Chances of getting an Air Force ROTC Scholarship

[AdamS.Holt]

I am about to begin my second semester of my Junior year in high school. Prior to changing schools at the beginning of this year, I had A's, B's, C's, and D's bringing my GPA for my Freshman & Sophomore years to a 2.8.

Upon changing schools, I joined my Air Force JROTC group, and it has been quite life changing. I had not intended to go to college until about 3 months ago when I was speaking with my SASI and ASI (A Ret. Lt. Col, and Ret. CMsgt respectively) and expressed my intent to simply enlist in the Air Force, but with their pressure for me to attain a higher education for a military career, I now feel as though it is something that I really need to make happen for myself.

My JROTC group requires a minimum of C's to be able to participate in unit activities, such as Honor Guard, of which I spend an hour each a day and weekends doing, and other unit events of which I am as actively participating as possible,. My grades improved exponentially to A's and B's giving me a GPA this semester of a 3.4. I have also begun learning German, and will have 2 years of by my graduation.

I am taking my ACT at the end of this school year, and I took my ASVAB before break and will be getting my scores from when I go back to school after Christmas break.

Athletically and Physically, I played football and ran track for 3 years from middle school into my Freshman year. From a P.T. Test a few weeks ago, I have a mile time of about 7:10, and can do 40 pushups and 52 sit ups in 1 minute. I have no issues such as Asthma, ADAH or anything thereof that would disqualify me.


As I sit right now, I know I do not stand out much, however is there still a possibility that I could get myself where I need to be to qualify by my Senior year? I feel as though I must make this my reality.

 

[zachcleigh]

So your current gpa is a 2.92. Because you apply for rotc scholarships 1st semester senior year, it's unlikely those grades will be counted (2nd semester certainly will not). Assuming you could get a 4.0 this semester, you Cumulative would be a 3.1 on your application.

The AF ROTC scholarship is extremely competitive. Especially if you want a type 1 scholarship. A gpa of 3.1 is not good.

You'll be fighting an uphill battle. A battle that can really only be won by maxing the rest of your whole person evaluation (participant in varsity sports, team captain, leadership positions, ec's, etc.). Even then.. it would be "iffy."

The competition for these scholarships is insane. I'd say your chances will not be good. However, you'll only know if you apply.


Consider other rotc programs as well. Army rotc is much less competitive (still very competitive though..). I just received a 4 year off the 1st board and i only had a 3.0 cGPA. However, the rest of my application was on point with boys state, founding clubs, 7 varsity letters, team captain, etc.

Again.. I think AFROTC is hard to near impossible. AROTC possible but you better have the rest of your application in order.
For AROTC You would have to do a interview with a professor of military science. In this interview you receive points for things you have done and your academic record. One of the points is AT LEAST A 3.0 GPA!!!!! This semester if you don't get at least a 3.4 gpa again you will not have a 3.0 CGPA. If you want any chance you need a 3.4 minimum.

 

[Akrogan]

Eh, I got a 4 year Type 7 AFROTC scholarship with about a 3.3....but I also went to the number 7 high school in the nation and had a great deal of ECs, work experience, and a 4.5 + HPA. I also had a barely qualifying SAT, so really anything is possible.

Honestly just apply, absolutely can't hurt you!

That being said, don't settle. If your dream is being an AF officer, then make it happen. If you don't get an AFROTC scholarship, I'd recommend going to a community college and doing courses that will apply towards your eventual major at a 4 year institution. CC saves money and is a great way to learn a lot in a smaller environment.

After the CC, transfer to a college with AFROTC and do the program over 3 years. Assuming you did well at the CC, you will be entering ROTC with a solid GPA which helps big time in AFROTC. A great deal of the best cadets in my unit started at community colleges. At the end of the day, you'll still be an AF officer and your degree will be from the university of your choosing.

That's just my perspective, but I encourage you to look into this avenue.

 

[Pima]

1. I would not wait until the end of this school year to start taking the ACT. Start taking it in March.
~ AFROTC only uses best sitting, but some kids will see their best sitting scores go up in each section when they take it multiple times.
~ Taking it only 1x in the spring can hurt you because now in the fall you are forced to take it as often as you can to raise those scores.

