn't as high as they'd like maybe?
 
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We only have a certain amount of Type 1 scholarships allotted per year. With our GBRs working leads now, there is a significantly higher amount of people in the later boards and we predicted that.

Does this mean you have a better chance at a Type 1 in later boards? Not necessarily. As a matter of fact, last year had a good spread of Type 1. What it does mean however is that you'll have less chance of getting any scholarship due to the sheer amount of people and less boards you will be going through.

I get it. People are always boasting about their 4.0/36ACT/1600SAT student who are Eagle Scouts or Capt of their football teams. Unfortunately, that's a good chunk of our applicants. We simply cannot just hand out Type 1s to everyone who fills a "checklist."

At the end of the day it boils down to this in terms of "pattern": earlier boards usually have higher academic stats due to Academy/ED applicants but less people. Later boards have slightly lower overall stats due to the amount boarded.
 
My two centavos...if I was an “A/B++” candidate, but not an “A+” candidate, in all regards (academics/sports/jobs etc). I’d pass on the first board. It’s pretty clear, the first board is skimming the Ivy candidates and shoe in SA candidates. Unless you’re in that pool, I’d wait. The different kinds of scholarships, the AFROTC application and the abnormally high value put on the interview is so Air Force in nature. I respect the Air Force 100% but they have a different way of doing business and that culture starts early.
 
@AFROTCAdmissions and @JoeNavy89 your posts are spot on! Based on our experience few years back, I believe Air Force T1 is the most difficult ROTC Scholarship to attain due to sheer competitiveness and limited in supply for the full scholarship. Thank you for sharing.
 
HGAZ said:
My son met the Dec boards. He was offered a tier 7, with the option to convert to tier 2 his sophomore year. He already has several full-tuition + scholarships to great engineering schools so the tier 7 is not a competitive offer. Honestly, even a tier 2 at MIT and Yale is about the same amount as a tier 7 since in-state tuition is so high. For reference, my son has a 4.0+gpa at a nationally ranked school, a 35 ACT, student body president, Eagle Scout, varsity athletics. Adults love him. We thought he bombed the interview, but now I'm realizing the AF ROTC process may be the bigger issue.
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I will toss my app in there. I met the Dec. board and was given a type 7 also. Overall very similar stats.
33 act (not superscore)
4.21 gpa (4.00 unweighted)
Team Captain of multiple teams
NHS Officer
9 AP classes
Valedictorian
Lots of academic and athletic awards
Good Slice of Community service
I thought my interview went great (they just used the one I did for USAFA)
 
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