Falcon Scholarship! Need advice!

[Texark147]

DS was awarded a falcon scholarship from USAFA today. He is very appreciative and we are very proud of him. We are a little surprised with the prep offer, but we are not complaining. We realize that very few get awarded. He has a solid SAT score (above the 50th percentile at USAFA). He has a 4.0 unweighted GPA and will have a dual credit associate of science in May. He is finishing up calculus III this semester. Leadership is strong including Civil Air Patrol. He is homeschooled and admittedly his lack of a varsity letter was the low point of his application. He does run 5ks and plays league volleyball. He did well on the CFA and passed at all of the academies. So, maybe they're offering prep because of athletics?

A little background, he applied to USAFA, USMA, and USNA. West Point and the Army became his top choice through the application process, SLE helped cement his decision. He was 3Q with senate and congressional nominations to West Point, but was turned down. He hasn't heard anything from USNA yet.

He has taken everyone's advice here and worked on a solid plan B. He received a 4 year AROTC scholarship and was accepted into the University of Illinois Grainger School of Engineering. He will also receive an Illinois tuition waiver, so tuition plus room and board are covered. We visited last month and he is very excited about this opportunity. It's one of the top 5 engineering programs nationally. All of his dual credit class will transfer! He also plans to reapply to West Point and maybe he will have a choice to make this time next year.

He is still waiting to hear about a AFROTC scholarship, it's been delayed again.

So, now he has a falcon scholarship if he wants it. We would love to hear advice and opinions.

 

[pa-outdoorsman]

Given his academic progress so far, I'd take the AROTC offer, go to U. of Illinois and run with it. But that's just me.

Do what you think is best for you. Congratulations on having at least two excellent options on the table, and best of luck with USNA!

 

[justdoit19]

DS was awarded a falcon scholarship from USAFA today. He is very appreciative and we are very proud of him. We are a little surprised with the prep offer, but we are not complaining. We realize that very few get awarded. He has a solid SAT score (above the 50th percentile at USAFA). He has a 4.0 unweighted GPA and will have a dual credit associate of science in May. He is finishing up calculus III this semester. Leadership is strong including Civil Air Patrol. He is homeschooled and admittedly his lack of a varsity letter was the low point of his application. He does run 5ks and plays league volleyball. He did well on the CFA and passed at all of the academies. So, maybe they're offering prep because of athletics?

A little background, he applied to USAFA, USMA, and USNA. West Point and the Army became his top choice through the application process, SLE helped cement his decision. He was 3Q with senate and congressional nominations to West Point, but was turned down. He hasn't heard anything from USNA yet.

He has taken everyone's advice here and worked on a solid plan B. He received a 4 year AROTC scholarship and was accepted into the University of Illinois Grainger School of Engineering. He will also receive an Illinois tuition waiver, so tuition plus room and board are covered. We visited last month and he is very excited about this opportunity. It's one of the top 5 engineering programs nationally. All of his dual credit class will transfer! He also plans to reapply to West Point and maybe he will have a choice to make this time next year.

He is still waiting to hear about a AFROTC scholarship, it's been delayed again.

So, now he has a falcon scholarship if he wants it. We would love to hear advice and opinions.

Does he want to be a soldier, or an airman? AF and Army are quite different. That would be my first question.

As far as prep or direct, there was SOMETHING that USAFA saw in his package that they thought needed a prep year to best succeed at the academy. I would want to know what that was. It could be classes taken, strength of school, level of classes, or something else. But as a mom, if the SA thought my kiddo needed academic prep, I would jump on that. There are only benefits IMO to shoring up whatever needs a ‘lil boost, and a year of transition into college academics and life. The SA’s have been at this a long time and are pretty good at identify what’s needed for best success. So, my take and advice to mine would be that this ‘boost’ would also be needed most likely before a regular college, too.

The prep offer is also very much an honor. USAFA thinks enough of him to save a spot for him in next years class, instead of saying ‘no’. That’s pretty cool.