Additionally, colleges will superscore when it comes not only to admittance, but also for merit scholarships. You might not get an AFROTC scholarship, but get money from the college making it affordable for you to enter as a non-contracted cadet.

2. As Akrogan stated you can do CC, but I want to point out that in some areas, at least in VA. If you attend a CC you can still do AFROTC. You would be seen like any other cadet attending a different college than the host unit. AKA you would be a xtown cadet. You would just drive to that college on the days that the host does PT and LLAB. It makes it little more difficult in scheduling classes, but it can be done.
~ You would if all of your credits transfer over be on track to graduate at the same time as any other cadet that entered at the same time. My DS had friends do this. They went to the CC, than transfered over to the 4 yr, and even when they transferred over they remained a xtown because their 4 yr was still not the host unit. IE. Went to NOVA CC, attended UMDCP as xtown. Transferred to GMU which was still part of UMDCPs unit.

3. They look at the entire package. Here are the flaws I see:
~ Your gpa is low, but they do take into account if there is a trend, and when it is a rising gpa they look better upon that than one that is decreasing. Thus, that is a plus for you.
~ Negative is I am not seeing a rigorous curriculum. 2 years is bare mins for foreign language. They will look at your school profile, not just your cgpa.
~ No sports for the last 2 years. AFROTC scholarship will only look at 9-11th years. What is on your record at the end of your 11th grade is what they will review you upon when it comes for selection. This is also true for academics, 1.e. to them you will have only 1 yr foreign language.

4. Your intended major will matter when it comes to selection. @80-85% of all scholarships go to STEM majors.

Now for some other facts:
1. @ 16-18% of all scholarship candidates that apply will get a scholarship.
2. The selection is national. They do not care if 100% of all the scholarships go to candidates that live in only 3 states. IOWS, they will not say if there are 1000 scholarships than each state will get 20 scholarships. Nor are they like A/NROTC where they determine how many at each unit will be on scholarship. If one college has 0% and another has 100%, than so be it.
3. The majority of cadets are NOT on scholarship.
~ Historically, maybe only 20% are on scholarship. The numbers go up statistically later on within the program for multiple reasons.
~~ As freshmen and sophomore many get scholarships while within the program.
~~ As a sophomore cadets must compete for summer field training (SFT), Many of the AFROTC scholarship recipients also have college merit too. Colleges typically set the cgpa bar at 3.0 or 3.2 to maintain the scholarship, thus they have higher cgpas for that fact. AFROTC only requires a 2.5.
With that being said, still the % you will see is maybe 35 -40%. They all will be contracted after graduating from SFT, but they are not scholarship.

Finally, my own suggestions are:
1. Apply, you have 0% chance if you don't.
2. Keep an open mind to doing OCS.
~~ IE if you can't do xtown as a CC student, but do transfer over to a 4 yr. You might want to at that point apply for OCS and skip ROTC totally. Our friends DS did that when he was in college. He applied his junior yr., was accepted. Right before the start of his senior yr. he contracted. Left for OCS a month after he graduated from college.
3. Do not go enlisted if your goal is to become an officer, caveat, unless you must from a financial aspect. You can't become an officer without a college degree. Between your AF career and trying to obtain a degree at night or online, it will probably take you 6-8 years. You would still have to go through OCS. Staying at home going to a CC and working is a better option in my opinion.
4. I disagree completely with some of zachleighs points.
~ Yes, AROTC is easier than AFROTC, but the fact is you will serve in that branch. Do not go one route over another unless you are willing to live that life 24/7/365 days in a career field they decide at a place they determine.
~~ This is not about anything more than the fact that the AF is a different world when it comes down to life in the AD. You will go ADAF upon completion of the program.
~ You will interview with a PMS for your AFROTC scholarship. The academic aspect (cgpa) is part of that Whole Candidate Score (WCS), it is what they call the PAR (prior academic record). Points will be awarded for your cgpa and ACT/SAT scores. The difference is, as I stated before, they do not include your senior year, whereas, AROTC does.

Good luck.

 

[AdamS.Holt]

Many thanks on reviewing and replying to my question. From what you said, I think there is little chance I will get a scholarship, but I will still apply and see where it goes. I will also start talking more with my SASI (Lt. Col., Ret.) about getting my application in order.

Thanks, Have a good day.