Can you compare and contrast, at a high level, the life of freshman in AFROTC and the life of a freshman at USAFA?
Yes, absolutely!! [TL;DR -> They are different environments with pros and cons but ultimately you end up with the same commission!]
Let me start by prefacing this with a disclaimer: I am only one person which means that whatever I have experienced is uniquely my own and that other people may experience similar (or completely different!) things than I have. This means that when I talk about one thing or another, or if I compare AFROTC and USAFA it is my
own experience I am drawing information from. Depending on the Detachment, college, or squadron you're in, someone's personal experiences may vary (possibly quite significantly).
For context, I attended a public institution with close to 53k (that's right, 53,000) students on campus and couple thousand other graduate & post-graduate students. The entering class for just my portion of the university (the College of Science & Engineering) was about 12,000 (compared to 4,000 people total at USAFA!). That being said, my AFROTC Det was "average" sized with about 80ish cadets total. I attended this institution during COVID and so some interactions with others looked a bit different than previous years, even at the university.
First, the academics. USAFA is obviously known for its challenging and rewarding academic environment. There is no question that we are one of the best institutions in the nation (waaaaaay better than West Point or Navy, that's for sure) when it comes to engineering & STEM-related topics. Even after spending a little over a semester and a half here I can tell already that the majority instructors here truly care about cadet learning and understanding material. The ability for someone to just schedule extra instruction time with the professor where they will re-explain, work through problems, show examples (from real life), and follow-up on questions is nearly unheard of in a typical academic environment. To give you an idea, when I was in college I could make 2 of my 5 professor's office hour slots (I had a job, so there were a number of scheduling conflicts) and when I was able to meet they had to limit the meetings to 15 minutes due to the size of class they were teaching. In terms of the college pace, I would say that normal college and USAFA are about even. The college pace is always a bit much when you first start, but you will get used to it!
Next, the military aspect. Now, everyone has their own opinions about each commissioning source, but I would just say that if you commission, whether it be from AFROTC, USAFA, or OTS, you
commissioned and that's what matters. Someone from my old Det told me, "if you want to be 2 years ahead in life, do AFROTC. If you want to be 2 years ahead in your career do USAFA." While this anecdote is definitely a generalization, there is some merit there! USAFA cadets will never have to experience balancing a job (like working in a library or at a grocery store) with having to walk/drive/longboard to school. USAFA cadets don't have the experience of trying to rent an apartment, or lease a house to live in. Most USAFA cadets won't have to truly go shopping for groceries every week until they are in their 20's! I consider myself fortunate enough to have some those experiences, but there are plenty more that I am missing out on by being here. On the flip side, USAFA provides soooo many awesome opportunities! I mean, this summer I'll have the chance to fly in a glider - something that very few college students get to say they've done! On a daily basis I run in to O-6's who've done things they can't tell me about and share life experiences that are amazing just to hear! In AFROTC I got a really candid view of the operational Air Force and how it works. (If you want more details about the actual training that's different between AFROTC and USAFA, feel free to DM me!)
And the social aspect. Normal college is, well, normal college. I was able to walk across campus (about a 1/2 mile walk) and see new people every day. One of my favorite parts of regular college was being able to say hi to new people and hear how their day was going, Here at USAFA, for better or for worse, you see the same people 7 days a week. It's fine because you'll always have the chance to meet other cadets, but there are always familiar faces in the library, in the hallways, or in the dorm buildings. I personally like either environment but I have to say I do miss seeing new faces every day. The activities and "typical stupid college stuff" is pretty consistent between USAFA and a normal school. Although the exact nature of the activities varies, staying up late with friends doing stuff that me in the future will say "man, that was dumb" is consistent whether or not you are at an SA.
Overall, I would say that if you want to have the "normal" college experience (whatever that means to you) then AFROTC is the way to go. You'll have the chance to learn a number of invaluable skills and meet great people, while learning to really manage a healthy work/life/social balance. If you want to be (first of all), guaranteed a commission, and want to have opportunities that few others in the nation can say they have, then USAFA is the place for you. Here you'll meet people that will stay your friends for life, get the chance to meet and talk to awesome officers and fellow cadets alike, and increase your professional capabilities.
I always get asked, "why did you leave ROTC?" or conversely, "why did you choose the Academy?" I think that for anyone facing this type of decision it's important to ask
yourself, "why?" Once you find your "why" figure out what path gets you to that goal in a way that you can enjoy and attack it! I wouldn't give up coming here for the anything, but leaving AFROTC was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made (granted, the second hardest decision was probably what shirt I wanted to wear that morning...) AFROTC and USAFA are both fantastic means to the same end: a commission, so if that's what you want, then pick whatever is best for you and don't feel pressured to go one way or the other!
. Probably for at least a half hour or more. Now that’s a leader! You can tell the cadets love him.