Above all, however, would be ‘what do you want to do when you grow up’. Also if he wanted the SA experience or regular college experience.

Both are awesome opportunities. He can’t go wrong with either one.

 

[pa-outdoorsman]

Does he want to be a soldier, or an airman? AF and Army are quite different. That would be my first question.

As far as prep or direct, there was SOMETHING that USAFA saw in his package that they thought needed a prep year to best succeed at the academy. I would want to know what that was. It could be classes taken, strength of school, level of classes, or something else. But as a mom, if the SA thought my kiddo needed academic prep, I would jump on that. There are only benefits IMO to shoring up whatever needs a ‘lil boost, and a year of transition into college academics and life. The SA’s have been at this a long time and are pretty good at identify what’s needed for best success. So, my take and advice to mine would be that this ‘boost’ would also be needed most likely before a regular college, too.

He is graduating this May with a 4.0, an associate's degree and an SAT score above the academy average. I'm the first to admit I don't know this kid, but it doesn't sound to me like he needs academic support prior to college. Apparently neither the Army nor the U of Illinois think he does either.

I do think your question about what branch he wants is excellent advice. I admit I kind of dismissed that and was just looking at the academic benefits. You are right if he REALLY wants to be in the Air Force, you don't want to join the Army, even if it is going to cost you an extra year and a bunch of classes that may repeat material you've already been through.

 

[Texark147]

Does he want to be a soldier, or an airman? AF and Army are quite different. That would be my first question.

As far as prep or direct, there was SOMETHING that USAFA saw in his package that they thought needed a prep year to best succeed at the academy. I would want to know what that was. It could be classes taken, strength of school, level of classes, or something else. But as a mom, if the SA thought my kiddo needed academic prep, I would jump on that. There are only benefits IMO to shoring up whatever needs a ‘lil boost, and a year of transition into college academics and life. The SA’s have been at this a long time and are pretty good at identify what’s needed for best success. So, my take and advice to mine would be that this ‘boost’ would also be needed most likely before a regular college, too.

That's the big question. At this point he wants to be a soldier. He didn't know that when he applied to three academies. He has done a lot of research since then. Ultimately though, he wants to serve as an officer in the military.

I agree, we have no issues with prep school and we think it's a great opportunity for him to be well prepared. I know he would have taken USMA prep immediately.

So, now he is going to dig deep and see if he can see himself in the Air Force. He didn't plan to fly at WP, but that might change if he chooses USAFA.

Then he goes back to the guarantee of becoming an Army officer through ROTC. His head is spinning, but it's nice to have choices and he is thankful.

 

[Texark147]

He is graduating this May with a 4.0, an associate's degree and an SAT score above the academy average. I'm the first to admit I don't know this kid, but it doesn't sound to me like he needs academic support prior to college. Apparently neither the Army nor the U of Illinois think he does either.

I do think your question about what branch he wants is excellent advice. I admit I kind of dismissed that and was just looking at the academic benefits. You are right if he REALLY wants to be in the Air Force, you don't want to join the Army, even if it is going to cost you an extra year and a bunch of classes that may repeat material you've already been through.

Thank you. Yeah, we got a gut punch with the turn down to West Point with his stats. After that we assumed he would be turned down by all of the SAs. So, the Falcon scholarship was a nice surprise. He reached out to WP for reasons why he was turned down. They stated that he was fully qualified, but his district and the class of '28 was very competitive. It will be interesting if USAFA will give him a more detailed answer.

 

[justdoit19]

He is graduating this May with a 4.0, an associate's degree and an SAT score above the academy average. I'm the first to admit I don't know this kid, but it doesn't sound to me like he needs academic support prior to college. Apparently neither the Army nor the U of Illinois think he does either.

I do think your question about what branch he wants is excellent advice. I admit I kind of dismissed that and was just looking at the academic benefits. You are right if he REALLY wants to be in the Air Force, you don't want to join the Army, even if it is going to cost you an extra year and a bunch of classes that may repeat material you've already been through.

