Does early college hurt or help getting an Appointment?

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Baseballrecruit

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I am a junior in high school and I just turned 17. I am applying for the Academy class which starts fall of 2016. I am being recruited to be a pitcher for the baseball team. The problem is that I am done with high school now in spring of 2015. My school only offers Calculus AP. The other AP classes are a joke. I have finished 2 semesters of college English. I was counting on 100% dual enrollment at the local junior college, but it was a lottery which I lost because it was purely random and not based on my 4.7 GPA or being in the top 1% of my class. Unfortunately it is too late to get into the prep schools. My parents who are both engineers say that I have to graduate and go to the local big state University and start my engineering core classes. They will allow me to do AFROTC as an elective. My application for nominations and the Academy are based on my current records at the high school. The coach has indicated that with my good SAT scores I will have no problems. I have not taken any physicals yet.

My question is how will being a full-time college student in ROTC instead of a senior in high school affect my application? I am also concerned about my GPA dropping some because of the increased rigor of the big university's pre-engineering program. My older sister who took Calculus 1 at the junior college and Calculus 2 at the university said it is twice as hard. The colonel in charge of the ROTC program indicated that he knows of only 1 or 2 of his students out of many that went to the Academy after starting at the university.
 
Apples and oranges. Just like the academy has to find the common denominator for applicants who go to a high school that is Sam
L and doesn't offer AP classes, with applicants who go to large private schools who only offer honor, ap, and IB type classes. Many applicants are already in college. Some dual enrolled with high school and some full time college. Fwiw, there's some applicants who blame cadets, who already finished an associates or bachelor degree and applied to the academy.

The point is, it's. It going to hurt you to be in college and applying. There's a lot of college students who apply to the academy. And you gap and classes are calculated differently. A 3.8 in college is not the same as a 3.8 in high school. It's calculated differently.

It's better to a apply as a college student than to apply as a high school grad who took a year off from school. But remember, there's no guarantees. Even 4.0 applicants get rejected. It's the whole person application. Not just gap and act scores.
 
Thanks for the reply. Will taking ROTC in college help my application at all, or does the real benefit of ROTC reside in getting a head start on the military knowledge the Academy will be teaching? Instead of ROTC should I try to focus on improving my leadership resume by seeking a position in student govt? Due to my varsity baseball training requiring 6 days per week for 5 hrs per day, I have not had much opportunity to demonstrate the leadership aspect of my character. However, I am in great shape and made it to the World Championship Tournament.
 
ROTC isn't a stepping stone to the academy. Rotc is a different path to becoming a commissioned officer. Is it possible to be in rotc and still apply to the academy? Yes. But most who are in rotc in college are trying to become officers that route. Your best bet is to get to college, get into rotc, see what you think of that, then decide whether to seek a commission with rotc or try for the academy.
 
I've already applied for the Academy, I was just wondering if taking ROTC while I wait for the application process to work thru would make a difference. In Florida the Senator nomination interviews aren't until October. I would think it would show them that I am serious about an Air Force career.

I think what I am hearing you say is that the selection committee would not give leadership points for ROTC participation. Is that correct?
 
As far as your lack of leadership, the selection committee will give points for leadership for ROTC only if you show leadership! I'm sure you can find ways to highlight the leadership you are showing on your varsity baseball team.

If you are being recruited for a sport, I would check with the coach before giving up your senior year of high school varsity baseball, unless you will continue to play on the college team (which then will have NCAA eligibility implications) or a highly ranked travel/select team. I doubt they will continue to recruit you if you stop playing.

As CC said, you will be at a disadvantage applying from college vs high school. So I would really look in to other avenues of dual enrollment or on line courses to round out your senior year. I've heard of many on this forum that took college courses on line their senior year because they exhausted their high school's curriculum. If its a public school, and you don't graduate early, they need to provide you with course options.
 
If you are hoping to play DIV I baseball, CONTACT THE COACH BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY DECISIONS about leaving high school, no matter how ridiculous the classes are.

I have never heard of a community college that admits students via lottery.
 
I'm in an Early College program down in Florida. Everyone who applied got in by lottery. End up with an Associates upon graduation of high school.
 
My kids all had AS degrees when they "graduated." Can you not just go to this CC on your own dime & initiative?

Still, call the coach first.
 
Due to the craziness that is the NCAA I would hold off on going to any other college if you truly want to play a sport at USAFA. It starts to become a mess and could jeopardize your eligibility if you are not careful. If I were you I would just stay in high school and complete the most rigorous course load offered to you. I am no expert, but doing all this stuff you are talking about such as ROTC and whatever for a semester could be more trouble than it's worth.
 
Use the search function and check out Greystone. There are some previous threads regarding the school. I believe Greystone is one of the newer preps, but I think some of the SAs might be using them as their AOG/Foundation approved schools. Something you need to research and check out. That is always a good thing to see from a prep perspective. I agree, if you are being recruited as a baseball player you really need to talk to the coaches. You are still a junior currently and coaches cannot contact you at this point if I remember correctly, so you need to be proactive in reaching out to them. Also, not trying to dash dreams or hopes, but this summer and early next year you will really start to see where you rack and stack in terms of recruiting from schools. Right now you are probably getting letters from schools which are sort of done in mass. Things start to shake out over the next 6 months. Skipping your senior year of baseball could really hurt you. You say the other AP classes are a joke... so you have taken them all? You scored 5s on them all? What about a language, have you taken that? Have you taken all the science classes your school has to offer to include chem and physics? These are all things you can and should be doing at your high school. Look at online options to supplement if possible to increase math if you have already take AP Calc.
 
