My chances with the AFROTC scholarships

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huffmand

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My name is Drake Huffman, I am 17 years old and am a junior in high school. I have a 3.3 GPA, I am very involved with community service in my town, from mini league football camps, to being camp counselor for 6th graders. I was the captain of the football team and was thinking of running for a student body organization in my school. I have also done plenty of reaserch on ROTC opportunities in different areas and have come to conclusion that I would like to go out of state and have an ROTC scholarship pay for the majority of my college. I would like to major in aviation, but I've read that mechanical engineering might be a better route to get a tier 1 or 2 scholarship. Would I have decent chance at a decent AFROTC scholarship with the qualities I possess at this point? I was also planning on getting my sports pilots license this summer. Any comments on what else I could do would be great. Thank you!
 
huffmand said:
My name is Drake Huffman, I am 17 years old and am a junior in high school. I have a 3.3 GPA, I am very involved with community service in my town, from mini league football camps, to being camp counselor for 6th graders. I was the captain of the football team and was thinking of running for a student body organization in my school. I have also done plenty of reaserch on ROTC opportunities in different areas and have come to conclusion that I would like to go out of state and have an ROTC scholarship pay for the majority of my college. I would like to major in aviation, but I've read that mechanical engineering might be a better route to get a tier 1 or 2 scholarship. Would I have decent chance at a decent AFROTC scholarship with the qualities I possess at this point? I was also planning on getting my sports pilots license this summer. Any comments on what else I could do would be great. Thank you!
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What are your ACT or SAT test scores? Also, if considering aviation, you might want to check out aeronautical or aerospace engineering. High tier major, and the hop over to being a pilot is much more do-able
 
First off...this is an anonymous forum. If it is too late to delete your name, ask the mods to do so.

Now on to the facts.

1. You have 0% chance if you do not apply.
2. You did not state your SAT/ACT... best sitting, not superscore.
3. AFROTC looks at tech vs. non-tech. Not all aviation majors are considered tech.
~ 80-85% of all go tech major.
~ Tier 1 and 2 are not AFROTC terms. It would be type 1,2 or 7.
4. AFROTC only will pay tuition and that helps, but for a full ride tuition, it is on avg of about 5% of all candidates boarded. IE you live in PA and want to go to VT, they will see you as out of state. Type 2 or 7 will not work for that full ride tuition without the school pitching in some merit.
~ Your cgpa may ding you for all ROTC scholarships. It will come down to the school profile and class rigor too for AFROTC. 3.3...what is your rank, how many APs, % that go Ivy vs 4 yr vs 2 yr.
. I don't know what a sports pilot license is, but if you are talking about a private pilot license (PPL), it helps, but in a very in direct way right now. A PPL costs thousands of dollars.
4. AFROTC does not include anything, but updated SAT/ACT scores for your senior yr. No APs right now, than that will be all they consider. No student body organization, and so be it.

I would not recommend anyone to give you chances yet, until the bigger questions are answered. Finesse will come later...i.e., how will you pay for that dream college if you don't like AFROTC and disenroll? This is the time that when you select those dream schools with the hopes of getting any ROTC scholarship you sit down with the folks and ask can I afford to stay there if I decide ROTC is not a good fit for me after my freshmen year? Are you willing to stay in ROTC and go ADAF until you are 27 or so for the scholarship because that is what you are looking at...2025. Pilot and you are talking about 2032...2032!

PS, however it goes for you, just realize if you truly want to serve you will get there. ROTC is a national pool for every branch, and statistically it is very competitive. The majority of cadets are NOT on scholarship. Only about 16-18% will receive a scholarship as a HS student, yet @80-85% of AS100s are not on scholarship and many will not commission.
 
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Pima said:
First off...this is an anonymous forum. If it is too late to delete your name, ask the mods to do so.

Now on to the facts.

1. You have 0% chance if you do not apply.
2. You did not state your SAT/ACT... best sitting, not superscore.
3. AFROTC looks at tech vs. non-tech. Not all aviation majors are considered tech.
~ 80-85% of all go tech major.
~ Tier 1 and 2 are not AFROTC terms. It would be type 1,2 or 7.
4. AFROTC only will pay tuition and that helps, but for a full ride tuition, it is on avg of about 5% of all candidates boarded. IE you live in PA and want to go to VT, they will see you as out of state. Type 2 or 7 will not work for that full ride tuition without the school pitching in some merit.
~ Your cgpa may ding you for all ROTC scholarships. It will come down to the school profile and class rigor too for AFROTC. 3.3...what is your rank, how many APs, % that go Ivy vs 4 yr vs 2 yr.
. I don't know what a sports pilot license is, but if you are talking about a private pilot license (PPL), it helps, but in a very in direct way right now. A PPL costs thousands of dollars.
4. AFROTC does not include anything, but updated SAT/ACT scores for your senior yr. No APs right now, than that will be all they consider. No student body organization, and so be it.