Strength of school is a consideration at least for USNA. I would want to know the what/why for the prep offer.

A 4.0 at a Blue Ribbon high school is different than a 4.0 other places. Even a community college. And standardized tests ‘above average’ may be just on the bubble. Idk either. Those are all things I would want to know as far as weighing options.

Engineering at a major university is no joke. I have one who went that route. It’s a different animal than high school, home school or community college. Not knocking any of those, but it’s a reality I’ve been through.

Poster asked for ideas and advice. If it were my kiddo, I would put some thought into the fact they were chosen for prep vs direct. There is something that’s needed. No clue what it is but he can call and inquire! I would want that info before deciding.

 

[pa-outdoorsman]

Strength of school is a consideration at least for USNA. I would want to know the what/why for the prep offer.

A 4.0 at a Blue Ribbon high school is different than a 4.0 other places. Even a community college. And standardized tests ‘above average’ may be just on the bubble. Idk either. Those are all things I would want to know as far as weighing options.

Engineering at a major university is no joke. I have one who went that route. It’s a different animal than high school, home school or community college. Not knocking any of those, but it’s a reality I’ve been through.

Poster asked for ideas and advice. If it were my kiddo, I would put some thought into the fact they were chosen for prep vs direct. There is something that’s needed. No clue what it is but he can call and inquire! I would want that info before deciding.

Your advice is as good as mine. Just want to clarify that it was stated the SAT score was above average "for the academy," which means the score was well above the average high school student.

 

[bahamamama]

DS was awarded a falcon scholarship from USAFA today. He is very appreciative and we are very proud of him. We are a little surprised with the prep offer, but we are not complaining. We realize that very few get awarded. He has a solid SAT score (above the 50th percentile at USAFA). He has a 4.0 unweighted GPA and will have a dual credit associate of science in May. He is finishing up calculus III this semester. Leadership is strong including Civil Air Patrol. He is homeschooled and admittedly his lack of a varsity letter was the low point of his application. He does run 5ks and plays league volleyball. He did well on the CFA and passed at all of the academies. So, maybe they're offering prep because of athletics?

A little background, he applied to USAFA, USMA, and USNA. West Point and the Army became his top choice through the application process, SLE helped cement his decision. He was 3Q with senate and congressional nominations to West Point, but was turned down. He hasn't heard anything from USNA yet.

He has taken everyone's advice here and worked on a solid plan B. He received a 4 year AROTC scholarship and was accepted into the University of Illinois Grainger School of Engineering. He will also receive an Illinois tuition waiver, so tuition plus room and board are covered. We visited last month and he is very excited about this opportunity. It's one of the top 5 engineering programs nationally. All of his dual credit class will transfer! He also plans to reapply to West Point and maybe he will have a choice to make this time next year.

He is still waiting to hear about a AFROTC scholarship, it's been delayed again.

So, now he has a falcon scholarship if he wants it. We would love to hear advice and opinions asdf

Congratulations to him! All solid offers, but what does he want to do? Does he want to go to USAFA ? If that is his ultimate goal, take the Falcon Scholar and run At the end of the day, ask him where he would most like to go to school? If one of the service academies, take the route that will put him there. ARTOC scholarship is fabulous, and a great option. Just depends on where he wants to go. Also, keep in mind that if he does not go directly to a service academy he will have to start "from scratch" with that year's freshman class as far as coursework goes. Good luck!

 

[Texark147]

Thank you for the advice. One question he has is, can he only apply to USAFA after taking the Falcon scholarship? If so, that might be the deciding factor. He very much wants to reapply to West Point.

 

[Texark147]

Your advice is as good as mine. Just want to clarify that it was stated the SAT score was above average "for the academy," which means the score was well above the average high school student.

