Advice for son AFA/AROTC/College questions

jenlea
Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:20:45 +0000

Hi, I am new on here, so if this is the wrong forum please let me know. My ds-16.5 and a junior at a tiny Christian school has been interested in the AFA since he was 10 yo. He currently has a 3.8 out of 4.0 gpa (nonweighted), he just took his ACT-27 and plans to study more and take again (his writing took him down), he is taking the SAT May 1st, with plans to study and take again regardless of score. He is currently in the CAP and was just awarded the Billy Mitchell Award and was accepted into the AFA Summer Seminar (doubtful that it helps any, but he’s excited nonetheless). He was homeschooled through 9th grade and the school is small so he doesn’t have the options other schools have. His big extracurricular is civil air patrol and taekwando (a 1st deg. black belt). He just discovered that he can play basketball–he’s a late bloomer (130 lbs and 6’) so he plans to play his sr year. he is on our church drama team and technical team, helps run our family orchard and started our farmer’s market stand at age 9, attended a Strategic Intelligence Leadership Camp in '09, is going to Haiti for a mission/workcamp in August, rock climbs, plays chess.

Anyway, neither my husband nor I have navigated the college waters aside from some comm. college experience. His interest is in military or strategic intelligence/history/political science/economics–mostly intelligence. He has 1 backup school–Patrick Henry College which has a major in strategic intelligence, but no other colleges picked out yet. Our big concern is does he go ahead and also apply for the AFROTC stuff at an applicable college (Patrick Henry does not have AFROTC–it’s a private Christian college)?
Does everyone who is trying to get into AFA also apply to “several” other schools and for scholarships, assuming you won’t get an appointment and then if you do, then you just turn down the acceptances and scholarships? Any advice about what to read or look up or do is appreciated. Also, someone mentioned having him attend our local comm. college and taking history and political science, and for. lang. courses there, continuing CAP and leadership activities through CAP and reapplying for AFA if he doesn’t get in right out of hs…whew!!!
We are overwhelmed. :)

Thanks!!