Class of 2015 - Mailbox Stalkers Club

[RyWalk]

Only about 20% of the AFROTC cadets are on a 4 year scholarship. Look into other scholarships for the school you want to go to

 

[aglages]

BTW- Regarding AFROTC, if you missed the deadline for the scholarship you can still join and try for a tuition waiver (this was relayed to us by my son's ALO). These are apparently handled separately from scholarships.

If you check out some of the threads on the ROTC forum you'll find that the AFROTC did not give out any In-College scholarships this year and supposedly are not expecting any in the Fall of 2011. I'm not sure what a tuition "waiver" is, but the chances of getting a scholarship after you are in college and join AFROTC are not currently looking too good. Good luck.

 

[Connorgunning]

Well finally after many months of mailbox stalking I recieved a "Qualified No Vacancy" letter from the USAFA. Not exactly the news I was looking forward to, but since it states in the letter that I could very well receive an appointment if someone declines theres, I guess it's on for mailbox stalking session #2 not giving up hope here yet!

 

[usafa84]

If you check out some of the threads on the ROTC forum you'll find that the AFROTC did not give out any In-College scholarships this year and supposedly are not expecting any in the Fall of 2011. I'm not sure what a tuition "waiver" is, but the chances of getting a scholarship after you are in college and join AFROTC are not currently looking too good. Good luck.

Just a heads up. My DS is on full AFROTC at Notre Dame. All students who went to ND ROTC expecting to earn a scholarship at school were told, sorry no money available for ANY scholarships. Some students who were already on scholarship just lost their scholarships due to reduced field training slots and didn't get a slot. Out of 27 cadets only 14 were given slots for field training. IT IS TOUGH OUT THERE!!

 

[Eberlz]

Like many, I recieved the "Qualified No Vacancy" letter. Time to look over my options...

 

[michell798]

Twe

My son got his TWE a couple of days ago. Now that it has sunk in, he has decided not to reapply. Makes me sad for him because it is all he has talked about since he started middle school. We had a really bad experience with our ALO and he is feeling pretty disillusioned. I am hoping after he gets started in ROTC maybe he will reconsider. It will all work out for the best I know. Good
luck to everyone, it has been a wild ride!

 

[flieger83]

My son got his TWE a couple of days ago. Now that it has sunk in, he has decided not to reapply. Makes me sad for him because it is all he has talked about since he started middle school. We had a really bad experience with our ALO and he is feeling pretty disillusioned. I am hoping after he gets started in ROTC maybe he will reconsider. It will all work out for the best I know. Good
luck to everyone, it has been a wild ride!

"...We had a really bad experience with our ALO and he is feeling pretty disillusioned.

This comment distresses me!

If you want to "go into more depth in a PM" I'd be happy to advise how you can "help improve this" with the senior ALO in that area.

We don't need ALO's NOT doing a superior job.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

 

[Eberlz]

Just a heads up. My DS is on full AFROTC at Notre Dame. All students who went to ND ROTC expecting to earn a scholarship at school were told, sorry no money available for ANY scholarships. Some students who were already on scholarship just lost their scholarships due to reduced field training slots and didn't get a slot. Out of 27 cadets only 14 were given slots for field training. IT IS TOUGH OUT THERE!!

The same is true for here in Washington. A friend is in AFROTC at Central Washington, and only 9 out of 26 got a spot for field training.

 

[flyerdreamer]

We had a really bad experience with our ALO and he is feeling pretty disillusioned. I

This makes me really sad. Having experienced something similar last year, I know how it feels--for the applicant and also the family. I hope you can get assigned a different ALO, and that your son doesn't give up his dream because someone can't do their job right.

 

[usafa84]

My son got his TWE a couple of days ago. Now that it has sunk in, he has decided not to reapply. Makes me sad for him because it is all he has talked about since he started middle school. We had a really bad experience with our ALO and he is feeling pretty disillusioned. I am hoping after he gets started in ROTC maybe he will reconsider. It will all work out for the best I know. Good
luck to everyone, it has been a wild ride!

SORRY! That happened to us with our son two years ago. I can tell you he loves ROTC at Notre Dame! There was no way he was going to waste a year and reapply. He ended up clepping out of his freshman year and picking up a second major. He has continued and led community service projects for the school and raised 60,000 dollars this year for children/women charities. He hasn't looked back. My daughter's ALO this year (new state) we never heard from, other than when she met him at the base tours for when everyone was here for the BIG football game. At this point, I am not sure what ALO's are supposed to do. My daughter has pretty much decided to not go military and go to Lehigh on scholarship.