My 2016 cadet dual enrolled in a four year college his senior year (took two courses each semester) and then also proceeded to attend the same college as a full time student the next year before going to the Academy. So, I'm not sure I understand the recommendation for avoiding college classes regarding getting an appointment. As far as the NCAA stuff goes, I would contact the USAFA coach - but, if you don't play baseball for the college you are attending, you shouldn't lose any eligilbility.
 
It's already been eluded to, but if being a recruited athlete (At the air force academy or any school) is important to you, then you would be foolish to not finish your senior year in high school. You can dual enroll and take all the college classes you want while still a high school student. But to to leave high school and go to college full time, can hurt you from a baseball perspective. If you play baseball at college, you'll lose some of your eligibility if you do go to the academy. Even if you wind up at another college. If you decide to stay out of sports for a year, that too will hurt you in being recruited as an athlete. It also doesn't help your academy application if you're not involved in a sport. You could still be involved with baseball from a non-school perspective. e.g. city league or similar. But NOT being a high school student, could have it's own implications.

I still believe you should do what MOST applicants who are high school students who either don't have advanced classes at their school or they've exhausted all the classes......... Stay a high school student an go through your high school to take community college courses. This gives you the best of all worlds. More challenging classes. You continue to be a high school student playing high school sports. And you strengthen your application. If you weren't being recruited as an athlete, it wouldn't matter if you stayed in high school or moved directly to a community college.
 
I would like to point out that since it is the 21st century, our OP can stay in high school and take innumerable courses online from the likes of MizzU, UNoDak, Franciscan U of St, etc, either in a virtual classroom format or "teach yourself" style. Sure it costs a few bucks, but it makes far far FAR more sense than jeopardizing that baseball eligibility if that's what he's really looking to do.

And true, don't believe those "OMG! You are the greatest student and athlete EVER and we REALLY want Y.O.U.!" brochures you may be receiving. Yes, your parents probably think that of you but it is truly unlikely any college does. They want YOUR INTEREST (to say nothing of your dollars). If you are indeed interested, fine.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. After talking to many people and the coaches at both the Air Force and the junior college here is the conclusion.

1) Dual enrollment would be best. Need to "fill-out" my 6'5" frame. more practice. no impact to eligibility. Junior college coach was very nice. He said he would not let me on the team and lose a year of playing at the D1 level when I should not be there.

2) Junior college admin said the restriction on 100% dual enrollment (really called early admissions) was not them, but rather local school board not having funding to pay the college. However school is obligated to provide classes that I need. If I can make a case that I really need full load of college level classes to get prepared for the heavy load and faster pace of the Academy classes, and escalate above principal to county office, I should get an exception. Also, I am 4th on waiting list. After high school grades come out in June, other students may be disqualified.

3) Greystone which has almost a 98% acceptance rate into Academy indicated that doing well on college classes help you more than it hurts you. The key is doing well. College classes are twice the pace of an AP class and the same level of difficulty. Also will prepare you for the academy better.

4) found out that UF and UCF both have early admissions. UF you can do on line. Don't think that would work for Chem lab.

4) Coach said as blue chip athlete my SATs, GPA, Class rank are good. Just need to nail CFA, essays, ALO interview, and congressional interview. He made it sound so easy! (We know its not)

5) College recruiting for pitchers that are ranked high in Perfect Game National ranking is very conpetitive. Many of the 2017 grads are already verbally committed. I turned down Notre Dame to commit to the Air Force and don't regret it a bit. FLY!FIGHT!WIN!
 
Baseballrecruit said:
Many of the 2017 grads are already verbally committed. I turned down Notre Dame to commit to the Air Force and don't regret it a bit. FLY!FIGHT!WIN!
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You are a JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL NOW? How could you possibly turn down ANY COLLEGE? I don't believe you when you say that 2017 grads (current high school sophomores) are verbally committed anywhere. If so, and if those coaches are accepting any type of commitment, or even agreeing to the idea, the NCAA should be notified and those coaches reprimanded as a minimum, fired is what fencersmother says.

All Div I coaches know the rules, and I do not believe that ANY coach at Notre Dame would make such an egregious error.

If what you say is true, it is a very black mark on that program. If what you say is wishful thinking on your part, you should retract that statement immediately, before you get yourself and the Notre Dame coaching staff into a bad peck of trouble that no one needs or wants.
 
*and further more, just because you have the grades and scores, and some skill at baseball, do not think that you are a shoe-in at USAFA or any US Service Academy. They need the whole package.
 
You obviously do not know the NCAA rules. I can speak to a coach on campus during unofficial visits at the designated periods which I did. Verbal commits are not "official" or formally recognized per NCAA. They are not contractually binding. Therefore they are not disallowed. Verbal "discussions" if you would rather call them that are allowed and happen all the time for juniors. This allows the coaches to do their scholarship planning to prepare for the formal contracts that are binding fall of senior year. Otherwise it would be a logistical nightmare for them to make offers to students that may not be interested. Furthermore, it makes it easier on the recruit to do research on multiple offers, or "potential offers" since they are not binding. Sometimes coaches back out of their verbal and so do players. Most don't.
 
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