Type 1, but no appointment

F

Fritz3180

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2016
Messages
26
Hello all,

I recently received a Type 1 AFROTC scholarship, but no USAFA appointment. I understand that appointments are not over with (just most of them). I also understand that AFROTC and USAFA are two separate things and do not work together in offering scholarships/appointments. However, from what I've heard, Type 1's are just as if not more competitive than appointments. How is it that I would be selected for a type 1, yet not meet the standards for USAFA, especially when I put a lot more effort into my USAFA application? Aren't they looking for the same type of people? Thanks for any words of wisdom!
 
First off you haven't gotten a TWE yet, so you are still in the running. Secondly, things like this happen every year, different scoring criteria. Every year there are kids who get ROTC scholarships and no SA appointment and the other way around. Also remember the USAFA has limitations with nominations that they have to work within which creates its own challenges.
 
You have a Type 1 Scholarship. Do you know what that means? It means that the Air Force really wants you to become an officer and leader. This is a big deal--and so rare--I bet more people get admitted to USAFA than receive Type 1 scholarships each year. I hope you are admitted to a wonderful university where you can develop those entry level leadership skills and grow into the man and officer you will become. As for your USAFA appointment--I suspect you want it more than the Type 1--and you are still in the running for USAFA until you hear otherwise. Please, try not to be discouraged--clearly you are a great candidate and a well-rounded, successful person. You have a great future ahead of you.
 
I concur with Navy on both counts. It is not over yet and it does happen every year. As Navy said the biggest difference impo is the selection process. HQ AFROTC starts at a national level, whereas, USAFA starts at a geocentric level and continues to move out to the national level.
~ IE if you are only on 1 slate because your MoCs talk to share the wealth, and that MoC used the principal method than you would immediately hit the NWL.

HQ AFROTC cares about whether you are going tech or non-tech major for their selection. USAFA does not add that into the equation.
~ If you look at even type 7 scholarship avgs, they are @1280-1300 BEST sitting, not superscore. Type 1 avgs close to 1350 best sitting.
~~ Now place the 2 things together. Although your best sitting maybe at the 1400 range giving you the Type 1, yet because your going tech and your superscore is 1420, the non-tech with the same stats, but has a superscore is 1500 their WCS will be higher than yours. Again it comes down to their scoring system is different.

Finally, this is jmpo, and maybe reading your statement wrong, but every single candidate places a lot of effort into their application. There is no way to determine who placed more effort into their application. To you a lot of effort is writing the essay and re-editing it twice. To another it could be writing it over and over again for 3 months and having their ALO plus AP ENG teacher edit it again before submitting.
~ Our DS's ALO was very hands on. He met with him bi-monthly from June to Aug. for several hrs regarding his essays (USAFA and MoCs ---every essay was different, no copy and paste). He emailed it at the same time to his APENG over the summer. This was on top of him working 40 hrs a week and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in our town.
~~ I am not implying or saying you didn't work hard on your application. I am saying unless you know the amount of time that the other thousands of candidates spent than you can't say I placed A LOT more effort.

As for words of wisdom, here is mine. Believe in fate and have faith, if it is meant to be than it will be, maybe not this year, maybe next year, or maybe never. Colin Powell was not appointed to West Point, and went ROTC. Yet, there he was COS decades later. Maybe his fate was to earn his commission through ROTC so he could see the other side and his faith in the bigger picture got him to where he was meant to be in the end.

Best wishes, hopes and thoughts. Thank you for your desire to defend this great nation so others can follow their own destiny living in our great country.
 
Pima, I agree with everything you said, but I think OP meant they spent a lot more time on their USAFA app compared to their AROTC app, not that they are putting more work in than other applicants.
 
One more thing to keep in mind is a denial this year does not necessarily mean the end for you at USAFA. It seems they give some consideration to repeat applicants. I have posted before that my DS said there are a lot of repeat guys in his class that had the stats to be accepted the first time around.

You have a great opportunity. Take it and do well in class and the military training and if you are denied USAFA and it is your dream then reapply next year.
 
Thanks for the support! And Nav you are correct, I meant relative to my AFROTC app, I'm certain there are those who have put in more work in their USAFA app. Additionally, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful for a Type 1. It is a tremendous honor to receive it, and I am very happy; USAFA was simply my #1
 
You are not the only one in this situation Fritz! I also received a Type 1 scholarship and am still waiting on a response from USAFA as well. Hopefully both of us will find out soon.
 
Pima covered most of it but the difference in the process is really how you compete. If you only have one nomination, you are really just competing once. What would get you in this year may not get you an appointment in another year. There are other ways but most candidates get in from a competitive slate and these are based on the calculation of the WCS.

You will also hear that academies really like re-applicants. What we should be saying is that the admission process values a successful semester of college. Their is an additional academic boost to your WCS that is not available to high school students. This is why high school candidates have an uphill battle as they are competing against these college students.

If the USAFA is truly your goal, then you should go off to college, keep active as high school and do well in school. Participating in ROTC also offers another nomination and appointment source as cadets are eligible for a service connected nomination.

The process is very similar as some things carry over from year to year but you pretty much start over with nominations.
 
You are only 17 or 18, the story is not over yet, you have many more years to apply again.

I do agree with everything USMA 1994 stated especially about competitive slates. VA is extremely competitive where just getting 1 nom is great. The MoCs talk, and usually the Sen. have @700 candidates for 1 slate. It is not uncommon for many candidates to be picked up off the NWL.

