hornetguy said:
It comes down to you and your motivation, not an institution.
That is the truth.
Currently if you look at Flag officers it is 50/50 AFA/AFROTC. There is no guarantee that the AFA will give you an edge in the AD world.
It does give you an edge as an O1 because more doors do open as hornet illustrated, but what you do when you walk through the door will matter more.
4 yrs ago our DS was in your place and we saw these questions you have in him. We asked him to pretend money is not an issue and you would get your dream AF career from either, 3 seconds which one do you want? Yes, we counted down.
He chose AFROTC at his college. We turned to him and said there you go you know now. He will be commissioned in May as an O1 with a UPT slot to Laughlin. Funny thing about this is traditionally AFA goes 1st, his report date is May 26th, 1 week after being commissioned.
AFA is absolutely a great place to go. It will challenge you. It will give you things like soaring/jumping that AFROTC won't. However, the idea that they are more motivated, have higher values regarding work ethic, team work or integrity is pure BS. Just look at the ROTC forum here and how many sophomores are freaking out that their PFT, cgpa (3.0+) and ECs are not enough to secure an SFT slot and that belief will disappear.
SFT = Summer Field Training = 55% selection rate, scholarship is not a factor.
No SFT = no POC = no commissioning and for those on scholarship, loss of scholarship.
Your AF career as an AFROTC cadet could end by the spring of your sophomore yr. even if you carry a 2.9 cgpa. in engineering on scholarship. That will challenge you every day to fight academically. PFT score counts too so you will be in shape. Ranking counts so you will fight for positions in ROTC.
Neither is right, neither is wrong. It is a personal decision. As hornet stated your success will be based on your motivation, not the source.
I will say JMPO academically if you want a challenge, AFA is the way to go compared to PSU. AFA is for all purposes an Ivy. That being stated, be real and honest with yourself. College is not like HS. the demand makes HS look like 6th grade. For many this is the true adjustment problem. It also illustrates why SAs and ROTC place weight in their scoring for ECs. They are not only looking at leadership, but time management. They get how kids in HS relying on the folks to wake them, do laundry, errands for them have difficulty doing all of that and now have no parent reminding them of anything and everything. Think about it AFA or college will be your 1st taste of freedom.
If you want to do ED (education delay) to get your Masters or PhD., AFA is the way to go.