 

[tkuser21mom]

wait is over in IN

My DS received his QNV letter Friday. It also states that he is in line if someone declines. (Not counting on it...) He had three nominations: both Senators and the Congressman, excellent SATs/GPA and an outstanding resume. Hard to figure out...

He has chosen Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on ROTC scholarship. Although disappointed with the QNV letter, I think he is relieved the waiting/not knowing is over and is absolutely thrilled with the idea of attending Rose-Hulman.

He, too, has decided not to reapply so that he can begin to pursue his goals. Good luck to all of you as you pursue your goals. There are many paths to the finish line!

 

[Denversmom]

Checking in

Checking in from South Florida. Still no BFE or TWE, although the ALO said to expect the TWE, so we have had some time to get used to the idea. No reapplication next year, which saddens my heart because I was an Air Force wife for 14 years and miss it soooooo much!

For those in the know: Exactly what are ALOs expected to do. I am a guidance counselor at a small private high school, as well as the mother of a senior, and I would like to know what to tell my kids. Our MOC puts on a great All Services Day at Homestead Air Reserve Base with a representative of all the SAs present, mostly students, the congressmen's staffs, all services ROTC, etc. It was there that we found out that our ALO was currently in Afghanistan and we were assigned one from the Keys. Like the previous posters, I felt like he wasn't helpful or completely honest. I know that when they double up like that their workload increases, so I want to be realistic.

 

[falconfamily]

My DS received his QNV letter Friday. It also states that he is in line if someone declines. (Not counting on it...) He had three nominations: both Senators and the Congressman, excellent SATs/GPA and an outstanding resume. Hard to figure out...

He has chosen Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on ROTC scholarship. Although disappointed with the QNV letter, I think he is relieved the waiting/not knowing is over and is absolutely thrilled with the idea of attending Rose-Hulman.

He, too, has decided not to reapply so that he can begin to pursue his goals. Good luck to all of you as you pursue your goals. There are many paths to the finish line!

I completely agree. That is the one thing that all candidates need to keep in mind. It is getting to your goal, not so much how you get there that counts. Good luck to you and your son.

As I keep alluding to, while it has been a tough week for TWE's, I believe things will not be completely settled until we start hearing back from stalkers about prep and Falcon offers. So I'll keep the stalkers thread going in the hope that we will start seeing those announcements.

 

[usafa84]

My DS received his QNV letter Friday. It also states that he is in line if someone declines. (Not counting on it...) He had three nominations: both Senators and the Congressman, excellent SATs/GPA and an outstanding resume. Hard to figure out...

He has chosen Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on ROTC scholarship. Although disappointed with the QNV letter, I think he is relieved the waiting/not knowing is over and is absolutely thrilled with the idea of attending Rose-Hulman.

He, too, has decided not to reapply so that he can begin to pursue his goals. Good luck to all of you as you pursue your goals. There are many paths to the finish line!

I am sorry. Both of my kids have great resumes. My daughter was even the AFMC youth of the year one year. The whole experience has left me scratching my head. I am still trying to figure out how USAFA raises some applicants GPA's and lowers others. The whole thing is a guessing game of what they are going to count in your resume or not. I wish your son all the best in his exciting future.

 

[tkuser21mom]

Wait is over in IN

Thank you all for the kind words! In many ways, this may be a better fit for him! Rose-Hulman ....not a shabby Plan B. And, it's a lot closer to home, something Grandma will be happy about!http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/images/smilies/shake.gif

DS will become a Commissioned Officer when he graduates, "the" goal he intends to pursue! As stated on this forum many times, all of our children our incredible people with outstanding talents and skills. They will all be successful in whatever they decide to pursue...it is their nature!

Unlike several of the other posts...we had an excellent experience with our ALO! He was incredibly supportive! Although I know he was busy, he did respond quickly to emails answering questions. He also spent an exorbitant amount of time last summer acquainting our family with the "process"! Hats off to our ALO!

DS made the statement that he is better off having gone through the process and received the QNV, than not having tried at all! No regrets...many lessons learned!

 

[Pima]

I am still trying to figure out how USAFA raises some applicants GPA's and lowers others.

They look at the school profile. In that sealed transcript you sent, the school sent their profile too, which included point scale and weighting.

For example in our last hs(NC) APs were weighted 6.0, and the scale was 7 pts. In our current school (VA), APs are on a 4.5 and the scale is 10 pt. So you can see there would be a great grade valuation between these two students, thus to even out the system the AFA has their own valuation and they use that to equalize the candidates gpa.