If you get the TWE, enter AFROTC with an open mind. There are not enough fingers, toes and paws in my family to count on when it comes to candidates getting the TWE and swearing that they will reapply. However, once settled in the college and ROTC they have found that they are happy there and never reapply.
 
Last edited:
USMA 1994 said:
Pima covered most of it but the difference in the process is really how you compete. If you only have one nomination, you are really just competing once. What would get you in this year may not get you an appointment in another year. There are other ways but most candidates get in from a competitive slate and these are based on the calculation of the WCS.

You will also hear that academies really like re-applicants. What we should be saying is that the admission process values a successful semester of college. Their is an additional academic boost to your WCS that is not available to high school students. This is why high school candidates have an uphill battle as they are competing against these college students.

If the USAFA is truly your goal, then you should go off to college, keep active as high school and do well in school. Participating in ROTC also offers another nomination and appointment source as cadets are eligible for a service connected nomination.

The process is very similar as some things carry over from year to year but you pretty much start over with nominations.
Click to expand...

I got three nominations, both senators and a congressman. I guess I was just unlucky in that I was competing against a lot of good kids!
 
I posted a thread similar to this a few months ago. I received a Type 1 back in the fall but hadn't heard anything from USAFA until last week (I was offered an appointment). All in all, only about 100 people receive type 1's so it is just as, if not more, competitive than USAFA. The major difference seems to be how the nominations come into play. You may be more qualified than somebody from another state or district, but since the academy looks at each individual district/state before the national pool that person may get appointed and you will not. ROTC, however, looks at everyone together on a national level.
 
Fritz3180 said:
USMA 1994 said:
Pima covered most of it but the difference in the process is really how you compete. If you only have one nomination, you are really just competing once. What would get you in this year may not get you an appointment in another year. There are other ways but most candidates get in from a competitive slate and these are based on the calculation of the WCS.

You will also hear that academies really like re-applicants. What we should be saying is that the admission process values a successful semester of college. Their is an additional academic boost to your WCS that is not available to high school students. This is why high school candidates have an uphill battle as they are competing against these college students.

If the USAFA is truly your goal, then you should go off to college, keep active as high school and do well in school. Participating in ROTC also offers another nomination and appointment source as cadets are eligible for a service connected nomination.

The process is very similar as some things carry over from year to year but you pretty much start over with nominations.
Click to expand...

I got three nominations, both senators and a congressman. I guess I was just unlucky in that I was competing against a lot of good kids!
Click to expand...

OP, you need to do an honest self-evaluation on how strong your packet really was. Did you do the best you could on the CFA?, how were your extracurriculars?, Did you have enough leadership roles?, test scores?, class rank?. You can also follow up with your admission counselor and ask what can you do to strengthen your application. There are some subjective portions of the application but most of your scores are determined in an objective format. If you truly got beat out by three "super star" candidates it is just not meant to be this year but I would suspect that one of the areas of your application could be improved. Getting beat on three slates tells me there is something missing unless your MOCs all did principal nominees.

With that said, all you go worry about are things in your control. Go off to college and do well, give ROTC a try, enjoy your time in college. My DD did not get in her first try as our congressman picked a principal nominee that was not her. She had a strong application but not enough to over take the re-applicants on the NWL. She went off to college and kept doing the same things she did in high school, ROTC, Div I and Club sports, community service, good grades. We went through the process again this year and even though our local MOC picked someone else as his principal again, she received her appointment in early February from her service connected nomination.
 
I can sort of feel your pain. I say "sort of" since I'm not in the game-my DS is/was. First off, as many have said, not all appointment notifications have gone out. Technically, you can still be offered an appointment at the last minute; it ain't over until the fat lady sings, right!? I see that you want to attend the zoo (we old timers call it that). My DS was the same way.
Statistically, it's more difficult to receive a type 1 scholarship than to receive an appointment to the academy. This year, roughly 12% of the candidates received an appointment to the USAFA and approximately 3-5% of the "qualified" applicants receive a type 1 scholarship each year. I've been out of the ALO business for a while so someone correct me if I'm wrong, especially you type A+++ academy moms & dads.:p It's a full ride ("almost" depending on the schools and how they cater to ROTC scholarship recipients) to any school of your choice. Worst case, you'll get to attend a great school of your choice and enroll in AFROTC, which is just one day a week of harassment.:D That's what I did (AFROTC) and I would not do it any differently if I had to do it all over again, but that's just me.
My DS was in the same situation as yourself. He reeeeally wanted to attend the academy on his first go-last year. When the rejection e-mail arrived, the disappointment was pretty difficult to bare for him but life goes on and the tough get going. He received a technical AFROTC scholarship and he was pleased. He made the best of it and kept his head in the game. He kept a good attitude, enjoyed ROTC, and got good grades in college while taking tough classes (upper level calculus and science classes). Through the grace of God along with hard work, my DS received an appointment this year. I think he would have been happy with ROTC but he wanted to go to the academy baaaadly! I even played the devil's advocate but he didn't budge. That's exactly the attitude necessary to succeed in anything in life and especially at the zoo. More importantly, keep your eye on the prize, which in this case are those shiny butter bars. The real race doesn't begin until then and source of commission really doesn't play a huge role on how your career will shape out in the Air Force. In the meantime, enjoy the ride!
If there's one thing I preach to my children like a broken record player is that, "failure is not an option"; better put, "quitting is not an option". As my momma always used to say, there isn't a tree that can stand against a person with great determination and a sharp axe.
 
Last edited:
A bit of a follow up question: Would it do any good to inform USAFA about my Type 1? Would it perhaps raise my national ranking? Do they already know? any advice would be appreciated. Thank!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top