Yes his score is a tick below 1400 with over 700 in math. So its a little above the 50th percentile for appointed cadets. He has taken a heavy stem load of courses at the community college. His calculus professor told him he is well prepared. We are taking the advice to talk to admissions and find out why they believe he needs prep. It doesn't change anything, but it will be great information to have.

We are looking at the prep school choices and we didn't realize that they are all community colleges. He will already have an associate of science going in. He knows none of his credits will transfer to an academy and he is fine with that, but I don't know if he can turn down U of I engineering for another year at a community college.

 

[gniyji]

Thank you for the advice. One question he has is, can he only apply to USAFA after taking the Falcon scholarship? If so, that might be the deciding factor. He very much wants to reapply to West Point.

Go to the college with ROTC, he will be a much stronger candidate as a college re-applicant to West Point. His academic is very solid -- so he still has a chance to USNA.

 

[Humey]

I know very little about homeschooling and how the academies or even civilian universities view them, but if i were to guess and please take this with a grain of salt, they want to make sure he can compete successfully in a non-home-schooling environment. This is why although GPAs are important, test scores like SAT and ACT must correspond to the GPA. Having thousands of different schools both private and public each with their own grades philosophy is hard enough, but now you have to deal with homeschooling which opens a huge new can of worms in terms of how grades are given.

 

[Texark147]

I know very little about homeschooling and how the academies or even civilian universities view them, but if i were to guess and please take this with a grain of salt, they want to make sure he can compete successfully in a non-home-schooling environment. This is why although GPAs are important, test scores like SAT and ACT must correspond to the GPA. Having thousands of different schools both private and public each with their own grades philosophy is hard enough, but now you have to deal with homeschooling which opens a huge new can of worms in terms of how grades are given.

Yep, I totally understand that. Homeschooling very well could have been his downfall, although many homeschoolers are appointed. He spent the last two years taking all in person classes at the community college so that he could prove himself to the academies and take challenging STEM courses. Homeschooling has been wonderful for our family and prepared him well. He will end up where he is supposed to. Just a little nerve wracking until the final choice is made.

 

[bahamamama]

Thank you for the advice. One question he has is, can he only apply to USAFA after taking the Falcon scholarship? If so, that might be the deciding factor. He very much wants to reapply to West Point.

My understanding is that he may apply to any place - service academy, traditional college or university, etc. for the next admission cycle. If he truly wants a service academy path than in my opinion he should pursue the most direct route to appointment to an SA

 

[pa-outdoorsman]

Yes his score is a tick below 1400 with over 700 in math. So its a little above the 50th percentile for appointed cadets. He has taken a heavy stem load of courses at the community college. His calculus professor told him he is well prepared. We are taking the advice to talk to admissions and find out why they believe he needs prep. It doesn't change anything, but it will be great information to have.

We are looking at the prep school choices and we didn't realize that they are all community colleges. He will already have an associate of science going in. He knows none of his credits will transfer to an academy and he is fine with that, but I don't know if he can turn down U of I engineering for another year at a community college.

This was exactly my thought process from the get-go. But ultimately only your DS can make the call.

 

[snarfly]

Thank you for the advice. One question he has is, can he only apply to USAFA after taking the Falcon scholarship? If so, that might be the deciding factor. He very much wants to reapply to West Point.

More or less, the answer is yes. Falcon scholarship comes from the Falcon Foundation which is comprised of retired Air Force officers. They're not keen to using their money to send you some where else. Read the Falcon contract carefully. It lays out your contractual obligations should you accept, which includes repaying the scholarship if you do not fulfill all of the listed items in the contract and accepting an USAFA appointment if offered. If he wants to go West Point, then don't accept the Falcon. Take the ROTC for now, and either reapply to West Point next year or continue with ROTC and still commission as an Army Officer.