Of course they also look at the profile to see the rigor of the course load. Again, every school system is different. Some schools may require you to complete the traditional course load before taking APs, some will allow you to select between the std, honor or AP course. In NC you can't take AP Physics until you complete Physics (std or honors). Same with bio, or chem. In VA you can chose. It is hard to fault the kid who has less APS because the way their system is designed, that is again why they may elect to re-grade their gpa.

OBTW, every college does this. For our kids out of 10 colleges (2 kids, 5 each), only 2 didn't change their gpa. AFA and Notre Dame. The rest went higher and lower, some significantly; one went up 0.25 for DS ---he was our NC kid where you had to complete everything before moving onto AP. I think for our DD her range was 0.18 and that was because she attended a hs that 4.5 was the weight for AP, and the college used a 5.0 scale.

 

[usafa84]

They look at the school profile. In that sealed transcript you sent, the school sent their profile too, which included point scale and weighting.

For example in our last hs(NC) APs were weighted 6.0, and the scale was 7 pts. In our current school (VA), APs are on a 4.5 and the scale is 10 pt. So you can see there would be a great grade valuation between these two students, thus to even out the system the AFA has their own valuation and they use that to equalize the candidates gpa.

Of course they also look at the profile to see the rigor of the course load. Again, every school system is different. Some schools may require you to complete the traditional course load before taking APs, some will allow you to select between the std, honor or AP course. In NC you can't take AP Physics until you complete Physics (std or honors). Same with bio, or chem. In VA you can chose. It is hard to fault the kid who has less APS because the way their system is designed, that is again why they may elect to re-grade their gpa.

OBTW, every college does this. For our kids out of 10 colleges (2 kids, 5 each), only 2 didn't change their gpa. AFA and Notre Dame. The rest went higher and lower, some significantly; one went up 0.25 for DS ---he was our NC kid where you had to complete everything before moving onto AP. I think for our DD her range was 0.18 and that was because she attended a hs that 4.5 was the weight for AP, and the college used a 5.0 scale.

Thank you! However, I am strill scratching my head on this. If the AFA likes to equalize everyones record, what do they do with the kids coming from schools whose grading scales are 93-100 =A instead of the standard 90-100=A? Also, when my son came from the American school of London back into the states they figured on a 93-100 but a low A was figured point wise as a B+. ASL also considered all their classes as AP/Honors and didn't lable them as such. Something about students meeting a board and are selected to attend ASL.

 

[falconfamily]

Thank you! However, I am strill scratching my head on this. If the AFA likes to equalize everyones record, what do they do with the kids coming from schools whose grading scales are 93-100 =A instead of the standard 90-100=A? Also, when my son came from the American school of London back into the states they figured on a 93-100 but a low A was figured point wise as a B+. ASL also considered all their classes as AP/Honors and didn't lable them as such. Something about students meeting a board and are selected to attend ASL.

My understanding is that colleges (and I can only assume the USAFA), would apply the adjustment for GPA quarter/term per quarter/term and come out with an appropriate cGPA based upon your high school profile(s) and their own internal rating system. It's not perfect, but I cannot imagine any system that is.

One thing that struck me was a conversation I had with a Regional Director to inquire about the status of my DS's application. As he looked up the record, he made a comment "you guys come from a great high school!", I asked him if that was from interpreting the HS profile and he responded "partly". That leads me to believe that the USAFA must have their own weighting system to balance against the profiles. Perhaps I am reading too much into it - but clearly they gave more weight to my DS's grades than simply looking at the high school profile might suggest. Not sure this makes the process any clearer...

 

[Pima]

Again, they have their own scale system. I do not know for sure, but my assumption is that the AFA does a 7 point scale.

I understand your frustration re: your child moving in hs and the incoming school not getting it.

Our DS took bio, geo and foreign language in 8th grade, transferred from VA to NC in 10th. At that point he was in Physics, Pre-Calc, and French III. NC informed us that he needed to take 2 more foreign languages because according to their state regs for the collegiate degree he had to have 3 yrs, and his 8th grade transcript didn't count. Worse yet, because he took earth science as a gifted child in 7th grade and bio in 8th, he needed to take earth science in hs and another science to replace bio. Same with math. It was insane that had he been in their system since middle school it would have been different. However, since he transferred in as a rising soph., he got penalized.

Our DD moved from NC as a rising jr., back to VA, and we didn't have any of those issues, they accepted her 8th grade as pre-reqs and she was cleared to go.

