Chances of getting AF/A/NROTC Scholarship?

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ffarail

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2010
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I have a 3.3 GPA, but I've taken several honors and AP courses.

My ACT score is a 27, with 31 in reading.

I'm on the varsity wrestling team, as well as being captain of the varsity crew team. I have 4 letters for athletics. I also have earned several medals in crew and wrestling.

I'm in the top band at my school and play trumpet. I've earned 2 varisty letters.

My PFA scores were:

55 pushups
5:27 mile/ 8:41 1.5 mile
61 situps

Work experience includes volunteer EMT, pool manager, swim lesson instructor.

My family has a long line of military tradition in each branch.

Do I have any chance of any sort of scholarship?
 
Army ROTC:

At Princeton your chances are close to zero:thumbdown:

At University of Toledo, your chances are very good:thumb:

All joking aside, for the Army it is were you apply.
Mostly how you compare to the others applying for a scholarship at THAT school.
 
I forgot to mention I was accepted to Auburn University, ED. That's my first choice school for each branch. Will that help?
 
My best advice is to make applying for Army your priority. As I cannot tell if you are an in-state or out of state student, nor can I tell what your major is, I can only really guess that you have the BEST chance with the Army. Get that application in, then hit the AF and Navy applications hard, too.

I only applied for Army for a few reasons. I won a scholarship from them and am very happy with the offer, but I wish I had finished up the AF one just for comparison's sake. You never know what you might get unless you take a shot for it.

Get those interviews done before the 27 Dec (if my memory serves me) if you have not done so already. The 27th is the Army deadline for EVERYTHING done to make the second of this year's three scholarship boards.

Let me know if you need anything else. I'm pretty clear on the Army stuff. AF/ Navy? Ask elsewhere :thumb:
 
I'm going to make my standard response to another "do I have a chance" posting.

Why don't you apply and find out. Your credentials look just like every other applicants. the question is, do you really want to be an Army/AF/Navy Officer. Soxfn is right about deadlines, so get hot, get your applications in and interviews done, and then you will have the answer to your question.

And if you are serious about becoming and Officer, and if you do attend Auburn, there is no reason not to enroll in ROTC even if you don't get the scholarship.

Good luck
 
For an AF perspective, you have a 27 ACT, but reading was 31, that means to get that composite you probably have a lower Math or Science score than 27. This will hurt you because the majority of AFROTC scholarships are technical majors.

You have not stated how many APs you have taken. Traditionally a 3.3 gpa can be overlooked if you took the most rigorous courses available. If you took AP Bio, Chem, Physics, Calc, Lit, Eng, USH, and World, you will be sitting better than if you only took AP Human Geography and AP Western Art.

You also didn't state your class rank, and that also plays into the equation.

The AF operates differently than Navy or Army. Scholarships are awarded from a nationalistic approach. In the easiest way to say it is if they have 5K scholarships, the top 5K scores get one. In the other branches, they spread the wealth and where you apply to on your list plays into the equation.

You have strong EC's, but again, a lot has to do with that Math score was, and how rigorous your curriculum schedule is compared to your peers, plus type of major (tech vs non-tech). There really isn't enough info to give a proper assessment.

Now all of that being said 2 things to understand and think about:
1. Career desire
~~~You will serve at least 4 yrs AD, have you started to think about in what field you want to be in?

The Army jumps out of perfectly good airplanes and they like to be on the ground. They also like helo's and not fixed wing airframes.

The AF likes to toss the Army out of the perfectly good airplanes and they like to be in the air flying fixed wing.

The Navy prefers to be at sea, flying both fixed and helo's.

All of them have a specific mission when it comes to the military's needs. If you don't like water, than don't apply NROTC. If you want helo's than the AF should not be on your top of the list. If you want fighters than the Army should not be on the top of the list.

If you want Intel or SP/MP, than your options are open to all of the branches.

2. Nobody here can give you any definitive answer on acceptance chances, except 1.

~~~You have 100% chance of never geting that scholarship if you don't apply!

It is up to you to roll the dice.
 
ffarail,

I agree with the other posts that AROTC may be your best shot. That being said you will never know about the other branches unless you apply.

Gojack is correct that school choices can make a difference in your chance of recieving a scholarship. A school such as V. Tech, Texas A&M, and others like these will have a greater number of ROTC applicants and the competition will be stronger.

One thing to remember, and this is just my opinion, don't get to wrapped up in the mistique of certain schools. Try and decide what you are interested in and what you want your major to be. Look at various schools and see how strong their programs are in that field. You will find that there are many schools that are considered a lower tier school that have strong programs in your field of interest.

There is a big difference between larger and smaller schools, class sizes accesibilty to proffessors and advisors, and overall school experience. Remember that no matter where you go you will be working towards your undergraduate degree. In the overall picture you don't need that big percieved to be prestiges school. Now when you decide to get that masters degree then you look for the school that will give you that academic exellence.

Your school choice will not give you a upper hand in brance selection nor will it guarantee that you will succeed as an officer. This is something you will do by your own hard work no matter which school you attend.

