Prep school without FFS

[ProudAZmom]

My son is considering Northwestern Prep School. However he did not receive the Falcon Foundation Scholarship. He is also pretty strong academically but could improve his SAT/ACT (limited by covid). He could also improve some of the CFA- not the run. Would he be better off going to community college with ROTC since he doesn't have the "golden ticket"? Have any others been successful receiving an appointment after attending prep without FFS?

 

[Dad_2024]

My son is considering Northwestern Prep School. However he did not receive the Falcon Foundation Scholarship. He is also pretty strong academically but could improve his SAT/ACT (limited by covid). He could also improve some of the CFA- not the run. Would he be better off going to community college with ROTC since he doesn't have the "golden ticket"? Have any others been successful receiving an appointment after attending prep without FFS?

Northwestern has a winning formula for academic prep. There are "free agents" or self-preppers who attend there without being sponsored by an academy. Historically, they have a big percentage of Falcon scholars. They also have students sponsored similarly by other SAs. Their program is comprised of structured academics and physical fitness for a semester, including taking the SAT and ACT up to two times. SAT typically improves 70-100 points and ACT improves 2-4 points. The physical fitness helps to improve CFA scores. All these things are geared to improve the WCS for re-applying to SA. For the second semester you attend any college you'd like and take English, Calculus, Chemistry and Physics. During the Fall, students apply to SAs, including competing for nominations from rep or senator back home. It is a great program, and our son strongly considered it as an option before the FFS offer arrived. You can call NWP and ask what their academy appointment success rate has historically been for self-preppers. I seem to recall reading it was somewhere around 2 out of 3, but I don't remember where I saw that. I suspect one of this year's alums will be able to offer their perspective on number of successful free agents from this year's class.

Attending community college or even a state school and demonstrating academic success, improving CFA and SAT/ACT on his own is also a good option, especially if he's involved in something that helps demonstrate leadership. ROTC is a plus since it shows his commitment and desire to be an officer.

Both options will help improve quantitative factors in the selection process. There's also a perseverance factor that comes from reapplying. His essays and interviews are avenues to describe the qualitative factors and ultimately show why he is a stronger candidate for c/o 2026.

NWP is a great choice since he would be surrounded by people sharing similar goals and their program is well structured. If he's self-motivated and has the drive and focus, then the local college plus ROTC route is also a great option.

 

[Dad_2024]

My son is considering Northwestern Prep School. However he did not receive the Falcon Foundation Scholarship. He is also pretty strong academically but could improve his SAT/ACT (limited by covid). He could also improve some of the CFA- not the run. Would he be better off going to community college with ROTC since he doesn't have the "golden ticket"? Have any others been successful receiving an appointment after attending prep without FFS?

There's another new thread about NWP that has additional info... Check this out: https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/northwestern-prep.48853/page-2#post-814030

 

[ProudAZmom]

Northwestern has a winning formula for academic prep. There are "free agents" or self-preppers who attend there without being sponsored by an academy. Historically, they have a big percentage of Falcon scholars. They also have students sponsored similarly by other SAs. Their program is comprised of structured academics and physical fitness for a semester, including taking the SAT and ACT up to two times. SAT typically improves 70-100 points and ACT improves 2-4 points. The physical fitness helps to improve CFA scores. All these things are geared to improve the WCS for re-applying to SA. For the second semester you attend any college you'd like and take English, Calculus, Chemistry and Physics. During the Fall, students apply to SAs, including competing for nominations from rep or senator back home. It is a great program, and our son strongly considered it as an option before the FFS offer arrived. You can call NWP and ask what their academy appointment success rate has historically been for self-preppers. I seem to recall reading it was somewhere around 2 out of 3, but I don't remember where I saw that. I suspect one of this year's alums will be able to offer their perspective on number of successful free agents from this year's class.

Attending community college or even a state school and demonstrating academic success, improving CFA and SAT/ACT on his own is also a good option, especially if he's involved in something that helps demonstrate leadership. ROTC is a plus since it shows his commitment and desire to be an officer.

Both options will help improve quantitative factors in the selection process. There's also a perseverance factor that comes from reapplying. His essays and interviews are avenues to describe the qualitative factors and ultimately show why he is a stronger candidate for c/o 2026.

NWP is a great choice since he would be surrounded by people sharing similar goals and their program is well structured. If he's self-motivated and has the drive and focus, then the local college plus ROTC route is also a great option.

Does going to community college vs 4 year college hurt re-applicants?

 

[Dad_2024]

First year classes are very similar in content. The goal for classes is a challenging schedule and solid grades to demonstrate the ability to be successful in college level classes.

 

[lipton_hot_tea]

I don't have advice but a lot of community colleges have registration for fall open right now. He may want to get his application processed and register for fall in case he decides to go that option so he has a spot in them. I'm sure colleges vary but at our community college system they have 9,000 sections of remedial math but not so many sections for higher math.

 

[Firstgo]

As a parent I understand these kind of decisions can be hard. Just my perspective on what you are trying to decide. My daughter was a 2019 FFS and went to NWP. She is now finishing up her first year at the USAFA. She was also very strong academically and as an athelete but did have some room to improve on her ACT/SAT scores. At NWP she went up 3 points on her ACT and some on her SAT. I feel the second semester living on campus at a 4 year state school really helped prepare her for the academics and self responsibility that will be needed to be successful at the academy. There was several free agents at NWP with her. About half of them did get into the academy but not all of them did. At NWP your son will take the ACT and SAT 3-4 times from September-December. He can do this on his own if that is the area that you feel will make his application competitive. They did have a work out schedule but my daughter would get up early to get in more work out time while at NWP.

It has surprised me how many of the cadets in her class are either FFS, ROTC, enlisted or second time applicants. My point is, if he gets in next year he will be with many others who are similar in age and have had that one year or more of life experiences outside of high school. Again my opinion but if you can afford it I would look at attending a 4 year university with a strong ROTC program. This would help in several ways such as given your son experience in a ROTC program, take classes similar to what the cadets take their first year and have some of the same expectations of the academy while earning college credits toward a degree. If he does not get into the USAFA he still commissions as a Second Lieutenant in four years instead of taking five years.

I don't feel a communty college hurts you as long as you take a course load simular to what he will be taking at the academy. My daughter first roommate at the academy attended an ROTC program last year and really enjoyed it. She enjoyed it so much that after basic training she left the academy and went back to her ROTC unit. I don't know the full story regarding why she left but what she said was she want's to serve and really felt that a more traditional college experience and being part of a ROTC program was more of the route she wanted.