This is more of an issue re: our school system from a nationalistic perspective. Honestly, I always scratch my cranium over our system. Just look at exit exams for No Child, every state creates their own, but come college admissions we use a national exam (SAT/ACT). I remember being a kid in NJ and wondering why we were taking the Ohio or CA test, afterall we were in NJ! That was done for a national perspective. We need to get back to that system IMPO. If our children are evaluated on things like an SAT/ACT, shouldn't we create a system starting in elementary that grades them from a country wide perspective and not state by state?

Look at VA, Fairfax county's school budget, COUNTY, is larger than the lowest 8 states in he country. However, a kid and their parent in one of these states believes their kids are on par with VA, only to realize later on that if they moved their child to VA, their child is below par.

Yrs ago we had a friend who had a child tagged as "gifted" in their school district, moved due to military orders to a new state, and was told day one you need to hire a tutor for your child, they are not on par. The kid was in 4th grade. Gifted to tutor is a hard pill to swallow.

Our DS1, was "tag" in AK in 2nd grade. The process took 3 months, IQ, psychological, recs., etc. The IQ was the long test. NC our DD was put up for TAG, and it was the 30 minute IQ, omnious dominous in.

We move to VA, and DS1 in 7th grade was forced to go through the testing procedure again---he had by this time been tested 2nd (AK), 4th(NC) , 6th(KS) and now again in 7th. He got in.

DD who only had NC and KS, did not meet the regs for VA as a 5th grader. Moved back to NC as an 8th grader, and VOILA they decided she was TAG. Moved back to VA as a rising jr, because NC had placed her in all advance courses, she was placed in the International Cambridge Program.

It cuts both ways. The fault in the system IMPO should not be placed at the feet of colleges, it should be placed at our govt.'s feet. I really don't know why we have a Secretary of Education, when we don't have a national education system.

Sorry, that is my pet peeve. To me it is ridiculous we expect a kid from a state that places education high up on their program and place them against a state that doesn't. Look even closer, No VA and MD re:military members, both sides have HOV, Metro, yet housing prices drastically drop if you go over to the MD side, so do taxes. However, military members are willing to buy on the VA side because of the schools.

If parents saw how their state ranked nationally like the SAT/ACT I bet the outcry on how money is spent at the educational level will change. The educational system would be revamped nationally and the need to re-adjust gpas would no longer exist. Yet, instead the argument is about teacher rights/pay and unions, plus state rights, while we drop in ranking internationally. This is truly about looking at the small picture and not the big.

Done venting...yes, I was a teacher for 5 yrs., and I had to walk away out of frustration. Frustrated that we spent umpteen hours teaching a test for only that state. Teaching only that state's history. Frustrated that parents came in and wouldn't listen re: their child, and yet never volunteered a second in the class room to see their child in the educational system. It was always not my kid, it is you. I have a sister who follows that theory, and we never discuss her child because we know we will never agree. She feels that teachers are being harsh, I feel that they are realistic with the parents.

Again, it really is to me that we are failing parents and kids at a young age. If we can do SATs, than we should do it for gateways...3,5,8, 10th and exit. No state by state, national.

 

[usafa84]

YIKES! I must agree on a lot of your points. First of all "gifted" programs are all about money. Seeing how gifted falls under special needs programs. A friend of mine had moved from Fairfax Virginia to Alamogordo NM. It was to her shock that her child was not considered for the gifted program in NM. All students go thru the three day psych and IQ evals. It wasn't that her child wasn't gifted it was based on percentage. NM only accepts the top 2% of IQs in their programs because of its budget for special ed. You can't tell me that smoeone who hits the 3% of IQs is not gifted! It then gets dumped into the laps of our over worked teachers to meet the needs from mainstreamed, average, and those left out of gifted in a class size of 35. At the same time, making sure every student master their essential objectives, that the whole class must pass, so they aren't considered a "failing" school. Schools then focus on pulling the lower levels up, average kids are along for the ride and bright kids are never pushed to be thinkers and look at things outside the box. We have classes of robots. Memorize facts and regurgitate it back on the test. Add into the mix military kids. My daughter, for example, is on her 10th school. The constant moving while maintaining good grades and keeping your EC's intact is insane. I have watched kids who have played sports for years, move and couldn't get on the team in their new school. Heartbreaking. What is the answer? As a parent, I am a lion at protecting the needs of my children. I taught them every summer to avoid possible gaps when moving and kept them in Catholic Schools so we at least had our religion to lean on with every move. OK....Pima you are definitely someone I could do lunch with and solve our education problems in this country!