 

[Texark147]

More or less, the answer is yes. Falcon scholarship comes from the Falcon Foundation which is comprised of retired Air Force officers. They're not keen to using their money to send you some where else. Read the Falcon contract carefully. It lays out your contractual obligations should you accept, which includes repaying the scholarship if you do not fulfill all of the listed items in the contract and accepting an USAFA appointment if offered. If he wants to go West Point, then don't accept the Falcon. Take the ROTC for now, and either reapply to West Point next year or continue with ROTC and still commission as an Army Officer.

Thank you, great advice. That is likely the route he will take. He will be content commissioning as an army officer from his university. If he gets a chance at West Point next year, then that will be great as well.

 

[GAMidMom]

I know that it is an honor to attend as service academy. My son attended the number 1 private school in GA, and still had to go to Navy Prep this year. It has been very rewarding, and hindsight, it has been the military adjustment coupled with the rigorous academic demands, along with playing a sport that we now are so very gracious for with making the decision to go to prep first. Not many of the students there at just breezing through. I have talked to some of our fellow Navy Prep moms who have children right now at WP, and they expressed that the journey for the children at WP has been harder as it pertains to the military training. I’m not sure, but maybe this may be the case.

My daughter earned a NROTC scholarship and went the traditional route, and is now a Navy LT. It seemed that her route in her Science major much easier in the traditional college setting than what my son’s has ever been in prep right now, and she said hands down she knows that they are completely different, more rigorous, and now she understands when the Academy kids would say, “You didn’t go through what WE went through,” even though they eventually meet and merge together their first summer & every summer thereafter in CORTRAMID.

So, in my conclusion, I think he should the AROTC scholarship if his goal is to re-apply to Westpoint. If accepted to Westpoint, at least he will be acclaimed to the routines of Army when he makes the move, it will be lateral instead of having to learn a completely new system. Either way, he will end up with the Academy kids during the summers, and have the same requirements. Both the roads will take him to his ultimate goal, (commissioned Army Officer) and the traditional route will give him more time to focus more on the engineering rigor at least a year before going into the beast (Westpoint) where the classes will be rigorous alongside the many rigorous military obligations. Let me know if you would like me connect you to some of the Westpoint families.

 

[Texark147]

I know that it is an honor to attend as service academy. My son attended the number 1 private school in GA, and still had to go to Navy Prep this year. It has been very rewarding, and hindsight, it has been the military adjustment coupled with the rigorous academic demands, along with playing a sport that we now are so very gracious for with making the decision to go to prep first. Not many of the students there at just breezing through. I have talked to some of our fellow Navy Prep moms who have children right now at WP, and they expressed that the journey for the children at WP has been harder as it pertains to the military training. I’m not sure, but maybe this may be the case.

My daughter earned a NROTC scholarship and went the traditional route, and is now a Navy LT. It seemed that her route in her Science major much easier in the traditional college setting than what my son’s has ever been in prep right now, and she said hands down she knows that they are completely different, more rigorous, and now she understands when the Academy kids would say, “You didn’t go through what WE went through,” even though they eventually meet and merge together their first summer & every summer thereafter in CORTRAMID.

So, in my conclusion, I think he should the AROTC scholarship if his goal is to re-apply to Westpoint. If accepted to Westpoint, at least he will be acclaimed to the routines of Army when he makes the move, it will be lateral instead of having to learn a completely new system. Either way, he will end up with the Academy kids during the summers, and have the same requirements. Both the roads will take him to his ultimate goal, (commissioned Army Officer) and the traditional route will give him more time to focus more on the engineering rigor at least a year before going into the beast (Westpoint) where the classes will be rigorous alongside the many rigorous military obligations. Let me know if you would like me connect you to some of the Westpoint families.

Thank you so much for your reply. Congratulations on both of your children's accomplishments! I do think prep would be very useful for any candidate. I believe if he was offered USMA prep that he would accept it immediately. I think this is ultimately about his desire to be a soldier over an airmen. He didn't realize this until after he applied to both academies. I agree with you that he should go the AROTC route. He will be an army officer through ROTC or West Point if he gains acceptance.