Plan B college application

F

firstflight04

USAFA mom '26
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
25
Hello everyone,

A question for those who applied to USAFA as plan A – what colleges did you consider as plan B? My son will be applying next year. He dreams of pursuing a career in aerospace engineering and possibly becoming a pilot. But he would like to have a plan B in case he does not receive an appointment at USAFA.

He will also be applying for AFROTC scholarship. We live in NC but are interested in colleges nationwide that have top aerospace engineering programs. I saw several colleges mentioned here – UVA, Va Tech, Duke, Purdue. Anything else?

Thank you! I love reading posts in this forum - everyone is very supportive of each other!
 
firstflight04 said:
Hello everyone,

A question for those who applied to USAFA as plan A – what colleges did you consider as plan B? My son will be applying next year. He dreams of pursuing a career in aerospace engineering and possibly becoming a pilot. But he would like to have a plan B in case he does not receive an appointment at USAFA.

He will also be applying for AFROTC scholarship. We live in NC but are interested in colleges nationwide that have top aerospace engineering programs. I saw several colleges mentioned here – UVA, Va Tech, Duke, Purdue. Anything else?

Thank you! I love reading posts in this forum - everyone is very supportive of each other!
Click to expand...
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, they also have all three ROTC programs.
Florida Institute of Technology
 
firstflight04 said:
Thank you! I love reading posts in this forum - everyone is very supportive of each other!
Click to expand...

Welcome! I enjoy the camaraderie and community here on SAF. It has been a multi-year journey for my DS when he first became a candidate for the Class of 2023. Now, we're preparing for him to head off to I-day in June, and we're looking forward to many years ahead as part of the community here.
 
I'm headed to MMI (Marion Military Institute) for their SAP program. I want the military experience along with the exact rigor courses you will take your first year at USAFA. MMI is a highly rated community college in Alabama that is one of the Falcon Foundation schools as well.
 
Check out University of Colorado Boulder. Their aero building is brand new and absolutely incredible, and Boulder is home to many aerospace companies that partner with CU and have internships. They have a great AFROTC detachment, and you can’t beat the quality of life in Colorado!
 
I applied and was accepted at the University of Florida and the Florida Institute of Technology, and the latter even has programs for those specifically looking to become pilots.
 
I can highly recommend University of Colorado Boulder.

It was my Plan B after my non-selection for 2024, and has proven to be a very good Plan B, at that. Although I reapplied and plan to be c/o 2025 come A-Day, CU Boulder has been one of the best years of my life. The campus is beautiful, there's so much to do, and there's a place for every student.

The Aero Engineering department is very well organized, the degree process is very easy to understand, and all the professors are more than willing to help the students out.

The AFROTC Detachment (go Thunderchiefs; Loud, Proud, Legendary!) is a family as good as any I've ever had. The upper-class cadets are so involved in the underclass cadets' lives, and are dedicated to the improvement and growth of each cadet under their organization. Each flight is a family, each squadron is a big group of friends with a healthy sense of competition, and every cadet can become friends with every other cadet. It kills me to leave them, and in just one short year, I know I've made lifelong friends whom I hope to visit as often as possible even while at USAFA. There's just nothing like it around.

I hope I've added CU to the list of potentials. With my religious background, I thought that I might be ostracised or cast our, but that couldn't be further from the truth. CU is a home away from home.

Also, one school my father (former department head of Aeronautics at USAFA) would recommend for a revered Aero program is Michigan. Haven't seen that one listed yet.
 
My friends daughter is going to Virginia Tech for aerospace engineering, then there's Texas A & M. Both have Corp of Cadets. That's the extent of my knowledge on the subject. :)
 
DS is Aero and had GA Tech and Purdue as his civilian schools, MIT & CalTech didn't offer. I would base your decision on the engineering program and not the AFROTC detachment. The AFROTC detachment you come from is meaningless in the scheme of things. Cadre move every three years so you could have a good batch or less than good batch at any given time at any school. I was a cross-town cadet, not big deal and it has some benefits to it too.
 