I would not recommend anyone to give you chances yet, until the bigger questions are answered. Finesse will come later...i.e., how will you pay for that dream college if you don't like AFROTC and disenroll? This is the time that when you select those dream schools with the hopes of getting any ROTC scholarship you sit down with the folks and ask can I afford to stay there if I decide ROTC is not a good fit for me after my freshmen year? Are you willing to stay in ROTC and go ADAF until you are 27 or so for the scholarship because that is what you are looking at...2025. Pilot and you are talking about 2032...2032!

PS, however it goes for you, just realize if you truly want to serve you will get there. ROTC is a national pool for every branch, and statistically it is very competitive. The majority of cadets are NOT on scholarship. Only about 16-18% will receive a scholarship as a HS student, yet @80-85% of AS100s are not on scholarship and many will not commission.
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I really appreciate the response. And I forgot to mention that my ACT is only a 23 right now (without studying), and I am expecting to get a 25-27 this June. I decided to take 4 college courses while I've been in high school instead of AP b/c I really wanted to get rid of some pre requisites for college while in high school.
 
Honestly, that ACT has to get closer to 30.

The avg. ACT for the lowest type (type 7) is @29+, best sitting, not superscored. Type 1 and 2s are in the 30-31 range. You have a lot of time between now and June so I suggest you hit the study guides. Keep taking both the ACT and SAT everytime it is offered.

Many colleges will accept those college courses just like the APs, but they may choose to say to you that the class does not count as a pre-req., but instead will use it as credits towards electives. In other words if you think that it will equate to you graduating early, it probably will not because typically higher tier classes are only offered 1x a year.

Just remember that if you are taking those courses as a senior they will not count for the selection board because you took them in your senior year.
 
You can get your act up if you put your mind to it. I got mine from a 27 to a 31, 32 superscore , you should be able to make a big jump too
 
huffmand said:
I would like to major in aviation, but I've read that mechanical engineering might be a better route to get a tier 1 or 2 scholarship.
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Please do not pick a major based on scholarship chances. You will (most likely) regret it.
 
Agreed with Stevenson. AFROTC does not superscore as I stated earlier in this thread, they only do best sitting. Plus, they look at the subsets before they will board a candidate. They can have a composite of 28, but still not be deemed competitive if their E is 24. I.E. 30 M, 30 S, 30 CR, 24 E will give them a 28, but that 24 is going to be the issue.

I also agree with the choosing a major for a scholarship, it can bite you in 2 ways.
1. Just because you do well in Math and Science in HS does not equate to how successful you will be academically as an engineering major in college.
~ If you are fortunate enough to earn the scholarship, it will be tied to your tech degree. If you decide that engineering is not for you and want to switch to a non-tech major you will need HQ AFROTCs approval to keep the scholarship. Chances are they will say you can stay in AFROTC, but not keep the scholarship. Will you be able to afford to attend that college without your scholarship?
2. If that major is what the AF considers critical manning, AND you want to fly, than understand the AF can say that due to their needs for engineering majors they will not let you go rated (fly). It happens quite frequently, but you can't foresee which major it will be 4 yrs out when you are applying as a HS Senior. I know there have been years that for ME and EE majors they took a very limited amount from that pool for UPT.
~~ IOWS if you got that slot it was going to mean a very high score for the UPT board. The subsets for that board will be cgpa, AFOQT/TBAS, PFA, Commanders Ranking, and FT ranking.

Getting the scholarship is the easy part, believe it or not. That is just the 1st of more boards, and more tests. Getting pilot will seem more pressure than the scholarship or SFT. Winging as a pilot will make those strains feel like a cake walk and wishing to back at that level of stress for the scholarship process.
~ Not trying to make light. Just trying to say, with every step the cost/reward will amp up because you are 1 step closer to that dream.

I wish you the best, but to be truthful if you want to be competitive that ACT in June really needs to be 28 on the very lowest end. 25-27 just won't do for AFROTC, even as a tech major.
~ 90-95% of USAFA applicants will apply for the AFROTC scholarship as plan B. USAFA and AFROTC selection boards do not talk. IOWS, they don't know if the candidate is applying to USAFA or not. Nor do they know if they are applying for an NROTC or AROTC.

The point is that this will be your competition, and it is done on a national level.
~ AFROTC could not care less if out of the 900 scholarships awarded all come from CA. That is just how the board worked.
~ AFROTC is not like A/NROTC where they ration out their scholarships to each unit. The scholarship is not tied to the school, just the cadet. Hence, if 1 school has 100% on scholarship and another has 0% so be it.