A graduate from my son's school was number 12 in the country, he branched Infantry, finished 1st in Infantry BOLC, and finished top of his class in Ranger School. He graduated from the University of Idaho. I sometimes read on here people referring to high tier schools vs Podunk schools. Don't just pick a school because they have a BCS ranked football team, or that they are a top level research school. Look at class sizes, and whether classes for underclassman are taught by professors and not just TA's. There is something to be said for being in an English 101 class taught by a professor with 65 students vs a class of 700 taught by a TA. Many smaller schools have programs equal or better then the larger schools, do your homework and pick a school that best fits your needs.

As far as your chances, with the Army ROTC it is still a little like a crap shoot. The best thing you can do is apply and get all your ducks in a row before Dec. 27th so you can be reviewed by the last 2 boards.

Just as a comparison, my son recieved an AROTC scholarship on the first board in October. Here is a bit of his stats.

3.55 GPA uw
24 ACT
NHS
Eagle Scout
6 Varsity letters
Captain Cross Country Team
Captain Track Team
Editor school annual
Senior leader for youth group
Senator in Youth in Government
Presidential National Service award
Debate team
360 community service hours
245 score on the full APFT

His scholarship was awarded for these schools.
University of Idaho
University of West Florida
Washington State University
Oregon State University
University of Montana.

As you can see there was a mix of larger and smaller schools.

Good Luck and get to work finishing your application. Remember you will need an interview before Dec. 27th, most schools will be closing for the winter break soon so you need to get moving fast.
 
Jcleppe,

you have great points. However, I will take a different twist on it than you.

You need to want to attend that school. Academic failure occurs for many reasons, but a lot of the times it is because the freshman doesn't want to be there. The freshman has not assimilated well is a big issue, majors they realize that are not a fit for, home sick, clicking with others, etc.

Anyone who is interested in going ROTC really should take the time to schedule a det/BN interview, so they can see if that is also fitting to them along with the college tour.

Where you graduated from means squat AD, it is what you do AD that matters.
 
Navy and Air Force are focused on engineering/science majors.

I agree if your ACT composite is 27, with a 31 in reading, you probably are 26 or lower in science and math... not really encouraging for a technical major in college.

What *was* your math and science on the ACT?
 
Pima,

You filled in the blaks of my post and I think we are on the same page. When my older son was trying to decide which school to attend back in Fall 2007 he spent time talking and meeting with both the school reps and the ROTC to get a feel for both. He had recieved scholarships from both larger and smaller schools and spent a lot of agonizing hours trying to decide. In the end he selected the school based on how it fit his needs and how he would fit into the shchool. Our only advice to him was to pick somewhere he felt comfortable and where he saw the best chance for him to succeed. As it turned out the school he selected was also the ROTC program that put the most effort into communication with him.

He is now a MS3 and could not be happier with his choice. We strongly believe his success is due to the fact that he chose a college that he believed was the best fit for him.

Where we are from, the University of Washington is the premier school, there was a lot of peer pressure to follow his friends to the UW. He recieved a scholarship to the UW and they recruited him hard, in the end he just didn't think he would like the large, 42m, student body and all that comes with it. He chose the University of Idaho, loves it, and has never looked back with regret.

All ROTC batallions are not created equal, ask a lot of questions. Some programs house their cadets in a dorm that is themed just for ROTC. Some allow you to be in the Greek System and some frown on it. Some have a strict coc within the cadets ie. Saluting upperclassmen, not much interaction between the upper and undercalssmen. Some have a more relaxed batallion where everyone interacts more. In some programs you don't participate in FTX until your sophomore or junior year. Some get a more variety of summer schools to offer. Just make sure you ask a lot of questions and try to get in touch with a couple cadets from each school you are looking at to get first hand information.

So I whole hardly agree with you, Pick somewhere you feel you will be happy and your prospect for success will be better.
 
Jcleppe.

This is why I strongly suggest a one on one with the det/BN.

You need to find that fit.

For our DS we contacted the Det and asked not only to have the sit down with the commander, but with cadets. Our DS got the "why you should come here" from the commander, but after that he got to hang with a few cadets to get the feel.

For ROTC cadets who are also trying the SA route, this is also a great opportunity to ask if I come here, but decide that I want the SA will you support me.

For our DS they knew it was between the AFA and them. The commander promised Bullet and our son, that if he decided as a freshman this was a mistake he would support him through the ROTC nom. In Sept., a month in, he came to our DS and said do you want to stay or go? DS said to him stay!

Just because you take the ROTC scholarship, does not mean it is over if you change your mind. You can still change, nothing is written in stone!
 
Let me correct something Pima said...at least with the Army you may not necessarily serve 4 years active duty. You could receive a 4 year scholarship, get all your school paid for, and choose to go into the National Guard or Army Reserves and be a part time soldier. You can also join the Guard or Reserves while you are still in college, especially if you don't get the scholarship, which will help you defray the cost of school. Just want to make sure you have the correct information.
 
For the AF you will serve AD for 4 yrs side by side with the AFA and OCS grad. So if you don't want to go AD, maybe the AF is not your best option.

Caveat, there are some ANG's, but they are really the rare exception.
 
5 seniors will graduate from my school this May. All 5 received component of choice. 3 chose Active Duty. 2 Chose ARNG/USAR. All were scholarship cadets.

It is not difficult to get what you want out of ROTC as long as you make a plan and then follow through with it.
 
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