Dad_2024 said:
Welcome! I enjoy the camaraderie and community here on SAF. It has been a multi-year journey for my DS when he first became a candidate for the Class of 2023. Now, we're preparing for him to head off to I-day in June, and we're looking forward to many years ahead as part of the community here.
Click to expand...
Congratulations!! Did your son go to a college with an aeronautical engineering program while he was reapplying to USAFA?
 
firstflight04 said:
Congratulations!! Did your son go to a college with an aeronautical engineering program while he was reapplying to USAFA?
Click to expand...
Thank you. No, his first year post high school he won a competitive scholarship for a study abroad/language-based program and returned fluent. I believe that experience made him a stronger candidate for c/o 2024 and he was offered a FFS. He attended NWP in the fall and ERAU-online this spring. His plan B for last year was an aerospace engineering program while reapplying. He probably would have reapplied every year until he hit age 23 if that's what it took.
 
crymsonwynters said:
I can highly recommend University of Colorado Boulder.

It was my Plan B after my non-selection for 2024, and has proven to be a very good Plan B, at that. Although I reapplied and plan to be c/o 2025 come A-Day, CU Boulder has been one of the best years of my life. The campus is beautiful, there's so much to do, and there's a place for every student.

The Aero Engineering department is very well organized, the degree process is very easy to understand, and all the professors are more than willing to help the students out.

The AFROTC Detachment (go Thunderchiefs; Loud, Proud, Legendary!) is a family as good as any I've ever had. The upper-class cadets are so involved in the underclass cadets' lives, and are dedicated to the improvement and growth of each cadet under their organization. Each flight is a family, each squadron is a big group of friends with a healthy sense of competition, and every cadet can become friends with every other cadet. It kills me to leave them, and in just one short year, I know I've made lifelong friends whom I hope to visit as often as possible even while at USAFA. There's just nothing like it around.

I hope I've added CU to the list of potentials. With my religious background, I thought that I might be ostracised or cast our, but that couldn't be further from the truth. CU is a home away from home.

Also, one school my father (former department head of Aeronautics at USAFA) would recommend for a revered Aero program is Michigan. Haven't seen that one listed yet.
Click to expand...
Thank you for taking your time and giving a detailed info about CU! It sure sounds like a great place to study!
 
BuckeyeDad20 said:
DS is Aero and had GA Tech and Purdue as his civilian schools, MIT & CalTech didn't offer. I would base your decision on the engineering program and not the AFROTC detachment. The AFROTC detachment you come from is meaningless in the scheme of things. Cadre move every three years so you could have a good batch or less than good batch at any given time at any school. I was a cross-town cadet, not big deal and it has some benefits to it too.
Click to expand...
great point, thank you!
 
BuckeyeDad20 said:
DS is Aero and had GA Tech and Purdue as his civilian schools, MIT & CalTech didn't offer. I would base your decision on the engineering program and not the AFROTC detachment. The AFROTC detachment you come from is meaningless in the scheme of things. Cadre move every three years so you could have a good batch or less than good batch at any given time at any school. I was a cross-town cadet, not big deal and it has some benefits to it too.
Click to expand...
Just clarifying, are you saying that MIT and CalTech don't offer Aero degrees? My daughter is graduating from MIT next month (AFROTC) with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
I agree to put school first, but if there are school choices on equal levels, I'd suggest researching the detachments - look at their website, social media pages, visit them when one visits the school, etc.
 
unkown1961 said:
Just clarifying, are you saying that MIT and CalTech don't offer Aero degrees? My daughter is graduating from MIT next month (AFROTC) with a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
I agree to put school first, but if there are school choices on equal levels, I'd suggest researching the detachments - look at their website, social media pages, visit them when one visits the school, etc.
Click to expand...
Those schools have very good Aero programs....they didn't offer my DS a spot in their school.

As far as Detachments go, I would rather be more specific in my analysis of the engineering program than anything to do with the Detachment and figure out the program differences more than the Detachment differences. Detachments are far more vulnerable to a change in staff which can greatly affect the culture there. Besides, even though I was very committed to AFROTC, I still spent a lot more time on my degree than AFROTC and literally no one has ever asked me what Detachment I was commissioned through.
 
BuckeyeDad20 said:
Those schools have very good Aero programs....they didn't offer my DS a spot in their school.

As far as Detachments go, I would rather be more specific in my analysis of the engineering program than anything to do with the Detachment and figure out the program differences more than the Detachment differences. Detachments are far more vulnerable to a change in staff which can greatly affect the culture there. Besides, even though I was very committed to AFROTC, I still spent a lot more time on my degree than AFROTC and literally no one has ever asked me what Detachment I was commissioned through.
Click to expand...
I agree about considering the school first, but what I was emphasizing was that if there are equal choices then I suggest looking at the detachments. My son had three great schools but went with one due to the outreach of the detachment and the obvious energy and experiences of the detachment evidenced through their social media and website.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top