Finally, this is the time you also really talk to the folks about the financial cost of college. AFROTC scholarships on this site is commonly referred to as a 2+2 scholarship. Unlike A/NROTC scholarships, AFROTC scholarship recipients will meet a selection board for Summer Field Training (SFT) as a sophomore. If not selected they have the right to disenroll you from AFROTC, which in turn means no scholarship for the last 2 years of college. It is masked/blind for that board, they will not and do not know if you are a scholarship recipient. The paperwork may say you only need a 2.5 gpa, but that is a fallacy if you want to commission. Tech majors typically will have on avg a 3.1, and non-tech will have a 3.4.
 
Pima said:
Agreed with Stevenson. AFROTC does not superscore as I stated earlier in this thread, they only do best sitting. Plus, they look at the subsets before they will board a candidate. They can have a composite of 28, but still not be deemed competitive if their E is 24. I.E. 30 M, 30 S, 30 CR, 24 E will give them a 28, but that 24 is going to be the issue.

I also agree with the choosing a major for a scholarship, it can bite you in 2 ways.
1. Just because you do well in Math and Science in HS does not equate to how successful you will be academically as an engineering major in college.
~ If you are fortunate enough to earn the scholarship, it will be tied to your tech degree. If you decide that engineering is not for you and want to switch to a non-tech major you will need HQ AFROTCs approval to keep the scholarship. Chances are they will say you can stay in AFROTC, but not keep the scholarship. Will you be able to afford to attend that college without your scholarship?
2. If that major is what the AF considers critical manning, AND you want to fly, than understand the AF can say that due to their needs for engineering majors they will not let you go rated (fly). It happens quite frequently, but you can't foresee which major it will be 4 yrs out when you are applying as a HS Senior. I know there have been years that for ME and EE majors they took a very limited amount from that pool for UPT.
~~ IOWS if you got that slot it was going to mean a very high score for the UPT board. The subsets for that board will be cgpa, AFOQT/TBAS, PFA, Commanders Ranking, and FT ranking.

Getting the scholarship is the easy part, believe it or not. That is just the 1st of more boards, and more tests. Getting pilot will seem more pressure than the scholarship or SFT. Winging as a pilot will make those strains feel like a cake walk and wishing to back at that level of stress for the scholarship process.
~ Not trying to make light. Just trying to say, with every step the cost/reward will amp up because you are 1 step closer to that dream.

I wish you the best, but to be truthful if you want to be competitive that ACT in June really needs to be 28 on the very lowest end. 25-27 just won't do for AFROTC, even as a tech major.
~ 90-95% of USAFA applicants will apply for the AFROTC scholarship as plan B. USAFA and AFROTC selection boards do not talk. IOWS, they don't know if the candidate is applying to USAFA or not. Nor do they know if they are applying for an NROTC or AROTC.

The point is that this will be your competition, and it is done on a national level.
~ AFROTC could not care less if out of the 900 scholarships awarded all come from CA. That is just how the board worked.
~ AFROTC is not like A/NROTC where they ration out their scholarships to each unit. The scholarship is not tied to the school, just the cadet. Hence, if 1 school has 100% on scholarship and another has 0% so be it.

Finally, this is the time you also really talk to the folks about the financial cost of college. AFROTC scholarships on this site is commonly referred to as a 2+2 scholarship. Unlike A/NROTC scholarships, AFROTC scholarship recipients will meet a selection board for Summer Field Training (SFT) as a sophomore. If not selected they have the right to disenroll you from AFROTC, which in turn means no scholarship for the last 2 years of college. It is masked/blind for that board, they will not and do not know if you are a scholarship recipient. The paperwork may say you only need a 2.5 gpa, but that is a fallacy if you want to commission. Tech majors typically will have on avg a 3.1, and non-tech will have a 3.4.
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Yeah I wasnt sure either way if they did, but I wanted to put it there to show that he can make a good point jump
 
He can make a good jump, but only if he truly studies for the exam. The thing with the ACT/SAT and superscoring is that for the May he can study just 1 part, i.e. Math and bomb the Verbal. Than take it again in June and study hard only the Verbal. Now he can take the best from each and have a better score.

However, that is not the AFROTC system. Just like for AFROTC scholarships, they do not include anything from their senior yr in HS, whereas, A/NROTC does. The only change an AFROTC candidate can change is their BEST SITTING SAT/ACT. Become NHS president as a senior., well as great as that is, you still can't put it in your package. Take 7 APs as a senior, but none as a junior....won't be seen by the board.
~ Caveat the school profile will be seen, so if you could not take any AP as a junior they will know it and will not ding you. However, if the school did offer it as a junior, and your peers took it than you will get dinged because in their eyes you did not take the most rigorous course load.

The best advice we can give is for the OP to apply, and let the chips fall where they may. This is not a sprint. It is a marathon because for AFROTC scholarship boards the 1st opportunity to hear will be mid-Dec.
 
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