Falcon Scholarship! Need advice!

[bahamamama]

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

Whoops - Falcon Scholar is a different type of thing from Prep School, a contract makes a difference....

 

[Boymomof3]

Congratulations on the Prep scholarship! It must be very hard to make a decision. Best wishes ! It looks like many folks have jumped in to provide sound advice!

 

[WoolSocksinSummer]

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.

He can apply to USAFA and USMA while on the Falcon scholarship. I'm pretty sure if he's then offered USMA and takes that, you would owe full tuition to the foundation/Junior College he attended (GMC, MMI, NMMI, or Northwest Prep). If he's offered USAFA and accepts the appointment, no money owed. Read the FF contract very carefully.
Let's not forget, there are SO many less freedoms being at a SA vs a traditional college. Does he want the traditional college experience, even if it's academically challenging and requires ROTC weekends? Or does he want to prepare for the SA at a Junior College? My guess is if he goes to U of I, as a reapplicant, he'd be a very qualified candidate. But as a Sponsored Civil Prep Cadet, he'll be better trained for the SA and it will be less of a shock when he gets there.
One last thing - he has to go through the nomination process all over again. No matter what route he chooses.

Good luck!

 

[WoolSocksinSummer]

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.

Contact his WP Regional Officer and ask if he would be considered for the AOG prep scholarship. Mention that he was offered the Falcon Foundation scholarship. It's 100% worth a shot!

 

[Texark147]

He can apply to USAFA and USMA while on the Falcon scholarship. I'm pretty sure if he's then offered USMA and takes that, you would owe full tuition to the foundation/Junior College he attended (GMC, MMI, NMMI, or Northwest Prep). If he's offered USAFA and accepts the appointment, no money owed. Read the FF contract very carefully.
Let's not forget, there are SO many less freedoms being at a SA vs a traditional college. Does he want the traditional college experience, even if it's academically challenging and requires ROTC weekends? Or does he want to prepare for the SA at a Junior College? My guess is if he goes to U of I, as a reapplicant, he'd be a very qualified candidate. But as a Sponsored Civil Prep Cadet, he'll be better trained for the SA and it will be less of a shock when he gets there.
One last thing - he has to go through the nomination process all over again. No matter what route he chooses.

Good luck!

He is seriously considering taking the Falcon scholarship now. He realized on his own that it is a special opportunity. He can change his mindset and get excited about USAFA. I think because he didn't get into USAFASS, but got into SLE and NASS, that he assumed USAFA wasn't interested in him at all. He kind of wrote them off in his mind and focused on West Point/Army. It turns out that so far USAFA is offering him the best opportunity. He has checked out Northwestern Prep school and is really looking forward to it. Now to actually let go of the 4 year ROTC scholarship will be tough. He did find out that he can defer his acceptance to U of I engineering for a year in case something falls through.

 

[GoArmy349]

Hello !

I applied for West Points class of 2028 and didn’t hear back until yesterday. (I applied as soon as the application opened last summer) I received a non appointment letter in my portal. I was fully qualified 3Qd with nomination. I previously spoke with my regional commander and FFR about the possibility of USMAPS and the Civil Prep Program. Since then I have not spoke with my regional commander about this. In February my FFR told admissions and my regional commander I would do this program if offered it. I have been in close contact with my Field Force Rep updating him and he informed me that he will check on my chances and if I can still be offered the Civilian Prep Program. Does anybody know if this is possible for me still? Is it too late to be offered a spot? When will I hear if I got a spot or not? From what I read many people already got a call from their regional commander and I have not heard anything despite putting down my name as interested. I did receive a AROTC scholarship to UNH as a backup if all paths fail to West Point.

Thanks !

 

[Butterfly beach]

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.

Our son did USMA prep and the athletics are absolutely grueling. They are hard core beast, athletes. I cannot emphasize that enough!